Massive SmackDown Rating on Friday Night

Originally posted on SE Scoops | By Samantha Schipman | Last updated 8/28/23

The wrestling world was rocked by the deaths of two influential wrestlers last week. On Wednesday, the legendary Terry Funk passed away. Less than 24 hours later, Bray Wyatt died following a heart attack.

With SmackDown the first live WWE show following their deaths, it was turned into a tribute show of sorts. Superstars were flown in to pay their respects. Seth Rollins elected to stay home an extra day with his young daughter. Alexa Bliss was unable to get a flight that would've gotten her to the venue before the show ended.

The show opened with Michael Cole announcing that SmackDown would be in memory of Funk and Wyatt. Superstars and WWE CCO, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, gathered at the top of the ramp for a moving 10-bell salute. A video package was shown for both men.

As #SmackDown begins, the entire roster gathers to observe an emotional moment of silence and the traditional 10-bell salute in tribute of Bray Wyatt and WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk. pic.twitter.com/6zGzCE4NaY
— WWE (@WWE) August 27, 2023

Later in the show, Cody Rhodes paid tribute to Funk by telling a funny story about Funk calling out insults to his dad at an airport. He also announced a Terry Funk Hardcore Match featuring the Brawling Brutes and Street Profits.

.@CodyRhodes celebrates the incredible career of WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk with the WWE Universe. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/R87trnY73K
— WWE (@WWE) August 26, 2023

Massive ratings

Fans tuned in to SmackDown in huge numbers. More 2.6 million viewers watched the show with over 1 million in the coveted 18-49 demo. This episode was the highest viewed since Christmas Day 2020, which benefitted from an NFL game lead-in, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.

Highest viewership for Smackdown since December 25, 2020 episode with NFL game lead-in.

I confirmed this is correct and doesn't include NFL preseason viewership which preempted only 1% of homes this week anyway. https://t.co/JmWWnmjHiL
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) August 28, 2023

Thurston notes that if you take out the episode with the NFL lead-in, last Friday's SmackDown was the most watched since February 28, 2020. Last week's episode saw an increase of 26% in viewership from the previous week (2,094,000) and 41% in the 18-49 demo.

Following the show, several Superstars and staff including Shotzi, Karrion Kross, and Rob Fee (who worked on storylines with Wyatt) got tattoos in Wyatt's memory. They all got his firefly logo. The tattoo artist, Joey Cox, will be donating proceeds from anyone who gets the firefly tattoo to Wyatt's family.

This article first appeared on SE Scoops and was syndicated with permission.

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