What happened when AEW directly competed with WWE SmackDown in 2021?

AEW Rampage and WWE SmackDown went head to head back in 2021
AEW Rampage and WWE SmackDown went head to head back in 2021

WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite recently went head-to-head once again. Due to Wednesday Night Wars between 2019 and 2021, this wasn't the first time both promotions have fought for the top spot. However, there was also an occurrence when the Jacksonville-based promotion clashed with its rival promotion's blue brand.

The October 15, 2021, episode of SmackDown was moved to the FS1 channel from its usual FOX due to the MLB Playoffs. Due to the changes, the "SuperSized" edition of the blue brand ran for an extra 30 minutes, which featured a singles match between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch. The show's final moments also featured a contract signing between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns.

Interestingly, WWE's 30-minute extension meant they clashed with the first 30 minutes of AEW Rampage on TNT, which has a 10-11 PM ET time slot. The first match that went on air on Rampage was a commercial-free bout between Matt Sydal and CM Punk.

It was later shared that the Friday show beat the rival company in terms of total viewership. The former received 866,00 while the latter only got 578,000. However, the Stamford-based company was defeated in terms of the 18-49 demo when the two shows went head-to-head in those 30 minutes. AEW received 328,000 while WWE got 285,000.

A former WWE writer just went after JBL for his comments HERE

Who won between AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT for this week?

The Wednesday Night Wars ended when the developmental brand moved to Tuesday nights. However, the promotion clashed with All Elite Wrestling due to TBS' coverage of the 2022 American League Championship Series.

Even though this week's episode of NXT 2.0 featured names from the main roster like Rhea Ripley, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Austin Theory, and more, they weren't able to beat All Elite Wrestling in ratings. Nonetheless, it was a close matchup.

NXT had a total of 676,000 viewership with a 0.18 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. AEW, on the other hand, had a total of 752,000 viewers with a 0.26 rating in the key demographic.

For now, it would be interesting to see if any changes will happen between the two shows, especially since more main roster talent are making appearances on WWE’s third brand.

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Edited by UJALA
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