This past Friday night, AEW and WWE went head-to-head again, as Collision aired a day early on TNT, up against SmackDown on Fox. The last time the two industry leaders aired programming at the same time was on October 10, when WWE pulled out all the stops in a Tuesday night battle pitting NXT against Dynamite. Ultimately, WWE’s use of big-name stars, like John Cena and The Undertaker, was too much for AEW to compete with. WWE handily won the night with more than 300,000 more viewers.
Wrestlenomics reports that this past Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown drew an average overall audience of 2,206,000 viewers, with about 815,000 in the P18 – 49 demo. This is up 1% in average overall viewership and 8% in the P18 – 49 demo from the week before.
By contrast, AEW Collision drew an average overall audience of 270,000 viewers, with about 111,000 in the P18 – 49 demo. This was the lowest average overall viewership in the history of Collision and the second lowest in the P18 – 49 demo, barely edging out the September 30 episode that did about 5,000 fewer viewers in the key demo. This is down 32% in overall average viewership and 21% in the P18 – 49 demo from the week before.
This past Friday’s episode of Collision was followed by Rampage, which typically airs on that night. Rampage drew an average overall audience of 280,000 viewers, with about 121,000 in the P18 – 49 demo. This is, obviously, more overall and P18 – 49 demo viewership than the AEW Collision episode that proceeded it. However, it was still down 13% in average overall viewership and 22% in the P18 – 49 demo from the week before.
AEW also aired a 30-minute Full Gear countdown special after Rampage, rounding out three and a half hours of AEW programming for the night. It drew an average overall audience of 139,000 viewers, with about 58,000 in the P18 – 49 demo. The AEW All Out countdown special that aired in September drew an average overall audience of 158,000 viewers, with about 61,000 in the P18 – 49 demo. At the time, it was noted that it was the lowest viewership ever for an AEW countdown special, but it has lost that distinction to the latest special.