AEW News: Viewership Down For ‘Fight For The Fallen’ PPV

As noted by PWMania, Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter shared the number of live streams and pay-per-view buys for All Elite Wrestling’s Fight For The Fallen, which took place last weekend in Jacksonville, Florida.

The report states that Fight For The Fallen marked the lowest turnout yet for an AEW event, with an estimated decrease of 10-14 percent compared to Fyter Fest, which was also available to stream for free on Bleacher Report Live.

The reason for the drop in ratings likely has something to do with the competition AEW had to contend with on the night, as WWE aired an EVOLVE event on the WWE Network at the same time. Elsewhere, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax was shown on AXS as well.

However, while international pay-per-view buys were reportedly down from Fyter Fest, Fight for the Fallen actually made more money than the previous show due to the increased price to purchase the event. The company charged worldwide viewers slightly more for the show since the proceeds were donated toward victims of gun violence.

However, despite the fall in viewership, the numbers shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign that the company is in trouble. According to Meltzer, officials were reportedly very happy with the numbers and were pleasantly surprised by how well the AEW shows performed on Bleacher Report Live, overall.

Furthermore, the events reportedly brought more eyes to the Bleacher Report Live platform. Meltzer said that the streaming service’s subscribers have increased with each show.

American and Canadian viewers who watched the event on Bleacher Report Live didn’t have to pay for it, which is probably the main reason why more people signed up to check it out. That said, it’s clear that the AEW product is garnering steam and has drawn a lot of people’s interest.

Happy Birthday to Shad Khan pic.twitter.com/pKd64teXfL

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) July 18, 2019

Additionally, Meltzer noted that WarnerMedia officials who showed up to watch the event were very impressed with what they saw. Therefore, they’ll likely be happy with their decision to give a relatively unproven wrestling company some widespread exposure on one of their most popular networks this fall.

During his post-match press conference, which you can watch via Chris Van Vliet’s YouTube page, AEW CEO Tony Khan said that Fight for the Fallen was the most representative show to date for what viewers can expect when the company’s weekly show airs on TNT this coming October.

AEW’s next show, All Out, promises to be their biggest event yet — and the last one before their television show airs.