WWE saw huge 2023, complete with a merger and booming business. Ticket sales are amazing, and they are looking forward to a massive 2024 with new television deals and so much more. AEW didn’t fare as well.

AEW started 2022 with momentum, but it seems that things didn’t build from there. Television viewership fell in a big way, and we have the numbers to prove it.

Wrestlenomics has posted a breakdown of viewership patterns for 2023 from their year-to-year number. Those numbers compare WWE and AEW programming against how they were doing a year ago.

NXT actually did amazing in 2023. They rose 5% in the first quarter, 23% in the second quarter, 40% in the third quarter, and 48% in the fourth quarter. WWE RAW and SmackDown also saw a rise in viewership with every quarter.

AEW did not see any rise at all in 2023. Dynamite saw negative 23% in the first quarter, 14% in the second quarter, 10% in the third quarter, and then another 10% in the fourth quarter.

Rampage viewership also saw a big fall, with negative 40% in the first quarter alone. AEW Collision was not listed on the chart, but this showed how they fell year-to-year, so Collision wasn’t around to compare those numbers.

We will have to see if AEW can improve things. They are still going to keep going, no matter what. Tony Khan also knows that he has a diehard fan base. Only time will tell if they can spark mainstream interest to bring up those numbers in 2024.

What’s your take on AEW vs WWE television? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

December 22, 2023 8:40 am