The Rock returned to WWE last week to cut an awkward promo on Cody Rhodes and help kick the SmackDown ratings into the WrestleMania gear.
The months after Royal Rumble is usually the period that sees an increased interest in WWE programming as the company builds storylines for the Show of Shows. This hadn’t been the case for SmackDown whose ratings had more or less been steady in the past few weeks but it changed with the February 21 show.
Despite The Rock’s WWE return coming together very quickly, the Great One’s comeback generated enough buzz for The Blue Branded show to garner 1,736,000 viewers overnight per Programming Insider.
This is a huge increase for the show from last week’s 1,384,000 overnight viewers, which featured multiple qualifying matches for the Elimination Chamber and an appearance from Cody Rhodes.
The show also saw an increase in the key 18-49 demo which rose up to 0.51. This is a significant increase from last week’s 0.42 rating.
The Rock is not advertised for this week’s episode of SmackDown but the company will continue to unravel the meaning of his promo on the show.
The People’s Champion will return to WWE programming the night after. The Hollywood star has been announced for the Elimination Chamber PPV on March 1, where he will expect an answer from The American Nightmare on his proposal.