As previously noted, Impact Wrestling is on a temporary hiatus for the holiday season, and will return with another brand new episode on Thursday, January 4th. In its place this week and next are special “Best of 2017” recap shows, which were expected to draw incredible low ratings.
In an unexpected twist, numbers for the December 21st show was actually way, way up. The first “Best of 2017” special brought in an average of 269,000 viewers, a whopping 67% up from last year’s all-time low score. That being said, last week Impact was up against the annual WWE Tribute to the Troops special that actually drew fairly well on the USA Network. Impact was expected to see a small increase without direct wrestling competition, but nobody projected the show would deliver the strongest number in over a month.