A report broke earlier this week via the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast that NXT would be moving from Wednesday nights to Tuesdays beginning with the April 13 (post-WrestleMania 37) episode. WWE has yet to release any official statement on the change, but Wrestling Observer Live‘s Bryan Alvarez followed up with a second report, stating that from USA Network’s standpoint “it’s a done deal.” WrestlingNews.co’s Paul Davis then added that advertisers have already been instructed that if they want to buy ads during that week, it will have to be on that Tuesday.
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NXT consistently aired on Wednesday nights when it was on the WWE Network, but as part of the jump to USA in late 2019 the show was extended to two hours and was turned into a live broadcast from Full Sail Live. Both weekly episodes and TakeOver events now take place inside the Capitol Wrestling Center.
From a ratings standpoint, Dynamite has won 68 of the 69 weeks in the target demographic when the two shows have run head-to-head. The two shows’ total viewership numbers aren’t as lopsided (58-9-2 in Dynamite’s favor), but NXT would only typically win when they hosted a special episode like The Great American Bash or Halloween Havoc.
However, the ratings war isn’t what’s causing this change to happen. The USA Network announced earlier in the year that following the impending shutdown of the NBC Sports Network, NBC’s broadcasts of National Hockey League games will move to USA. WWE president Nick Khan claimed during the last quarterly investors’ call that the move wouldn’t affect either Raw or NXT, but now that no longer appears to be the case.
“We think it has no impact on us, the departure of NBC Sports Network. There’ll be no effect on Raw or NXT,” Khan said in early February.
Meanwhile, AEW Dynamite has already locked in a new contract with WarnerMedia that will keep the show on TNT for several more years and will see additional programs on other Turner channels in the near future. AEW executive vice president Cody Rhodes was asked about the reports during a media conference call on Wednesday.
“If that’s the case, we’re no longer going to be opposed on Wednesday night, I’m sure we’ll come up with some sort of wonderful statement. I mean what could I say? ‘Congratulations to NXT on a successful move to Tuesday nights. The real winners are the fans who can watch NXT and Dynamite live every week as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint.’ I could say that, but I don’t want to be sassy or a jerk because I think them moving, perhaps something else will end up on Wednesdays,” Rhodes said.
Stay tuned for further updates on NXT’s status.
