Saturday night’s AEW Battle of the Belts III averaged 437,000 viewers on TNT, down 17.1 percent from the previous edition of the special back in April. It’s the lowest viewership of the three Battle of the Belts events to date.
In the 18-49 demo, Battle of the Belts finished 12th in the cable rankings on Saturday with a 0.12 rating. That’s down 33.3 percent from Battle of the Belts II and is less than half the rating the first Battle of the Belts show in January did.
The previous chart rankings were 10th for the first Battle of the Belts and 11th for the second, so — relative to the competition — these numbers are relatively stable.
The audience retention from the previous night’s AEW Rampage, which aired on the same station, was 93.4 percent of total viewers and 80 percent in the key demo.
As with other Battle of the Belts shows, Saturday’s edition featured three title matches, headlined by an ROH World Championship match between Claudio Castagnoli and Konosuke Takeshita.
Listed below are the overall viewership, 18-49 demo ratings, and chart placings for all three Battle of the Belts specials on TNT to date.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including all the big shows from this past weekend, Rampage, Battle of the Belts, Smackdown, Raw preview for tonight, Quake at the Lake, all the news and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including HHH and Logan Paul talking shop, Ric Flair and his thoughts on his last match, RAW line-up for Monday, latest on the G-1, Rampage, Smackdown, Battle of the Belts and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
The third-ever AEW Battle of the Belts special on TNT will be headlined by Ring of Honor World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defending against Konosuke Takeshita.
Castagnoli defeated Jonathan Gresham for the title at last month’s Death Before Dishonor and this will be his first title defense. Takeshita has won two straight and this is his first opportunity at either AEW or ROH gold.
AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa will defend against rival Jamie Hayter as part of her rivalry with Britt Baker and her entourage. Rosa will be aiming for her sixth successful title defense while this is Hayter’s first shot at the title.
In a TNT title match, Wardlow will look for the second defense of his belt as he faces Jay Lethal who is coming off a win over Orange Cassidy Wednesday. This is Lethal’s second shot at the TNT title as he unsuccessfully challenged then-champion Sammy Guevara last November in his debut.
Lethal stalled at the start, and then a distraction from Dutt allowed him to attack Wardlow from behind. Wardlow popped up on a suplex and booted Lethal before sending him flying with a back body drop. Wardlow was distracted by Dutt and Satnam again, leading to Lethal pounding on him in the corner. Wardlow returned fire with a tilt-a-whirl slam for two.
Wardlow maintained control until Lethal avoided a tackle and sent Wardlow shoulder-first into the ring post. Lethal immediately landed a tope suicida and wrapped Wardlow’s left leg around the ring post. He targeted Wardlow’s leg through a commercial break.
Once back, Wardlow was able to roll through a cradle and wanted the Powerbomb Symphony, but Lethal repeatedly fought his way out. Wardlow cut Lethal off with a headbutt before leveling him with a wind-up lariat. He then hit a single powerbomb for the win.
– Immediately after the match, Dutt and Satnam attacked Wardlow. Satnam pressed his boot into Wardlow’s chest while Lethal locked on a Figure Four. Wardlow fought his way back and gave Satnam a low blow. He set up for what would have been a wild powerbomb on Satnam, but Lethal cut him off. Dutt and Lethal set up a table and Satnam chokeslammed Wardlow through it.
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AEW Women’s World Championship: Thunder Rosa (c) (w/ Toni Storm) defeated Jamie Hayter (w/ Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. & Rebel)
Hayter attacked before the bell and Baker immediately got involved. She dominated the early goings until a Rosa dropkick created some separation. Hayter cut off a suicide dive and sent Rosa into the barricade, but Rosa came back with a DDT on the floor.
Back inside, Rosa climbed the ropes, but a Baker distraction allowed Hayter to send her crashing to the floor. Hayter then planted Rosa onto the steel steps before commercial. Upon return, the two women traded forearms in the center of the ring until Rosa hit a northern lights suplex for two.
Rosa crushed Hayter with a running dropkick and landed a cannonball senton. A diving crossbody inside the ring got two. Hayter came back with a backbreaker and a brainbuster for two. Baker got involved, but Storm took her out with a DDT, allowing Rosa to cradle Hayter with a cazadora pin for the win.
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AEW Dynamite: Quake By The Lake lineup —
FTR returns
Coffin match: Darby Allin vs. Brody King
Interim AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Chris Jericho
Tornado Tag: Lucha Bros vs. Andrade El Idolo & Rush
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Madison Rayne
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Caprice Coleman joined commentary, as did William Regal.
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita
This was yet another stellar match from both men — neither of whom has missed since coming to AEW.
They performed chain wrestling early on, concluding with Claudio hitting an impressive monkey flip on Takeshita. Neither man could establish any extended advantage until Takeshita took Claudio down with a dropkick. Claudio avoided a plancha, but Takeshita recovered to smash Claudio with a forearm. Back inside, Claudio hit multiple backbreakers and controlled the action through a commercial.
