While AEW Dynamite may be nipping at WWE's heels in terms of that key 18-49 demographic, the company has a long way to go before beating the likes of RAW and SmackDown when it comes to overall viewership. However, when it comes to ticket sales, AEW is often outdrawing WWE's shows.
Monday night's episode of RAW took place at the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York, but WWE was only able to shift 5,887 tickets. The New York area is considered WWE's "home", so this was a surprise, especially as Edge's return was advertised in advance and SmackDown's Roman Reigns was enlisted for a dark match.
According to WrestleTix, this week's AEW Dynamite - in the same arena - has sold 8,658 tickets.
That's a huge difference, and according to Bryan Alvarez on the Wrestling Observer forums, there are those in WWE who simply don't believe those ticket sales are real. "You will be surely stunned to learn that there are a few people in WWE who believe Tony must be buying up tickets for the AEW show," he revealed.
Needless to say, this is a bonkers conspiracy theory and one that makes no sense when you consider how obviously full AEW's shows have been in recent months.
It seems AEW just has a more passionate fanbase than WWE, and fans who are willing to pay to see their wrestlers in action. For whatever reason, that's simply not the case with WWE right now.
TheRingReport.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.