Things keep on getting more ridiculous with AEW fans.
So itâs just a coincidence they landed a time slot directly against a new competitor? Not that it matters NXT is failing so the point is all that maneuvering did nothing to stop AEW
And comparing a network show like Spellingâs to USAâs need to keep WWE - one of their highest rated properties- happy on a dying cable market in 2020 is funny
Almost as funny as the red headed stepchild of entertainment can get a show greenlit faster than any other IP out there.
Who knew that Vince McMahon runs the USA Network.
- NXT was already on a Wednesday.
- Theyâre now getting money for something that they werenât before which, believe it or not, is a plus for WWE.
- This idea that AEW are hurting WWE by beating their 3rd brand, that was just a show on an app before, isnât true. At all.
- If you love AEW thatâs great, if you canât handle someone else not loving it then thatâs worrying but either way, AEW are just another wrestling promotion. You might like to think a revolution is taking place but itâs not.
Dude⌠WWE is the most important property to USA Network. They help bring up the average viewership of the station enough that it consistently helps USA be the number one cable outlet annually.
So basically theyâve been number one every year since WWE returned to the network in the mid 2000s.
Anyway - yeah - WWE is in a great position with USA, and after their last deal, theyâve probably got a tremendous amount of pull.
Itâs easy to believe that they took NXT out to shop to USA or FS1 looking for a primetime Wednesday night spot, for obvious reasons.
NXT was never a priority to get on cable until NXT. In fact for years, people argued against them doing it, as it would hurt the brand. Suddenly in fall of 2019, by no coincidence they are ready for primetime cable?
WWE had an existing TV deal on Tuesday with a built in audience but they wanted to move the show to Wednesday to hurt AEW. Learn a little bit about wrestling history - that is the way WWE operates.
Just look at the damage they have done to the UK scene when they freaked out that World of Sport was coming.
The move backfired and AEW is a success and has just been renewed so Iâm not sure all the shuffling with NXT was worth it in the long run. They probably have a bigger number if they stayed in SDs time slot
Itâs almost comical to act like Vince McMahon has more stroke than any major producer today.
WeirdâŚUK scene scared them, but as popular as They areâŚcouldnât just toss a tv show on a network within weeks all willy nillyâŚ
Vince runs everything I thought.
Yes because the US and UK tv markets are identical .
And itâs NXT UK - that brand has been a complete flop and killed the scene over there. No one watches it, they completely misread the market
Itâs odd that this out of touch old man who is apparently senile can negotiate or I guess flat out tell people with more power than he does in the entertainment world,what they should do with their airtime.
And I thought cable was dying and theyâre desperateâŚyou telling me that the UK are too behind to have the same problem?
Ok
Youâd think if McMahon had this much stroke, heâd use that to put the XFL on USA since itâs such a priority for him.
You can have the last words AEW fanboysâŚwhen you think some rasslin promoter can dictate what a major cable company should do with their airtimeâŚwellâŚshark was jumped.
How did it backfire? As I said, theyâre getting money they didnât get before and AEW would get more viewers if NXT wasnât there on a Wednesday. 2 birds, 1 stone.
None of this is that important to WWE either. The Wednesday night âwarâ isnât the prime focus for WWE. AEW isnât the prime focus for WWE. NXT isnât even the prime focus for WWE. Step out of your bubble for a second. This is just HHHâs hobby. WWEâs future does not depend on any of this.
WWE doesnât want any competition is North America and now they have a new property that is gaining traction.
And AEW isnât going away either.
And if NXT isnât the prime focus then explain why they went over huge at Survivor Series.
Doesnât it, though?
Both from the idea of âdevelopmentalâ (which to be fair, NXT has effectively ceased to be since moving to USA), and from the standpoint of the NXT roster is literally there to establish future stars for the company.
As far as the NXT to USA conversation (one thatâs starting to feel extremely circuitousâŚLol!)âŚNXT was already airing on Wed, USA & WWE had a long-standing relationship (and needed a replacement for losing Smackdown), and one of the inherent functions for NXT on USA is to handicap the ratings for AEW (a competitor that the WWE donât âfearâ, but they are certainly cognizant of and perhaps concerned about).
So no Vince âconspiracyâ going on here, no diabolical machinationsâŚJust one businessman trying to out-manuever a young upstart before he becomes a legit problem. Hopefully the ultimate winner will be the consumer.
And thatâs the thing, they are more concerned with hurting AEW or the competition than building NXT. Same reason why they try to sign every talent under the sun and then do nothing with them
Why do that when he got a better deal from Fox/ESPN? Outside of rasslinâ & (boxing back in the day), USAâs never really been a major player in the sports world.
Tuesday Night Fights was great, though.
Of course they are. They already have the 2 highest rated wrestling shows by a country mile. Making sure AEW doesnât come close tot that level is way more important to them then having another program pulling 1 million viewers. NXT is never short term going to have a lot of big name performers. Something that has repeatedly proven to be necessary to draw viewers. You could run the best in ring and story driven wrestling program you want without names people know it wonât draw near what RAW or Smackdown do.
I donât know, in three months AEW has basically attracted half of RAWs audience. And even with throwing NXT at them to stifle growth they have a multi year extension.
NXT failed to stop any growth despite a better brand recognition and years on the network. Canât be described as anything other than a failure by NXT to stifle AEW