AEW Dynamite Tops WWE NXT in Ratings Despite Dramatic Viewership Drop

AEW Dynamite continued its stronghold in the Wednesday night wrestling ratings battle this week, as All Elite Wrestling scored another victory over WWE NXT. 

According to Wrestling Inc., Dynamite on TNT averaged 685,000 viewers during its two-hour show, while NXT on USA Network drew 590,000 viewers.

In the main event of Dynamite, Sammy Guevara and Shawn Spears beat Cody and Darby Allin in a tag team match. It was a preview of first-round singles bouts in the TNT Championship tournament, as Cody will face Spears and Allin will face Guevara.

Also, Kenny Omega beat Trent in the opening match, Lance Archer defeated Marko Stunt in his in-ring debut, and Chris Jericho had another run-in with Matt Hardy's Vanguard 1.

A huge announcement was made as well in the form of Jon Moxley defending the AEW World Championship against Jake Hager on April 15 in a No Holds Barred match.

In the main event of NXT, Keith Lee successfully defended the North American Championship in a hard-fought Triple Threat match against Dominik Dijakovic and Damian Priest.

Another major match saw Dakota Kai outlast Shotzi Blackheart, Deonna Purrazzo, Aliyah, Xia Li and Kayden Carter in a gauntlet match to earn the sixth and final spot in next week's ladder match that will determine the No. 1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship.

Additionally, Velveteen Dream beat Undisputed Era member Bobby Fish and called out NXT champion Adam Cole. Kushida picked up a win over Joaquin Wilde, who was later abducted in the parking lot.

While NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay is no longer happening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE set the stage for a huge episode of NXT next week that will feature two matches that were originally supposed to occur at TakeOver.

In addition to the women's ladder match, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa are set to settle the score once and for all.

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