John Cena's return gives big boost to WWE SmackDown ratings

With the episode featuring the return of John Cena and coming off the heels of Goldberg’s Universal title win, last night’s SmackDown drew the show’s best viewership since its second week on FOX.

Last night’s episode averaged 2.717 million viewers. It opened with 2.736 million viewers in the first hour and only dropped 0.6 percent in hour two. Cena’s return in the final segment would seem to indicate that was the reason for the strong number.

Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship and Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt were both made official for WrestleMania 36 last night.

In the 18-34 demo, SmackDown averaged a 0.5 rating, identical to last week but matching the best number in that demo since November 8. In 18-49, the show averaged a 0.8, up 14 percent and the best number in that category since October 11.

SmackDown topped all network TV in both demo categories but finished behind the major networks in terms of total viewers. 

Here’s a look at the last 10 weeks of SmackDown numbers in the key demos as well as total average viewership:

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