Big Update On WWE & USA Network Relationship

With the first night of WWE's 2021 Draft now in the books, there's an update on the current relationship between WWE and the home of Monday Night Raw, the USA Network.

In reports from Mat Men's Andrew Zarian and Fightful, WWE had been in communication with both USA Network and FOX ahead of the Draft. Of course, in addition to USA being the home of Raw and NXT, FOX these days houses SmackDown.

For the USA Network, these reports state how USA enjoys the "unique nature" of the brand split and are believed to be keen to see said split continue. USA Network higher-ups are also realistic in understanding that Raw can't feature all of WWE's top stars and that there has to be a relatively even split between Raw and SmackDown when it comes to the roster.

In regards to NXT - well, NXT 2.0 - USA Network has responded positively to the relaunch of the former black and gold brand. The initial bump in viewership for the first NXT 2.0 show has received praise from USA, as has the increased production value now seen in NXT. In particular, two segments of that NXT 2.0 relaunch that garnered a strong reaction from USA were the debut of Bron Breakker and the wedding of Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis.

Despite this praise, USA Network is very much aware of the drop in viewership for NXT 2.0, and USA is concerned that the rate of viewership decline is more extreme than that of any competition. Still, USA is more focussed on improving the consistent quality of programming right now rather than being too consumed by dwindling ratings.

Interestingly, these reports also add how USA has become tired of WWE using "scapegoats and shortcuts", which includes the likes of RAW Underground, changes to brand split rules, and WWE generally being WWE and changing things on the fly.