Bryan Danielson wrestled his first match since the end of May on the July 27 episode of AEW Wednesday Night Dynamite, but he probably didn't move the needle quite as much as the company was hoping. Danielson announced his comeback at the San Diego Comic Con last weekend, and All Elite had every opportunity to hype up his match against Daniel Garcia during the ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. While the JAS member isn't the biggest name on All Elite's roster, he is the man who was credited with taking The American Dragon out of action during the Anarchy In The Arena match at Double Or Nothing.
The bout was a hard-hitting affair, with Danielson selling his concussion history while Garcia frequently took headshots at the former WWE champion. It was Daniel, and not Danielson, who had his hand raised at the end of Dynamite, however, after Jake Hager interfered without the referee noticing. It's not the finish that fans were hoping for, and it all but guarantees another fight between Danielson and Garcia.
Given the anticipation of Danielson's return and the lead-in at Comic Con, AEW was likely expecting a ratings spike for Dynamite. Based on the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the Blackpool Combat Club member moved the needle, but not by that much. Especially when compared with where All Elite Wrestling's flagship show was last year. "The audience was up 7.3 percent in viewers from last week, up 3.1 percent in 18-49 and up 22.7 percent in 18-34. From the same week last year, the show was down 11.9 percent in viewers, down 26.5 percent in 18-49 and down 16.1 percent in 18-34. Factoring in the loss of cable homes, the actual percentage drops would be 6.6 percent in viewers, 20.4 percent in 18-49, and 10.9 percent in 18-34." Dave Meltzer also noted that "Danielson vs. Garcia did 902,000 viewers and 432,000 in 18-49 and peaked for the last few minutes at 990,000 and 469,000 in 18-49."
These ratings could take on either a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty perspective. It's true that Danielson bumped Dynamite compared to last week, but the show is down a bit year-over-year, and that's disappointing given the buzz that his Comic Con announcement generated. That's a massive stage, and it probably should have led to a bigger spike. That didn't happen, however, as AEW continues to struggle to get over the one million viewers mark on a weekly basis.
CM Punk's early return matches were doing those kinds of numbers, but by and large, this is roughly the same number of viewers that Dynamite generally always has. That's not necessarily a great sign for Danielson or Tony Khan, as Bryan is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers in AEW. All the talent in the world doesn't mean much to promotions if it doesn't lead to ratings. In the words of Dusty Rhodes: "where's the money?"
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter