Some people actually think WWE were losing against AEW because NXT had fewer viewers… Not seeing the bigger picture. Can’t see it being WWE’s decision. At least not Vince’s. It’s not his show and it kept AEW’s numbers modest.
What are you talking about?!
NXT, just like all WWE shows belong to Vince.
I’ll never understand how some fans have convinced themselves that NXT isn’t the same thing as WWE.
For the last year and a half, when NXT is doing well, it’s because they’re WWE’s best brand.
When they are losing to other shows in viewership and opinion, it’s no big deal - as in these cases, they’re “just developmental” / C-level brand / not at the same quality of Raw or Smackdown.
Somehow it can be both things?
And now you’re claiming it’s “Not Vince’s show”. Perhaps he had a hands off approach to it, but don’t kid yourself to think a two hour block of primetime TV USA Network of WWE programming, isn’t a Vince show. An absolutely ridiculous claim to say otherwise.
Agreed…he may not be booking it, but I’m sure the moment it went on prime time TV, he had a say. Does anyone really believe that an NXT writer is going to tell Vince when instructed to do soemthing “Ummm did you clear that with Hunter” lol.
1 Like
You’re intentionally choosing to misunderstand the point being made. Or at least let’s hope so…
When people say its not Vince’s show, they mean it’s not a project he’s heading up or one he really cares that much about. It’s WWE but NXT isn’t about his reputation or his decisions regarding booking.
The rest of what you said makes even less sense. NXT being WWE’s best brand or not doesn’t change the fact that it is the third brand and doesn’t change the fact that WWE’s existence doesn’t depend on NXT’s performance. There aren’t any contradictions here like you’re suggesting.
These are all obvious points that, for some reason, you’re choosing to pretend aren’t true.
No, no one believes that. And no one suggested that. But it’s still not a project he’s heading up or cares as much about when compared to Raw or SmackDown. I wonder why people, even in this thread, are talking about how this reflects on HHH rather than Vince. It must be a mystery to you…?
To quote you…go on Twitter, that narrative is out there.
So much wrong in one post 
- a fine achievement
1 Like
Who started NXT?
Who paid for the performance center?
Who have the okay to put it on the Network?
Who benefits the most from the TV deal with USA? Who has final say over the shows?
This narrative that Triple H has autonomy, or that it’s a separate entity than RAW or Smackdown is so strange. It’s WWE. It has been and always will be. WWE starts and ends with Vince. It always has, and until he dies or sells the company, always will.
1 Like
Who said Triple H has autonomy? It’s just widely accepted that NXT is more of a Triple H thing than a Vince thing. I thought everyone accepted that but clearly not… need to pretend that Vince was giving all he had to NXT to pretend AEW were actually achieving something by getting better Nielsen figures…
Who brought up AEW?
NXT routinely was beaten by between 25-40 other shows in the ratings on a weekly basis.
Probably the first time WWE ever had to leave a USA prime time slot due to the Network’s pressure.
And on your comments… What a goofy way of thinking. Once again, NXT fans are so weird. “it wasn’t WWE giving their all!”
To be clear here, the pressure was a complete other network folding and it’s existing product having to move into that time slot, since there was little movement on this date change happening prior to now other than fan quibble.
And while we’re doing wins and losses, WWE came out of this entire event with a 3rd linear TV product and a 6th and 7th hour of content they are now getting paid for indefinitely…when had AEW not decided to air on the same day, they may have stayed satisfied leaving it on the network, and it just being included in the deal that just happened with Peacock. So, a slight bit of crap to eat before realizing their bottom line benefitted quite well from the ordeal.
1 Like
I’m not debating with you at all. I agree with everything you bring up.
I would say however, if NXT was performing better, I would have assumed USA would have fought harder to keep it in that slot.
And again, I didn’t bring up AEW into this conversation.
1 Like
And I only added AEW to the conversation to introduce my favorite underrated wrestling narrative: Irony.
I also feel like it’s naive to believe that no matter where AEW ended up on prime time US Cable, that WWE wouldn’t have found a way of putting up something against it.
Just hilarious that apparently HHH is trying to paint it as AEW coming to NXT’s night and bullying them. The guy has had an unlimited budget, a performance centre and the chance to sign any indie talent for years and still can’t beat a new promotion in the numbers.
The Wednesday Night Wars to me has proven how overrated HHH is. When there was zero competition he did fine but this was a test he failed big time.
1 Like
So the difference between what HHH had and what AEW has is…a performance center? Because someone forgot to tell Tony Khan he doesn’t have a budget for 75 wrestlers and two internet TV shows to hold over any Indy talent he wants on them.
Ultimately it was one brand’s A-show vs. another’s C-show. It’s not to say WWE didn’t try to help it at points, but other than initially trying to bring it up closer to the rest of the brands’ levels with that Survivor Series spot and giving them an solitary long term main roster guy (who was a cold star at the time) in Finn Balor, it’s pretty consistently been their #3 priority.
It’s no doubt a loss for WWE not to have buried AEW if that was realistically what they thought would happen, but I think people are being a bit too hyperbolic on trying to make losers in this.
And a five-year head start. He’s had years to build and develop but couldn’t handle a little competition.
NXT also had Charlotte for a long time but told a weak story with her and it didn’t lead to any difference in the numbers. HHH just doesn’t seem too good at this whole competition thing. It’s ok though, AEW bullied them lol
I actually don’t think Vince gives a fuck about what’s happening on NXT, so this completely falls on the feet of HHH.
If Vince watched or cared about NXT in the least you wouldn’t see the disaster that basically all call-ups have been.
I do think HHH didn’t believe AEW would succeed as much or as quickly as it has, hence the it’s a marathon comment. They got beat badly.
If they still had the same roster building the brand since 2017, I think I can buy the 5 year head start thing, but until this competition, the show existed as a pipeline to the main roster. If suddenly Owens, and Zayn, and Joe, and the Four Horsewomen, etc were permanent parts of this program, yeah, how do blow that head start? But they basically had brand recognition and whatever the unknown weekly watching on the network base to build off of. I don’t think helicoptering stars in here and there builds a long term viewership; we’ve even seen that with Shaq jumping into AEW and when WWE brings in Hogan for a week.
I don’t know where the bullying comments came from, but if he actually said that, it’s lame and lacks awareness.
That said, the marathon thing isn’t wrong. I don’t think anyone expected this to end after a year and a half - the initial war everyone glorifies lasted a half decade. You can’t finish a marathon if suddenly [frozen] lake is blocking your path. We wound up getting only 4 months of crowds before everything fell apart and I feel like of all things about this war that would have been fun, we never really got to see the long term battle with NXT and AEW getting to be at that kind of full strength.
1 Like