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Former WWE Star Reacts To AEW Collision Ratings

By Sondra Ruth • Published 5th July 2023
aew collision july 1

A former WWE talent took AEW President Tony Khan to task after ratings for AEW Collision continue to fall.

The debut episode of AEW Collision arrived with much fanfare on June 17th. Emanating from the United Center in Chicago, IL, the show featured not only CM Punk’s return to AEW television for the first time since his infamous brawl following All Out, but also his return to the ring as he teamed with FTR to defeat the team of Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Samoa Joe in the main event.

While the ratings for the debut episode of Collision were comparable to those of Dynamite, the show hasn’t been successful in keeping that viewership, losing over 200,000 viewers in its second week. The July 1st ratings were grim once again, dropping to an average of 452,000 viewers and a 0.13 rating in the 18-49 year old demographic. Brandon Thurston notes that these figures are nearly identical to the latest Rampage ratings.

In response to a comparison of the three weeks of ratings, former WWE star Jonathan Coachman took to Twitter with criticism of AEW President Tony Khan’s booking strategy for the show, writing:

“Tony is buying way to much into hard core wrestling fans and not paying attention to what actually works in entertainment. I would have started more social and tic tok content before ear marking tens of millions and cutting your talent roster in half. Saturday’s are for house shows and PPV. Period.”

The main event of the July 1st episode of AEW Collison saw MJF make a rare television wrestling appearance as he defended his AEW World Championship against a local enhancement talent. However, his time in the ring wasn’t done, and he called for anyone else from Hamilton, ON to challenge him, bringing out Ethan Page, who cut a promo on the champion before the two squared off in a match. After a hard-fought battle, MJF was able to retain his championship.

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