Year: 2023

Cagematch Ratings for AEW Collision, WWE Monday Night RAW, NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome and more | Match ratings for Dec 17 to Dec 23, 2023

Match of the week:
Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jeff Cobb vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii
Rating: 8.95
NJPW Road To Tokyo Dome 2023 – Tag 1 (Dec 21, 2023)

All match ratings from Cagematch.net as of Dec 28, 2023 10:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time Zone.

Matches included here meet any one of these conditions: a) rated matches with at least 10 votes from WWE, AEW, or New Japan; or b) have a rating greater than or equal to 8.50; or c) have a vote count in the top 10 percentile among matches with ratings for this week.

Dec 18 (Mon) – WWE Monday Night RAW

  • JD McDonagh vs. R-Truth: 6.16 (109 votes)
  • Gunther vs. The Miz: 8.52 (216 votes)
  • Chelsea Green & Piper Niven vs. Katana Chance & Kayden Carter: 6.30 (100 votes)
  • Jey Uso vs. Ludwig Kaiser: 5.84 (75 votes)
  • Creed Brothers vs. Damian Priest & Finn Balor: 7.63 (125 votes)

Dec 19 (Tue) – WWE NXT

  • Charlie Dempsey vs. Dragon Lee vs. Joe Coffey: 6.75 (43 votes)
  • Ilja Dragunov vs. Ridge Holland: 5.81 (30 votes)

Dec 20 (Wed) – AEW Dynamite

  • Rush vs. Swerve Strickland: 7.31 (190 votes)
  • Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe: 7.52 (175 votes)
  • Riho vs. Saraya: 4.45 (135 votes)
  • Komander vs. Roderick Strong: 6.55 (143 votes)
  • Jay White vs. Jon Moxley: 7.53 (189 votes)

Dec 21 (Thu) – NJPW Road To Tokyo Dome 2023

  • Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Young Blood: 6.33 (26 votes)
  • Callum Newman, Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney & Gedo: 5.72 (17 votes)
  • EVIL, Ren Narita & SHO vs. Master Wato, Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma: 5.33 (14 votes)
  • El Desperado & Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Shingo Takagi: 6.86 (20 votes)
  • BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji vs. DOUKI, SANADA & Yuya Uemura: 6.80 (14 votes)
  • Taichi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru: 6.23 (38 votes)
  • Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jeff Cobb vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii: 8.95 (82 votes)
  • Callum Newman vs. Tomohiro Ishii: 8.06 (47 votes)
  • Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. Catch 22: 7.25 (15 votes)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs. Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.: 7.27 (10 votes)
  • SANADA, Taichi & Yuya Uemura vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji: 6.93 (14 votes)

Dec 22 (Fri) – WWE Friday Night SmackDown

  • Asuka, Bayley, IYO SKY & Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair, Michin, Shotzi & Zelina Vega: 6.59 (73 votes)
  • Butch vs. Dragon Lee: 7.94 (93 votes)
  • Carmelo Hayes vs. Kevin Owens: 7.09 (75 votes)
  • Bobby Lashley vs. Santos Escobar: 4.47 (58 votes)
  • AJ Styles vs. Solo Sikoa: 5.68 (55 votes)

Dec 22 (Fri) – AEW Rampage

  • Orange Cassidy vs. Rocky Romero: 7.23 (94 votes)
  • Hardys vs. Kingdom: 5.35 (64 votes)
  • Black Taurus vs. El Hijo del Vikingo: 8.28 (120 votes)

Dec 23 (Sat) – AEW Collision

  • Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli: 8.87 (242 votes)
  • Action Andretti, Top Flight vs. Anthony Bowens, Billy Gunn & Max Caster: 6.23 (126 votes)
  • Brian Cage vs. Keith Lee: 6.39 (123 votes)
  • Brody King vs. Daniel Garcia: 7.60 (162 votes)
  • Abadon & Thunder Rosa vs. Julia Hart & Skye Blue: 5.33 (109 votes)
  • Andrade El Idolo vs. Eddie Kingston: 7.49 (161 votes)

Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.

