AEW Dynamite Beats WWE NXT Despite Decline For Anniversary Special

Viewerships increased, but the demo told a slightly different story.

Jon Moxley Lance Archer
AEW

AEW Dynamite's one-year Anniversary Special scored another comfortable victory over WWE NXT in this week's instalment of the Wednesday Night Wars, though the stacked episode was down on the previous week in the most important metric.

Dynamite's 0.30 rating in the key 18-49 demographic was down on the previous week's 0.31. This was still enough to defeat NXT, which increased from 0.16 to 0.17, though it should be noted that both figures fall within the Nielsen system's accepted 10% margin of error.

The Dynamite number may be seen as a slight concern, given the night's four title matches (including Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer), though Supreme Court nominee hearings drew increased amounts of viewers towards news channels.

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Dynamite was 15th on the night amongst cable shows, with sports and news coverage dominating the evening. NXT, meanwhile, failed to crack the top 50 once again, hitting number 51.

Each brand experienced an increase in overall viewership, with NXT going from 639,000 to 651,000 across its two hours and AEW moving to 826,000. Both shows remain down on the numbers posted during the reshuffle of August and September, when each experienced uncontested runs.

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Data: Showbuzz Daily.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.