14 Ups & 5 Downs For AEW In 2021

4. Major Business Gains

AEW Arthur Ashe Stadium
AEW/Twitter, @rmorfnyc

The move to coast-to-coast live airings of Dynamite has undone said gains.

The hope for AEW is that the move to TBS will create a sense of stability. No being pre-empted by the NBA; no bouncing around time zones; no excuse to build the audience back to where it was during All Out season.

Blood & Guts represented a milestone for the company; that special edition of Dynamite topped the Nielsen rankings for the first time, which for a while became a pattern upon AEW's return to live touring. The top-to-bottom segment-to-segment buzz, combined with seismic rumours of CM Punk and Bryan Danielson's debuts, informed a steady, hugely impressive viewership climb.

Dynamite defeated RAW in the key 18-49 demographic on two consecutive weeks in September, where Rampage beat SmackDown when each show aired head-to-head for a half hour. All Out smashed the company's PPV record with 205,000 buys, where the Grand Slam Dynamite broke AEW's attendance record and out-drew WWE in New York City - which, together with Chicago, has quietly become Tony Khan's territory. That is a not at all insignificant development. These aren't random cities. They are major markets known for a trend-setting audience.

At time of writing, AEW has slipped - but there are countless major matches left to promote.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!