The return of Kenny Omega led to AEW Dynamite ranking second on cable while experiencing a decrease from the week prior.
The August 17th show from West Virginia averaged 957,000 viewers and approximately 391,000 (0.30) in the 18-49 demographic, according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
Overall viewership saw a minuscule drop of 1.5 percent but the in the key demos there was a large decline.
The 18-49 dropped by nine percent with females in the category falling 17 percent from last week’s average. It was their lowest 18-49 audience since June 15th.
In 18-34, the decrease was 19 percent and their lowest figure since July 20th.
In 12-34, female viewership was up by 17 percent but the male audience in the demo declined by 32.5 percent.
Adults 35-54 fell by four percent and adults 50+ were up by two percent.
Dynamite ranked second among cable originals behind Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which also did 0.30 in the 18-49 demographic.
In Canada, the show tied its lowest audience of the year with approximately 61,000 viewers and 30,000 in the 25-54 demographic on TSN 2. It was tied with the same viewership set on April 27th and excluding that week it would be the lowest Dynamite audience in Canada (in its regular slot) since July 2021. Over the previous four weeks, Dynamite had averaged 96,650 viewers in Canada and 52,200 in the 25-54 demo as a comparison. The show did not finish among the top ten sports programs this week and they were airing against the World Junior Hockey Championships and a Toronto Blue Jays game.
The show featured the return of Kenny Omega in his first match since last November’s Full Gear pay-per-view. Omega was not directly advertised but heavily hinted at as the mystery partner of The Young Bucks throughout the week. The show also featured a two-of-three falls match between Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia.
The company has announced a major match for next week’s show with CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley for the Undisputed Championship and it could be argued that it’s the biggest match AEW has ever presented on television.
