AEW Collision Ratings Get No Mercy From WWE NXT's Premium Live Event

This past Saturday saw "AEW Collision" go head-to-head against WWE NXT No Mercy, and the end result was not great for AEW. "Collision" pulled in its lowest rating in the show's history, with 327,000 viewers on average, according to Wrestlenomics. Additionally, the 18-49 demographic fell to 0.08, or about 106,000 viewers on average.

Compared to the previous week, the total viewership of "Collision" fell by 42%, and the 18-49 demo viewership dropped by 55%. In addition to No Mercy, the Saturday night show was up against stark competition in college football. Notre Dame vs. Duke drew 5.32 million viewers on ABC, while Michigan State vs. Iowa brought in 2.17 million total viewers on average.

While viewership numbers for WWE PLEs aren't necessarily made public, there is little doubt that the show's presence had an impact on the "Collision" rating. Main roster stars Becky Lynch and Dominik Mysterio both had matches at No Mercy, while "Collision" featured performances by Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, FTR, Andrade El Idolo, and Julia Hart.

On the subject of Hart, the quarter-hour ratings seem to support the theory that the young House of Black member is an audience draw. Near the end of the 8:30-8:45 quarter, a promo video for Hart played just prior to her match against Vertvixen. The next quarter, featuring the match itself, saw a 25% increase in total viewership, and an 11% increase in the 18-49 demo. That quarter also featured an appearance from Kris Statlander, as well as the beginning of Omega and Jericho's tag match against the Gates of Agony. The following quarter, featuring the rest of the Omega-Jericho match, fell 18% in total viewers.