Nothing like starting the new year off with a huge ratings bump as AEW nearly reached one million viewers (967,000). Granted, it went against NXT’s award show, which saw a significant drop following their unopposed Christmas showing (548,000 Jan 1 compared to 831,000 on Christmas).
NXT misstep?
While the Wednesday Night Wars are still in their infancy, there’s little doubt that Vince McMahon’s desire to best (probably destroy) All Elite Wrestling is behind many of the company’s maneuvers. That begs the question as to how he’s taking this news.
Triple H runs NXT, that much is known, but McMahon still has overall creative control. This means that McMahon at least agreed to the award show idea. He may have come up with it, though that’s doubtful.
The thing is, everyone knew NXT’s ratings were going to drop this week. Few care to watch award shows, and even few will watch on Christmas. Still, the numbers are impressive, but maybe announcing the awards on WWE Backstage or on their website would’ve been a better idea?
This is where I think Triple H came into the picture. As the mastermind behind NXT, he’s long argued against it moving from Full Sail University. NXT’s success has as much to do with the close, intimate setting of Full Sail as it does with the wrestlers’ performance, and having an awards show with their diehard supporters makes perfect sense. It continues to build the “us” narrative and keep the fans close.
It’s what NXT is about. Plain and simple.
Considering McMahon would change this dynamic by possibly moving NXT to larger venues for the sake of ratings is a touchy subject with fans, especially those at Full Sail University.
AEW is about to take off
Going forward, Wednesday nights are going to continue being a point of contention between the two companies and this is just the latest chapter. Despite the impressive numbers of AEW nearly reached one million viewers for the first time in a couple of months, this was a hollow victory given they were going against a show on cruise control, much like NXT’s Christmas win. But a head to head win is what it is.
It’s also important to note that AEW will most likely win the ratings war long term, things could get interesting in NXT land.
AEW is really hitting its stride now, as the storylines are beginning to come together and are keeping fans on the edge of their seats. NXT, while full of great matches and storylines themselves, doesn’t connect with people as easily as AEW does. To be honest, most of NXT’s talent doesn’t really reach out and grab us. They put on great matches, so it’s only a matter of watching it enough to build the connection.
The problem is, people are WWEd out. They’ve saturated the market from top to bottom, and many want something different, something fresh.
In the end, AEW offers that. AEW feels lighter, like they’re having fun. NXT is like Triple H: Intensity personified. And while that’s a good thing most of the time, it can become overbearing. It lacks the looseness that allows people to take a breath or laugh. In a way, it takes itself too seriously.
That’s a funny thing to say when Triple H and Shawn Michaels are there. Maybe they could find a good comedic storyline for a couple of their performers? Though not everyone can have an Orange Cassidy or capable DeGeneration X types.
Without that change up, it’s doubtful they’ll last against AEW.
