How NXT Has Already Won The Wednesday Night War

Article lead image
WWE/Scott Lesh

By moving NXT to the USA Network, WWE has changed the discourse; no longer is AEW considered a game-changer, or a threat to WWE at large. WWE has successfully marginalised AEW within the conversation and, of course, diluted its ratings on TNT - the live ratings, those that count to advertisers.

It was a broader masterstroke; AEW was always going to lose the revolutionary buzz, at some point, and WWE compounded it by carving out Wednesday's niche as the hardcore fan night of celebration. 2018's All In - also a night of hardcore fan celebration - was supposed to be the start of something. It was supposed to double as a brochure to both the television industry and piqued fans. In effect, AEW is now back to where it all started.

NXT is still losing on aggregate. It isn't winning the war in the present tense, much less decisively in the past tense, but the war has been won, indirectly, under WWE's deeply cynical mission statement. The original idea saw NXT land on FS1 with the express purpose of siphoning viewers away from Dynamite. That a one-off SmackDown pulled a paltry 888,000 viewers to the companion channel should illustrate the small-scale pettiness of that endeavour. But then, as things so often do in WWE, plans changed. A deal was struck with USA, WWE's home network, to counter-programme AEW Dynamite.

AEW is constantly compared to NXT.

The head-to-head competition changed the conversation. Virtually every pro wrestling content production company reviews AEW and NXT in a comparative exercise. The Wrestling Observer's Wrestling Observer Radio broadcasts on Wednesday nights as 'NXT Vs. AEW'. Voices of Wrestling's recap show is entitled 'Wednesday War Games'. Several, countless other outlets cover each show and analyse them in comparison to the other. As does, of course, the leading authority in insight and observation: WhatCulture Wrestling's Wednesday Night War podcast.

Every comments section, even on isolated show reviews, chimes in with competing takes of 'NXT/Dynamite was better'. It is impossible to tweet something negatively or positively concerning either show without drawing a loyalist from either side into the replies. #FTMF is inescapable. This isn't so much a marathon, or a sprint, but a loop of discourse from which AEW cannot escape.

CONT'D...(3 of 5)

Advertisement
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!