AEW Beats Struggling WWE NXT Amid Orange Cassidy’s Big Win

AEW Dynamite drew an average viewership of 792,000 down 14% from 901,000 last week. AEW came in at No. 9 in the Top 150 original cable telecasts among the 18-49 demographic.

WWE NXT garnered 619,000 viewers, down a whopping 22% from 753,000 last week. NXT did not rank in the Top 50 18-49 demo, placing 65th.

WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Ratings: Wednesday, August 12, 2020

• AEW Dynamite Total Viewership—792,000
• AEW Dynamite Rating in 18-49 Demo—.32, No. 9
• WWE NXT Total Viewership—619,000
• WWE NXT Rating in 18-49 Demo—.16, No. 65

AEW Dynamite featured a high-profile main event between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy as their long-term feud continues to satisfy. Jericho and Cassidy were featured in a well-received debate last week, moderated by Eric Bischoff, and the highly touted segment helped AEW garner its best number of the pandemic with 901,000 viewers last week.

Cassidy’s upset win over Chris Jericho—refereed by former longtime WWE referee Mike Chioda who made his AEW debut last night—marks the beginning of a potential main event star-turn for Cassidy as AEW continues to capitalize on young stars who did not come up through WWE.

AEW Dynamite also featured a major heel turn as FTR attacked The Rock N’ Roll Express during a tag team appreciation segment. After initial pleasantries, FTR appears to finally be on a collision course with The Young Bucks ahead of AEW All Out on September 5.

WWE NXT was a lively show in its own right as Keith Lee took a fireball to the face with the show continuing its build to a major world championship match between Lee and the undefeated Karrion Kross. Meanwhile, Velveteen Dream made a surprise return in the main event as Cameron Grimes defeated KUSHIDA and Dream (who was not pinned or submitted) to advance to the NXT North American Championship Ladder Match at NXT TakeOver XXX.

Velveteen Dream will take on Finn Balor next week in a last-chance qualifying match.

NXT also continues to build to an attraction match as Adam Cole and Pat McAfee continue to go back and forth. The two are advertised to go face-to-face next week as the former NFL punter and current media personality is set to make his in-ring debut at NXT TakeOver XXX on August 22.

It’s worth noting that WWE NXT TakeOver XXX will air on the same night as AEW Dynamite. The two will not technically go head-to-head as NXT TakeOver XXX will begin at 7 pm EST while Dynamite will air at 6 pm EST (or after the NBA playoffs) to accommodate NBA programming.

Advertised for Next Week’s AEW Dynamite (On Saturday, August 22)

• FTR vs. Private Party
• The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs. Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver, and Alan Angels)
• Finals for the Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament
• Darby Allin in action
• Lucha Brothers, The Butcher, and The Blade vs. Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, QT Marshall, and Dustin Rhodes
• Cody (c) vs. Brodie Lee—AEW TNT Championship

Advertised for Next Week’s WWE NXT

Margin of Victory: AEW over NXT by 21.84%