Why AEW Is Holding Jon Moxley Vs. Kenny Omega On Free TV
The real reason Moxley vs. Omega II isn't on pay-per-view.
Last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite brought the announcement that Jon Moxley would defend the promotion’s World Championship on TNT on 2 December.
Rather than waiting for their next pay-per-view (Revolution - 27 February 2021), AEW are “giving it away” for free, creating a situation similar to WWE holding the Sasha Banks vs. Bayley rematch on SmackDown instead of a supercard.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reports that AEW likely made this decision to help with television ratings. Dynamite slumped considerably in late November/early December 2019, with overall viewership falling below 700,000 for the first two times in company history during this period, and the 18-49 viewership slumping to 0.25 on the maligned 18 December episode.
18 December 2019 was, in fact, the last time WWE NXT beat Dynamite in the ratings war (0.25 vs. 0.27), so it’s understandable that AEW would want to avoid a repeat situation.
Meltzer reported last week that Lance Archer was originally being lined up as Moxley’s first Full Gear 2020 opponent, but the promotion switched lanes. Mox defended his World Title against Eddie Kingston at Full Gear, with Archer seemingly setting his sights on the belt in the build-up, cutting promos on both Moxley and Kingston.