WWE will look to build on its post-WrestleMania XL momentum during Fox’s April 12 Friday Night SmackDown telecast after posting its best yearly viewership numbers for its Monday Night Raw earlier this week.

USA Network’s April 8 three-hour Monday Night Raw event — airing a day after WWE’s April 6-7 WrestleMania XL weekend “premium live event” streamed on Peacock — averaged 2.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers published by Cagesideseats.com. It marks the first time the long-running series has hit the 2 million viewer mark this year.

The Monday Night Raw show featured appearances by WWE superstars Cody Rhodes and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who both appeared in WrestleMania XL’s main-event match, in which Rhodes won the WWE Universal Championship from Roman Reigns. Its strong viewership came despite competing against the March Madness men’s championship game between UConn and Purdue, which drew a combined 14.8 million viewers across TBS, TNT and truTV.

Overall, WrestleMania XL’s weekend audience on Peacock was up 41% across both nights compared to last year, according to WWE, although neither the streamer nor WWE released specific numbers. The two-night event was the most socially viewed WrestleMania of all time, with more than 660 million views consumed over the two days, WWE said.

Both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown will soon have new distribution homes. USA signed a five-year deal to air SmackDown beginning this October, while Netflix will exclusively stream Monday Night Raw in 2025 as part of a 10-year, $5 billion deal with WWE parent TKO Group Holdings reached this past January.

Peacock will step into the wrestling ring this weekend to offer exclusive coverage of the WWE’s live flagship event, WrestleMania XL.

The live, two-night event launches April 6, and will feature many of the WWE’s marquee superstars, including veteran grappler and actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson — who will compete in the squared ring for the first time in eight years —along with Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, according to the WWE.   

Peacock has exclusively live streamed each WrestleMania since 2021 when it secured rights to content from the now defunct WWE Network. That deal expires in 2026. 

The WWE, which in 2023 was acquired by Endeavor Group Holdings and merged with the UFC mixed-martial arts franchise under Endeavor's TKO Group Holdings company, recently secured long-term distribution deals for several of its other television properties. 

This past September, USA Network signed a five-year deal to air the WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown series beginning this October, while last November The CW secured distribution rights to the WWE’s NXT weekly series. 

Also, Netflix will exclusively stream the WWE’s long-running Monday Night Raw weekly series in 2025 as part of a 10-year, $5 billion deal with TKO Group Holdings reached this past January. 

The WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown series will return to USA Network in 2024 as part of a five-year partnership with new WWE owners Endeavor Group Holdings. 

Friday Night SmackDown, which currently runs on Fox broadcasting, aired on NBCUniversal-owned USA Network from 2016 to 2019. The series has performed well for Fox, regularly rating as the top-rated show in the 18-49 viewer demographic, according to the WWE.

Along with pinning down SmackDown rights, USA Network will produce four primetime specials per year that will air on NBC, according to the network.

USA Network currently airs the WWE's Monday Night Raw and WWE NXT series, but those rights are set to expire in 2024.

The WWE's deal with NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service, which includes the wrestling organization's pay-per-view events, ends in 2026.

“It’s a privilege and thrill to continue NBCU’s decades-long partnership with WWE which has helped cement USA Network’s consistent position as the top-rated cable entertainment network in live viewership” said NBCU Entertainment president Frances Berwick said in a statement. “With Friday nights on USA, primetime specials on NBC, and the WWE hub on Peacock, we’ll continue to use the power of our portfolio to super-serve this passionate fanbase.”

WWE President Nick Khan added: “NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades. We are excited to extend this longstanding relationship by bringing SmackDown to USA Network on Friday nights and look forward to debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC.”

With pro wrestling fans home during the coronavirus crisis, streaming service WWE Network has opened up a “vast portion” of its library for a limited time.

The subscription video on demand service will make thousands of hours of content, including every WrestleMania in history as well as other PPV events like Royal Rumble, and original documentaries, the company said. It's unclear how long the free content will be available to audiences. 

The move follows the WWE’s decision last week to air on ESPN three classic WrestleMania event over three weeks leading up to the company’s April 4-5 WrestleMania 36 event. 

With pro wrestling fans home during the coronavirus crisis, streaming service WWE Network has opened up a “vast portion” of its library for a limited time.

The subscription video on demand service will make thousands of hours of content, including every WrestleMania in history as well as other PPV events like Royal Rumble, and original documentaries, the company said. It's unclear how long the free content will be available to audiences. 

The move follows the WWE's decision last week to air on ESPN three classic WrestleMania events over three weeks leading up to the company’s April 4-5 WrestleMania 36 event. 

Related: ESPN to Air Classic WWE WrestleMania Events