AEW Going To Huge Lengths To Avoid WWE NXT Ratings Loss

AEW taking big measures ahead of head-to-head NXT battle with 'Title Tuesday'.

by Andy H Murray
Tony Khan
AEW

AEW and WWE go head-to-head at 8PM ET tonight - and both promotions are taking great measures to avoid defeat in the one-off ratings battle.

Following on from last week's NXT announcements, it has emerged that AEW's special 'Title Tuesday' episode of Dynamite will have a 10-minute overrun, 30-minute 'Buy In' pre-show featuring Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki on YouTube, Facebook, and X, and air its first half-hour commercial-free.

Fightful Select broke the news of the overrun on Monday, theoretically giving Dynamite a short, unopposed run against NXT, thus boosting its average ratings across the broadcast.

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AEW founder and CEO Tony Khan confirmed the 30 commercial-free minutes on X, doing so within hours of WWE's announcement that NXT would feature the same:

Later, Khan announced the 'Buy In', with Kingston defending his ROH World and NJPW Strong Openweight Championships against puroresu legend Suzuki:

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Dynamite's one-week pre-emption to Tuesday this week sparked a brief reprisal of the old Wednesday Night Wars. AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT ran head to head between 2 October 2019 and 7 April 2021, when NXT withdrew to Tuesdays, having outdone Dynamite only once in the key 18-49 demographic throughout that period.

WWE has announced main roster stars Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Paul Heyman, and Asuka for NXT, and teased an appearance from The Undertaker.

 
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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.