AEW Collision was destroyed head-to-head against WWE SummerSlam

The numbers are in for the eighth episode of AEW Collision on TNT.

Wrestlenomics reports the August 5 Collision brought in 417,000 viewers and drew a .13 rating among 18-49 year olds, which ranked 16th place on cable on Saturday night. These numbers completely tanked compared to last week’s 739K viewers and 0.27 rating in the key demo.

We assumed that Collision was going to have a very tough night in the ratings going up against WWE SummerSlam and UFC on ESPN, and that’s exactly what happened. The key demo rating plummeted by more than 50% compared to the prior week, and viewership dropped to the lowest number yet in the short history of the show.

This level of competition is essentially what Tony Khan signed up for when he agreed to a new AEW television show on Saturday nights. AEW did not run away from this fight, as Khan brought in the legendary Ricky Steamboat to help officiate a Real World Championship match between CM Punk and Ricky Starks. That was one of four title matches (with no title changes) on the card. But the show got steamrolled anyway by SummerSlam and UFC on ESPN, the latter of which brought in a 0.38 rating in the key demo and over one million viewers.

AEW will try to rebound in a big way this Saturday when CM Punk and FTR challenge House of Black for the AEW world trios titles.

In the meantime, here’s a look at Collision’s viewership and demo rating over the course of its brief history:

• June 17 - 816K / .33
• June 24 - 595K / .21
• July 1 - 452K / .13
• July 8 - 580K / .21
• July 15 - 579K / .20
• July 22 - 618K / .18
• July 29 - 739K / .27
• Aug. 5 - 417K / .13

For complete results from the August 5 Collision, check out our live blog here. To read a recap & review of the show, click here. For video highlights of the show click here.