POST IT NOTES
**A reminder that our contest to win tickets to an advanced screening of “The Iron Claw” in Toronto ends on Friday. You can win multiple ways through our Instagram contest or submit your casting choice for a future wrestling bio. We will announce the winner and adjudicate the contest this Monday on Rewind-A-Raw.
We're giving away pairs of tix to a Toronto advanced screening of #TheIronClaw on Dec 14th at the Scotiabank Theatre. To enter:
1. Follow @postwrestling
2. Tweet us your dream wrestling biopic casting using two photosWinning entries will be judged and selected Dec 8th on RASD. pic.twitter.com/4onpWs85le
— POST Wrestling (@POSTwrestling) November 28, 2023
**Rewind-A-Dynamite is live tonight at 10 p.m. ET. POST Wrestling’s Andrew Thompson will join me for a review of Dynamite in Montreal and chat about all the latest news in the industry.
AEW VIEWERSHIP – NOVEMBER 2023
Dynamite
Overall Viewership
November 2023: 832,000
October 2023: 825,000*
September 2023: 904,000
November 2022: 882,000
Adults 18-49
November 2023: 362,000
October 2023: 363,000*
September 2023: 411,000
November 2022: 385,000
Adults 18-34
November 2023: 137,000
October 2023: 151,000*
September 2023: 154,000
November 2022: 148,000
*Excluding one episode that aired on Tuesday night
Dynamite is down slightly in its overall viewership than the percentage of cable homes that TBS has lost. Essentially, Dynamite has held up over the past year despite the product being under greater scrutiny and live event ticket sales in markets being lower. It is not on an upward trajectory but neither a downward one when factoring in fewer homes with access to TBS than a year ago. There is an unproven theory regarding the impact of Collision on Dynamite’s weekly audience as this data would suggest at best, Collision has had no effect, and at worst, it has curbed growth.
Collision
Overall Viewership
November 2023: 360,000*
October 2023: 462,000
September 2023: 435,000
Adults 18-49
November 2023: 126,000*
October 2023: 173,000
September 2023: 177,000
Adults 18-34
November 2023: 36,000*
October 2023: 74,000
September 2023: 55,000
*Excluding one episode that aired on Friday night
November was a tough month for Collision and that’s without including one week’s airing on Friday outside its normal night. While college football was going to be impactful, the real damage has been from WWE’s premium live events and the breaking of any momentum for the show. While not facing WWE weekly, the shows are consistent enough to interrupt the Collision audience and need to rebuild. This past Saturday’s episode showed an encouraging sign while airing against two major football games that attracted over 17 million viewers combined. This Saturday, Collision airs against NXT Deadline and then has a clear path of WWE shows for seven weeks until the Royal Rumble. Although, they are going to be hit hard by the NFL running on Saturdays beginning December 16. This is also the period since CM Punk’s release. Bryan Danielson has taken the baton as the top star on Collision, although that was interrupted when he broke his orbital bone and was out for a month.
Rampage
Overall Viewership
November 2023: 300,000*
October 2023: 358,000
September 2023: 359,000**
November 2022: 452,000***
Adults 18-49
November 2023: 141,000*
October 2023: 154,000
September 2023: 157,000**
November 2022: 172,000***
Adults 18-34
November 2023: 48,000*
October 2023: 52,000
September 2023: 54,000**
November 2022: 65,000***
*Excluding one episode that aired on Saturday
**Includes two-hour Grand Slam edition
***Excluding one episode that aired at 4 p.m. ET
We tried to make this as equal a comparison as possible with the elimination of shows airing outside the normal night and time. The losses are sizable compared to one year ago and cannot be attributed to TNT cable homes being fewer. It’s a 34% drop in overall viewers from last year, 18% in the 18-49 demo, and 26% in 18-34. Unlike Dynamite, this can be listed as a factor of Collision being added and slotting Rampage as a clear third-tier show and the easiest one to skip. The show’s identity seems to be unique pairings and matches akin to WCW Saturday Night with its usage of cruiserweights and veterans to appeal to the ardent follower that will consume all AEW programming. The show had a bump last Friday night where nothing was promoted on Dynamite, but they did include an appearance by Sting and Ric Flair, which is not the norm for that show. If Rampage didn’t exist, would Collision viewership benefit? It’s a question you can’t answer and typically, if a product is hot the audience will find it. When WWE programming was not connecting, the number of hours was constantly brought up and when the product got hot, suddenly there was enough time as Raw, SmackDown, and NXT have all experienced waves of improvement among its audience levels. For now, Rampage should aim to maintain its audience without eroding it further but when you have something of value, it’s better served for Dynamite or Collision. The audience is repeatedly taught this lesson from few angles ever being shot on Rampage, no Continental Classic matches, and being the most self-contained of the shows AEW produces.
