Reports stared popping at the beginning of the month that after spending over a year on Wednesday nights, WWE’s NXT brand would be moving to Tuesdays in the near future on the USA Network. WWE has yet to officially comment on the move, but the reports state that the brand will likely move the week after WrestleMania 37 due to USA’s new NHL schedule brought on by the NBC Sports Network shuttering.
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Shawn Michaels, who has been working as a trainer for WWE’s Performance Center and a backstage producer for NXT for several years, was asked about the idea in a new interview with the New York Post this week.
“It’s always clearly easier when your sort of destination programming, so to speak,” Michaels said. “Nothing would change certainly for us. We still try to put the best show out there that we can. Clearly, I know that’s everybody’s goal. I think it would only be fair to say everyone knows that when you are not competing against another similar show that it makes it a little bit easier. It allows people to enjoy that. And then you think about the follow from Raw the next night. So, clearly, it certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
A move to Tuesdays would stop the so-called “Wednesday Night Wars” between NXT and AEW Dynamite. The young promotion’s weekly show on TNT has dominated NXT in the ratings since the shows first started competing.
Michaels was also asked about NXT introducing its own set of women’s tag team championships, which is reportedly one of the surprises William Regal will announce on this week’s episode.
“Is it needed? I don’t know if those things are ever needed,” Michaels said. “To your point,we certainly have the depth. I know it sometimes sounds a bit cliché, everyone knows NXT we have the absolute greatest, No. 1 women’s division on the planet. There’s not even another feasible argument to make. We have the most talented young ladies within NXT.
“Look I think it’s certainly something we can begin to think about or begin to talk about,” he added. “I do believe the depth is there. Look every time you do that it could always be challenging. I think that’s something we enjoy here. I do know that from a creative standpoint we enjoy challenges. I know our talent does. But I would be comfortable saying I think we certainly have the depth for it. Those are all decisions that are all sort of above me at this point. I’d certainly back it.”
