More on AEW & NXT Week 137 Viewership – May 24 & 25, 2022, AEW Rampage Week 41

May 28, 2022

More on WWE NXT Viewership for May 24th

The May 24th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a large decline in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a slight decline in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 551,000 viewers and a 0.13 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 40th place.

Detailed viewership and key demographic breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reason for NXT’s declines this week was due to very stiff competition from sports and news coverage of the school shooting attack in Uvalde, Texas. Another key reason was due to the large declines from their Teenagers and younger key demographic viewership groups, which were down 40% and 12.5% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA 2022 Playoffs Game 4 of Golden State Warriors vs. Dallas Mavericks drew 6,193,000 viewers on TNT, the NHL 2022 Playoffs Game 4 of Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers drew 1,550,000 viewers on ESPN, and the NHL 2022 Playoffs Game 4 of Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers drew 902,000 viewers on ESPN.

In terms of key demographic viewership, Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that NXT drew 170,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female split was 117,000 male key demographic viewers and 53,000 female key demographic viewers.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 21.1% in overall viewership but even in key demographic viewership.

More on AEW Dynamite Viewership for May 25th

The May 25th episode of AEW Dynamite saw AEW gain a slight increase in overall viewership, key demographic ratings, and key demographic rankings.

AEW drew 929,000 viewers and a 0.35 key demographic rating on TBS. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that night was 6th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s increases this week was due to the large increases from their female key demographic viewership groups, which were up 33.9% in Females 18-34 and up 14.7% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly was enough to offset the stiff competition from sports and news programming and the declines from their male key demographic viewership groups, which were down 4.3% and 2.9% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA 2022 Playoffs Game 5 of Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat drew 6,422,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL 2022 Playoffs Game 5 of St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche drew 1,394,000 viewers on TNT, and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills drew 985,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 450,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was down 4.3%, Females 18-34 was up 33.9%, Males 35-49 was down 2.9%, and Females 35-49 was up 14.7% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of the one million viewership milestone, three out of AEW’s eight quarters averaged one million or more viewers. AEW’s quarter peak was at 1,126,000 viewers for their first quarter and their quarter low point was at 822,000 viewers for their seventh quarter.

In terms of yearly comparisons, AEW was up 76.6% in overall viewership and up 75% in key demographic viewership.

AEW Dynamite started off with around 1,126,000 viewers and their biggest gain of the night was the Samoa Joe vs. Kyle O’Reilly match which gained 41,000 viewers. AEW’s biggest decline of the night was the Owen Hart Tournament hype video promo segment and the FTR vs. Roppongi Vice match which lost 124,000 viewers.

More on AEW Rampage Viewership for May 20th

The May 20th episode of AEW Rampage saw AEW gain a large increase in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a small increase in key demographic ratings. That week’s show was notable for being the third week in a row Rampage aired at an earlier start time due to TNT’s current NHL Playoffs commitments.

AEW Rampage drew 410,000 viewers and a 0.15 key demographic rating on TNT. AEW’s key demographic ranking for that week’s show was 13th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reason for AEW’s gains that week was due to the large gains from their overall key demographic viewership group, which was up 25% compared to the prior week’s show. Another reason was due to the large gains from their older male key demographic viewership group, which was up 56.3% compared to the prior week’s show. This reportedly was enough to offset the large declines from their older female key demographic viewership group, which was down 26.5% compared to the prior week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NASCAR XFINITY 2022 Charlotte Qualifier drew 191,000 viewers on Fox Sports 1.

In terms of key demographic viewership, AEW had 190,000 viewers. AEW’s Males 18-34 was up 7.4%, Females 18-34 was up 4.7%, Males 35-49 was up 56.3%, and Females 35-49 was down 26.5% compared to the prior week’s show. Meltzer reported that week’s Rampage show was the show was the sixth youngest skewing sports show for the week, behind one Spanish La Liga soccer game, three NHL Playoff games, and one NBA Playoff game. That week’s Dynamite show was the eight youngest, behind the shows listed above and one Formula 1 race.

AEW Rampage started off with around 377,000 viewers and had around 403,000 viewers for their second quarter, around 386,000 viewers for their third quarter, and around 472,000 viewers for their main event quarter featuring the Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson vs. Matt Sydal & Dante Martin match and the post-match brawl with Chris Jericho and Jake Hager.