Posted in: AEW, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: aew, NXT, ratings, sports, tv, wrestling, wwe

AEW Cheats Way to Wednesday Ratings Victory Over NXT

Folks, The Chadster was about ready to break down into tears today when I saw the Wednesday night cable ratings showing AEW not only beating NXT but knocking them out of the 50 as well. AEW's demographic rating and viewership were both up for the night, while NXT was down in both categories, resulting in a definitive victory for AEW Dynamite. But was it really a fair fight? I would argue that it was not.

AEW vs. NXT Ratings Breakdown

AEW finished seventh for the night amongst all shows on cable in the 18-49 demographic, with a .26 rating and 701,000 viewers. That's up from last week's 15th place ranking with a .23 rating and 654,000 viewers. NXT, on the other hand, fell in all categories, down from 604,000 to 592,000 viewers, down to a .13 rating from a .15, and ranked number fifty-three, down from last week's forty-sixth place. It looks like WWE may have blown it by using the cross-brand invitational to send ratings juggernaut Baron Corbin to Raw this week instead of NXT, where he was needed the most. Not even crassly exploiting the firing of dozens of employees with Drake Maverick's storyline was enough to increase viewership for NXT this week. Is this even wrestling? All in all, a pretty disappointing night.

The Bottom Line 'Cause Chad Said So

You know, I've been silent about it for a while, but it really is unfair that AEW has their wrestlers in the audience creating crowd noise that makes the show feel more "exciting." True fans like myself appreciate wrestling even more without a live audience, but there's no denying that a lot of sheeple out there prefer the crowd injecting their opinions with chants and cheers and boos. Personally, I think that if NXT isn't going to have a live audience, AEW shouldn't have one either. Fair is fair.

Also, where does AEW get off having hot angles and exciting developments? Oh, just because the Young Bucks and Hangman Page couldn't be bothered to show up for the last six weeks' worth of episodes, all of a sudden, they get to come back, and it's some kind of big deal? The Chadster calls BS on this tactic. If AEW is going to compete with NXT every Wednesday, they ought to have the decency to fight fair, and they're just not doing that. So while AEW may have "won" the "ratings" for the "night," I think that victory deserves an asterisk next to it in the record books.

I was so distraught when I saw the ratings today, I snapped at my wife, Keighleyanne, when she asked me what I wanted to do for dinner tonight. Now I'm going to have to go and apologize, but I doubt she'll understand when I tell her it was all AEW's fault. Hopefully, somebody does something like this because not only is it not right for AEW to cheat at the ratings, but they're causing problems with people's marriages as well. That just totally uncool.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!