WWE Rumors: Reported Unhappiness In Company Due To ‘NXT’ Losing To AEW ‘Dynamite’
Citing the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WrestlingNews.co reported that there is a lot of unhappiness behind the scenes in WWE at the moment. The reason for this is reportedly due to NXT repeatedly losing against AEW Dynamite in the Wednesday evening ratings war.
This week’s Dynamite drew 901,000 viewers, while NXT attracted 753,000. While the black-and-gold brand’s ratings aren’t poor by any means, company officials are supposedly tired of lagging behind the rival promotion.
The performance of AEW’s flagship program was so strong that it ranked among the top five shows in key demographics for the night. It also marked the highest overall rating for the product in months.
As the report highlighted, NXT has only defeated Dynamite when it put on stacked cards, such as the recent Great American Bash special. Dynamite has consistently come out on top since the show’s inception last October, and the recent programs have seen it surpass the 1 million viewers mark.
NXT has seen more writers added to the creative team in an effort to bring more eyes to the product. Sports analyst Pat McAfee was recently brought in to feud with Adam Cole in the hope that the show received more mainstream attention. The pair recently had a heated exchange during an interview on McAfee’s online series, but it appears to have been for storyline purposes.
The WrestlingNews.co article also revealed that there have reportedly been discussions about adding more Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown superstars to the NXT roster. Charlotte Flair and other performers have been already made appearances at some points this year, but it could become more common moving forward.
Main roster competitors moving to the black-and-gold brand would bring more star power to its show. With several wrestlers currently underutilized or in need of a change of scenery, it could also be the company’s way of revitalizing talent.
In a separate report from WrestlingNews.co, it was noted that Vince McMahon has been unhappy with NXT‘s performance for a while now. The chairman has supposedly been so frustrated with the product that he wants to become more hands-on and shake things up.
This may result in NXT becoming more sports entertainment-centric, as opposed to the wrestling-focused alternative it’s been since Triple H took over.
McMahon has reportedly become more interested in NXT because it now airs on the USA Network. The current unhappiness could also stem from the ratings decline that’s affected most of the promotion’s programs.
