The ratings are in for the returning WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event special on NBC.
As reported by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, the show averaged 1.59 million viewers with an 18-49 demo of 0.42. The show faced strong competition with the Heisman Trophy presentation on ESPN [2,251,000], the NBA Cup semi-final game on ABC [1,890,000] and the Gonzaga vs. Connecticut college basketball game on Fox [1,624,000] also airing in the same timeslot.
Thurston also adds that a further 700,000 people watched the show on the Peacock app, according to an NBCU source, meaning the overall viewership in the US was approximately 2.3 million.
The show was also broadcast on YouTube in select markets. At the time of writing, more than 828,000 people have watched the stream. The show was also popular on social media with more than 18 million people viewing the clip of Kevin Owens confronting Triple H.
For comparison, the previous Saturday Night’s Main Event that took place back in 2008 drew an average audience of 2.35 million. The most watched special in company history took place on Friday, February 5th 1988 and was dubbed The Main Event. The biggest match of the show saw Andre The Giant defeat Hulk Hogan to become the new World Champion before attempting to surrender the title to Ted DiBiase. Later that night President Jack Tunney declared the championship vacant to set up the WrestleMania IV tournament. The show was watched by more than 26 million people.
New Champion Crowned At WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event
Although no titles changed hands at the show, one star did walk out with a new championship. The show saw the conclusion of the Women’s United States Championship Tournament with Chelsea Green and Michin battling it out in the finals. The match saw Chelsea Green pin Michin to win her first singles championship in WWE.