Predicting How The AEW Vs. NXT Wednesday Night War Will End

Darby Allin
AEW

NXT isn't a growth product by its very design. Its assets exist to be stripped.

AEW is struggling to grow its audience, which explains certain recent decisions - celebrity crossovers, upcoming pay-per-view quality TV main events. Analysed through the optics of professional wrestling, AEW is winning, and is giving itself every opportunity to continue to win via its platform of expression and long-term booking. Darby Allin's ascent best exemplifies this; his meticulous arc, undiluted ring style and artistic short film vignettes have all converged to create a new, numbers-generating star. With no lead-in, his opener with Ricky Starks on September 30 averaged a very impressive 1,026,000 overall viewers.

But how the Wednesday Night War ends has precious little to do with the Wednesday Night War, and has everything to do with the whims of TV suits; it was after all Jamie Kellner, and not Vince Russo, who killed WCW. Russo set the f*cker on fire, obviously, but Kellner didn't bother putting it out.

Two primetime hours on a weeknight not known as a social day - that AEW selected purposefully to avoid stiff sporting competition - represents significant real estate on USA's schedule. A 2013 study conducted by Nielsen concluded that, on average, viewers watched almost two hours' worth of TV during primetime. This number is likely to have diminished in the years since, consistent with the general decline in viewership the TV industry has endured in the wake of the age of streaming. In effect, the USA Network is asking its audience to dedicate their evening's recreation to WWE's distant third brand.

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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!