Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A at pwinsider@gmail.com.
AEW Collision Average Viewers:
2023 Viewership: 483,250
2024 Viewership: 412,600
Total Loss: 70,650
WWE RAW Average Viewers:
2023 Viewership: 1,708,420
2024 Viewership: 1,705,800
Total Loss: 2,620
Question 1: Punk was made out to be a hero for AEW. I get he was a massive signing and people were excited to see Punk return to wrestling but look at those average viewer numbers. If over 70,000 people stopped watching Collision, they didn't follow Punk to RAW. Now I have no issue with Punk at all and wouldn't mind seeing him WWE Champion one day but the viewership averages for RAW, say that he didn't bring over 70,000 fans with him. Thoughts on that?
First off, I didn't double check your numbers so I will answer under the assumption that they are correct. I think you are looking at it the wrong way. WWE doesn’t need to bring over Collision viewers to Raw. They do about four times the audience that Collision does. What I see is that the series is down about 15% without Pun there. As for what Punk means to WWE, look at merchandise sales. He means a lot to WWE.
Question 2: In the UK AEW is free and WWE is behind a premium pay wall but looking forward to January when it rolls to Netflix as have that and can start watching and catching up again. WWE has been thriving under Paul Levesque and all you hear are positive things. Now people criticise the booking of AEW but if Jen Pepperman was able to form a creative team and Tony left her to book, do you believe we'd see better storylines?
I don’t know how great Pepperman is or isn’t, but I think that if Tony Khan removed himself from the creative process AEW would really have no option but to improve, even if Pepperman were simply competent at booking. Tony is the problem.
Question 3: There's many styles of wrestling out there but because WWE is soooo big I think it's seen as the only way things should be done. Times are changing and they may not be for everyone's taste but people need to open their minds to different styles in wrestling. With WWE being the massive juggernaut it is, do you think that fans have gotten too used to a certain style of wrestling that when they see more high flying than ground and pound on AEW, people instantly freak about about how bad it is as not the norm?
No, that has nothing to do with why people tune out AEW. Clearly you like it, and that’s great and all, but you saying that people should “open their minds” to like what you like is very narcissistic. If anything is true about opening minds it’s that you should open yours and realize that you like the niche product. Again, there is nothing wrong with that at all, but to think that the masses are closed minded because they don’t like what you like? That’s ridiculous to me. If AEW delivered a strong wrestling product, wrestling fans would watch it. Keep in mind, they used to draw a million fans to Dynamite. Now? They draw over 30 percent less, so they have even turned off fans that used to like the product.
Can you explain how Kyle Fletcher is getting a title shot after losing every match on Dynamite?
I can’t explain it factually but my take on it is that Will Ospreay and Tony Khan like him, so he gets opportunities. And that isn’t to say he isn’t talented, but he is being badly booked for people who want believability in what they watch.
Also I thought they had rankings for all the titles?
They did. Like the “sports based presentation” they have fallen by the wayside. As to why, my guess is that Tony Khan couldn’t book in way for those records to make any sense, like with Kyle Fletcher.
You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A at pwinsider@gmail.com.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
