This week’s WWE Raw set an unfortunate record in becoming the lowest-viewed episode in the show’s 30-year history. Wrestlenomics reported that the festive “Best Of 2023” show, which looked back at the biggest moments in WWE over the past year, drew an average of just 698,000 overall viewers and got a .18 rating in the 18-49 key demographic. The surprisingly low overall viewership, which was a 33% drop from last year’s “Best Of 2022” WWE Raw, led some to believe that this could allow AEW Dynamite to get a major viewership victory over Raw for the first time ever.
Wrestlenomics reports that the December 27th 2023 edition of AEW Dynamite drew 843,000 average total viewers and achieved a .31 rating in the 18-49 key demographic. On top of this being the show’s highest rating since AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam back in September, this week’s figures also mark the first time AEW Dynamite has drawn more overall viewers than WWE Raw in the same week. In the past, Dynamite has surpassed Raw in the P18-49 demo on several occasions but AEW’s flagship show has never beaten the red brand in total viewership until now.
Shortly after the ratings emerged, AEW President Tony Khan took to X to celebrate the huge ratings milestone, though he did not mention the show’s viewership victory over WWE’s flagship program.
“Thank you all who watched Wednesday #AEWDynamite last night on @TBSNetwork,” Khan wrote. “Thank you to the @AEW team in & out of the ring, because of you + great fans, last night was the best @AEWonTV rating since Grand Slam in September, which bodes well for #AEWWorldsEnd ppv THIS SATURDAY!”
This week’s Dynamite served as both the final edition of the show before the inaugural AEW Worlds End pay-per-view as well as the last episode of 2023 overall. On the show itself, MJF shockingly lost the ROH World Tag Team Championship to two of The Devil’s Masked Men after Samoa Joe was incapacitated backstage, leading Friedman to defend the titles on his own. However, Joe’s absence was later revealed to be a ploy between himself and The Devil as Joe attacked MJF after the match and laid him out ahead of their AEW World Championship match at Worlds End.