Report: WWE NXT Could Be Headed To The USA Network

There’s a lot of moving pieces when it comes to the future of WWE NXT on television.

According to a report from PWInsider, there was a pitch made in the last 48 hours that would see NXT move to the USA Network. This follows weeks of rumors that the series would be moving to FS1 to go hand in hand with SmackDown moving to FOX.

According to the report, NXT’s move to USA Network, if it occurs, would begin on Wednesday, October 2nd. That is the same day that AEW debuts on TNT and would be the beginning of a new wrestling television war. The new Wednesday Night Wars would see AEW and NXT going head to head every week between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

The NXT show, which currently airs as a one hour broadcast on the WWE Network every Wednesday, would switch to a two hour live broadcast, with broadcasts held every week (for the most part) at Full Sail University in Florida. This would end the days of NXT taping several weeks of television in one night at Full Sail, as the company did just last night.

The feeling is that with AEW running a live show every week, NXT would need to do the same in order to possibly siphon off viewers from the AEW show. WWE also feels they could supplement their NXT show with top stars from the WWE main roster every so often in an effort to make their NXT broadcast appear to have more star power than the AEW broadcast.

One difference here would be that AEW would be held in much larger arenas versus the much smaller, less than 1,000 seat venue at Full Sail University that NXT would be running. In the long run, WWE may want to start booking NXT in larger arenas if they want to have a crowd that looks more on par with where AEW is running their weekly events.

If NXT does move to the USA Network, it wouldn’t be the first time the brand has aired on the channel. NXT aired on USA as part of a special WWE week back on December 13, 2017. That broadcast drew 841,000 viewers.