By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The AEW Rampage television show delivered 331,000 viewers for Friday’s episode on TNT, according to Showbuzzdaily.com. The number was down from the 476,000 viewership count from the previous week.
Powell’s POV: A dreadful week for Rampage, which finished 22nd in Friday’s cable ratings with a 0.10 rating in the 18-49 demographic, down from the previous week’s 0.16 rating in the same demo. The show did not face any major sports competition.
Not a surprise after the main course in the middle of the week had such an idiotic and incredulous segment that there would not be an appetite for dessert at the end of the week and some more viewers would check out.
The only things they had going for them were Punk and MJF. One got injured and the other is being treated as if he’s off TV for good. Why would anyone watch the rest of this shit?
Another Moxley brawl that takes forever? No thanks.
Another six-man tag? No thanks.
Another Jade squash over a fat nobody? No thanks.
Another Darby match with post match stuff? No thanks.
There is nothing worth seeing on most AEW shows at this point. You could argue the mediocre Max Caster rap was the highlight of this episode.
Well I like Christian Cage so that keeps me going for the while that they put him in a position of prominence. If they would get Bryan Danielson back into the single match scene and away from the club that would also give me something to be interested in.
Danielson was coming across as the biggest heel in the company for 2-3 weeks and they immediately killed it with that stupid club with Mox and Squealer Uterus. Tony Khan is absolutely a worse booker and promoter than Herb Abrams at this point.
Some times you get what you deserve. Not this time though, because rampage deserves less.
I am a fan of the AEW product. But I could not care less about New Japan and the Forbidden Door. I think others feel the same way and are tuning out.
I have no plans to watch Forbidden Door between a lack of interest in New Japan talent, the cost and the time commitment on a Sunday night. But I still like the AEW product overall and don’t really understand the backlash they are facing at present.
On Rampage, I will simply say the announcing this week was so much better than we typically get on Dynamite. I’m a longtime Jim Ross fan but he just doesn’t have it anymore – I can hardly wait for “Daniel Bryan” to wrestle “Jungle Jack Perry” – and it was nice to hear Jericho, Taz and Excalibur put over the talent and the angles. As if, you know, they’ve actually been paying attention.