By all accounts (because there are a shocking number of websites that recap, review, and rate Saturday Night Live every week), John Cena was the best thing about a run-of-the-mill SNL episode this weekend. He charmed the everloving hell out of America playing such varying characters as a bully, Rob Gronkowski, a dumb football player, and himself.
But wait! Not only did Cena impress the all-important SNL critics with his performance, he also pulled in a big old rating for the late-night institution. The live plus same-day rating for the episode was a 4.8, the biggest for the show since Dave Chappelle hosted on November 12th (the first show following the Presidential election). That Chappelle episode pulled a monster 6.2 rating. For comparison’s sake, last week’s episode, hosted by Emma Stone, did a 4.4 rating, and the corresponding December show at this time last year did a 3.8.
But perhaps the biggest feather in Cena’s cap is this: the last episode of SNL hosted by the Rock, in March 2015, did a 3.7 rating. So he has trounced the People’s Champ once again. So John Cena’s time on SNL has been a rousing success by any metric, and all that’s left now is for him to leave wrestling forever and become a full-time actor. Or whatever. I’m not sure how these things work.
