Massive WWE change defeats AEW Dynamite ratings this week

AEW Dynamite's ratings sank after a huge celebration for the promotion. The flagship show completed five years and recently celebrated the occasion. The brand had great matches advertised for the huge milestone.

WWE's NXT also had its premiere on the CW Network, which drew 895,000 viewers. This was a huge number considering the promotion's third brand had only its first episode on the channel.

Hours before Dynamite, AEW made a blockbuster announcement. They finally announced the new TV deal with WBD, estimated to be around $185 million per year. Also, Tony Khan made a huge proclamation regarding their flagship show, claiming, that the episode might have an overrun of up to a half hour.

The promotion announced a massive bout between Will Ospreay and Ricochet, which was highly anticipated. Also, the main event saw The America Dragon take on Kazuchika Okada in a 'title vs. title' contest. Despite being an excellent show, ratings and viewerships have seen a significant dive.

As reported by Wrestlenomics, AEW Dynamite's fifth anniversary drew an average of 680,000 viewers and was rated 0.20 among the 18-49 demographics. These are low numbers compared to the previous week when it drew 702,000 and was rated 0.23 among the demographics.

It will be interesting to see if the viewership and ratings of Dynamite bounce back up in the coming weeks or whether this downward trend continues.