"Bigger draw than Dom and the judgment day" - Fans erupt as AEW Collision ratings soars up to second highest in history

AEW Collision's ratings are in, and the show received yet another boost. This week's episode (July 29) drew in the second-largest total viewership in the show's relatively short history.

According to Wrestlenomics, this week's episode drew an average of 739,000 viewers across two hours, up drastically from last week's 618,000 viewership rating.

Additionally, the show saw a positive change in the all-important 18 to 49 demographic, growing from a score of 0.18 to 0.27 over the seven-day stretch.

Only the debut episode of AEW Collision received better viewership. The phenomenal results come despite this week's episode having to contend with a stacked UFC 291 card and a monumental boxing match in Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford.

While Tony Khan and AEW management will welcome this news, fans have headed to Twitter to share their reactions to the latest set of viewership scores. Some have attributed the most recent Collision's success to the well-received bromance of Adam Cole and MJF:

Other users have simply shown their appreciation for the show, crediting good booking and worthwhile storytelling for Collision's positive reception:

With next week's episode of Collision going head-to-head with WWE's SummerSlam, it will be interesting to see how this timing conflict impacts the show's viewership.

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Huge match set for next week's AEW Collision

One way AEW are attempting to keep fans focused on their product is by setting up a huge title match for the upcoming edition of Collision.

On the most recent episode, it was announced that CM Punk would defend his "Real" AEW World Championship against Ricky Starks this coming Saturday. The mini-feud between the two extremely popular stars has been well-received thus far, so perhaps hot-shotting a title match this quickly might be a lapse in judgment on the creative team's part.

Nonetheless, the match this weekend will surely deliver, especially considering that Starks already holds consecutive victories over the Second City Saint.

As if this match was not exciting enough, it was revealed that Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat would be the bout's special guest referee. This plays into the WWE Hall of Famer's history with CM Punk from their shared time in Ring of Honor circa 2004.

Punk specifically requested Steamboat's involvement for his upcoming contest, knowing that the perennial babyface will undoubtedly call the action down the middle and be on the lookout for any shenanigans Starks will try to get away with.