WrestleTix: WWE Live Holiday Tour | Thu • Dec 28 | Place Bell at Laval, QC


WWE Live Holiday Tour
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Laval, QC at Place Bell
Estimated tickets distributed: 9,080

Market-to-market comparisons (Laval, QC):

  • 2022-03-06 (Sun) – WWE Supershow: 6,419 (+41% vs. 9,080) – SAME EVENT TYPE
  • 2023-08-20 (Sun) – WWE Supershow: 7,012 (+29%) – SAME EVENT TYPE

Year-over-year comparison for this event type:
Current 2023-Q4 WWE house show average: (5,653) vs. 2022-Q4 (4,313): +31%

WrestleTix uses code to analyze ticketing maps and estimate tickets distributed counts for wrestling events

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WrestleTix: WWE Live Holiday Tour | Thu • Dec 28 | Toyota Center at Houston, TX


WWE Live Holiday Tour
Thursday, December 28, 2023
Houston, TX at Toyota Center
Estimated tickets distributed: 9,378

Market-to-market comparisons (Houston, TX):

  • 2021-07-16 (Fri) – WWE Smackdown: 14,000 (-33% vs. 9,378)
  • 2021-08-18 (Wed) – AEW Dynamite: 4,552 (+106%)
  • 2021-10-25 (Mon) – WWE Raw: 8,848 (+6%)
  • 2022-05-18 (Wed) – AEW Dynamite: 4,928 (+90%)
  • 2022-08-01 (Mon) – WWE Raw: 10,445 (-10%)
  • 2023-07-31 (Mon) – WWE Raw: 12,921 (-27%)
  • 2024-03-11 (Mon) – WWE Raw: 12,962 (-28%)

Year-over-year comparison for this event type:
Current 2023-Q4 WWE house show average: (5,653) vs. 2022-Q4 (4,313): +31%

WrestleTix uses code to analyze ticketing maps and estimate tickets distributed counts for wrestling events

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Quarter-hours: AEW Dynamite, December 27

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Jason Ounpraseuth contributed to this report.

If you rely on this report in any subsequent reports or social media posts, please credit Wrestlenomics. Please don’t re-publish the chart images themselves.

Brandon Thurston
brandon@wrestlenomics.com

Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.

AEW Dynamite, Dec 27 on TBS: 843,000 viewers; 0.31 P18-49 rating | TV ratings, attendance analysis

Wrestlenomics is not affiliated with or licensed by Nielsen.

AEW Dynamite on TBS
Wed, Dec. 27, 2023: 8:00 to 10:06 pm

brandon@wrestlenomics.com

TV RATINGS

843,000 viewers (P2+)
P18-49 rating: 0.31

HIGHEST P18-49 SINCE SEPT. 20, 2023

P2+ comparisons:

  • This episode vs. last week (782,000): +8%
  • This episode vs. trailing four weeks (827,000): +2%
  • Current 2023-Q4 P2+ average (828,000) vs. 2022-Q4 (921,000): -9%
  • Current Dec 2023 P2+ average (823,000) vs. Dec 2022 (906,000): -9%

P18-49 comparisons:

  • This episode vs. last week (0.26): +19%
  • This episode vs. trailing four weeks (0.28): +13%
  • Current 2023-Q4 P18-49 average (0.28) vs. 2022-Q4 (0.30): -8%
  • Current Dec 2023 P18-49 average (0.28) vs. Dec 2022 (0.30): -7%

Viewer counts for this week’s episode with the difference versus the median of the last 4 non-preemption episodes in parentheses:

  • P2+: 843k (+1%)
  • P18-49: 408k (+11%)
  • F18-49: 127k (+19%)
  • M18-49: 281k (+7%)
  • P18-34: 157k (+6%)
  • F18-34: 50k (+9%)
  • M18-34: 106k (+4%)
  • P35-49: 251k (+15%)
  • F35-49: 77k (+26%)
  • M35-49: 175k (+8%)
  • Non-P18-49: 435k (-6%)

Subscribers have exclusive access to the Wrestlenomics Viewership Spreadsheet.

