AEW Is The No. 1 Promotion In The UK (... According To Tony Khan)

Tony Khan has trumpeted All Elite Wrestling's success in the United Kingdom, calling his promotion "number one in the United Kingdom" during a recent appearance on Swerve Strickland's Swerve City podcast.

The AEW president and founder's comments came after stating that IMPACT Wrestling and Ring Of Honor had never reached the same level of prominence as his own product. While he stressed that he wasn't saying AEW had hit the same level as WCW, conceding there was work to do before that, he mentioned the UK as a global region in which AEW was his number one (h/t Wrestling Inc.):-

“But they also have never reached the heights where AEW has reached. I think it’s the first time since WCW, and I am not trying to say we have reached the same peaks as WCW. I don’t want to get misquoted or misconstrued. Because at one point WCW was the number one wrestling company all around the world overall. There are parts of the world where we are number one which is amazing, like the United Kingdom.”

Khan did not specify the metrics used when coming to this conclusion, though AEW programming regularly outdoes WWE shows in live viewership in the UK. Gauging accurate measurements is tricky, however, as Raw and SmackDown's ratings aren't always made public, meaning the listings found on sites like Back Body Drop are riddled with holes. Nonetheless, the last set of complete data looked like this (11-18 March):-

Raw live on March 14 – 46,400 (down 4,500 on the prior week)

NXT live on March 15 – did not chart

SmackDown live on March 18 – 50,800 (up 8,000 on the prior week)

AEW Rampage from March 11 (aired March 15) – 132,000 (up 37,000 on the prior week) [Rampage started at 11.45pm]

AEW Dynamite from March 16 (aired March 18) – 150,000 (up 2,000 on the prior week) [Dynamite started at 11.00pm]

It must be stressed, however, that Raw and SmackDown air at antisocial hours in the UK, broadcasting live at 1 AM. This will understandably have a detrimental impact on the number of people tuning in. WWE programming also airs on BT Sport, which requires an expensive subscription, while AEW shows go out on free channel ITV4 at around 10:30/11:00 PM on a Friday evening.

It should also be noted that WWE's upcoming Cardiff show, Clash at the Castle, has already prompted tens of thousands of people to sign up for tickets. This will be the promotion's first major stadium event in the United Kingdom since SummerSlam 1992 - and demand is astronomical.

AEW is yet to hold or announce an event in the UK, with the COVID-19 pandemic shelving plans for Fyter Fest 2020 to take place in the country.