Three years in the past, AEW’s rankings have been sky-high. By September 2021, “AEW Dynamite” had formally demolished “WWE NXT,” sending WWE’s third/developmental model scurrying again to Tuesday nights and the ignominy of being rebranded as “NXT 2.0.” “Dynamite’s” total viewership numbers have been surging to the purpose that they weren’t that far beneath these of “WWE Uncooked,” on total viewership and “Dynamite” had truly began beating “Uncooked” in the important thing 18-49 demographic. In 2024, the scenario could be very completely different, and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Publication thinks he is aware of why.
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Based on Meltzer, the largest a part of AEW’s decline has been the drop in viewership within the 18-34 age vary, as it is a patterned group that can comply with traits and fads, which in wrestling usually results in wrestlers, reveals, and whole firms gaining momentum. In 2020, Chris Jericho was utilizing AEW’s success on this particular demographic to take gloating pictures on the competitors, going as far as to name himself “The Demo-God” — Meltzer additionally touted AEW’s 18-34 rankings on the time, claiming that AEW would have been beating WWE in that metric if not for the competitors from “NXT.” Now, Meltzer says the numbers inform a special story: AEW’s rankings within the 18-34 demographic have collapsed, whereas WWE’s are actually robust.
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“It is a group onerous to succeed in for tv however very useful,” Meltzer wrote, “and with AEW in contract season, what that they had that was very useful is what they’ve misplaced within the final two months.”
Meltzer additionally dove deeper into the rankings from the Could 1 block of programming, as there was a steep drop between the top of “AEW Dynamite” and the beginning of “AEW Rampage.” Meltzer believes the “Rampage” model has a destructive aura round it, as some followers (notably males) have come to see the present as skippable.
