Mercedes Mone's debut sparked a big ratings boost for AEW Big Business, as the new CEO of All Elite Wrestling drew 801,000 viewers with a 0.27 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 3% & up from last week. A disappointing 779,000 viewers and a 0.27 in 18-49. Mon (FKA Sasha Banks) headlined the star-studded Dynamite TV special, with AEW's other CEO, Tony Khan, calling it AEW's biggest show yet.
„Absolutely. I promise I won't let the fans down tonight,” Khan told Scott Fishman. TVInsider.com (h/t Yahoo.com). „There's an arrival of big names, big show tonight.”
„It has become a popular destination for top stars,” Khan continued. “Now is the right time to expand. That's tonight. AEW is big business. With a strong group of wrestlers in AEW today, we've come so far since the start of 2019.
Featuring AEW Dynamite: Big Business Introduction Mercedes Monin finally joins AEW More than a year of speculation. AEW kicked off with Mon's debut in his hometown of Boston, Mass. Similar to CM Punk's legendary AEW debut in Chicago, Ill., Mon debuted his new „CEO” theme song, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was modeled. Sampled by current historic WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther.
In front of an impressive crowd of 9,500, Dynamite's biggest turnout in months, Monae cut an emotional promo to kick off the show. Monae's friends and WWE Superstars Bayley, Naomi and Tamina were also in attendance to support their friend in her big moment.
„You want to know why I'm here? Because I have to be here,” Monae said. „I want to be here. AEW is the only place where this revolution can be global. We're going to make it happen.” Mercedes' promo was during a podcast appearance. A brutally honest moment is followed by a course correction of sorts.
AEW Big Business Ratings
- AEW Dynamite Big Business Audience | 801,000
- AEW Dynamite Big Business 18-49 Rating | 0.27 rating
„I know I'll be back there one day. It's not over yet. I have a lot of unfinished business in wrestling in a lot of places,” Mercedes told Evan Mag.The Kick Rocks Wrestling Podcast.”
Mon's AEW debut received mostly positive reactions from fans and the media, as she would launch a promising, but struggling, women's division.
„I really enjoyed it,” Tommy Dreamer said.A broken open radio.„
„I was a little shocked that it happened in the first place, and if you think about it, most of these things are long enough, and if you have a whole show before that, you have to trust the person who's going to rush their introduction. .”
Rock's promo opened the show on SmackDown two weeks ago, and last week his promo was saved in the main event segment. WWE's strategy of making fans wait for the biggest star on the show has led to increased viewership. Given AEW's modest increase in total viewership, AEW's quarter-hour viewership for Big Business drew a million viewers in Mon's opening segment.
The numbers taught the same lesson about saving the best for last.
Mercedes Mon could have done even bigger business
While Mon's drawing ability was certainly impressive in his first week, one can't help but wonder how much bigger the business would have been if Tony Khan had promoted his appearance, especially with an average total of 801,000 viewers. CM Punk's unpromoted AEW debut in Chicago sold out the United Center and was Rampage's all-time biggest ratings hit with over a million viewers. But Punk's AEW debut was full of easter eggs, where AEW did everything but mention Punk's name to hint that he would be there. Even in this scenario, if AEW had promoted Punk, the numbers Rampage had already posted would have been even bigger.
AEW used a similar strategy with Mon, except with far less dog whistles, and Mon's debut was only known to the most die-hard wrestling fans.
“I mean—I still think—um…me, me, me. Uh, okay. I can't believe it's even the most basic thing [Bryan Alvarez] They said they should have advertised this, and people rose up and took up arms,” Dave Meltzer said.Wrestling Spectator Radio.„
„Do you realize that there's actually a reason they've been promoting matches for the last 140 years? WWE is so hot right now, and yet, when The Rock is on, they do—actually they brought him in as a surprise, but now they're promoting him.
The Rock's promoted appearances in WWE led to some Smackdowns Huge numbers Since moving to Fox. This includes Friday's Smackdown, which was No. 1 on all television.
The other elephant in the room for Mercedes' AEW debut is how effective Tony Khan will be at leading and booking her. By CM Bunk A disastrous tenure in AEW, the wrestling world learned that dealing with strong personalities was not Khan's strong suit. Monae and Naomi famously quit WWE in the middle of a Raw taping following a dispute with management. Should similar issues arise in AEW with Mon, Tony Khan's ability to handle these situations will be a key part of booking AEW's revamped locker room (full of more talent and egos than ever) to its full potential.
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