The final stop for WWE before WrestleMania 42, the April 17 edition of "WWE SmackDown," saw a growth in average viewership and ratings."SmackDown," which was held at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena, saw the average viewership grow to 1,580,000, as per "Programming Insider." This marks more than a 10% increase from the previous week's viewership of 1,412,000 and is also higher than the four-week average of 1,417,000, as reported by "WrestleNomics." Last week's number is the highest for 2026, with the previous high for the year being the April 3 show, which drew just over 1.5 million viewers.The 18-49 key demographic ratings, too, grew substantially, with the show registering a 0.42 rating, much higher than the previous week's 0.36. This is marginally lower than the aforementioned April 3 show, which drew a rating of 0.43. The increase in ratings made "SmackDown" the #1 show in the key demographic for the night.The WrestleMania 42 go-home show was an action-packed one, which began with Randy Orton's segment, who set up his clash with Cody Rhodes, while Rhodes and CM Punk the two world champions heading into "The Show of Shows" closed out the event. There was also aWWE Tag Team Championship, where R-Truth andDamian Priest retained their titles against The New Day, while Tiffany Stratton became the #1 contender for theWomen's United States Championship after defeating Jordynne Grace. The Andre the Giant Battle Royal was the last match of the night, airing before the PunkRhodes segment, where their former AEW colleague Royce Keys won the match.
