"That's not what they like" - Vince Russo reveals why more WWE fans are not watching AEW Rampage (Exclusive)
Former WWE head writer Vince Russo recently explained why AEW Rampage has been unable to significantly attract WWE fans on Friday night.
AEW Rampage and WWE Smackdown went head-to-head for 30 straight minutes last week on Friday night. Surprisingly, Tony Khan's promotion outsmarted the blue brand in the coveted 18-49 demographic during the broadcast overlap. Even though WWE garnered more overall viewership, AEW and its wrestlers took it as a big win, given that their B-show defeated WWE's A show to some extent.
But Vince Russo doesn't believe the rising juggernaut is doing anything extraordinary to bring in WWE fans. While speaking with Dr. Chris Featherstone of Sportskeeda Wrestling, Russo stated that he initially thought Mr. Khan made a smart move by launching Rampage and that it would intrigue fans to watch both the shows on Friday night.
"I admit when I was wrong, and when Tony Khan announced Rampage right after Smackdown, I thought that was a brilliant move." Russo continued, "Because I myself thought, oh my gosh, these wrestling fans, WWE fans, are gonna watch this for two hours and go watch that for an hour."
AEW Rampage beat WWE Smackdown in the 18-49 demo during their 30 min head to head battle of Friday, Sept 15th 2021.
CM Punk vs Matt Sydal: 328,000
Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks + Lesnar & Reigns Contract Signing: 285,000.
👌Not bad for a T-Shirt company! @AEWonTNT @_WWESmackDown https://t.co/Of3MGDoKRb
The veteran writer further explained that WWE fans are more inclined towards SmackDown product where they like seeing Roman Reigns kick off the show and the other backstage segments presented.
Russo added that when fans switch over to watch Rampage, they only see wrestling, not compelling storytelling:
"Well, we've seen seven weeks in a row of Rampage, and I'll tell you exactly why that is, the 2 million fans that watch WWE. Bro, that's the format they like. That's what they're used to. Even though they're very short on characters nowadays and we know storylines are weak, there is still an attempt at it. They like that format. They like that presentation of a wrestling. Opening up with the Tribal Chief, a promo, all that backstage stuff, that's what they like. Okay, bro so they switched over to this other product, and what did they see - wrestling, wrestling, wrestling. That's not what they like. So again, the question is, so now if AEW isn't gonna pull those fans from the WWE. They are not gonna draw casual fans. Where are they going to get more fans?" Vince Russo said.
CM Punk asked AEW higher-ups to open the show in rating war slot against WWE SmackDown last week
CM Punk fires back at Sasha Banks after AEW Rampage beats Smackdown in key demographic https://t.co/UBheCKB76b
CM Punk opened last week's AEW Rampage show when the rating war was at its peak. The Straight Edge Superstar defeated Matt Sydal in what many viewed as an incredible show opener.
Now, a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter suggests that CM Punk himself pitched the idea to kick off the show and asked AEW's higher-ups to stick to their original match card.
With AEW backstage reactions seemingly overwhelmed with the outcome, another report suggested that WWE doesn't seem to care about Rampage's key demo numbers against SmackDown to a huge extent.
Do you agree with Vince Russo's statement? Sound off in the comments section below.
(If you use any quotes from this article, please add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling)