"It got worse as it went along" - Jim Cornette slams AEW Dynamite ratings

Jim Cornette is pulling his iconic "meme face" for fans

Veteran manager Jim Cornette recently criticized AEW Dynamite for not holding a strong audience to gain a better rating.

The January 19 edition of Dynamite drew 1,032,000 viewers in total, with a 0.44 number in the key 18-49 demographic. The viewer count is the highest for AEW since the Wednesday night show debuted on TBS on January 5, 2022.

AEW Dynamite last night on TBS:

1,032,000 viewers
P18-49: 0.44 (570,000)

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While breaking the 1 million viewer mark for the second time in 3 weeks is promising news for AEW Dynamite, the quarterly hour breakdown shows that the show started with a strong 1,218,000 viewers and ended under the one million viewers mark at 947,000 for the main event.

Quarter-hours for last night's AEW Dynamite on TBS

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This is where Cornette has an issue. In the latest installment of his "The Jim Cornette Experience," the wrestling veteran explained that back when he was active, audiences would grow throughout the show leading up to the main event.

However, AEW is doing the opposite and losing viewers, which Cornette puts down to the show getting worse as it goes along.

“They lost, from start to finish, better than 20% of their audience that they started with. Can you imagine that many people walking out of a movie theatre what it would look like? And there was no reason to stay and watch this because it got worse as it went along. They were banking I guess on people will stick around to see Sting and Darby Allin wrestle in the main event, but Jesus,” Cornette said.

This week's AEW Dynamite will be a special one

AEW Dynamite will be looking to gain a stronger rating this week on TBS as it airs its "Beach Break" special from Cleveland, Ohio.

The show will be the second "Beach Break" event in AEW history, with the first coming at the start of February 2021.

Thank you fans who supported @AEW last week, viewership was way up with our best Friday #AEWRampage rating since last fall + Dymamite was #1 on cable last Wednesday! We’re back in 48 hours with Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite: #BeachBreak LIVE on TBS & very grateful for your support https://t.co/N7WcEJfQhI

On top of hearing from CM Punk and Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D., fans will get a stacked show. The TNT Championship will be unified in a ladder match between Cody Rhodes and Sammy Guevara, while Guevara's "Inner Circle" teammates take on 2point0 and Daniel Garcia.

All of this before what is sure to be a brutal spectacle as Orange Cassidy takes on Adam Cole in an unsanctioned "Lights Out" match. Who will take home the wins? Tune into AEW Dynamite to find out.

Please credit The Jim Cornette Experience and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use any quotes from this article.