Eric Bischoff Predicts AEW Ratings Will Drop Even Lower by Next Year

Eric Bischoff isn’t impressed with AEW’s current viewership numbers—and he doesn’t see them turning the corner anytime soon.

During the September 13, 2025 episode of 83 Weeks, Bischoff laid into AEW’s ratings and questioned whether they could maintain long-term relevance in an evolving media landscape.

The conversation came up while he and Raj Giri discussed reports that Paramount and Skydance might make a move to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery—AEW’s current broadcast partner. With TKO (WWE’s parent company) already in bed with Paramount, the question was whether AEW could survive a potential shakeup. Bischoff didn’t mince words when talking about AEW’s weekly audience.

“AEW is not… it’s not a big audience. It is what it is. 500,000 viewers in prime time is nothing to brag about. Even if you’re Dave Meltzer, you can turn yourself into a f**king pretzel if you choose, trying to do it, but you make yourself look like a knucklehead — which is nothing new for Dave.”

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Then he dropped the real hammer: not only does he believe AEW has plateaued, he thinks the decline is far from over.

“But it’s 500,000 consistent viewers. I think they’ve hit bottom, to be honest. But not quite yet. They’ll take a bigger hit this fall. By this time next year, they’ll probably be hovering around 425,000 viewers, in my opinion. By the end of their third year, they’ll probably be dancing around 300 to 350 [thousand viewers], just based on their current level of attrition.”

That said, Bischoff did admit AEW still provides value, especially if a new broadcast partner wants steady, cost-effective content.

“It delivers a relatively consistent audience and has a big upside. So I don’t think it’s as doom and gloom for AEW as it might appear to be on the surface because of the TKO involvement.”

While AEW continues to pack arenas and push out new content across Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage, Bischoff’s blunt forecast suggests TV networks may soon start evaluating the return on investment more critically—especially if corporate reshuffling changes the game.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.