By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite television show averaged 957,000 viewers for TBS, according to Showbuzzdaily.com. The viewership count was down from the 972,000 viewership total from last week.
Powell’s POV: Dynamite finished second in the 18-49 demo in Wednesday’s cable ratings with a 0.30 rating, down from last week’s 0.33 rating in the same demo. Monday’s WWE Raw finished with a 0.53 rating on USA Network. The August 18, 2021 edition of Dynamite on TNT delivered 975,000 viewers and a 0.35 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
Seems to be established that they have realized a plateau in viewership with the current narrow range representing their dependable base. Now the question is whether WWE will take be able to purge away some of those viewers as they continue with their new direction, which will be closer to (But still not the same as) AEW than the Vince McMahon creative vision was
I see the same number, give or take 20k every week.
This week Dynamite offered the return of someone billed as one of their biggest stars, a 2 out of three falls match, and a great Punk-Moxley encounter.
Would better advertising have helped increase viewership? If not what would? This was a strong card, but the same people as always watched it. What is TK doing wrong? How can he reach those other 1 million viewers who watch WWE each week?
When your interim champion spends his off time “wrestling” for GCW against a guy whose gimmick is to basically jack off in the ring, then the casual crowd that drifted away from wrestling over the last 20 years aren’t ever going to tune in.
Until AEW is something other than every bad indie wrestling gimmick, match, etc. then they’ll stay at barely half the Raw audience and every Friday 1.5 million wrestling fans will refuse to switch from Smackdown to Rampage.
Because “the casual crowd” follows GCW. Your opinion is bad and you should feel bad.
Maybe you should actually watch the show.
The casual fans don’t watch because of what Moxley is doing is GCW? What? Sure, GCW is a worthless trash promotion, but how many casual fans even know GCW fucking exists, much less know what happens in it?
Why do people get so mad? The first hour was actually good, but how come no one is taking about the guy Kenny knocked out during the match and the ref didn’t even check on him?
Kenny is one of the IWC darlings. The minuscule AEW fanbase won’t ever say anything bad about him.
Yes, casual fans aren’t watching because Moxley is having matches in GCW where he puts a guy in a rear naked choke and that guy decides to put his hand in his trunks and play with himself instead of trying to get out of the move. It’s because AEW is pushing guys like Moxley, who bleed for no reason, who can’t have a match that isn’t just complete indy garbage, and that talk like a tough guy (how many people has he threatened to kill in his promos) but look like an anorexic male pornstar from the 70s that’s still going through withdrawals that none of the people that have tuned out over the years are willing to watch.
Until AEW gets characters that have an appeal beyond some jackoff trust fund doofus and the “Fed bad” crowd, until AEW hires a booker who isn’t a coked out billionaire’s living, breathing mistake, and until AEW starts putting over big dudes with personality who wrestle like they’re trying to win a fight they’ll continue to only draw the 600 pathetic losers that fill out match ratings on Cagematch and Twitter warriors who still believe shistains like Meltzer and Alvarez know anything at all about the wrestling business.
The “dirtsheet ” writers know nothing about wrestling; but you, the lover of Sports Entertainment do? Do you still sleep with your Hulk Hogan wrestling buddy? And always slandering Tony Khan while never saying a word about the Connecticut pervert. That’s right, you hate women. Come out of the closet, GreatestTurd. You won’t be as angry.