This week marked the first time that NXT and AEW Dynamite ran head-to-head on Wednesday night in a month, and things seemingly went right back to normal. Dynamite, which cracked one million in viewership last week, went back down to 886,000 and soundly defeated NXT at 689,000. Dynamite finished third on cable with a 0.34 rating while WWE’s Black and Gold Brand was all the way down at No. 31 with a 0.18 rating. Since the two programs started running head-to-head on TNT and USA back on Oct. 2, Dynamite has brought in a higher viewership 37 times and has only brought in a lower rating in the 18-49 demographic once.
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NXT was headlined by two championship matches as both NXT Tag Team Champions Breezango and NXT North American Champion Damian Priest both won their respective matches. Meanwhile, Dynamite featured a highly-praised Parking Lot Fight between Santana & Ortiz and The Best Friends as its main event.
With the next NXT TakeOver announced for Oct. 4, the brand has already announced how the No. 1 contenders for its top titles will be determined. NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai will face the winner of a battle royal next week, while NXT Champion will face the winner of the first-ever Gaunlet Eliminator match. William Regal explained the rules for the match last night.
There is no doubt @FinnBalor is a serious competitor and the undisputed #WWENXT champion.
But all that said, every champion needs a proper challenger, so the @WWENXT account will introduce the competitors in the #GauntletEliminator match starting THIS afternoon. #StayTuned https://t.co/SFC5c6Xplj
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) September 17, 2020
On the other side, AEW will air two episodes of Dynamite next week — one after Tuesday night’s NBA Western Conference Finals game and another in the usual Wednesday night timeslot. Check out the full card for both shows below:
- (Late Night Dynamite) Matt Sydal vs. Shawn Spears
- (Late Night Dynamite) Brandi Rhodes vs. Anna Jay
- (Late Night Dynamite) Scorpio Sky vs. Ben Carter
- Jon Moxley, Will Hobbs and Darby Allin vs. Lance Archer, Brian Cage and Ricky Starks
- AEW TNT Championship: Brodie Lee vs. Orange Cassidy
- Hikaru Shida and Thunder Rosa vs. Ivelisse and Diamante
- Chris Jericho Promo
