By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The Friday, October 2 WWE Friday Night SmackDown finished with an average of 1.25 million viewers for USA Network, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.com. The number was down slightly compared to the previous episode’s 1.263 million average. SmackDown finished with a 0.27 rating in the 18-49 demographic, equal to the prior week’s 0.27 rating.
Powell’s POV: The solid Smackdown numbers continue. We’ll see if Friday’s Money in the Bank go-home show leads to better numbers. One year earlier, the October 3, 2025, SmackDown averaged 1.03 million viewers and a 0.35 rating for USA Network. This was around the time Nielsen introduced its “Big Data + Panel” system, which led to the numbers for most pro wrestling shows declining until they made another change to the formula.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time dating back to 1997. He hosts a weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
