Why Vince McMahon Has Failed To Kill AEW

AEW has proven itself capable of drawing and retaining the sought-after 18-49 demographic, and, per the Wrestling Observer, has vastly improved TNT's ratings on a comparative basis. Last year, TNT averaged ratings of 520,000 viewers on Wednesdays at 8 EST. Dynamite's success has seen an 82% ratings increase. This compelled TNT, after just months, to pay AEW a rights fee for Dynamite. This is a game-changer because it represents a far more significant victory than any weekly war, because the war isn't even of TNT's concern. AEW has drawn the demo, emerged as a key programming asset, and has been rewarded with the most significant deal since the closure of WCW. This was the case with the original deal, but if the asterisk of an advertisement split symbolised doubt, that doubt has now been eradicated.

As Dave Meltzer pointed out on Sunday's edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW by virtue of signing this revised TNT deal became the second biggest wrestling promotion on the planet overnight; the deal alone is worth more than New Japan Pro Wrestling's collected revenue streams, and while Ring Of Honor is backed by a corporate monolith mightier than even WWE, the promotion is entirely dependent on Sinclair. It cannot survive on the revenue it generates, particularly now that so much money is being thrown around in a bid to compete.

WWE's goal was always to siphon viewers away from AEW by counter-programming Dynamite with its apparent analogue: NXT was meant to create an unbearable conflict in the minds of the viewer: which state-of-the-art, critically-acclaimed wrestling TV show to watch live, and which to DVR? Vince McMahon has failed in his mission of sabotage because, in effect, TNT has no-sold the very existence of NXT, because NXT has thus far only drawn around half of WWE's core 50+ base.

That's the why. But how?

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