AEW’s up and down 2023 continues.
Nothing in wrestling is ever straightforward, but even by that measure, AEW has had something of a wild ride since January 1st. While the company has added another show to its weekly programming, delivered some incredible action in the ring, and hosted one of the biggest events in history at Wembley Stadium, that’s only part of the story.
At various points, domestic live attendance has fallen, Collision has struggled against WWE and NXT, and the company fired arguably its biggest star CM Punk.
WrestleDream appears to have summed up these mixed fortunes as many of the matches were universally praised, but as Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, attendance hit a new low.
“The show drew 7,300 total fans with 6,500 paid. Aside from the pandemic shows in Jacksonville, this would be the lowest numbers for an AEW PPV show in is history.”
Meltzer added that matters were made worse by empty seats being visible on television.
“A negative was that even in tight shots of ringside, you could see a lot of empty seats just a few rows down. They kept trying to change camera angles from usual to avoid shooting them. WWE covers that using seat fillers. It was noticeable even deep into the show.”
Dave Meltzer NXT No Mercy Match Ratings
- Blair Davenport vs. Kelani Jordan *1/2
- Baron Corbin vs. Bron Breakker **3/4
- Trick Williams vs. Dominik Mysterio (c) – NXT North American Title **1/2
- The Family (c) vs. The Creed Brothers vs. Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo vs. OTM – NXT Tag Team Titles ***3/4
- Noam Dar (c) vs. Butch – NXT Heritage Cup ***1/4
- Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes (c) – NXT Championship ****3/4
- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Tiffany Stratton – NXT Women’s Title (Extreme Rules Match) ****1/2
Further confirmation on AEW WrestleDream has been provided in a new report.