The pandemic mostly. Can't run shows when you can't legally run shows.
Smarks didn't help either. They wouldn't watch it because of claims about WWE poaching British indy wrestlers. Yes, they claimed WWE poached wrestlers who were working on hot dog and hand shake agreements. But when AEW took NJPW talent, that was okay.
And when I watched, the show was on at like 2PM on Thursdays. If you didn't see it live, you couldn't find it until 2 weeks after it aired unless you looked on torrent sites. They also never advertised it and it was on Peacock. Nobody was going to go through all that.
The show really was good. The taped format hid everyone's weaknesses and it gave the writers more time to make things make sense. They also had a nice mix of guys who worked different styles.
