Wednesday Night Wars: AEW Starts Off 2020 Strong While NXT Suffers One Of Its Worst Nights

KEY POINTS

AEW opened 2020 with 967,000 viewers, one of its biggest audiences since the Oct. 2 debut episode
NXT suffered one of its worst ratings nights with 548,000 viewers
AEW dominated in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.36 rating to NXT's 0.15

Friday’s ratings showed AEW started off 2020 strong with another win over NXT to start off the New Year while NXT suffered one of its worst ratings nights since moving to USA.

The latest report from Showbuzz Daily showed AEW Dynamite started 2020 strong with 967,000 viewers tuning in to enjoy the “Homecoming” episode from Jacksonville, Florida. It’s one of the biggest audiences Dynamite has drawn since debuting to over a million viewers on Oct. 2.

The focal point of Wednesday's episode was whether or not The Elite could put a lackluster 2019 in the past and start off 2020 strong. They proved successful as Cody beat a game Darby Allin while Kenny Omega teamed with the Young Bucks in a victory of PAC and the Lucha Brothers.

Jon Moxley responded to Chris Jericho’s invitation to join the Inner Circle, telling him he will provide a face-to-face answer on the next episode.

Finally, Riho had the first successful title defense of 2020, overcoming Nyla Rose, Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship. Riho’s next title defense will be against Kris Statlander on the next episode of Dynamite.

WWE NXT suffered Wednesday night, falling to 548,000 viewers during its “2019 Year-End Awards” special. It’s a nearly 300,000 drop from NXT’s Christmas episode where it ran unopposed by AEW.

The special served as a recap for what had been a big year for NXT, celebrating the move to the USA Network and going live for two-hours. NXT’s fan-voted Year-End Awards were also presented, honoring what the fans voted to be the best in NXT.

Some of the biggest awards were Adam Cole's Overall and Male Competitor of the Year, Shayna Baszler's Female Competitor of the Year, Keith Lee's Breakout Star, and Dakota Kai's Future Star of NXT.

AEW’s win was also reflected in the demographics as Dynamite reestablished its dominance over NXT in the 18-49 demographic. Dynamite scored a 0.36 rating among younger viewers while NXT scored a 0.15 rating.