Category: NXT

WWE NXT TV To Begin Airing From Bigger Arenas Soon?

It looks like the weekly WWE NXT TV show could be hitting the road soon.

There has been a lot of talk about taking the black & yellow brand on the road each Wednesday night, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

WWE officials are reportedly looking at running arenas with around 5,000-seat capacities, similar to what AEW has been doing. They have reached out to some arenas that size to shoot TV on Wednesday nights, which would be for NXT.

The current target for NXT airing from arenas outside of Full Sail Live looks to be January 2020. The talk of going on the road goes back to before the first USA Network ratings came out. The word then was that they were only running Full Sail Live in Winter Park, FL each week because they had no time to set things up with arenas, and that a move to different arenas would take place some time in early 2020.

There has been speculation on WWE eventually taking NXT TV on the road ever since the USA Network move was announced. There had been speculation among some that Vince McMahon would see what AEW was doing weekly with their arena shows, and then would see how the small crowd at Full Sail Live looked in comparison. The move to arenas for NXT is probably pushed by the fact that AEW Dynamite has beat NXT in viewership in week 1 and week 2.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 10/9/19

Tonight’s WWE NXT will air live from Full Sail Live in Winter Park, Florida on USA Network.

* Lio Rush challenges Drew Gulak for the NXT Crusierweight Championship tomorrow night

* Kushida and WALTER to clash on NXT

* Isaiah “Swerve” Scott to battle Roderick Strong

* How will Finn Bálor’s arrival impact NXT?

* How will Tommaso Ciampa’s quest to regain the NXT Title continue?

* Can anyone stop Shayna Baszler?

How Did AEW Dynamite And WWE NXT Do In Viewership For Their First Week Head-To-Head?

Wednesday’s WWE NXT season premiere episode on the USA Network drew 891,000 viewers while the AEW Dynamite premiere episode on TNT drew 1.409 million viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily. AEW Dynamite viewership topped NXT by 58%.

AEW ranked #2 in the Cable Top 150 18-49 demographic list, while NXT ranked #10. AEW ranked #16 in viewership, while NXT ranked #27 in viewership.

This is the first week that both hours of NXT have aired on the USA Network. Hour 1 of the first week drew 1.179 million viewers and ranked #4 on the Cable Top 150 while hour 1 of the second week drew 1.006 million viewers and ranked #8 on the Cable Top 150.

The MLB Wild Card game on ESPN topped the night in the 18-49 demographic and viewership with 3.969 million viewers. Chicago Med on NBC topped the night in network TV with 7.669 million viewers.

To compare this week’s WWE TV viewership, Monday’s RAW season premiere drew an average of 2.571 million viewers, up from last week’s 2.210 million viewers, and the best red brand viewership since the post-SummerSlam episode on August 12, which drew 2.729 million viewers.

2019 NXT Viewership Tracker:

September 18 Episode: 1.179 million viewers (one hour on the USA Network)
September 25 Episode: 1.006 million viewers (one hour on the USA Network)
October 2 Episode: 891,000 viewers (season premiere, both hours on the USA Network)
October 9 Episode:

2019 AEW Dynamite Viewership Tracker:

October 2 Episode: 1.409 million viewers (premiere episode)

The AEW Dynamite replay drew 423,000 viewers on TNT, according to PWTorch. The replay aired right after the Dynamite premiere went off the air at 10pm ET.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Makes Name Change To Cruiserweight Title?

Triple H recently talked about the WWE Cruiserweight division possibly blending in with NXT and having the Cruiserweight Championship move under the NXT brand. That change went into effect this week, as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship has been re-branded as the NXT Cruiserweight Championship on WWE.com.

Plus on last night’s NXT, they promoted a Crusierweight Championship for next week’s NXT between Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak and Lio Rush, by referring to the title at the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.

Tommaso Ciampa Returns To NXT Following Neck Injury

Tommaso Ciampa made his highly-anticipated return to NXT on last night.

The former NXT Champion resurfaced in dramatic fashion this evening following the conclusion of the main event tag team title match – which ended due to interference from Roderick Strong.

Adam Cole hit the stage after the match was over to congratulate his stablemates, when suddenly Ciampa’s music and the Blackheart stared him down as the show came to a close.

Ciampa was forced to relinquish the NXT Championship (a.k.a., Goldie) after undergoing anterior cervical fusion surgery back in March. He was then replaced in main event of NXT TakeOver: New York by Adam Cole, who lost to Johnny Gargano in a two-out-of-three falls match for the vacant title.

Finn Bálor Makes Surprise NXT Return

Former NXT Champion Finn Bálor made a surprise return to WWE NXT last night.

Bálor confronted current NXT Champion Adam Cole following his victory over Matt Riddle in the opening match.

Bálor proclaimed – “As of now, Finn Bálor is NXT.”

Bálor’s last NXT match was on 30 July 2016, when he teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe. The former Universal Champion recently went on a hiatus from the main roster after losing to “The Fiend” at SummerSlam.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1179553815550291968

WWE NXT Preview 10/2/19

NXT will air live on the USA Network from Full Sail Live in Winter Park, Florida at 8 ET.

One-Hour Version Of WWE NXT To Air In Canada On Friday Nights

Sportsnet 360 is set to air a “condensed” version of WWE NXT each Friday night.

The one-hour version of the weekly NXT episode will be a “Best Of” show with highlights from what aired on the USA Network, according to John Pollock and PostWrestling.

The one-hour NXT show will begin airing on Friday, October 4. Sportsnet 360 will begin airing a 4.5 hour block of WWE programming on Fridays, starting at 6:30pm ET with the Aftermath studio show. NXT will then air at 7pm ET, SmackDown at 8pm, and Main Event at 10pm.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE NXT Preview 9/25/19

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode will air live from Full Sail Live in Winter Park, FL from 8-10pm ET. The first hour will air live on the USA Network and the second hour will air on the WWE Network.

Velveteen Dream Reportedly “Not Cleared” For Action Following Title Loss

Velveteen Dream is reportedly not cleared to compete after losing the North American Championship to Roderick Strong during NXT’s first live episode on USA Network.

WWE shared a video on Thursday of new digital host Matt Camp giving the NXT injury report following the brand’s big two-hour show.

According to the video, Dream was seen “gingerly” walking around Full Sail last night after losing and apparently has lumbar pain in his back after the match. Camp claims Velveteen Dream will not be cleared until further evaluation.

Two additional Superstars were also listed as “not cleared” in the injury report video:

  • Kona Reeves, due to suffering a strike to the cheek that required five stitches in a dark match
  • Arturo Ruas, who is awaiting x-ray results on his fingers following his match against Pete Dunne

Watch the video below for the full story.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet