The whole world tuned in to SmackDown to say goodbye to Wyatt and Funk

Not literally, but the Aug. 25 episode dedicated to the late stars did WWE’s best numbers in years.

WWE said goodbye to both Bray Wyatt and Terry Funk on the Aug. 25 episode of SmackDown. And it turns a whole lot of people wanted to say goodbye with them.

Wrestlenomics reports last Friday’s episode on FOX was watched by 2,647,000. Among 18-49 year olds, it did a .78 rating.

Not only are both numbers WAY above the previous week, they’re SmackDown’s best in both metrics since the famous Christmas Day 2020 show that was inflated by its NFL lead-in. Not counting that, they’re the best since the Feb. 28, 2020 episode. Pre-season football has impacted the blue brand the past couple weeks, but Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston confirmed it wasn’t a big factor last Friday: “Only 1% of homes were affected by preemptions for NFL preseason games, as opposed to 6% last week.”

WWE obviously doesn’t want to have to run a show like this again any time soon (or ever, but that’s unfortunately not possible), so they’re not going to try to replicate this success. The arrival of John Cena for the next couple months will be a boon, though.

We’ll see how those shows do. In the meantime, here’s a rundown of the past year’s worth of SmackDown’s numbers:

• Aug. 26 – 1.99 / .48
• Sept. 2 – 2.08 / .49
• Sept. 9 – 2.37 / .57
• Sept. 16 – 2.21 / .50
• Sept. 23 – 2.54 / .63
• Sept. 30 – 2.21 / .54
• Oct. 7 – 2.24 / .54
• Oct. 14 – 2.27 / .54
• Oct. 21 – 2.23 / .52
• Oct. 28* – 835K / .23
• Nov. 4 – 2.14 million / .48
• Nov. 11 – 2.26 / .58
• Nov. 18 – 2.23 / .56
• Nov. 25 – 2.17 / .54
• Dec. 2* – 902K / .25
• Dec. 9 – 2.31 million / .57
• Dec. 16 – 2.19 / .52
• Dec. 23 – 2.38 / .55
• Dec. 30 – 2.63 / .64
• Jan. 6 – 2.26 / .53
• Jan. 13 – 2.33 / .55
• Jan. 20 – 2.26 / .55
• Jan. 27 – 2.54 / .67
• Feb. 3 – 2.38 / .61
• Feb. 10 – 2.47 / .64
• Feb. 17 – 2.38 / .58
• Feb. 24 – 2.41 / .62
• Mar. 3 – 2.45 / .59
• Mar. 10 – 2.32 / .63
• Mar. 17 – 2.26 / .59
• Mar. 24 – 2.22 / .58
• Mar. 31 – 2.49 / .69
• April 7 – 2.47 / .69
• April 14 – 2.27 / .58
• April 21 – 2.18 / .54
• April 28 – 2.47 / .67
• May 5 – 2.06 / .52
• May 12 – 2.15 / .56
• May 19 – 2.13 / .53
• May 26 – 2.16 / .52
• June 2 – 2.56 / .73
• June 9 – 2.28 / .60
• June 16 – 2.43 / .67
• June 23 – 2.35 / .61
• June 30 – 2.51 / .69
• July 7 – 2.56 / .76
• July 14 – 2.31 / .62
• July 21* – 1.23 / .36
• July 28 – 2.32 / .61
• Aug. 4 – 2.25 / .62
• Aug. 11 – 2.1 / .55
• Aug. 18 – 2.09 / .55
• Aug. 25 – 2.65 / .78

* Aired on FS1

For complete results and this week’s SmackDown live blog click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For video highlights of the show click here.