WWE NXT Defeats AEW Dynamite In Week 12 Of The Wednesday Night Wars

Both AEW and NXT hosted their last live broadcasts of 2019 on Wednesday, and both promotions wanted to end the year with a bang.

NXT hosted two title matches. The episode began with Adam Cole retaining his NXT Championship against Finn Balor, following interference from Johnny Gargano. In the main event, Rhea Ripley captured the NXT Women's Championship after delivering an Avalanche Riptide to Shayna Baszler.

Fans who watched Dynamite were treated to Jungle Boy vs. Chris Jericho, SoCal Uncensored vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championships, and The Lucha Brothers vs. Kenny Omega & Hangman Adam Page.

Professional wrestling fans ultimately believed NXT provided more compelling TV this week, as the show had 795,000 viewers, while 683,000 watched Dynamite.

NXT also had its first ratings win in the 18-49 demographic as 344,000 tuned in to watch WWE's yellow brand, while 341,000 watched Dynamite. The victory has been attributed to the Ripley vs. Baszler main event, as this week's show was the most popular episode amongst women since the Wednesday Night Wars began.

Both shows performed worse than expected this week because of WWE Hall Of Famer Donald Trump's impeachment hearings, with over 50's tuning in to watch the news instead of professional wrestling.