AEW Dynamite ratings up for Grand Slam special against basketball playoffs

AEW presented its fourth-annual Dynamite: Grand Slam special last night in New York City. The promotion packed more than 8,000 fans into Arthur Ashe Stadium for a night of high-flying and hard-hitting action, and it received a small ratings boost as a result.

The most recent episode of Dynamite pulled in 702,000 viewers on average, a 2% increase over last week's 687,000, according to Wrestlenomics. The show also saw an increase in the key 18-49 demo, boasting a 0.23 against last week's 0.22.

Those numbers put AEW Dynamite in third place for the night among cable originals. The show was beaten out by two WNBA playoff games: the Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun game—which went up against Dynamite and drew 2.537 million viewers with a 0.55 demo—and the Phoenix Mercury vs. Minnesota Lynx game, which pulled in 1.218 million with a 0.33 in the demo.

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What happened at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam 2024?

This year's edition of Dynamite: Grand Slam saw a major debut, a classic tag team bout, and a brutal main event. The show opened with the long-awaited AEW World Championship match between Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, with the champion retaining.

After that, Hook successfully defended his FTW Championship against Roderick Strong. The two surprisingly shook hands after the match. Even more shockingly, Hook then chose to retire the FTW title, handing it over to his father and the belt's creator, Taz, who was visibly emotional.

The Young Bucks then took on United Empire's Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher in a classic AEW World Tag Team Championship bout that got the fans on their feet and recalled the glory days of the young promotion's tag division. The Bucks retained their titles after a high-impact match, but Don Callis's meddling created some friction with Ospreay.

Later, Prince Nana gave an update on Swerve Strickland, who has been out of action since his loss to Hangman Adam Page at All Out. The segment saw the debut of WWE legend MVP, who has his eye on Swerve.

The AEW Women's World Championship was on the line after that as the villainous Mariah May defended against the energetic Yuka Sakazaki. While May retained her title, it seems that she's now in the crosshairs of fan favorite, Willow Nightingale.

Finally, Darby Allin met Jon Moxley with his shot at the World Championship on the line. Moxley brutalized the face-painted star throughout the match but had difficulty putting him away. Ultimately, he managed to defeat Allin, becoming the number-one contender for Bryan Danielson's title in the process.