Wrestling's "Wednesday Night Wars" officially kicked off last night. And AEW takes the first week by topping WWE's NXT. The Big Lead's Ryan Glasspiegel reports that the launch of AEW's
Dynamite on TNT recorded a
0.7 overnight rating. NXT, which airs on the USA Network, trailed with a 0.5 rating.
The total viewership numbers for both shows will be out later today. Last week, NXT averaged just over a million viewers.
Both brands received praise from the wrestling world last night -- particularly for their in-ring performances. While neither show has the mainstream names yet that can be seen on
Raw and
SmackDown, but from a pure wrestling standpoint these shows will be as good as it gets.
What makes these numbers so great is that both sides can spin it, like we all know they will want to do. AEW can say they beat a WWE show. And the WWE can say that of course AEW's debut would pop, but that they're positioned to pass them when the novelty wears off.
That is, of course, what happens when you are at war.