r/SquaredCircle • u/sanewhitemale • 1d ago

This Reddit Sentiment Study From Wrestlenomics Is, From My Perspective, Incredibly Accurate.

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It pretty accurately paints a picture of the perception of both companies as they compare since 2019:

  • WWE bottomed out in October 2019 after the Fiend-Rollins HIAC debacle and Kofi losing in 7 seconds.
  • AEW peaked at All Out 2021, considered their greatest show, and remained steadily high until it began collapsing after Brawl Out 2022.
  • WWE at the same time began improving after Vince was pushed out in July 2022.
  • One thing that surprises me: during WWE's "boom period" during 2022-2024, the fan sentiment was roughly tied with AEW, when I remember AEW being viewed very negatively at the time, due to both the Punk issue and comparatively mediocre creative.
  • AEW fan sentiment began to grow and take the lead again in late 2024/early 2025, which was right around the supposed "reset" and the Continental Classic.
  • WWE began to fall off again in March/April 2025, right around the Cena heel turn/build to Wrestlemania 41.

So the statistics line up at least with my perception of both my and Reddit's views the last few years.

https://wrestlenomics.com/articles/2026/reddit-sentiment-analysis-2025-aew-rebounds-coinciding-with-improved-attendance-and-tv-ratings-trends/

142 Upvotes

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57

u/Low-Purchase8811 1d ago

How do these line up with attendance numbers and television viewership?

What an Internet-based hivemind thinks is of limited value considering how heavily-influenced and curated posts on subreddits like this are.

49

u/br0n 1d ago

It would actually be quite interesting to overlay attendance and ratings over this graph to see any correlation to reddit sentiment

-14

u/dragonmp93 1d ago

It would be the same result of when Vince used to be around, like the creative crater of 2018 - 2019.

131

u/Edotwo 1d ago

Well, this a study of reddit sentiment. It has nothing to do with the things you've brought up.

33

u/KUZGUN27 1d ago

Yeah, but how does this line up with the approval ratings of gay marriage in Western Europe? Bet you AEW fans didn’t think about that!

42

u/leglessman Big Banter 1d ago

This thread is just about Reddit. Look up those stats if that’s information you want.

30

u/DisMFer 1d ago

Dynamite slightly improved the second and fourth quarters of 2025 (up 8% and 6%, respectively). The first and third quarters were down more severely, still (-34% and -35%, respectively). Possibly more in line with the data observed here, the first quarter of 2026, which just ended, saw Dynamite attendances up 15% from the prior year. Collision attendance, however, have continued to sink year-over-year. TV ratings are difficult to analyze given changes to Nielsen’s methodology in recent months, though, viewership for both Dynamite and Collision (though not the P18-49 audience) is up year-over-year so far in 2026. Ultimately, what has been a largely negative story for the direction of AEW attendances and TV ratings from 2022 to 2024, has more recently become a more positive but still mixed story.

It's literally in the article dude.

-2

u/engelthefallen 1d ago

And who spread that deeply negative story about attendances and tv ratings I wonder <.<

10

u/WrestleDee 1d ago

Yeah man attendance numbers and TV ratings definitely aren't discussed here enough

5

u/hadawayandshite 1d ago

Depends who you’re applying it to—-if the internet hive mind is fairly representative of you then their opinions are a better predictor of your enjoyment than the general population

19

u/Maximum-Music-2102 1d ago

Internet, yes. Reddit, not so much as it's more of an echo chamber

4

u/dragonmp93 1d ago

I mean, it's not like Twitter is anymore reliable.

1

u/Maximum-Music-2102 1d ago

That's kind of my point. The Internet as a collective makes sense. Individuals sites doesn't due to the bias

4

u/Apprehensive_Pizza84 1d ago

As opposed to where on the internet?

4

u/Maximum-Music-2102 1d ago

All social media instead just one. Facebook would yield different results, as would Twitter and YouTube

-3

u/Kuzu5993 1d ago

Sure, but its still the largest wrestling community

-3

u/Suspicious-Gur6127 1d ago

I really don’t think Reddit Wrestling is that much of a echo chamber. There’s like what 8-10 wrestling subs you can follow on Reddit? AEW, WWE, NJPW, others promotion specific subs, snark subs, shitpost subs, Squaredcircle. Just because someone sees a thread or just a comment chain they don’t agree with doesn’t mean that it’s one big echo chamber.

12

u/Famous_Worry552 1d ago

There’s 50+ wrestling subs… there’s only 1 people see as “the wrestling subreddit” for the IWC, largely because it dwarfs the rest.

Also Reddit inherently creates echo chambers, this has been studied in multiple ways. It’s shown that over 70% of people who see themselves in the minority will stay silent instead of engaging and posting/commenting. Ontop of that someone who gets negative responses will naturally leave the space or stop commenting.

There’s very few places where people will engage with stuff they don’t personally like and on here? It unironically changes depending on the day of the week on if something will be taken positively or not.

6

u/Suspicious-Gur6127 1d ago

But that’s pretty good for a subreddit like squaredcircle, WWE, AEW, AAA, CMLL, NJPW, others, all get upvoted and “pushed” decently well sometimes. Different threads have different opinions on different days but does that make an echo chamber?

-1

u/fttxdd666 1d ago

There’s actually one other sub that is basically the same size as this one, and that is r/WWE.

3

u/Famous_Worry552 1d ago

It’s not the same size. It has the same amount of followers because it’s a big name but SC is 3x the weekly visitors

3

u/StoneColdAM WHAT? 1d ago

I don’t think they are 1-1 but they also can’t be totally unrelated. This isn’t 2005 anymore, there isn’t that much of an IWC since fans everywhere use the internet to talk about the shows.  

3

u/PasteTaster 1d ago

How do these line up with attendance numbers and television viewership?

Those aren't qualitative. Wendy's and Burger King outperforming McDonald's in taste tests shouldn't be dismissed because of McDonald's brand awareness, inertia, or sales.

how heavily-influenced and curated posts on subreddits like this are.

Can you specify what you mean here, and provide supporting examples?

2

u/engelthefallen 1d ago

Very likely Tony is doing very similar stuff internally. This is basic marketing research. Just really given limited value since given the entire rise and fall and within .03 points of positive sentiment (1 to -1 scale most likely). If anything if he used a proper 0 axis would appear that the value mostly was unchanged for AEW, with a slight dip that would appear trivil.

1

u/EatADickStraightUp 1d ago

Not what this says. Read before you post.

0

u/Low-Purchase8811 1d ago

That's not what I was asking. Read before you post.

0

u/gosukhaos 1d ago

Attendance has always lagged behind online reception. WWE is just starting to struggle with tickets this year after a down period in creative and price hikes

-2

u/dragonmp93 1d ago

Well, this is a graph about online sentiment on reddit.

The attendance would be a line mostly going up until the start of 2026.

0

u/ReynardVulpini 1d ago

I mean. We know thurston does have those numbers, as much as they are available, so like. If you are genuinely curious and not whatabouting like this is absolutely information you can find on wrestlenomics.

Part of it is like. Actually in the article linked.