The WrestleMania 35 encore presentation on ESPN on Sunday afternoon did 421,000 viewers, which is way down from what WrestleMania XXX and 32 did the previous two weeks. Those two shows were on at prime time though and this one aired at 3PM ET.
WrestleMania XXX did 839,000 viewers two weeks ago and WrestleMania 32 last week did 720,000 viewers.
ESPN aired these three WrestleManias to fill up the void on their network since all major sports are on hiatus due to the coronavirus. ESPN’s Director of Programming and Acquisitions Brent Colborne said in an interview that WWE’s addition to the network has “added excitement” and the company knew they had to act fast to put some content on their network.
Colborne also did not shoot down the idea of having WrestleMania air on ESPN in the future rather than on PPV but they are focusing on short-term ideas for now.
