A price of NXT's move to television, commercial breaks didn't hamper all of last week's blockbusters because of WWE's agreement with USA Network. This week, the company paid the penalty for elevating the developmental brand to a much larger stage.
Most notable in the opener belter between Lio Rush and Drew Gulak, the commercials chopped or reduced the drama of matches in ways that couldn't be recaptured by picture-in-picture. This will leave fans of the black-and-gold brand with two choices, neither of them particularly favourable for the company. Given the choice, viewers can either invest less in the clash, or simply wait to watch the cleaner WWE Network version.
In both cases, the show won't keep people glued. As the product on the losing side of a ratings war, that's a worst case scenario.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
