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AEW Dynamite Tops WWE NXT for 3rd Straight Week in Wednesday Night Ratings
May 7, 2020
AEW Dynamite extended its viewership winning streak over WWE NXT to three consecutive weeks on Wednesday night.
According to Figure Four Online's Bryan Alvarez, AEW Dynamite on TNT averaged 732,000 viewers during its two-hour broadcast, while WWE NXT on USA Network brought in 663,000 viewers.
After several weeks of taped shows from the Nightmare Factory in Georgia, AEW returned to its home base of Jacksonville, Florida, for a live show that emanated from Daily's Place. The show was punctuated by a wild Falls Count Anywhere tag team match pitting Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara of The Inner Circle against Kenny Omega and Matt Hardy in his AEW wrestling debut.
All four combatants battled throughout Daily's Place and into the TIAA Bank Field concourse. Jericho and Guevara finally picked up the win when Inner Circle members Jake Hager, Santana and Ortiz showed up to stack the odds in their favor, allowing Jericho to pin Omega after a Judas Effect.
Earlier in the show, AEW World champion Jon Moxley beat Frankie Kazarian in a non-title match only to get attacked by Brodie Lee and Dark Order. As a result, Moxley accepted an AEW World Championship match for the May 23 Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
Also, Cody beat Joey Janela in the opening match, Lance Archer continued his dominance with a win over QT Marshall, and AEW Women's champion Nyla Rose was victorious over Kenzie Paige in her in-ring return after several weeks away.
NXT was headlined by a long-awaited NXT Championship match between Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream. Undisputed Era members Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong were initially stopped by Dexter Lumis when they tried to interfere, but when Lumis accidentally launched Strong into the referee, it essentially cost Dream the match.
Cole managed to pick up the victory and retain the title, and it seems like the seeds were planted for a rivalry between Dream and Lumis.
NXT also featured an NXT Women's Championship match between Charlotte Flair and Io Shirai. Io was victorious by disqualification after The Queen decided to hit her with a kendo stick. Rhea Ripley then ran down to save Shirai, marking her first appearance since losing to Flair at WrestleMania 36.
Other key moments on NXT included Johnny Gargano—with new theme music to match his new attitude—beating Dominik Dijakovic, Karrion Kross winning his in-ring debut and unveiling an impressive entrance in the process, and Finn Balor making his return by cutting a promo and then attacking Cameron Grimes.
Next week, Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher will defend the NXT Tag Team Championships against Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner of Imperium, while MJF will make his return to in-ring action on next week's AEW Dynamite.
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