AEW Dynamite Viewership & Ratings Report, 2/18/2026

In the topsy turvy world of wrestling ratings, where Nielsen's ever changing formula has made viewership numbers even harder to predict, AEW has suddenly found itself on an upswing. Since the start of the year, Tony Khan's promotion has seen numbers for both "Dynamite" and "Collision" go up, especially in overall viewership. That was a trend that continued last Wednesday when "Dynamite" found itself in Sacramento, California.

Wrestlenomics and Programming Insider report that the February 18 episode drew 692K total viewers and a 0.12 in the 18-49 demographic. Total viewership was up from February 11 and the four week average, rising 15% in both categories from 604K viewers and 602K viewers. Meanwhile, things stayed the same in 18-49 from February 18, while the number did rise 9% from 0.11 against the four week average. The good news continued from there, as "Dynamite" placed 7th overall on cable that evening.

While "Dynamite" served as the fallout from "Grand Slam Australia" a few days earlier, the show was actually built around its own marquee match, with Kenny Omega and Swerve Strickland squaring off for the first time. After twenty minutes of back and forth action that even saw referee Aubrey Edwards become a casualty of an accidental V-Trigger, Strickland managed to put Omega away with Big Pressure.

Despite picking up his biggest win of 2026, an unsatisfied Strickland wasn't done, brutally assaulting Omega before putting him through the announcer's table with a Vertebreaker, turning Strickland heel for the first time since the fall of 2023. Also featured on the show were Jon Moxley fending off The Don Callis Family's Mark Davis in an AEW Continental Championship Eliminator match, and Willow Nightingale besting Marina Shafir, Megan Bayne, and Mina Shirakawa in a four-way match to retain the AEW TBS Championship.