If ever there was a part of the year that "AEW Collision" would like to forget, it's the last month. The Saturday show was faced with all sorts of competition during that time, at first primarily from the NFL Playoffs. There was no reprieve after that, however, with "Collision" then going up against WWE Saturday Night's Main Event last weekend. And this weekend was worse, with "Collision" finding itself face to face with one of WWE's premiere events of the year, the Royal Rumble.
Predictably, things didn't go too well. Wrestlenomics reports that Saturday's "Collision" drew a mere 197K total viewers, and 0.04 in the coveted 18-49 demographic. Both numbers were well down from the week before, with total viewership dropping 21% from 250K, while 18-49 slid even further, falling 43% from 0.07. Both numbers were way down against the four week average as well, with total viewership decreasing 38%, while 18-49 was down 56%.
As one would expect looking at those numbers, this would make Saturday's "Collision" the lowest rated episode in the show's history when airing in it's normal 8-10 Saturday timeslot. It is not, however, the lowest rated episode in all of "Collision's" history, with the showing drawing lower numbers three times while pre-empted. Fortunately for AEW, it will be the last week it faces WWE competition for awhile, including February 15, when AEW Grand Slam will air after NXT Vengeance Day concludes.
Those who watched "Collision" saw a wild main event, as FTR defeated the Death Riders' Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta in a Mid-South Street Fight, thanks to some help from Jay White and Cope. The show also featured several appearances from luchadors, including the returns of Rush, Dralistico, The Beast Mortos, and Bandido to AEW programming, and a vignette featuring Hologram.