WRESTLING NEWS
**Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hokuto Omori won All Japan’s Real World Tag League on Wednesday by beating Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi on the final night. The tournament was down to four teams coming into Korakuen Hall on Wednesday. Earlier in the night, Jun & Rei Saito and Suwama & Hideki Suzuki lost their matches and were eliminated. It came down to the final match Nakajima & Omori won after Omori pinned Aoyagi. It ends Miyahara’s streak after winning the Tag League over the past three years. The next major card is December 31 where Nakajima defends the Triple Crown against Miyahara. The final night of the tournament drew 1,443 fans with the following results: (Courtesy: Purolove.com):
*Real World Tag League: Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hokuto Omori (12) over Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi in 20:30
*Real World Tag League: Ryuki Honda & Yuma Anzai (9) over Jun & Rei Saito (10) in 14:42 – The AJPW tag champions Jun & Rei Saito also lost matches to Miyahara & Aoyagi, Suwama & Suzuki, and Nakajima & Omori in the Tag League
*Real World Tag League: Shuji Ishikawa & Ren Ayabe (6) over Suwama & Hideki Suzuki (10) in 12:15
*Jr. Battle of Glory – Finals: Dan Tamura over Naruki Doi in 15:30
*Real World Tag League: Hayato Tamura & Galeno del Mal (10) over Cyrus & Ryan Davidson (8) in 8:50
*Real World Tag League: Kuroshio Tokyo Japan & Seigo Tachibana (8) over Yukio Sakaguchi & Hideki Okatani (8) in 11:10
*GAORA Television Title: Minoru Tanaka © over Takao Omori, Black Menso-re & Yoshitatsu in 7:45
*Hikaru Sato, Fuminori Abe & Koji Iwamoto over Atsuki Aoyagi, Rising HAYATO & Ryo Inoue in 8:12
**AEW runs its second night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec following Tuesday’s Collision taping. The show on Tuesday did see a late pickup in tickets distributed with WrestleTix reporting 3,913 tickets out for the Collision taping. Tonight’s show stood at 4,450 as of Sunday and the trend is ticket purchasers waiting until the final day to see if prices go down, so the final number for Dynamite could easily exceed 5,000. The major match is Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland for the TNT Championship in their first 1-on-1 match since May 2010 and only their second match together since 2002. Below is the lineup for tonight’s show:
*TNT Championship: Christian Cage © vs. Adam Copeland
*AEW Women’s Championship: Toni Storm © vs. Skye Blue
*Gold League: Mark Briscoe vs. Swerve Strickland
*Gold League: Jon Moxley vs. Rush
*Gold League: Jay Lethal vs. Jay White
**Adam Copeland spoke to Justin Barrasso of SI.com regarding the match’s location:
There’s something special about doing it in Canada. I am really, really amped up to do this one. I truly think there’s not another story like ours, with this real story. Two friends from Orangeville, Ontario, who made it where we made it because of each other. I’m hoping this is a rabid crowd. This is what I dreamed of–working that guy in Montreal for a championship.
**This past Monday, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that Kevin Sullivan is out at AEW in his role as Vice President of Post Production with Meltzer reporting that the decision was made by Senior Vice President and co-executive Producer Mike Mansury. Sullivan has worked for multiple promotions over the years including WWE as a senior producer and with IMPACT Wrestling as its Vice President of Production. Sullivan founded his own production company in 2003 based in Nashville and has been working with AEW since October 2019.
**Mya Lesnar, the daughter of Brock, posted a video of setting the Colorado State University shotput record. Lesnar threw the shotput 18.5 meters as she continued her season as a junior on the school’s track team. Lesnar called it, “A new PR (personal record) and a new school record. Happy with a strong start to my season.”
**FITE TV has announced that the cost of an AEW Plus subscription is being raised by $1 to $7.99 per month in the next billing cycle. Updated benefits include 20% off all AEW pay-per-views on FITE and promotional discounts on AEW Shop.
**WWE has stated that The War and Treaty will be performing at Tribute to the Troops this Friday in Providence, Rhode Island. The show will include an appearance by CM Punk, Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka, and the two U.S. Title #1 Contenders Tournament matches with Bobby Lashley vs. Karrion Kross and Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar.
**A QR code was visible on the NXT broadcast on Tuesday night that directed fans to a poster for the event with a voiceover from Cora Jade stating, “See you at Deadline”.
**MMA Fighting received the police report regarding last week’s arrest of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill. The Kentwood Police Department charged Hill with domestic assault for allegedly striking his brother James. The police report cites an argument between the brothers over an agreement for James to clean Jamahal’s house for $300 while also arguing over other family issues. Jamahal allegedly struck his brother twice and knocked him to the ground both twice with James having a tooth knocked out. In the report, it states James asked his brother why he never texted his own daughter and accused Jamahal of “being disrespectful to women and abandoning his own daughter.” James stated he was unsure about contacting the police due to Jamahal’s status as a UFC fighter but when he didn’t receive an apology or explanation for the assault, they were contacted. Jamahal referred to the case on his YouTube channel and said he couldn’t wait for the truth to be told in court and had been advised not to speak further about it.
**The TKO stock dropped to $73.17 on Wednesday and is down 5.5% over the past week.
*****
POLLOCK & THURSTON
John Pollock and Brandon Thurston are joined by Dr. Kris Ealy, plus reaction to TKO president Mark Shapiro’s comments at UBS conference.
*****
upNXT
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review WWE NXT from December 5th, 2023 featuring Carmelo Hayes vs Eddy Thorpe vs Joe Coffey vs Tyler Bate in a Last Chance Iron Survivor Challenge Qualifying Match.
*****
REWIND-A-RAW
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw with Seth Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso.
*****
What Happened to Tammy Sytch?
John Pollock explores the tragic path of Tammy Sytch that resulted in her sentencing last week after the March 2022 death of Julian Lasseter.
*****
COLLISION COURSE
John Siino and Kate From MTL review AEW Collision featuring Blue League Continental Classic matches including Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston.
*****
REWIND-A-SMACKDOWN
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE SmackDown with Randy Orton appearing on the show, Logan Paul setting up his next title defense & more.
*****
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