"I don’t think it has anything to do with WWE" - Booker T counters big claim about AEW

The talk of AEW competing with WWE has been a hot topic of discussion ever since Tony Khan launched his company in 2019. Booker T currently works for World Wrestling Entertainment and has often shared his opinions on the All Elite product. Recently, the veteran talked about a significant claim about the promotion.

All Elite Wrestling has been on a ratings decline for some time. The post-All In Dynamite viewership was down just 0.14% from the go-home episode, but down 20.7% from the same week in 2023, while the key demo rating was down 26.7% from the same period. This was the 41st straight week Dynamite suffered a year-over-year viewership decline.

Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T disagreed with his co-host, who blamed the decline on WWE bringing the heat to AEW with a strong product. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer went on to explain why he thinks numbers are down.

"I don’t think [AEW not firing on all cylinders] has anything to do with WWE, I really don’t. I think their last show did 600-and-some-odd-thousand... that is not a big number, at all, for that show, which was doing bigger. The numbers are falling off, which lets you know fans even feel like [AEW isn't] keeping them motivated, to keep their attention, to keep them on that AEW ride, to keep that weekly number up. It's something they've got to change. The show needs to be reformulated. You need more help," Booker T said. [From 44:24 to 45:11]

Dynamite debuted on October 2, 2019, with 1.409 million viewers, and two months later it drew 851,000 viewers. The Wednesday night show began 2022 with 1.10 million viewers for the TBS debut, kicked off 2023 with 864,000 viewers, and began this year with 801,000.

Besides the premiere, Dynamite peaked on September 8, 2021, with 1.319 million viewers. The all-time low as of now is 502,000 from June 19, 2024.

Updated lineup for AEW All Out

All Elite Wrestling will present its sixth annual All Out pay-per-view in less than one week. The following six matches have been confirmed coming out of last week's All In:

1. MJF vs. Daniel Garcia
2. Steel Cage Match: Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland
3. Chicago Street Fight for the CMLL World Women's Championship: Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Kris Statlander
4. TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Hikaru Shida
5. International Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. World Trios Champion PAC
6. World Championship: Bryan Danielson (c) vs. TNT Champion Jack Perry

All Out will take place this Saturday, September 7 from NOW Arena near Chicago. The pre-show looks to begin at 6:30 pm ET, with the main show beginning on pay-per-view at 8 pm ET.