Backstage News On WWE Bringing Main Roster Stars To NXT For AEW Head-To-Head

WWE to put a stacked NXT product on FS1 to go up against AEW's weekly show?

Jul 22, 2019 July 22nd, 2019

Following WWE’s deal with FOX to start airing SmackDown Live on the network from October, there have been rumblings that we may see NXT air on FS1. And now, there’s an interesting twist in that particular tale.

Previous online reports claimed that NXT may end up airing on FS1 on Wednesday nights in a move that would see the black and gold brand going head-to-head with AEW's weekly show on TNT.

According to Dave Meltzer, if a deal is indeed struck up to have NXT land on FS1, WWE is planning to use Raw and SmackDown talent on its NXT programming.

A recent FOX meeting saw the idea of NXT on FS1 discussed as a possibility, and having NXT going up against AEW’s weekly product could be a great move all round. For the smart wrestling fans, it gives them a genuinely tough choice of which product to watch live, and for AEW and WWE it could provide a sense of genuine, weekly competition.

Right now, this is all irrelevant until WWE and FOX decide to pull the trigger on any such NXT/FS1 arrangement, and there is also one particularly hefty hurdle in the way of this ever being able to happen.

Currently, the buzz is that AEW’s weekly TNT show will air on a Wednesday night – possibly launching on October 2nd – and the issue here for FOX is that FS1 already has Big East College Basketball taking up that Wednesday night slot when in-season.

The idea of NXT and AEW going head-to-head is definitely something that could be a shot in the arm for the wrestling world – and if WWE decides to having some select big-name main roster talents involved in NXT in a limited capacity, that would certainly be a major shot fired at All Elite Wrestling.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

See more from Andrew