AEW vs. NXT Ratings: Who Is Winning the Wednesday Night Wars?
By Joe Otterson
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – All Elite Wrestling’s “Dynamite” currently enjoys a solid ratings edge over WWE’s in the so-called Wednesday Night Wars.
AEW and NXT have been going head-to-head on Wednesday nights for about three months now, with “Dynamite” airing on and NXT airing on USA Network. According to Nielsen Live+Same Day figures through Jan. 1, “Dynamite” is currently averaging a 0.38 rating in adults 18-49 and approximately 905,000 total viewers per week, with ’s show doing double or better than NXT’s 18-49 rating its first four weeks on the air. NXT is averaging a 0.26 rating and 795,000 total viewers. It should be noted that NXT began airing on USA two weeks prior to the launch of “Dynamite” and also aired an episode on Christmas Day while “Dynamite” did not.
It should also be noted that while “Dynamite” was well ahead of NXT in the early going, the two shows have drawn closer to even in recent weeks. NXT recently outdrew “Dynamite” for the first time in the 18-49 demographic on Dec. 18. NXT has thus far outperformed AEW’s show in total viewers on three occasions. On Dec. 11, the two shows were dead even in viewership.
AEW has the advantage in delayed viewing as well. In Live+7 through Dec. 18, “Dynamite” is averaging 1.2 million viewers per week, with 654,000 of those in 18-49. That represents an approximate viewership lift of 32% per week. NXT, meanwhile, is averaging 972,000 viewers in Live+7 with 428,000 in 18-49, a viewership lift of approximately 20%.
However, WWE’s flagship shows, “Monday Night Raw” and “SmackDown,” currently enjoy substantially larger viewership than either NXT or “Dynamite,” with those two shows drawing over 2 million viewers a week in Live+Same Day. “Raw” also airs on USA while “SmackDown” began airing on Fox back in October.
Read a complete breakdown of the current Live+Same Day ratings below.
The matchup between the two shows has been dubbed the Wednesday Night Wars as a callback to the Monday Night Wars of the 1990s and early 2000s, in which “Raw” went up against WCW’s “Monday Night Nitro.” The media landscape has certainly changed since those days, however, as both “Raw” and “Nitro” would typically draw between a 2 and 3 rating in 18-49, with some episodes hitting as high as a 5 or 6.
NXT is the brainchild of WWE’s Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who created the brand to serve as a developmental territory for new and upcoming WWE talent. Current NXT stars include Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Shayna Baszler, the tag team of Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish, Matt Riddle, and Keith Lee.
AEW is fronted by wrestlers and company executives Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, brothers Nick and Matt Jackson (who wrestle as the tag team The Young Bucks), and Kenny Omega. Other top AEW stars include WWE veteran Chris Jericho, Nyla Rose, and Jon Moxley, who formerly wrestled under the name Dean Ambrose. Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C. executive Tony Khan serves as president and CEO.
Live+Same Day Ratings
| AEW | NXT | |||
| Broadcast Date | Adults 18-49 | Total Viewers | Adults 18-49 | Total Viewers |
| Sept. 18 | N/A | N/A | 0.43 | 1,179,000 |
| Sept. 25 | N/A | N/A | 0.32 | 1.006,000 |
| Oct. 2 | 0.68 | 1,400,000 | 0.32 | 891,000 |
| Oct. 9 | 0.46 | 1,020,000 | 0.22 | 790,000 |
| Oct. 16 | 0.44 | 1,010,000 | 0.2 | 712,000 |
| Oct. 23 | 0.45 | 963,000 | 0.21 | 698,000 |
| Oct. 30 | 0.33 | 759,000 | 0.18 | 580,000 |
| Nov. 6 | 0.35 | 822,000 | 0.3 | 813,000 |
| Nov. 13 | 0.43 | 957,000 | 0.25 | 750,000 |
| Nov. 20 | 0.39 | 893,000 | 0.3 | 916,000 |
| Nov. 27 | 0.26 | 663,000 | 0.24 | 810,000 |
| Dec. 4 | 0.32 | 851,000 | 0.29 | 845,000 |
| Dec. 11 | 0.28 | 778,000 | 0.24 | 778,000 |
| Dec. 18 | 0.25 | 683,000 | 0.27 | 795,000 |
| Dec. 25 | N/A | N/A | 0.22 | 831,000 |
| Jan. 1 | 0.36 | 967,000 | 0.15 | 548,000 |
| Average | 0.38 | 905,077 | 0.26 | 795,733 |
(Pictured: Chris Jericho, left; Keith Lee, right)
