Tony Khan finally comments on AEW "being cold" amid alarmingly low attendance
AEW CEO and President Tony Khan has opened up on the issue of the alleged low attendance in his shows and the dip in TV ratings. He also addressed the notion of the company having gone cold of late.
It is fair to say that AEW is not the hottest wrestling promotion in the world right now, as the recent TV ratings on all three shows, Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, have hit an all-time low, and the crowd attendance has been steadily going down as well.
Adam "Edge" Copeland recently made his All Elite debut to spice things up, but even his arrival did not dramatically improve the health of the promotion. Nevertheless, Tony Khan seems to think otherwise.
Appearing on The Dan Le Batard Show, Khan cited the PPV numbers to explain how AEW is having a great year when asked if the company is cold right now:
"We've really begun to change it. The perception is very strong for AEW worldwide. 44 days ago, we set the all-time record for ticket sales for any wrestling show ever in the history of the planet. We're having a very good year, our pay-per-view numbers are through the roof, and we're going to have a great show tonight on TBS."
TK further added:
"The fans are behind what we're doing, people are mobilized behind this lineup, I've seen more positive momentum and positive feedback about AEW in the last 24 hours than I have in several weeks and that's saying a lot because we've had a lot of huge shows in the last several weeks," [H/T Fightful]
WWE NXT trumps Tony Khan's AEW in the ratings war
Two major wrestling promotions went head-to-head on TV this week, as Tony Khan decided to shift Dynamite to Tuesday. As a result, WWE presented their best line-up for NXT in order to belittle their competition.
The results of the ratings war were declared a day later, and NXT, with the help of appearances from The Undertaker, John Cena, and Cody Rhodes, managed to dismantle the Dynamite episode featuring Edge's in-ring debut.
WWE's developmental brand got over 900k ratings, whereas Dynamite Tuesday scored 609,000. Moreover, the rivalry is far from over, and is expected to heat up significantly. Only time will tell how both major promotions fare eventually.