Back from break, Takeshita started a comeback and knocked Claudio down with his jumping shoulder tackle. He followed it up with a tope con giro. Back in the ring, Takeshita climbed the ropes, but Claudio cut him off and hit an avalanche gutwrench suplex for two.
Claudio called for the giant swing and performed about ten revolutions before covering for two. They traded big strikes in the corner before Takeshita hit a blue thunder bomb for two. They fought on the top rope, where Takeshita hit almost a turnbuckle DDT before a frog splash got a near fall.
Takeshita went for the big knee, but Claudio caught it and reversed a shoulder tackle with a European uppercut for a near fall. Claudio applied a Sharpshooter and then a crossface, but a pinning predicament forced him to break the hold. Takeshita hit a snap German, Claudio hit a lariat, then Takeshita hit a second German and a big lariat of his own for a near fall.
Claudio countered a discus forearm with an uppercut, but then Takeshita hit his rising knee and a brainbuster for a good near fall. Takeshita hit the discus forearm and wanted the Cinna-bomb, but Claudio fought out and hit a running uppercut and a stomp. He got Takeshita up for the Ricola Bomb, but Takeshita countered into a hurricanrana pin for an awesome near fall.
Takeshita went for another jumping knee, but Claudio plucked him out of midair for a Death Valley driver. Claudio landed a lariat, laid in hammer-and-anvil elbows, and finally hit the Ricola Bomb for the win.
The following are spoilers from Friday’s AEW Battle of the Belts III taping in Grand Rapids, Michigan, prior to the live Rampage. The show will air Saturday on TNT.
AEW Battle of the Belts III:
TNT Champion Wardlow defeated Jay Lethal to retain the title after hitting a power bomb
AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa (w/ Toni Storm) defeated Jamie Hayter to retain the title
Ring of Honor World Champion Claudio Castagnoli defeated Konosuke Takeshita to retain the title
AEW’s next taping will be a special edition of Dynamite called Quake at the Lake, which will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both AEW Dynamite and Rampage will be held. Matches announced for Dynamite include:
Interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defends against Chris Jericho
TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Madison Rayne
Darby Allin vs. Brody King in a coffin match
Lucha Bros vs. Andrade El Idolo & Rush in a tornado tag team match
Two new title matches have been added to Battle of the Belts III.
Thunder Rosa will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against Jamie Hayter, while Wardlow will defend the TNT title against Jay Lethal. A third match, Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita for the ROH World Championship, has already been announced. The show will air on Saturday after being taped during Friday’s Rampage event.
On Wednesday’s Dynamite, Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh attacked Orange Cassidy after Lethal beat him in the opening match. Wardlow came out for the save. Dutt then demanded that Wardlow put up the TNT title at Battle of the Belts, with Wardlow accepting.
In a tag team match that took place Wednesday, Hayter and Britt Baker scored a win over Toni Storm and Rosa after miscommunication between Rosa and Storm led to Storm accidentally laying out Rosa with a hip attack in the corner. This allowed Hayter to pin Storm with a short-arm clothesline.
Here is the lineup for Battle of the Belts III:
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against Konosuke Takeshita
AEW World Women’s Championship: Thunder Rosa defends against Jamie Hayter
TNT Championship: Wardlow defends against Jay Lethal
The ROH World Championship will be on the line at next week’s Battle of the Belts III.
It was announced Friday during Rampage that Claudio Castagnoli will defend the championship against Konosuke Takeshita at the event, which will air on August 6. The show will be taped on Friday, where AEW will hold a live edition of Rampage in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
On Friday’s Rampage, Castagnoli appeared following his ROH World Championship win at Death Before Dishonor last Saturday, defeating Jonathan Gresham. He introduced Wheeler Yuta, who eventually started arguing with Chris Jericho, who was doing commentary. A match between Yuta and Jericho was made for Wednesday’s Dynamite where if Yuta wins, he gets Jericho’s AEW World title match at Quake by the Lake on August 10.
The last Battle of the Belts was held on April 15. Sammy Guevara defeated Scorpio Sky to win the TNT title, Jonathan Gresham defeated Dalton Castle to retain the ROH World title, and Thunder Rosa defeated Nyla Rose to retain the AEW Women’s World title.
AEW will make its Grand Rapids, Michigan, debut on Friday August 5th for a live edition of Rampage and a taping for Battle of the Belts III.
While the air date wasn’t announced for the latter, it’s assumed to be on Saturday, August 6th on TNT.
Debuting in January, the one-hour specials typically feature three title matches that have included the AEW Women’s, TNT, TBS, ROH World title and FTW belts in the past.
After the first BoB was live, April’s edition was taped the night before it aired. That show, headlined by Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky for the TNT title, and Thunder Rosa vs. Nyla Rose for the Women’s title, dropped 25% in viewership from the first edition.
Tickets go on sale a week from this Friday.
As of now, Grand Rapids will be the sixth new city AEW debuts in over the next three months which also includes Los Angeles; Ontario, CA; Detroit; Savannah, GA; and Worcester, MA.
It’s also the first August date announced on their schedule.
