Tonight’s WWE NXT episode will air live from the NXT Arena at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida with the finals of the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
(Pre-Show) NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray vs. Mia Yim –
Winner: Kay Lee Ray
Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov –
Winner: Finn Balor
NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Angel Garza (c) vs. Isaiah Scott vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks –
Winner and New NXT Cruiserweight Champion: Jordan Devlin
Moustache Mountain vs. DIY –
Winners: DIY
Mercedes Martinez is shown at ringside. Dakota Kai is also shown at ringside. Tegan Nox suddenly flies out of nowhere and beats Kai down. Security tries to break them up but they keep going at it. Nox knocks Kai into the ringside area as the brawl continues. Security pulls them apart and fans boo.
NXT Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Toni Storm –
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Imperium (NXT UK Champion WALTER, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, Alexander Wolfe) vs. The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish) –
Winners: Imperium
January 25, 2020 at 7:00 PM ET (Preshow at 6:30 PM ET) – Toyota Center , Houston, Texas
NXT Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Toni Storm
NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Angel Garza (c) vs. Isaiah Scott vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks
Imperium (NXT UK Champion WALTER, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, Alexander Wolfe) vs. The Undisputed Era (NXT Champion Adam Cole, NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish)
Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov
Moustache Mountain vs. DIY
(Pre-Show) NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray vs. Mia Yim
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will air live from the NXT Arena at Full Sail University with the final hype for Saturday’s Worlds Collide event.
Former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese and 205 Live star Mike Kanellis worked as a tag-team during this weekend’s NXT live events as a test for a potential run on NXT television.
The two won Friday night’s NXT Melbourne live event match against Mohamed and Nick Ogarelli, which was Kanellis’ first bout since he asked for his release last October. They worked as a team again at the NXT Largo house show the following night, losing to the team of Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and Kushida.
Check out several photos from the NXT Largo show on Saturday night that includes their ring entrance and posing in the ring before the match, as well as video footage from their match against “Swerve” Scott and Kushida of what could be Nese and Kanellis’ double-team finishing move below.
https://twitter.com/MattBoone1984/status/1218927805402140672
https://twitter.com/mike_colon_/status/1218711316485083136
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode will take place from the NXT Arena at Full Sail University with the end of the first round of the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Week 14 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite top WWE NXT once again.
Wednesday’s Anniversary Edition of Dynamite on TNT drew 947,000 viewers, topping the 721,000 viewers garnered by NXT on the USA Network by 31%, according to Showbuzz Daily.
AEW ranked #6 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #55. AEW ranked #36 in viewership, while NXT ranked #45 in viewership.
Last week’s Dynamite episode drew 967,000 viewers and ranked #13 in the Cable Top 150, and #40 in viewership, so it was only down 2% against a live episode of NXT. Last week’s taped special edition of NXT drew 548,000 viewers and ranked #66 in the Cable Top 150, and #48 in viewership.
AEW drew a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic, beating the 0.19 that NXT drew in the same demo by 89% this week. Last week’s AEW show also drew a 0.36 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.15 in that demographic.
This week’s NXT episode was the first regular live show of 2020, headlined by the beginning of the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and a Fatal 4 Way main event to crown the new #1 contender to NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, won by Keith Lee. The Dynamite episode was the big Anniversary Edition.
Real Housewives of New Jersey on Bravo topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.45 rating, beating both NBA games on ESPN. Hannity topped the night on cable in viewership with 4.196 million viewers, ranking #10 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.31 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
The Jeopardy special on ABC topped the night on network TV in the 18-49 demographic with a 24 rating, and in viewership with 14.872 million viewers.
Below is 2020 NXT Viewership Tracker:
January 1 Episode: 548,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 8 Episode: 721,000 viewers with a 0.19 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 15 Episode:
2019 Total: 10.209 million viewers over 13 episodes
2019 Average: 785,307 viewers per episode
Below is 2020 AEW Dynamite Viewership Tracker:
January 1 Episode: 967,000 viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 8 Episode: 947,000 viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 15 Episode:
2019 Total: 10.840 million viewers over 12 episodes
2019 Average: 903,333 viewers per episode
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Wrestling veteran Alex Shelley will make his big WWE NXT TV debut next Wednesday night as he reunites with former tag team partner Kushida for the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Time Splitters were an active team from 2012-2015 and last competed together in 2016.
Alex Shelley is most famously known for his time in TNA/Impact Wrestling as one half of the Motor City Machine Guns with Chris Sabin. He recently guest coached at the WWE Performance Center, leading many to speculate he’d team with Kushida in the tourney, but Shelley attempted to downplay this last night on Twitter.
“Everybody seems to think Kushi needs me,” he wrote. “Kushi and I, and The Bucks, and Forever Hooligans, and ReDragon, helped change [NJPW]’s jr. tag division. But really, he’s going to be awesome with any partner.”
Dusty Classic tournament matches set for next Wednesday are The Time Splitters (Kushida and Shelley) vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake). Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster will also take place next week, putting an end to the first round.
Tonight’s NXT episode saw the tournament kick off with Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner defeat Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler of The Forgotten Sons, while NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish defeated NXT UK Tag Team Champions Wolfgang and Mark Coffey of Gallus to advance.
Sources: Wrestling Inc. and Pro Wrestling Sheet
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will see the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament kick off.
Io Shirai is said to be “not necessarily happy” with how she’s used in WWE NXT, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
The Stardom women’s wrestling promotion in Japan currently has a goal of bringing back Shirai and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane, but WWE may bring Shirai to the main roster to try and prevent that from happening.
This year is expected to be a big year for Stardom as New Japan Pro Wrestling parent company Bushiroad purchased them last fall and will put a lot of resources and marketing into the promotion moving forward. Meltzer noted that Stardom is looking to try and run bigger shows this year, but they recognize how it’s important for them to try and sign real stars, like Shirai and Sane. They both are already stars in Japan, but their runs with WWE will add to that.
Bushiroad reportedly wants to offer a lot of money to Sane and Shirai to stop them from re-signing with WWE. WWE may move Shirai to the main roster as her pay will then go way up. Meltzer noted that Shirai’s NXT pay is “nothing special” but she was making more money in Japan and working less dates, but because of her merchandise pay.
There was no further details revealed on why Shirai is unhappy in NXT, but besides that she has her fiancé back in Japan. Shirai and NJPW star Evil are engaged to be married, but there’s no word yet on when they will tie the knot.
There’s also no official word yet on when Sane and Shirai will see their WWE contracts expire. Sane reportedly signed a three-year deal back in March 2017. Shirai signed with WWE around the summer of 2018.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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