By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The Friday, October 30 WWE Friday Night SmackDown averaged 1.162 million viewers for USA Network, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.com. The number was up compared to the previous episode’s 1.1 million average. SmackDown finished with a 0.26 rating in the 18-49 demographic, up compared to the prior week’s 0.24 rating.
Powell’s POV: The October 23 SmackDown ran against the first game of the World Series, which averaged 12.26 million viewers across Fox Sports, Fox Deportes, and Univision. So while the October 30 numbers were higher, the better comparison is the 1.327 million average and 0.32 rating produced by the October 16 SmackDown. One year earlier, the October 31, 2025, SmackDown averaged 933,000 viewers and a 0.20 rating for USA Network for a show that ran against Game 6 of the World Series.
(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.)
