AEW Dynamite Ratings Beat WWE NXT Ratings

It’s Wednesday and you know what that means… ratings for AEW Dynamite are out. AEW was on a special night Tuesday night up against NXT as MLB playoffs were on TBS on Wednesday night. Another jam-packed action-packed show. It was another packed show. Let’s see how they did.

AEW Dynamite Headlined By World Title Match

Because of the American League Championship series starting on Wednesday between the Yankees and Astros, AEW was forced to Tuesday to rekindle the ‘War” with NXT. It was for one night only. The show was live from Cincinnati, OH and was headlined by the AEW World Title match. The crowd was jacked up for Title Tuesday on AEW.

The October 18th edition of AEW Dynamite week’s show was viewed by 752,000 people and did a .26 in the 18-49 demo. Meanwhile, WWE NXT was viewed by 676,000 people and did a .12 in 18-49 demo.

AEW Dynamite last night on TBS (8-10pm)
752,000 viewers
P18-49 rating: 0.26
#8 cable original in P18-49

WWE NXT last night on USA Network (8-10:07pm)
676,000 viewers
P18-49 rating: 0.18
#12 cable original in P18-49
📊 https://t.co/1SscdBkO2y pic.twitter.com/0idQ6e1qEH

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) October 19, 2022

If you are looking at just the number, you are doing yourself a disservice. But in actuality, this is very good. Entering the night, AEW Dynamite and NXT were expected to be right in this range given the competition. Diving into the numbers there was a lot of competition Tuesday not just from NXT, but from MLB playoffs as well as the NBA starting up. Not to mention the NHL is back as well. This is where things dipped last year for AEW, but they rebounded heading into Full Gear. This is a similar pattern, plus the show was on an off night.

It is funny little changes for AEW affect their number more than NXT. This week’s number was telling as it was stronger than it was this time last year. Even with a lot of competition on TV with MLB playoffs and NHL returning, AEW still had a good showing numbers-wise. Both the viewership and demo were down from the previous week. The show was number eighth on cable while NXT was 12th according to Showbuzzdaily.com.

Outside of the NBA and MLB Playoffs, the wrestling shows beat the NHL. But that is not saying much in the regular season.

Show Recap

The show kicked off with the AEW Trios Titles as Death Triangle took on Orange Cassidy and Best Friends. Cassidy won the AEW All-Atlantic Title last week from PAC and the rivalry escalated into this trios match. It almost cost Death Triangle their titles. This was a fun match to open the show. These trios matches are not some people’s cup of tea. Death Triangle retained, but it there appears to be dissension in the group. Fenix does not like PAC cheating to win matches. So this is something to keep an eye on.

Following that we had the AEW Women’s Interim World Title between Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida. This was an excellent match. These women can really work. Just need a little more storytelling leading up to it, but that is what the division is lacking right now. Outside of the Nyla and Jade stuff. That is more fun than anything else. But a good match, Storm retained. Then Britt Baker and company came down. Saraya made the save as they are setting up Baker and Saraya. Riho also returned to save Toni Storm.

Following that MJF and William Regal had a great promo segment. I can’t do this justice. This was easily MJF’s best promo and he has had some good ones. Great storytelling between the two going back to MJF’s earlier days. Regal is still good on the mic. Such a great asset. Go watch it. MJF is going to be the biggest babyface once Tony Khan pulls the trigger.

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The Ring of Honor World Title match was next between Chris Jericho and Dalton Castle. Fun match between two guys that have never wrestled. Castle is so underrated as a performer. He put together some great combinations but only got a couple of near-falls. Jericho’s new character is great and he didn’t need to cheat to win this one. He was going to beat up the ROH commentator before Jerry Lynn came out. Lynn got a piledriver as the Reign of Jericho continues to dishonor Ring of Honor.

The Main event saw the hometime Cincinnati Jon Moxley taking on Hangman Adam Page for the AEW World Title. This was a good match with an unfortunate ending to a match three years in the making. You could feel and see the tension between these two men as they battled over the top prize in the company. Jon Moxley hit Page with a big King Kong Lariat that knocked Page out cold. Page had to be stretched out, but those in attendance saw Page give the thumbs out. The match was stopped and Moxley was awarded the win.

Moxley called out MJF after the match and MJF made his way down to the ring with the chip in hand. It looked like he was going to cash in but didn’t. He said he wanted Moxley at 100 percent no more taking shortcuts and he would see Moxley at Full Gear for the title. That was the show.

Here’s a look at the AEW Dynamite viewership and ratings in the 18-49 demo over the past year:

• Oct. 6 1,053,000/ .37
• Oct. 16 727,000/ .28
• Oct. 23 575,000/ .22
• Oct. 27 941,000/ .40
• Nov. 3 878,000 /.32
• Nov. 10 913,000/ .34
• Nov. 17 984,000/ .37
• Nov. 24 898,000/ .31
• Dec. 1 861,000/ .31
• Dec. 8 872,000/.33
• Dec. 15 948,000/ .33
• Dec. 22 1,020,000/ .37
• Dec. 29 975,000/.37
• Jan. 5 1,010,000/.43
• Jan, 12 969,000/.39
• Jan. 19 1,032,000/.44
• Jan. 26 1,100,00/ .41
• Feb. 2 954,000/.35
• Feb. 9 1,129,000/.41
• Feb. 16 869,000/.31
• Feb. 23 1,010,000/.40
• Mar. 2 966,000/.35
• Mar. 9. 945,000/ .40
• Mar. 16 993,000/ .38
• Mar. 23 1,040,000/ .41
• Mar. 30 979,000/.38
• Apr. 6 989,000/.38
• Apr. 13 977,000/ .37
• Apr. 20 930,000/ .37
• Apr. 27 921,000/ .33
• May 4 883,000/ .32
• May 11 840,000/.33
• May 18 922,000/.33
• May 25 929,000/.35
• June 1, 969,000/.40
• June 8, 939,000/.34
• June 15, 761,000/.28
• June 22, 878,000/.31
• June 29, 1,023,000/.36
• July 6, 979,000/.36
• July 11, 942,000/.32
• July 20, 910,000/.32
• July 27, 976,000/.33
• Aug 3, 938,000/.32
• Aug 10, 972,000/.33
• Aug 17, 957,000/.30
• Aug 24, 1,049,000/.34
• Aug 31, 1,020,000/.35
• Sep 7, 1,035,000/.38
• Sep 14, 1,175,000/.39
• Sep 21, 1,039,000/.35
• Sep 28, 990,000/.34
• Oct 5, 1,038,000/.33
• Oct 12, 983,000/.32

What are your thoughts on the show?

Just a note there are No Smackdown and AEW Rampage ratings as of right now. You can still find them on my Twitter account @JimBiringer.