AEW has established itself as a serious competitor in professional wrestling during its five-plus years, becoming WWEs main rival. However, allegations emerged that WWE has been requesting fast national ratings for AEW shows for some time to undermine them and it appears Nielsen has put a stop to this.
WWEs control over wrestling media has raised concerns among fans about the possible manipulation of information to shape stories. A recent example of this was the reporting of viewership numbers for AEW Collision on June 1st.
Initially, Alfred Konuwa reported that only 122,000 people watched AEW Collision for the June 1st episode. Later, it was revealed that the actual number was much higher at 378,000 viewers. Even after this correction, the wrong information had already created a lot of discussion online. Because of this, people accused WWE of trying to spread negative stories about AEW in the media. Dave Meltzer even reported that WWE has been consistently ordering these fast nationals for AEW shows since Nick Khans tenure began.
According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, the way people see AEW as either a competitor to WWE or as second-tier wrestling has hurt the company, especially with so much wrestling on TV and streaming. WWE is very good at handling media, and promoting its own shows while putting AEW down in subtle ways. However, Nielsen has now stopped using fast national ratings for cable shows, which means this tactic to hurt AEW will not work anymore.
Many fans will likely be relieved to know this as it means WWE will no longer be able to use fast nationals as a tactic to undermine AEW. Even then, Tony Khans company continues to face a sharp decline in ratings every week, so well have to see if AEW will eventually gain their viewers back somehow.
Do you believe WWE no longer being able to get the fast nationals for AEW shows will help Tony Khans company in the long run? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