LIVE EVENTS

AEW Dynamite
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Orlando, FL at Addition Financial Arena
Estimated tickets distributed: 5,729

Market-to-market comparisons (Orlando, FL):

  • 2021-08-09 (Mon) – WWE Raw: 8,225 (-30% vs. 5,729)
  • 2021-10-23 (Sat) – AEW Dynamite: 6,002 (-5%) ← SAME EVENT TYPE
  • 2021-12-27 (Mon) – WWE Supershow: 5,727 (+0%)
  • 2022-03-04 (Fri) – AEW Rampage: 3,586 (+60%)
  • 2022-03-06 (Sun) – AEW Revolution: 8,700 (-34%)
  • 2022-07-15 (Fri) – WWE Smackdown: 8,397 (-32%)
  • 2023-02-06 (Mon) – WWE Raw: 9,926 (-42%)
  • 2023-07-21 (Fri) – WWE Smackdown: 12,287 (-53%)

Year-over-year comparison for this event type:
Current 2023-Q4 AEW Dynamite average: (4,481) vs. 2022-Q4 (4,284): +5%

Data from WrestleTix

DIGITAL

As of 5:04 pm, Dec 28

Most-viewed YouTube videos on AEW’s official channel:

  • 1.) 347,750 – Could AEW World & ROH Tag Champ MJF fend off the Devil’s Masked Men?
  • 2.) 301,657 – The Don Callis Family celebrates Boxing Week with surprising results!
  • 3.) 221,147 – BLUE LEAGUE FINAL! ROH & NJPW Strong Champ Eddie Kingston vs Bryan Danielson!| 12/27/23 AEW Dynamite
  • 4.) 177,319 – GOLD LEAGUE FINAL! Jon Moxley vs Swerve Strickland vs Jay White!
  • 5.) 154,810 – TNT Champion Christian Cage and Adam Copeland sit down with Lexy Nair!
  • 6.) 92,124 – Former TBS Champion Kris Statlander takes on Skye Blue!
  • 7.) 74,388 – Renee Paquette dives deeper into Mariah May’s motivation and her debut!

RECEPTION

As of 5:05 pm, Dec 28

Event rating:

  • Cagematch.net voter rating: 6.86 (110 votes)
  • This episode vs. last week (7.81): -12%
  • This episode vs. trailing four weeks (8.03): -15%
  • Current 2023-Q4 average (7.47) vs. 2022-Q4 (7.65): -2%

Match ratings:

  • 8.68 (176 votes) – Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston
  • 8.35 (161 votes) – Jon Moxley vs. Jay White and Swerve Strickland
  • 6.00 (103 votes) – Kris Statlander vs. Skye Blue
  • Ineligible – The Devil’s Masked Men (??? & ???) vs. MJF (c)

This report was produced with the assistance of programming scripts created by me.

Commentary and data on Tony Khan’s response about AEW TV ratings on Worlds End media call

Wrestlenomics is not affiliated with or licensed by Nielsen.

On the media call this afternoon, Tony Khan defended AEW’s year-over-year TV ratings trends, pointing out that Dynamite’s year-over-year decline in Q4 (-10% in total viewership) is comparable to that of Raw (-8%) in Q4. He said the decline is similar to that of TV overall.

I would point out that declines for Dynamite have been more consistent throughout the year, and more severe in key ad demos, including P18-49, which Khan has emphasized throughout AEW’s history as more important than overall viewership (P2+).

TNT, TBS, and USA Network’s universe are each down 6% from a year ago, according to Nielsen data that was shared with me. Primetime traditional TV viewing is down 8% in P2+ and down 13% in P18-49. Those differences are indeed similar to the decline in viewership for Dynamite. Rampage’s declines, though, outpace any macro headwind comparison point. Arguably, Collision has cannibalized Rampage.

The subject a lot of fans (and I) would like to hear Khan speak about is the cooling off of AEW generally with fans, which is consistent with weaker Dynamite attendances, which are down 5% 2023 vs. 2022, according to WrestleTix estimates of tickets distributed.

These are not declines so severe that it suggests AEW won’t get a good TV deal renewal. But AEW’s popularity with fans has decreased, as evident from the data here. Meanwhile, WWE’s same metrics have largely moved in the opposite direction.

Does Khan accept that AEW’s fan popularity is weaker than it was a year ago or does he think these observations can be excused by pointing to external headwinds? If he does accept that fan engagement is down from last year, what’s the cause?

Brandon Thurston
brandon@wrestlenomics.com

Brandon Thurston has written about wrestling business since 2015. He operates and owns Wrestlenomics.