Week 68 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite defeat WWE NXT in viewership and ratings.

Wednesday’s Dynamite drew 734,000 viewers (-14% from last week) on TNT, topping the 720,000 viewers (+9.3%) garnered by the live NXT episode on the USA Network by 1.9%, according to Nielsen via Showbuzz Daily.

AEW ranked #6 in the Cable Top 150 for the 18-49 demo, while NXT ranked #24. AEW ranked #64 in total viewership, while NXT ranked #67 in viewership.

Last week’s Dynamite show drew 854,000 viewers and ranked #33 in the Cable Top 150, and #64 in viewership. Last week’s NXT show drew 659,000 viewers and ranked #67 in the Cable Top 150, and #73 in viewership.

AEW drew a 0.29 rating (-19.44% from last week) in the 18-49 demographic, topping the 0.21 (+40%) garnered by NXT in the same demo this week by 38%. Last week’s AEW show drew a 0.36 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.15 in that demographic.

This is AEW’s lowest audience and 18-49 demographic rating since the Thanksgiving episode, which drew 710,000 viewers with a 0.26 rating, with the exception of the January 6 show, which was affected by coverage of the U.S. Capitol riot in Washington, DC. This was NXT’s best viewership since the December 16 episode, which drew 766,000 viewers with a 0.19 rating, and their best 18-49 rating since the October 28 show, which drew 876,000 viewers with a 0.25 rating.

AEW viewership was down 11.4% from the same week in 2020, while NXT viewership was up 1.2% from the same week in 2020.

The NBA game between the Lakers and the 76ers on ESPN topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.65 rating, drawing just 1.775 million viewers. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show topped the night in viewership with 3.742 million viewers, ranking #5 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.32 rating in the key demo.

Chicago Med on NBC topped the night on network TV in viewership with an average of 7.204 million viewers. Chicago Fire on NBC took the #1 spot in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.93 rating.

Below is our 2021 NXT Viewership Tracker:

January 6 Episode: 641,000 viewers with a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year’s Evil episode)
January 13 Episode: 551,000 viewers with a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 20 Episode: 659,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 27 Episode: 720,000 viewers with a 0.21 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 3 Episode:

2020 Total: 37.027 million viewers over 53 episodes
2020 Average: 698,623 viewers per episode

2019 Total: 10.209 million viewers over 13 episodes
2019 Average: 785,307 viewers per episode

Below is our 2021 AEW Dynamite Viewership Tracker:

January 6 Episode: 662,000 viewers with a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year’s Smash Night 1 episode)
January 13 Episode: 762,000 viewers with a 0.30 rating in the 18-49 demographic (New Year’s Smash Night 2 episode)
January 20 Episode: 854,000 viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 27 Episode: 734,000 viewers with a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic
February 3 Episode:

2020 Total: 42.970 million viewers over 53 episodes
2020 Average: 810,755 viewers per episode

2019 Total: 10.840 million viewers over 12 episodes
2019 Average: 903,333 viewers per episode