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The latest edition of AEW Collision drew the lowest-ever number of viewers in the show's history, and many are blaming the recent dismissal of CM Punk as the cause for this.
According to Wrestlenomics, this past Saturday's show averaged 345,000 viewers across two hours. This is down 37.5 percent from the week prior. As if this wasn't disastrous enough, the show also suffered a significant plummet in the all-important 18-49 demographic range, scoring a meager 0.11 — down 31.3 percent from the week prior.
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This marks Collision's lowest scores in both total viewership and the demographic, despite the promotion enjoying a financially successful week due to All In and All Out.
Granted, Collision did have to contend with WWE's Payback premium live event on Peacock and the LSU vs. Florida State college football game, which aired on ABC. Nonetheless, Tony Khan and the AEW creative team will need to hurry and find a solution to mitigate another downturn in viewership, especially with more college football games coming up.
Many fans have pointed to Tony Khan's decision to fire CM Punk as the reason for this week's poor ratings. One fan posted the following on social media:
“That’s what happens when you choose Jack f**king Perry over CM Punk lmao".
Check out the post here.
Another fan noticed the head-to-head battles that Collision was dealing with this week and claimed that even if Punk was still a part of the company, The Voice of the Voiceless would not be able to save this massive drop in viewership:
As worrying as these stats may be for AEW, the promotion will be hoping to bring more eyes to the product on this week's episode, but they will undoubtedly be fighting an uphill battle.
Jack Perry issued indefinite suspension, while CM Punk fired from AEW
After Tony Khan announced that former AEW World Champion CM Punk's contract with the promotion had been terminated due to his role in the All In backstage altercation, many assumed that Jack Perry, the other party in this incident, would suffer the same fate.
However, this was not the case. Instead, the 26-year-old star was issued an indefinite suspension while an investigation into the matter is being conducted. While this might seem to many like an act of favoritism, it is important to remember that this is Perry's first real controversy in the promotion, while Punk has been involved in a few.
Additionally, it was reported that The Second City Saint also got aggressive with Khan himself, with the AEW President claiming that his "life was in danger." This was probably the straw that broke the camel's back and a significant factor in the decision to issue different punishments to the two stars.
