WWE Backlash First Hour On ESPN Down In Ratings, Viewership From WrestleMania

The first hour of WWE Backlash aired on ESPN, and the ratings were predictably down from the first hours of WrestleMania 42 nights one and two. The Saturday night airing of the PLE’s first hour brought in a 0.33 rating in the 18 – 49 demographic and 998,000 viewers per Wrestlenomics. Those numbers are down 49.2% and 45.2% respectively from WrestleMania 42 night two’s 0.65 demo rating and audience of 1.82 million viewers.

The first night of WrestleMania 42 drew a 0.62 demo rating and 1.62 million viewers. Of course, WrestleMania 42 was much more heavily hyped and is a bigger PLE, so Backlash was always expected to do lower numbers. The top show of Saturday was the NBA Playoffs on ABC, which was not head to head with Backlash’s first hour and drew a 1.69 demo rating and audience of 5.856 million viewers.

The first hour of Backlash featured Trick Williams defending the WWE United States Championship against Sami Zayn, plus Seth Rollins taking on Bron Breakker.