10 Most Desperate Ways WWE Got You To Watch

9. NXT Counter-Programmes AEW

Nikkita Lyons
WWE.com

"I don't think we drove WCW out of business. That was certainly never our intent. That was the mindset of Ted Turner and WCW, not WWE. See, if you spend all your energy trying to kill the other guy, your product suffers. If you don't kill the other guy, then he's going to come back at you, and when he comes back, you won't have done anything to make your house better. It's no different than being in a fight, and if the other guy keeps hitting you, that son of a bitch is going to wear himself out pretty fast."

- Vince McMahon

That son of a bitch NXT wore itself out pretty fast when, with total hypocrisy, WWE counter-programmed AEW with the Wednesday Night War. It was the mindset of WWE to throttle AEW before it even began. NXT kept hitting and hitting AEW with an onslaught of weapons: commercial-free openers that could have headlined a TakeOver, main roster cameos, ladder matches leading to cage matches, a two-week head start...

NXT did little to make its house better; Tommaso Ciampa's pursuit of "Goldie" only led to the reboot of an overdone programme that peaked in 2018, and all the while, the various "You must watch!" measures made the show feel cheap, grabby and too eager to impress.

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!