Tony Khan gets a big boost for AEW Collision
AEW Collision aired this past Saturday after an action-packed day of events associated with WWE's WrestleMania XL Weekend. Despite the tough competition, Tony Khan received at least some good news coming out of the weekend.
Saturday's Collision episode was preempted due to NCAA basketball on TNT. The show usually airs at 8 pm ET, but this episode did not start until 11:48 pm, which means AEW was able to avoid going head-to-head with Night One of WrestleMania 40 on Peacock. Airing from the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, Collision opened with FTR defeating Top Flight in almost 16 minutes. Penta El Zero Miedo defeated Komander in the 14-minute main event.
AEW Collision drew 463,000 viewers on Saturday night, according to Wrestlenomics. This is up 1.1% from last week and is the highest total audience since February 10. This is also the second-highest viewership of the year so far.
The late edition of Collision also drew a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 key demographic, which is up 36.4% from last Saturday. This key demo rating is tied with one other episode for the highest of the year so far, also on February 10.
Collision received an assist from a NCAA men's basketball tournament game that also aired on TBS. The game averaged 6.4 million viewers and a 3.0 key demo rating, and the post-game show drew 2.12 million viewers with a 0.59 key demo rating. AEW benefited from the strong lead-in that the post-show provided.
The viewership for this week's Collision was up 11.5% from the previous 10-week average. The 18-49 key demo rating was up 25% from the most recent 10-week average. Saturday's show also featured PAC vs. Encore Moore, Hook and Chris Jericho vs. Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty, House of Black vs. Matt Sydal, Bryan Keith and Christopher Daniels, Yuka Sakazaki vs. Trish Adora, and The Butcher vs. Claudio Castagnoli.
AEW Dynamite updated line-up for tonight
AEW has a full card announced for Wednesday's live Dynamite from the Charleston Coliseum in Charleston, West Virginia.
Dynamite will be headlined by a big first-time-ever match with TNT Champion Adam Copeland defending against Penta El Zero Miedo. The big angle going into the show is the All In footage reveal. The Young Bucks have promised to show backstage footage from the controversial event and discuss it for the first time.
Friday's Rampage episode will also be taped in Charleston. The only match announced is Julia Hart defending the TBS Championship against Leyla Hirsch in a House Rules match.
Stay tuned to Sportskeeda Wrestling for full Dynamite coverage and all breaking AEW news. Below is the current line-up:
- Hook, Chris Jericho, Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shane Taylor Promotions
- Anna Jay vs. Mariah May
- Toni Storm's Charleston Championship Champagne Toast to Thunder Rosa
- Eliminator Match: World Champion Samoa Joe vs. Dustin Rhodes
- TNT Champion Adam Copeland defends vs. Penta El Zero Miedo
- The Young Bucks will air backstage footage from All In and discuss for the first time