“Shocking and catastrophic”: WWE competitor AEW experiences by far the biggest ratings shock in its history. Have fans lost interest in an alternative to WWE?
Wrestling market leader WWE is in the midst of its biggest boom in decades – this news must be causing alarm at challenger AEW.
Last Wednesday, the weekly TV show Dynamite drew the worst ratings in the history of the league: Only 502,000 viewers were glued to the screen in the USA, and in the key target group of 18- to 49-year-olds, the rating dropped to 0.16 – the lowest it has ever been, even compared to shows that had to switch to another slot.
For some time now, Tony Khan’s promotion – which was occasionally ahead of WWE’s flagship RAW in the young target group in fall and winter 2021/22 – is once again the clear number 2 in the battle for market share. However, the current ratings slump is a new dimension: well-known industry expert Dave Meltzer speaks of a “shocking and catastrophic” figure in his Wrestling Observer
AEW Dynamite: ratings plummet brutally
The extent of the drop in viewership comes as a surprise at this point in time: just two weeks ago, the numbers were relatively good by current standards with 790,000 viewers and a 0.28 demo rating – fueled by the first appearance of former World Champion MJF after his long injury break.
The most recent episode featured the young star’s comeback match against Mexican Rush, which also attracted the most fans. Otherwise, only one appearance by the popular duo of women’s champion Toni Storm and Mariah May stood out positively, which featured a confrontation with Japan’s Mina Shirakawa and the trio of Saraya (formerly Paige), Harley Cameron and Anna Jay.
The interest for the rest of the show was even lower – although there was no special effect from particularly big sporting events such as the NBA or NHL finals. In direct competition, there was a major college baseball game, the US Olympic Athletics Trials and – perhaps not insignificantly – a live broadcast concert by rap superstar Kendrick Lamar on Amazon.
WWE’s third squad also clearly better
The fact that Wednesday was a holiday in the USA and that the “lead-in” on TBS was weaker than usual with a repeat of the movie “Black Panther” may have worked to AEW’s disadvantage – but none of the external factors provide a valid explanation for the brutality of the crash. The show’s line-up simply doesn’t seem to have interested the majority of viewers enough.
A closer look at Dynamite’s figures is particularly striking: in the otherwise stable target group of 35 to 49-year-olds, ratings plummeted by 42 percent compared to last week. Further horror figures: Last year, the overall rating was around 45 percent higher in the same calendar week. WWE RAW managed a 3.4 times higher rating than Dynamite in the main target group this week (0.55), and the WWE developmental squad NXT also clearly outperformed Dynamite this time (0.24).
It remains to be seen whether this particularly severe low blow was a one-off or whether the negative trend will continue. One thing is certain: the infamous momentum has not been on AEW’s side for some time now
Need for WWE alternative seems to have fallen
As Meltzer reports, AEW has been struggling for some time with the fact that ticket demand is not as high as in the early years of the league, which experienced its biggest boom in the fall and winter of 2020/21, when it achieved a much-noticed triple coup with the signing of former WWE stars CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole.
Shortly afterwards, however, the previously struggling WWE saw a turnaround and the beginning of a new, historic audience boom – not least thanks to AEW co-founder Cody Rhodes, who moved to WWE in 2022 and is now champion and figurehead of WWE. Last fall, Punk also rejoined his former employer after his ugly break with AEW, also very successfully.
The demand for the alternative product AEW has dropped noticeably since the WWE business has been booming again and since the final change of power from ousted league founder Vince McMahon to “Triple H” Paul Levesque, general high spirits have returned.
AEW, meanwhile, has recently suffered from the loss of star power due to the departures of Rhodes and Punk or the long-term absence of MJF, Cole and Kenny Omega – which new top signings such as Adam Copeland (Edge), Japan star Kazuchika Okada or Mercedes Moné (Sasha Banks) have only partially made up for so far.
Painful failures – and misalignment?
The current World Champion Swerve Strickland has not yet proven to be a drawing card, and his current rival Will Ospreay – currently the best wrestler in the world for many connoisseurs in terms of in-ring performance – is probably still too unknown to the masses. A duel between the two last Wednesday went down in the ratings with
The new ratings shock is also likely to intensify discussions within and outside AEW about the league’s content direction: Most recently, WWE legend Matt Hardy – who has just left AEW like brother Jeff – among others accused Khan of having the wrong focus. It places too much emphasis on “five-star matches” and too little on “really impactful segments that create memorable moments”.
For AEW, the ratings shock also comes at an inopportune time, as the league is still negotiating a new TV contract with media partner Warner, the scope of which will be decisive for the league’s competitiveness in the coming years.
It will be interesting to see what Khan comes up with next week to stop the negative trend – and whether he will be successful
