AJ Lee, Brock Lesnar help WWE SmackDown make a big ratings comeback

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The previous Friday’s episode had the smallest audience and did the second worst demo rating in the show’s history (not counted preemptions). But Sept. 5 wasn’t at the start of a long weekend in the United States, and wasn’t airing here on delay from Europe, and was promoted with the promise of Brock Lesnar’s second appearance in WWE of the past two-plus years. It also all-but-promised the return of AJ Lee… in addition to other fallout from Clash in Paris and the company’s recently completed overseas

tour.

According to Programming Insider, that helped the latest SmackDown to draw in 1,585,000 viewers on USA Network, where it did a .51 rating among 18-49 year olds. Those are WAY up from Aug. 29 (38% in total audience and a whopping 82% in the demo), and the show’s best numbers since the post-WrestleMania 41 editions in late April.

That despite going up against the second game of the NFL regular season, featuring the dynastic Kansas City Chiefs live from Brazil. It streamed exclusively on YouTube, so it didn’t technically factor into the ratings, but 17 million people watching anything at once these days is noteworthy.

Our exclusive @NFL broadcast of the Chiefs-Chargers game in São Paulo was a huge success, with a global audience of over 17 million!

It also set a record for the most concurrent views of a live stream on YouTube 🏆

Check out all the stats:https://t.co/CMZq0olTVf

— Updates From YouTube (@UpdatesFromYT) September 8, 2025

U.S. Open tennis and some college football were on traditional television, but SmackDown handily beat everything in the demo there. The men’s semi at the Open was second for ESPN, scoring a .28 with the 18-49 crowd. News-talk on Fox News and ABC led the night in viewership, where WWE and USA finished ninth.

They’ve already got a big line-up set for this week in’s show, but no AJ Lee (and no NFL). We’ll see if Lesnar, a Women’s title match, and Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre can hold these numbers.

Here’s how last week’s show compares to every SmackDown from the past year:

• Sept. 6, 2024 – 1.77 million viewers/ .45 demo rating
• Sept. 13* – 1.72 / .55
• Sept. 20 – 1.49 / .45
• Sept. 27 – 1.57 / .45
• Oct. 4 – 1.52 / .47
• Oct. 11 – 1.65 / .49
• Oct. 18 – 1.38 / .42
• Oct. 25 – 1.42 / .43
• Nov. 1 – 1.43 / .42
• Nov. 8 – 1.53 / .47
• Nov. 15 – 1.23 / .32
• Nov. 22 – 1.58 / .46
• Nov. 29 – 1.34 / .40
• Dec. 6 – 1.49 /.44
• Dec. 13 – 1.53 / .47
• Dec. 20 – 1.33 / .37
• Dec. 27 – 1.44 / .41
• Jan. 3, 2025** – 1.53 / .45
• Jan. 10 – 1.44 / .40
• Jan. 17 – 1.40 / . 42
• Jan. 24 – 1.44 / .44
• Jan. 31 – 1.58 / .51
• Feb. 7 – 1.51 / .48
• Feb. 14 – 1.38 / .42
• Feb. 21 – 1.74 / .51
• Feb. 28 – 1.73 / .52
• March 7 – 1.74 / .52
• March 14 – 1.57 / .52
• March 21 – 1.46 / .39
• March 28 – 1.35 / .40
• April 4 – 1.58 / .47
• April 11 – 1.55 / .45
• April 18 – 1.74 / .55
• April 25 – 1.60 / .51
• May 2 – 1.41 / .37
• May 9 – 1.46 / .41
• May 16 – 1.29 / .36
• May 23 – 1.38 / .33
• May 30 – 1.38 / .34
• June 6 – 1.42 / .42
• June 13 – 1.40 / .38
• June 20 – 1.52 / .38
• June 27 – 1.45 / .41
• July 4*** – 1.17 / .32
• July 11 – 1.40 / .37
• July 18 – 1.55 / .45
• July 25 – 1.71 / .48
• Aug. 1 – 1.54 / .46
• Aug. 8 – 1.56 / .48
• Aug. 15 – 1.43 / .35
• Aug. 22 – 1.26 / .35
• Aug. 29 – 1.15 / .28
• Sept. 5 – 1.59 / .51

* Moved from FOX to USA Network (broadcast to cable)
** Added a third hour
*** Returned to two hours

For complete results from the latest SmackDown, our live blog is here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here.