After breaking viewership records with WWE RAW’s Netflix debut on Monday, WWE kept the momentum going. On Tuesday, The Rock appeared on WWE NXT’s New Year’s Evil show, helping the company hit its highest audience in five years.
According to Nielsen data, WWE NXT’s “New Year’s Evil” on January 7, 2025, hit its highest viewership in over five years, thanks to “The Final Boss” himself, The Rock. Many believe his rare appearance was influenced by his daughter, Ava, now NXT’s general manager.
The episode aired on The CW and got around 957,000 viewers, including 341,000 in the key 18-49 group. This was a big increase from the previous week, up 53% in total viewers and 67% in the demo. It was also the best demo rating since October 2024 and the biggest audience since 2019.
📺 TV RATINGS ARE IN
— Wrestlenomics (@wrestlenomics) January 8, 2025
WWE NXT last night on CWhttps://t.co/2D9KxuoDvY
The Rock’s appearance and his promo in the ring were a big reason for this success, showing how much NXT has grown since joining The CW.
The Rock roasts WWE NXT timer rules
At WWE NXT’s New Year’s Evil event, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson got frustrated with the event’s time limits. During his promo, he told the crowd that the two-minute warning wasn’t enough and joked about going all night.
He said, “It says we got about two minutes left. They say we got two minutes, I’m like, f*ck all that. We’re gonna go all night. Oh, they’re sweating. It’s okay, it’s okay.”
The Rock made it known he had minutes left before the show would go off the air at the 2 hour point and basically “fuck that” and ended up closing exactly at the end of the 2 hour point.
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) January 8, 2025
One of the segments of all time.#NewYearsEvil pic.twitter.com/mvDxRLP4DG
The Hollywood star apologized for his language and added, “I have been down this road. I wrestled in Memphis as Flex Kavana. I know, most f**ked up professional wrestling name of all time. I know what it’s like, but I know what it’s like to depend on the crowd.”