After $21.4 Billion TKO Merger, Vince McMahon Brutally Stomps Tony Khan’s AEW With Over 5X TV Viewership This Week

After the financial success of the AEW All-In event in the UK, AEW finally managed to match WWE’s audience numbers. Just when AEW reached closer to WWE, Vince McMahon raised the bar further with WWE’s deal with Endeavor (worth $21.4 Billion) to form TKO Holdings.

The recent ticket sales of regular TV programs in WWE & AEW reflect the difference between the two companies. But one does not need sales numbers to see the difference, as it was evident from the pictures of the arena.

AEW Collision’s recent show at State College shows empty seats

A wrestling fan had uploaded a clip on X on September 17th of an almost empty arena from AEW Collision’s latest show at State College arena, Pennsylvania. With the caption, “Attendance for tonight’s AEW COLLISION in State College, Pennsylvania. Let’s have some discussion here with the # WWE fans. #AEW #AEWCollision #PennState”, they set the stage for yet another WWE vs. AEW debate.

The clip showed an almost empty arena for the AEW Collision show on 16th September, which would be a concern for Tony Khan. As per WrestleTix, AEW Collision had about 4200 tickets on sale, out of which only 2400 were sold. In fact, AEW Dynamite also had an attendance record of only 2667 tickets.

In comparison, the WWE RAW show at Scope Arena sold over 7447 tickets, and the following episode of SmackDown at Ball Arena in Denver recorded the sale of 12893 tickets. One of the major reasons for SmackDown’s high attendance was the presence of John Cena and the unexpected return of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. The presence of the two legendary superstars not only elevated the show for the Live Audience but also for the TV Viewers.

SmackDown beats AEW shows in TV ratings

As per the reporting of PWMania.com, SmackDown’s episode on 15th September recorded 2.445 million views with a rating of 0.64 in the 18-49 age group. AEW Collision recorded poor numbers in comparison.

Read more: WWE SmackDown Crosses 2 Million Viewership for the First Time in Last 70 Weeks

As per 411Mania.com, WWE SmackDown broke numbers, AEW Collision had a viewership of 476,000 views after it rose from the previous week’s poor viewership. The show also had a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 age group and a 0.11 rating in the 18-34 age group.

Collision was also ranked 14th behind many sports programs. It was also the best-rated non-sports TV show. In its time slot, it was ranked 3rd on cable behind the Texas vs. Alabama game on ESPN and Pat McAfee simulcast on ESPN2. However, WWE seems to have set the bar quite high with its new move. 

What do you think about AEW’s attendance numbers? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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