AEW Does Their Second-Highest Demo Rating Ever For CM Punk Debut
Including a monumental quarter hour rating
CM Punk's AEW debut on Friday night's Rampage in Chicago did some of the best television numbers in the promotion's sub-three year history.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics is reporting that AEW Rampage drew 1,129,000 viewers for the Friday night telecast in which Punk debuted. More impressive, the 10 pm EST broadcast did a .53 rating in the 18-49 demo, the second-highest in the history of AEW's TV programs (behind only the .68 for Dynamite's premiere in October 2019).
Thurston also reports that the opening quarter hour (with Punk's debut and subsequent speech) drew 1,341,000 viewers, and a .65 demo rating.
Dave Meltzer has reported that Rampage did a staggering 1.70 demo rating in the Chicago area.
SmackDown on Friday night drew over 2.1 million viewers on FOX, with a .57 rating in 18-49.
Punk will also be appearing on this Wednesday night's episode of Dynamite, live from Milwaukee.
It was reported yesterday that sales of Punk's new t-shirt on Pro Wrestling Tees did the highest 24-hour sales of any shirt in the store's history. For long periods Friday night and well into Saturday, both PW Tees and Shop AEW crashed due to the high volume of customers deluging both websites.
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.