"This is where they’ll be a year" - Eric Bischoff makes a shocking prediction about AEW's future

Long-time AEW critic Eric Bischoff has once again taken aim at the Tony Khan-led promotion. The former wrestling booker has made some concerning claims about the company's possible future amid its recent decline in viewership ratings.

All Elite Wrestling hosted the 2025 iteration of its cross-promotional PPV Forbidden Door last month at The O2 Arena in London. The company is poised for its next major international event, All Out: Toronto, scheduled to air from the Scotiabank Arena in Ontario, Canada, later this month. Despite the positive momentum the promotion has gathered over the last couple of months, viewership figures continue to be a persistent issue, as last week's Dynamite recorded an unusually low average rating of 472K viewers.

Addressing the topic on a recent edition of his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff discussed how he had studied the Jacksonville-based promotion's programming ratings over the past two years and calculated that the company was losing about 22-23 percent of its viewership each year.

“It’s becoming evident to everybody. So what was it—about a year ago, eight months ago—I was sitting down and there was this debate about ratings and network deals and what AEW could be doing in the future. And I just sat down with a glass of wine and looked at the last two years of ratings for AEW. It’s simple math... I punched in a couple of numbers and saw they were losing an average of about 22 to 23 percent of their audience every year.”

Bischoff further speculated that at this rate, Dynamite ratings will register figures around the 300K range by the end of the company's current media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.

"And I did the math and thought, ‘Oh, this is where they are now. This is where they’ll be a year from now. This is where they’ll be three years from now, unless they reverse the 20 percent average attrition per year.’ I project that by the end of their existing contract, they’d be hovering around 300,000 viewers. Back in November, on November 14, 2024, I said a year from now AEW would be hovering around 500,000 viewers—and I was absolutely right.” [H/T - Ringside News]

It remains to be seen whether Bischoff's prediction about Dynamite will come true or if the show's ratings will bounce back soon.

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Announcements for this week's AEW Dynamite

The September 10 episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite will air from the legendary 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA, where All Elite Wrestling is currently hosting a multi-week residency. Four matches have been announced for the show so far, namely:

• Ricochet vs. Shelton Benjamin
• Hangman Adam Page vs. Josh Alexander
• Mercedes Mone and Emi Sakura vs. Alex Windsor and Riho
• Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue [Philly Street Fight]

Matches announced for AEW Dynamite this week [Image Credits: All Elite Wrestling on X]

It remains to be seen what else Tony Khan and his creative team have in store for fans on Dynamite.