AEW Dynamite Ratings Surge Over 1 Million For Jon Moxley’s Destruction Of CM Punk

AEW Dynamite’s viewership was up big on a night where Jon Moxley squashed CM Punk in a world title match.

Dynamite’s August 24 broadcast, featuring CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley, drew 1.049 million total viewers per ShowBuzz Daily. Dynamite drew a 0.34 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Dynamite was No. 1 in the cable ratings, giving it the top spot in 3 of the last four weeks. This was AEW Dynamite’s first broadcast over one million viewers since AEW Blood and Guts on June 29.

AEW Dynamite was built around one of the show’s biggest matches in history as CM Punk faced Jon Moxley to crown a new AEW undisputed world champion. This free preview of the AEW All Out main event was newsworthy as Moxley squashed a hobbled CM Punk in a matter of minutes, beating him decisively to go from interim to undisputed world champion.

“The same people that wanted to write my obituary the moment CM Punk came back. They’re the same people who wanted to call me interim champion, they’re the same people who always write me off!” said a defiant Moxley in post-match promo.

“I’m not just some guy, I am the guy in this industry!”

Punk’s shockingly quick loss only intensified speculation about his status in AEW amid reports that he was unhappy and considered staying home for last week’s AEW Dynamite. Instead, Punk showed up and opened the show with a shoot promo against Hangman Adam Page. Punk’s squash match loss could be seen as punishment for his actions, however AEW promptly confirmed Punk and Moxley’s rematch will main event AEW All Out on September 4, 2022 in CM Punk’s hometown of Chicago.

In Punk’s defeat, AEW shrewdly wove in a storyline that the former world champion possibly returned too soon after being out for months with an ankle injury. Similar to Moxley in his home state of Ohio, Punk should be a massive babyface in his hometown of Chicago as he attempts to limp his way to a second world title run.

AEW Dynamite Ratings | August 24, 2022

• AEW Dynamite Total Viewership | 938,000
• AEW Dynamite 18-49 Viewership; 0.32 18-49 rating

Dynamite’s strong rating comes on the heels of WWE Raw doing another impressive number with 2.005 million viewers for its sold-out return to Toronto, Canada. The show was main evented by hometown hero Edge—who had previously struggled to gain traction as a ratings draw since his return—defeating Damian Priest.

AEW’s ratings softened throughout August. Heading into Wednesday’s high-profile show, Dynamite had topped the cable ratings in two of its last three weeks, however year-over-year viewership for both Dynamite and AEW Rampage is on the decline.

This past Friday’s AEW Rampage marked the one-year anniversary of Punk’s memorable debut, which garnered 1.1 million viewers on August 20, 2021. One year later, AEW Rampage drew just 461,000 average viewers, down 55% year-over-year. Not only was last week’s viewership of 957,000 down from the 975,000 the year prior, it was on a show featuring the (somewhat unadvertised) return of Kenny Omega.

WWE and AEW War Heats Up Amid Tampering Claims

Despite AEW’s declines, pro wrestling continues to show well compared to other cable shows. WWE Raw and AEW Dynamite ranked No. 3 and No. 16, respectively, in the top 25 cable shows of last week. As the competition between WWE and AEW heats up, so does the tension. Tony Khan reportedly brought up contract tampering as a topic of yesterday’s mandatory talent meeting.

AEW’s legal team, led by AEW Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh, sent WWE an email to warn co-CEO’s Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon about tampering with contracted AEW talent. Of course, in an interview with AEW Unrestricted, Keith Lee noted that Tony Khan reached out to him three days after he left WWE, and while still under a non-compete clause. Meanwhile, Jeff Hardy was able to show up on AEW television the day his contract expired. Tampering appears to be happening on both sides, but AEW is the first pot to call the kettle black by making legal threats against WWE.

With viewership stuck in the mid-900,000 range, AEW looked to a world title match between two of its top stars to reinvigorate viewership. AEW Dynamite drew 1.2 million viewers this time last year, so while AEW has cause for celebration, year-to-year viewership continues to trend downward.