AEW Dynamite Beats NXT With Best Demo In Years

AEW Dynamite beat WWE NXT in a one-night Wednesday ratings war, drawing 792,000 viewers and a 0.24 in the 18-49 demo for Blood & Guts, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.

Meltzer reported that the 0.24 is Dynamite’s best 18-49 number in years, a stretch that includes the Pac tribute show on September 30. That episode drew 899,000 viewers and a 0.22 in the demo, per Wrestlenomics, so Blood & Guts won the demo but fell short on total audience. Dynamite also did a 0.27 in 25-54, which Meltzer noted was its second-best showing in that demo.

NXT’s loaded card finished well back

NXT moved to Wednesday for one night because of midterm election coverage on The CW. Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported before the show that NXT had been told to load up its card, and Meltzer listed John Cena, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes among the names on it.

• Total viewers: Dynamite 792,000, NXT 552,000
• 18-49 rating: Dynamite 0.24, NXT 0.13
• 25-54 rating: Dynamite 0.27, NXT 0.16

By our math, Dynamite finished about 240,000 viewers ahead, roughly 85 percent higher in 18-49 and 69 percent higher in 25-54. The figures cover linear television only. Dynamite also streamed live on HBO Max, and those viewers are not included.

NXT’s 552,000 does edge the 532,000 it drew when the shows last went head-to-head on October 6, when Dynamite drew 495,000 and a 0.11 to NXT’s 0.10 in the demo, per Wrestlenomics.

What each show delivered

Dynamite aired both the men’s and women’s Blood & Guts matches from Jacksonville. In the main event, the Don Callis Family won when Kyle Fletcher forced Adam Copeland to surrender. Tony Khan also told the crowd after the broadcast that the show sold the most tickets AEW has sold in Jacksonville in seven years, according to fan video from the building.

On the NXT side, CM Punk challenged Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship, and Waller retained after Kevin Owens appeared at ringside.

Dynamite has one more episode before Full Gear on Saturday, November 14.