AEW News Roundup: Jon Moxley files new trademark, former WWE manager books CM Punk in AEW, Ruby Riott teases debut, and more (August 17, 2021)

#2 AEW Rampage receives praise over debut viewership numbers

AEW Rampage on Friday was watched by 740,000 viewers on average. 396,000 were aged 18-49 (0.30 rating).Smackdown on Fox was watched by 2,084,000. In 18-49, 746,000 (0.58 rating) watched.More details soon at https://t.co/1SscdBCpr8

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) August 16, 2021

AEW Rampage debuted this past Friday and wasted no time in establishing itself as the equivalent of Dynamite.

The show featured three title matches and a huge title change as Christian Cage defeated Kenny Omega to win the IMPACT Wrestling World Championship.

Rampage had an average viewership of 740,000 on Friday, a 45% jump from what Friday night's AEW Dynamite episodes got in June. Rampage did a 0.30 in the key demo and finished third overall on cable.

WarnerMedia released a press statement expressing their delight over the numbers and hyping up the episode.

WarnerMedia issued the following touting the AEW Rampage debut pic.twitter.com/FhW2gGK3eo

— Sean Ross Sapp aka Keiji Muter aka The Great Muter (@SeanRossSapp) August 16, 2021

Tony Khan had a say on the viewership as well, promising bigger things for AEW Rampage: The First Dance.

“Our goal was to come out of the gate strong and establish Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on TNT as the place to catch the hottest commodities in professional wrestling,” said Tony Khan, CEO, GM and Head of Creative of AEW. “Coming off our red-hot debut episode of ‘AEW: Rampage’ last Friday that featured Dr. Britt Baker retaining her AEW Women’s World Championship against Red Velvet in the main event match, we’re all excited for The First Dance this Friday night at the sold-out United Center in Chicago. It will be a special episode of ‘AEW: Rampage’ that will be enshrined in wrestling history as a night that fans will remember for a very long time.”

CM Punk's probable debut at this week's AEW Rampage has created enough buzz for the episode and it could potentially have a big say in the ratings as well.