AEW Dynamite scores highest demo rating in months following CM Punk’s backstage brawl

The ratings and viewership data are in for last night’s (Sept. 7) episode of AEW Dynamite.

Per Showbuzz Daily, Dynamite netted 1,035,000 viewers for a 0.38 rating point in the 18-49 year old demographic. Dynamite finished second place in the demo rating on cable for the night.

This is the third consecutive week where Dynamite eclipsed the somewhat arbitrary round number of one million viewers. The more interesting factoid is that the demo of rating of 0.38 is Dynamite’s highest mark since June 1.

That June 1 episode was the Double or Nothing fallout show and happened to feature MJF’s controversial worked shoot promo. Last night was his first appearance on Dynamite since then, so perhaps MJF can claim some bragging rights on the this ratings bump.

The biggest story in pro wrestling right now is CM Punk’s backstage fight with The Elite during the All Out media scrum. This incident resulted in multiple suspensions and vacated championships, as well as pending legal action. Pro wrestling fans who don’t follow all the backstage drama on the internet might not have even known about this story, so there was a lot of curiosity about how the TV ratings would be affected.

All of this backstage drama and turmoil in AEW is proving to be very costly for the company, but it resulted in a strong ratings performance for at least this one episode of Dynamite.

Here’s a breakdown of AEW viewership and rating in the 18-49 demo over the last year:

• Sept. 8: 1,319,000 / .52
• Sept. 15: 1,175,000 / .44
• Sept. 22: 1,273,000 / .48
• Sept. 29: 1,152,000 / .45
• Oct. 6: 1,053,000 / .37
• Oct. 16: 727,000 / .28
• Oct. 23: 575,000 / .22
• Oct. 27: 941,000 / .40
• Nov. 3: 878,000 / .33
• Nov. 10: 913,000 / .35
• Nov. 17: 984,000 / .37
• Nov. 24: 898,000 / .31
• Dec. 1: 861,000 / .31
• Dec. 8: 872,000 / .33
• Dec. 15: 948,000 / .31
• Dec. 22: 1,020,000 / .37
• Dec. 29: 975,000 / .37
• Jan. 5, 2022: 1,010,000 / .43
• Jan. 12: 969,000 / .39
• Jan. 19: 1,032,000 / .44
• Jan. 26: 1,100,000 / .41
• Feb. 2: 954,000 / .35
• Feb. 9: 1,129,000 / .41
• Feb. 16: 869,000 / .31
• Feb. 23: 1,010,000 / .40
• Mar. 2: 966,000 / .35
• Mar. 9: 945,000 / .40
• Mar. 16: 993,000 / .38
• Mar. 23: 1,046,000 / .41
• Mar. 30: 979,000 / .38
• Apr. 6: 989,000 / .38
• Apr. 13: 977,000 / .37
• Apr. 20: 930,000 / .37
• Apr. 27: 921,000 / .33
• May 4: 833,000 / .32
• May 11: 840,000 / .33
• May 18: 922,000 / .33
• May 25: 929,000 / .35
• June 1: 969,000 / .40
• June 8: 939,000 / .34
• June 15: 761,000 / .28
• June 22: 878,000 / .31
• June 29: 1,023,000 / .36
• July 6: 979,000 / .36
• July 13: 942,000 / .32
• July 20: 910,000 / .32
• July 27: 976,000 / .33
• Aug. 3: 938,000 / .32
• Aug. 10: 972,000 / .33
• Aug. 17: 957,000 / .30
• Aug. 24: 1,049,000 / .34
• Aug. 31: 1,020,000 / .35
• Sept. 7: 1,035,000 / .38

For complete results and this week’s Dynamite live blog click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For video highlights of the show click here.