The Rock sure helped WWE SmackDown lay the smackdown on the ratings this past Friday.
It was a star-studded episode for the blue brand on September 15 as The Rock, John Cena and Pat McAfee were all on the program which hailed from Denver, CO this past week and all three of them helped boost SmackDown big in the ratings.
According to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, SmackDown a total average viewership of 2.569 million, up from the previous week’s 2.084 million, totaling for an 18% increase in eyes.
The key demographic for SmackDown was also very positive as the show roped in 834,000 viewers, totaling 0.70 P18-49 rating in comparison to the September 8 episode which had a 0.50 P18-49 rating.
The Rock & John Cena Electrified On SmackDown
The Rock shocked all of the wrestling world with an unadvertised appearance on Friday where he came out to impede on Austin Theory’s pontification towards Pat McAfee. The fans in Denver blew the roof off the building when The People’s Champion walked out, marking his first appearance on SmackDown in about four years.
Dwayne Johnson even got physical as he hit Austin Theory with his signature spinebuster before hitting The People’s Elbow. He later passed the appearance torch over to John Cena as the two shared a “welcome back” embrace backstage. After that, John Cena closed out the show by being on The Grayson Waller Effect.
While The Rock is not advertised for a future SmackDown episode, John Cena is and the former did tease the possibility of him having a WrestleMania 40 fight against his WWE Undisputed Champion nephew Roman Reigns.
In recent news the financial details for SmackDown’s move to the USA network have been revealed.