The Rock on His Current Storyline with Cody Rhodes Doesn’t Need to Lead to Match
As noted before, Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in New Orleans, Louisiana featured Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson asking current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to be his personal champion and also wanting to own his soul.
Following the show, WWE held a post-show press conference featuring The Rock as the guest. One of the topics discussed included The Rock’s thoughts about his interaction with Rhodes and stated that his current storyline does not need to lead to match between the two.
“In the world of pro wrestling, as we all know, everything will culminate to a match. Whatever happens, it’ll end up in the ring. What I really love about this rare air space that we’ve gotten to with the character of the Final Boss it’s like this white whale unicorn in that with the Final Boss and Cody Rhodes, it’s not about the WWE title, it’s not about having a match….it never has to culminate to a match. That’s a really special place to be I think creatively and just think character-wise and how much fun you can have.
To be able to have a storyline and two characters who are very popular, to never have to get into the ring for a match but yet still hold this really unique, compelling, off-putting, kind of weird…he wants his soul, what does that mean? I love it and loved every minute of it.”
Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com
LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for US Title Announced for Feb. 28th WWE SmackDown Show
WWE announced one new match for the card of next week’s WWE SmackDown show on February 28th at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This new match announced was a WWE United Stated Championship match of LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c).
“The United States Championship will be on the line when LA Knight challenges Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura defeated Knight to win the title at Survivor Series on Nov. 30 and has held it tightly since. The Megastar has been relentless in his quest to regain the title, recently defeating The Miz to become the No. 1 Contender and setting the stage for this incredible rematch. Will Knight regain the United States Championship, or will Nakamura continue his reign? Find out on Friday Night SmackDown at 8 ET/7 CT on USA.”
Current card for February 28th WWE SmackDown show:
- WWE United Stated Championship – LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c)
More on NXT Feb. 18, 2025 Viewership
The February 18th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a very large decline in overall viewership and a slight decline in key demographic ratings.
NXT drew 689,000 viewers and a 0.17 key demographic rating on The CW.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for NXT’s declines this week was due to the large decline in its Over 50 demographic viewership, which its percentage was not given, and its older key demographic viewership, which was down 7.9% compared to last week’s show. NXT’s overall viewership was the lowest for a show this year so far. Meltzer reported that one key reason for NXT’s large declines this week was due to it generating a low 1.27 viewers per home average.
In terms of head-to-head competition, the College basketball game of Kansas vs. BYU drew 750,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Illinois vs. Wisconsin drew 628,000 viewers on FS1, the College basketball game of Villanova vs. UConn drew 460,000 viewers on FS1, the TGL Golf game of Jupiter Links Golf Club vs. New York Golf Club drew 546,000 viewers on ESPN, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 340,000 viewers on MTV, 7 Little Johnstons drew 610,000 viewers on TLC, Moonshiners drew 657,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills drew 777,000 viewers on BRAVO.
In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 222,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership skew was 66.7% in favor of males.
In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak overall viewership was at 727,000 viewers for the eighth quarter featuring the main event Six-Women Tag Team match of Giulis, Stephanie Vaquer, & Jordynne Grace vs. Fatal Influence. NXT’s peak key demographic viewership was not given but its peak rating was for the same quarter and also for the quarter hour featuring the Meta-Girls vs. Sol Ruca & Zaria tag team match.
In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 11.9% in overall viewership but down 6.3% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 key demographic viewership was down 40% compared to the same week last year
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