Unfortunate news for AEW after WWE Bad Blood

AEW is coming through a lineup of special events scheduled for the end of this summer, from All In and All Out to Grand Slam and the Dynamite Fifth Anniversary, among others. Despite the apparent momentum, Tony Khan's company just received a bit of bad news following WWE Bad Blood.

WWE Bad Blood aired on Saturday from Atlanta's State Farm Arena. The Hell in a Cell opener saw CM Punk beat Drew McIntyre, while the main event saw Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes defeat Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. AEW Collision aired on TNT at the same time, taped two nights prior at the Huntington Center in Toledo. Darby Allin defeated Johnny TV in the opener, while Private Party defeated House of Black and Top Flight in the Contender's Triple Threat main event.

The 65th edition of AEW Collision drew just 268,000 viewers against Bad Blood, according to Wrestlenomics. This is down 38.2% from the inaugural Grand Slam Collision held the week before. Saturday's Collision viewership is the lowest since September 6, and the second-lowest total audience in show history for the normal timeslot.

Collision drew a 0.05 rating in the 18-49 key demographic on Saturday. This is down 61.5% from the Grand Slam special, which hit a high mark. Just like Saturday's total audience, Collision drew the lowest key demo rating since September 6, and the second-lowest in show history.

Bad Blood was not the only competition for Collision this past weekend. The UFC 307 preliminary fights aired on ESPN News and ESPN+, while multiple college football games also aired on cable and broadcast television.

Saturday's taped Collision suffered a big drop from one year ago. The total audience was down 23.8% from the same week in 2023, while the key demo rating was down 44.4% from one year ago. Compared to recent ten-week averages, Saturday's show was down 18.1% in viewership, and down 50% in the key demo.

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AEW Collision update for this weekend

AEW has not had a Collision episode scheduled for this weekend as WrestleDream will take place on Saturday in Tacoma, WA. There has been some uncertainty going into the weekend as the company sometimes airs Collision on Fridays, but there has been no announcement.

TNT has confirmed that Friday's Rampage will air in its normal timeslot of 9pm ET. After the one-hour episode, a thirty-minute Countdown to WrestleDream special will air. There is no Collision on Saturday due to WrestleDream, and TNT will be airing U.S. Men's Soccer coverage from 8pm - 11:30pm.

The next Collision episode is scheduled to be taped on Thursday, October 17 at the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, CA. AEW will also tape Battle of The Belts XII that night, with both episodes airing that Saturday, October 19.