After the landmark pay-per-view event in Texas on July 12, All Elite Wrestling returned to TV on July 16 with the first episode of “AEW Dynamite” since Hangman Page captured the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley. In the main event, Page defeated Death Rider, and Tekra won a $100,000 prize in Chicago. The show also featured a humorous moment as ring announcer Justin Roberts and others made fun of the former EVP Young Bucks.
Despite high expectations for strong viewership on TBS following the hype in Texas, the ratings for this “Dynamite” episode were somewhat underwhelming. Reports from Wrestlenomics and programming insiders revealed that the show averaged 588,000 viewers, which is 8% lower than the 637,000 viewers on July 9 and 8% below the four-week average of 642,000 viewers. However, these figures only represent TBS viewership and do not include fans who streamed the show on HBO Max.
In the key 18-49 demographic, the rating also dropped, measuring 0.15 — a 6% decrease from the previous week’s 0.16 and 12% below the four-week average of 0.17. Yet, AEW still led prime-time cable broadcasts for the evening with this rating, narrowly surpassing Fox News’ “Gutfeld,” which had similar ratings but fewer viewers. With a 0.15 rating, “Dynamite” secured a spot in the top 10 for the night, ranking 9th overall among network and cable television broadcasts.
Fan Take: These ratings show that while AEW’s viewership fluctuates, the brand remains a strong contender in prime-time cable wrestling programming. Sustaining this momentum is crucial for AEW fans as it reflects the growing mainstream appeal and competitiveness of the sport.
