AEW's Battle of the Belts III finishes #12 on cable, lowest of the three specials

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Originally published at AEW's Battle of the Belts III finishes #12 on cable, lowest of the three specials

The third edition of AEW’s Battle of the Belts posted its lowest figures in the series this past Saturday night.

The taped special aired on TNT and attracted an audience of 437,000 viewers and approximately 157,000 (0.12) in the 18-49 demographic, per Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.

The show finished #12 among cable originals. In its timeslot between 8-9 p.m. ET, AEW was topped by the UFC Fight Night prelims on ESPN and a Hallmark original movie.

It was the lowest of the three Battle of the Belts special. The original special aired on January 8th of this year and averaged 704,000 viewers and 0.26 in the 18-49 demographic (#11 on cable) featuring Britt Baker vs. Riho in the main event. The April 16th special averaged 527,000 viewers and 0.18 in the key demo (#10 on cable) with Thunder Rosa vs. Nyla Rose in the main event.

Compared with the April special, Battle of the Belts III decreased by 17 percent in overall viewers, 35 percent in 18-49, 42 percent among adults 18-34, and 30 percent with adults 35-49.

The sixty-minute show was highlighted by an ROH World Championship match between Claudio Castagnoli and Konosuke Takeshita that received tremendous reviews after it was taped the previous night in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Battle of the Belts also saw Thunder Rosa defend the women’s championship against Jamie Hayter, and a TNT title match between Wardlow and Jay Lethal.

The fourth Battle of the Belts special is scheduled for October.

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I’m not trying to start a thing, just an honest question. Is AEW overdoing it with all of the “named” specials? Cagematch indicates that 13 editions of Rampage or Dynamite in 2022 have had some kind of name/theme: Beach Break (2), Slam Dunk, St. Patrick’s Day Slam, Wild Card Wednesday, Road Rager (2), Blood & Guts, Fyter Fest (4), Fight for the Fallen. Plus Quake by the Lake tonight, Grand Slam (2 episodes) set for September, and three “Battle of the Belts” Specials with a fourth set for October (which I wouldn’t consider the same thing because they’re not in the normal Dynamite or Rampage timeslot).

Is that too much? Is there or will there be a law of diminishing returns on these? Or is it just a name and not to be viewed as a special edition at all (and if so, what’s the point)?

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I’m gonna think they’re already are, the last battle of the belts rating tanked.

To be honest there a lot of this isn’t their fault. WWE is just hot right now, coming off the removal of Vince and off summer slam they are on and upswing.

AEW had a lot of distractions with the new Japan build and injuries to rhe top guys. They really haven’t even got the ball rolling on a main event for a paper-view in four weeks. They definitely aren’t hot right now even if the match quality has been good… I think what they need to do is really deliver at the next pay-per-view. If punk isn’t ready they need a big-time match for Mox and they need to set it up quick. Bring back MJF or something either.