After being a staple of the WWE Network for years, NXT changed from being a one-hour taped show to a two-hour weekly live show on the USA Network back on Oct. 2, 2019. The move put the show head-to-head with AEW Dynamite on TNT, creating what many wrestling fans now refer to as the Wednesday Night Wars. Even though its the younger promotion, AEW has consistently beat NXT in terms of viewership (36 weeks) and in the 18-49 key ratings demographic (44 weeks). On Wednesday a new report dropped via WrestleVotes stating WWE is now considering moving the Black and Gold Brand off Wednesday nights.
This week and next week’s editions of NXT have been moved to Tuesday nights due to the NHL Playoffs being broadcast on the USA Network. The report stated the ratings results from those episodes might be a contributing factor in the decision to move.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Over the past month or so, discussions have transpired regarding NXT moving off Wednesday nights. No decision imminent, however, talks are ongoing. The numbers over the next 2 weeks might have some impact on this decision.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) September 2, 2020
The creative minds behind both promotions have repeatedly been asked to comment about the opposing show in interviews and conference calls
“To me, there’s a moment in time when you begin something and it’s very exciting and it’s fresh and there’s some interest in it, certainly,” Triple H said of AEW during WWE’s Annual Shareholder’s Meeting back in July. “But it’s a big world. We continue to be focused on our product, continue to be focused on the development of our stars and our performers. And as Vince said earlier, we have a very long track record of doing this incredibly successfully for many, many, many years, and we will continue to do so.”
“I think early on we were looking at it, and there’s really that specialness with X amount of wrestling fans tuning in on a Wednesday night,” AEW’s Cody Rhodes told TalkSport in Juy”As a big wrestling fan, what does that mean to me etc. I think now with where we’re at and as we’re gearing towards our next big pay-per-view, and we’re gearing towards Fight for the Fallen, we really have to put our focus on having the best show. It’s really easy to get caught up in the weeds with like ‘for X amount of weeks we beat WWE in the ratings’ or get into this wild demo discussion – if you ever catch me tweeting about the demos, please just delete my account.”
Do you think NXT should move off Wednesday nights? Which night should the be on instead? Give us your thoughts in the comments?
