AEW Dynamite Outdraws WWE NXT By 500,000 Viewers
A major victory for AEW in week one of the Wednesday Night Wars.
AEW Dynamite trounced NXT in week one of the Wednesday Night Wars, beating WWE's black and gold brand by over 500,000 viewers.
Dynamite's TNT debut averaged 1.409 million viewers across its two hours. NXT, meanwhile, sat at 891,000 - an 11% decline on the previous week's 1.006 million.
What's most notable here is Dynamite's success in the key 18-49 demographic: their average of 680,000 viewers more than doubled NXT's 320,000 here. AEW notched an even more impressive victory amongst 18-34-year-olds, drawing 560,000 compared to WWE's 230,000, with 50+ standing as the only demographic in which NXT outdid Dynamite.
Last night saw WWE attempt to get ahead of the story, congratulating AEW on their triumph before the ratings figures were released.
It's an impressive first-week victory for AEW, though this number will likely taper off once the premiere excitement wears off, before the average viewer stabilises. Nonetheless, that they were able to outdo an excellent NXT show that was effectively presented as a mini-TakeOver is testament to the outstanding work they've done in establishing themselves as an alternative.
The coming weeks and months will provide a clearer picture of these Wednesday Night Wars, but for now, it's first blood to AEW.