Will Ospreay spoke about AEW Dynamite’s recent television figures for the June 18 episode, which hit a record low for the program in its 18-49 demographic.
Ospreay spoke with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri to promote Forbidden Door this Sunday and was asked about the June 19 figures and his approach to criticism regarding the promotion:
That one did suck to see that rating come out because for me, that was a home-run Dynamite. It was an excellent showcase, there wasn’t any down points for it. Outside of being in the wrestling business, I just thought it was a really good Dynamite and it sucks it was such a low rating but it’s motivating me and I’m sure it’s going to motivate others to try and think out of the box and try and come back swinging. I’m not someone who ignores that s**t, I see it and I take note of it and make sure whatever we do next week, we come back swinging. We shouldn’t ignore criticism, we shouldn’t shy away from it, we are still a five-year (old) company. For me personally, AEW still has a lot of growing pains to go through and even myself, I wasn’t someone from WWE, the only thing I had going for me is I was a New Japan wrestler. This is all new for me, like this what, my fourth month on weekly TV? I’m still learning the ropes with all this.
The June 19 episode of Dynamite averaged 502,000 viewers and 0.16 in the 18-49 demographic. It was the third-lowest audience in Dynamite’s history and lowest in its regular slot on Wednesdays while the demo audience was the smallest ever.
The show did not include its regular lead-in of Big Bang Theory on TBS as the network aired the film “Black Panther” on the Juneteenth holiday.
This week’s figures experienced an increase to 680,000 viewers and 0.22 in the demo.
Ospreay will challenge Swerve Strickland for the AEW Championship at Forbidden Door this Sunday at the UBS Arena on Long Island, New York.
