AEW Rampage Viewed By Over A Million People For The Return of CM Punk

The second week of AEW Rampage on Friday, August 20th, 2021 saw the most anticipated return to wrestling as CM Punk returned to wrestling for the first time in seven years in Chicago inside the United Center on AEW Rampage’s ” The First Dance.”

CM Punk Gives Rampage Rating Bump

The second-ever episode of AEW Rampage was viewed by 1.129 million people with .53 (629,000 people in the 18-49 demo). AEW Rampage was second on the night in cable only behind an NFL preseason game. These numbers are courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com. This nearly doubled the first episode of Rampage. The debut episode was viewed by 740,000 people with a .31 in the 18-49 demo. This was third on cable behind two NFL preseason games.

Friday Night Wrestling Ratings:

AEW Rampage: 1.129 million viewers. (.53 in 18-49)

Smackdown: 2.102 million (.57 in 18-49)

CM Punk moved the needle. @Ted_X @FPC_Wrestling @Ringside_Heat @LWOProWrestling @bilalv87 @SwaGGy_D33 @JWhite1025 @seeseehawk @FloppyEarRacing

— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) August 23, 2021

The first episode saw Christian Cage defeat Kenny Omega for the Impact World Title, Miro defeat Fuego del Sol for the TNT Championship. After saw Fuego received an AEW contract from Sammy Guevara. Plus in the main event, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D defeated Red Velvet to retain the AEW Women’s World title.

Quarter Breakdowns

This week’s episode had anticipation like no other. The second episode of Rampage was all about CM Punk. And the numbers show it. With all eyes on AEW, the show began with CM Punk’s return to professional wrestling. According to Brandon Thurston of Wrestleomics, the first quarter of the show was watched by 1.341 million people earning a .65 in the 18-49 demo. This is about 842, 000 people.

AEW Rampage on TNT Friday was watched by 1,129,000 viewers total.
P18-49: 692,000 (0.53), higher than all but the debut episode of Dynamite in 2019.

WWE Smackdown on Fox Friday was watched by 2,102,000 viewers total.
P18-49: 738,000 (0.57)

📊Read more: https://t.co/Z0rG5QbZu4 pic.twitter.com/aCztYnSJvm

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) August 23, 2021

The rest of the episode saw Jurassic Express defeat Private Party to make it to the finals of the AEW World Tag Team Title Eliminator Tournament. Jade Cargill defeated Keira Hogan, Jon Moxley defeated Daniel Garcia with Sting and Darby Allin helping Moxley clear the ring of 2.0.

Friday Night Smackdown Rating

The go-home show for Friday Night Smackdown leading into Summerslam was viewed by 2.102 million people. It did a .57 in the 18-49 demo which is about 738,000 people.