The return of Halloween Havoc saw NXT top AEW Dynamite in overall viewers for the first time since July.

Last night’s Halloween Havoc episode of NXT averaged 876,000 viewers on the USA Network, up 18.6 percent from last week. Dynamite averaged 781,000 viewers on TNT. That’s up 3.7 percent from last week.

Dynamite still won the night in the 18-49 demo with a 0.32 rating, up 6.7 percent from last week. The show finished 12th on cable for the night with no major sports competition, though cable news ratings were way up. 

NXT finished in the cable top 50 in the 18-49 demo for the first time in a month. The show averaged a 0.25 rating, up 36 percent from last week and good for 21st on the night. It’s one of the best showings NXT has ever had on a head-to-head night against Dynamite. 

The combined audience of 1.657 million viewers was the highest on a week where Dynamite and NXT both aired on Wednesday night since February 5. The NXT audience was its highest since November 20 of last year — and that’s with or without head-to-head competition. 

The 95,000 viewer advantage for NXT was the show’s biggest gap over Dynamite since June 24. It’s also the closest NXT has come in 18-49 since that date. NXT’s 0.25 rating in 18-49 is the best that it’s done on a head-to-head night since December 18 of last year. 

Dynamite, as usual, won most of the individual demos, though they were much closer than normal. NXT won people over 50 in a big way with a 0.43 rating to Dynamite’s 0.29. NXT also won in males 12-34 with a 0.2 rating as opposed to Dynamite’s 0.14.

Dynamite’s best category was people 25-54. where it drew a 0.40 rating to NXT’s 0.29. Another strong category for Dynamite was men 18-49. It did a 0.38 rating in that category and was the top non-news program on cable.

Compared to the same week last year, Dynamite was up 2.9 percent in overall viewers but down three percent in 18-49. NXT was up 51 percent in overall viewers and up 38.9 percent in 18-49.

Here’s a look at the last 10 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo numbers for Dynamite and NXT: