A staggering 89,000 viewers changed the channel immediately after Tony Khan announced the exit of CM Punk on AEW Collision.
According to viewership data compiled by Wrestlenomics, following Tony Khan’s announcement, Collision’s audience decreased from 472,000 to 383,000, representing a 19% drop in the total viewership.
It is unclear whether this drop in viewership can be attributed to audiences who tuned in solely to hear about Punk’s departure, or if the announcement genuinely unsettled fans to the point where they decided to stop watching the show.
Something worth noting is that lower ratings were expected for AEW Collision this week, due to it going head-to-head with college football.
College football generally scores quite highly in television ratings, so another possible explanation is that AEW simply lost viewers to the football.
Overall, AEW Collision averaged 345,000 viewers over its two-hour show. The episode was headlined by a clash between Jay White and Dax Harwood, who have been embroiled in a feud for months alongside their stablemates.
In July 2023, AEW Collision was averaging 739,000 viewers, which is more than twice the number reported this week. This significant drop suggests that the increased competition has substantially impacted AEW’s viewership.
In recent news, Eric Bischoff has stated that Collision’s viewership drop had “nothing to do with CM Punk.”
The viewership figures for AEW Dynamite Grand Slam have been revealed.
Changes Coming To AEW Collision
With the departure of CM Punk, it has been reported that AEW’s soft brand split is coming to an end.
Previously, names like The Young Bucks and Hangman Page would only appear on Dynamite, while names like CM Punk would only appear on Collision, in order to keep any backstage unrest to an absolute minimum.
However, with The Young Bucks appearing at the end of this week’s Collision to save FTR from a Bullet Club Gold beatdown, this ruling seems to have been scrapped.
In recent news, Dave Meltzer’s AEW All Out star ratings have been revealed.