AEW Rampage Sees Huge Viewership Increase For CM Punk's Debut

Friday's live AEW Rampage episode drew 1.129 million viewers on TNT, according to Nielsen via Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics.

This is up 52.57% from last week's Rampage premiere, which drew 740,000 viewers.

Friday's Rampage episode drew a 0.53 rating in the 18-49 key demographic. This is up 76.6% from last week's premiere episode, which drew a 0.30 rating in the key demo.

The 0.53 key demo rating represents 692,000 18-49 viewers. This is up 74.75% from the 396,000 18-49 viewers that last week's 0.30 key demo rating drew for the premiere.

The opening quarter-hour with Punk's appearance was watched by 1.341 million viewers, with 842,000 of those being in the 18-49 key demo, for a rating of 0.65.

The 0.53 key demo rating for the second Rampage episode is higher than all AEW Dynamite episodes except for the debut in October 2019.

Rampage aired at 10pm ET on TNT, live from the United Center in Chicago, IL. The show opened with CM Punk making his long-awaited return to pro wrestling. The appearance was not officially announced ahead of time, but was strongly rumored. The episode also featured Jade Cargill defeating Kiera Hogan, Jurassic Express defeating Private Party in the AEW World Tag Team Titles Eliminator Tournament, plus Jon Moxley defeating Daniel Garcia, which was the main event.

Stay tuned for more Rampage ratings data as we will update this post when Showbuzz Daily releases the cable rankings for the night.

Below is our 2021 AEW Rampage Viewership Tracker:

August 13 Episode: 740,000 viewers with a 0.30 rating in the 18-49 demographic (Premiere episode)
August 20 Episode: 1.129 million viewers with a 0.53 rating in the 18-49 demographic (The First Dance episode for CM Punk's debut)
August 27 Episode: