On October 2, 2019, professional wrestling returned to TNT for the first time since March 26, 2001, with AEW Dynamite. The show pulled in over one million views in its debut.
Many fans got to see some former WWE wrestlers like Jon Moxley, Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, Chris Jericho, and Jake Hager. Fans also got to see new wrestlers unless they’ve watch Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, New Japan, etc. from Kenny Omega to Adam Page.
After the first week, AEW Dynamite’s ratings had been anywhere from 600,000 views to 900,000 viewers. They were also up against another wrestling show WWE NXT that aired the same time on another network, and both shows ran for two hours.
They have beaten WWE NXT since they started except three times. Last week, while AEW ranked 17th with 633,000 views, NXT ranked 26th with 786,000 views. WWE NXT won in the age’s 50 and up with a .42 rating vs. a .26 rating for AEW. AEW pretty much won the other categories except for males and females 12-34, as in the picture by ShowBuzzDaily.
So far, Dynamite is doing good to the point that Tuner extended its deal with AEW till 2023. At the last pay-per-view event Double or Nothing, AEW introduced the TNT championship, a mid-card title equivalent to the United States championship or the Television championship. While AEW is still a new company if ratings continue to stay anywhere from 600,000 to 900,000 views, should WarnerMedia consider moving AEW Dynamite to a different night and different channel?
Moving AEW Dynamite to a different night on TNT would be a challenge. TNT is committed to the NBA and air their games on Tuesdays and Thursdays. AEW President Tony Kahn ruled out Mondays due to the NFL season, and ratings for wrestling don’t do well during the NFL season. So, AEW Dynamite is stuck on Wednesday nights. However, what if WarnerMedia moved Dynamite to TBS?
Moving AEW Dynamite to TBS could be an option for WarnerMedia. TBS does air Major League Baseball and the NCAA Tournament and TBS also have a history of airing pro wrestling shows. For wrestling fans who love history, back in 1988, Ted Turner bought Jim Crockett Promotions and turned it into WCW. WCW ran a show called Saturday Night that aired on TBS. In 1995, WCW launched Nitro, the first live weekly broadcast on TNT.
Then in 1998, WCW launched Thunder on TBS to compete against WWE Smackdown. WCW did dominate WWE for 84 weeks in the ratings before the WWE started to catch up and pass WCW in what was known as the Monday Night Wars. WCW did a poor job promoting young talent, stupid storylines, and pushing older wrestlers led to their demise in 2001.
If Dynamite continues to see ratings like they are right now and not break the one million mark, WarnerMedia should at least consider moving AEW Dynamite to TBS. With AEW getting a second show, they could have the new show air on TNT, especially Saturday night. AEW could use the Saturday night show to help increase buyers for their pay-per-views like what WWE did with Sunday Night Heat.
Right now, Wednesday nights don’t seem like a good night for wrestling shows. In a typical week for wrestling shows. You have WWE Raw on Mondays for three hours, NWA Powerr, AEW Dark, and Impact Wrestling on Tuesdays for four hours, WWE NXT, and AEW Dynamite air for two hours at the same time. No wrestling on Thursdays, WWE Smackdown on Fridays, and pay-per-view events on the weekends. That’s a lot of wrestling for the casual fan to watch every week.
Moving AEW Dynamite to TBS should be at least discussed between the two, and I think it could benefit them and the fans. AEW could use the second show for TNT on Saturday nights. We love pro wrestling and want to support every wrestling company we can. However, there are only so many hours we can watch every week. That’s why fans pick certain individual wrestling companies over others to watch every week. One thing is for certain, Wednesday nights are not wrestling nights.
