Going against the Democratic presidential debate but no major sports competition, both AEW Dynamite and NXT were up in the ratings this week.
Dynamite averaged 893,000 viewers, up nine percent from last week. In the 18-49 demo, the show averaged a 0.31 rating, which was up three percent from the prior week. Dynamite finished fifth in the cable TV ratings in that category.
NXT was up five percent, averaging 794,000 viewers. In the 18-49 demo, it averaged a 0.25 rating, up four percent from last week. NXT finished 16th in the cable rankings, one of their better finishes in that category.
Aside from when the show ran unopposed on Christmas night, it was the highest viewership total for NXT since December 18.
The demos were different than usual this week as the shows tied in people over 50, a category NXT usually wins out in. NXT had a slight win in people 18-34, with a 0.19 rating to Dynamite’s 0.18.
AEW won big in males 18-49 with a 0.44 rating to NXT’s 0.32. But with females in that age range, the shows both had a 0.18 rating.
The debate likely hurt NXT more than AEW, given that the debate did a monster rating in people over 50, the category NXT usually wins in.
The only sports competition on the night was a college basketball game on ESPN that only aired against the second half of the wrestling shows and averaged 978,000 viewers.
Miz and Mrs, which follows NXT on USA Network, had a season-high 500,000 viewers this week and averaged a 0.17 rating in 18-49, finishing 40th on cable in that demo.
Here’s a look at the last 10 weeks of ratings and viewership totals for both Dynamite and NXT: