Overlapping Fans
By Scott Keith on 5th October 2023
So we all knew Sat wasn't a great night for a wrestling show. But while the ratings haven't been great for Collision, so far it doesn't seem like college football is hurting it as bad as some expected. Clearly there isn't a ton overlap between wrestling fans and college football fans, especially the same way there is of NFL and wrestling fans. But I am curious on what your thoughts are about how much overlap there looks to be between AEW fans and NXT fans. I was actually surprised how bad the NXT show hurt Collision. There wasn't a big college game on that night, so really No Mercy was there only big competition, and they got crushed.
It seems you have more AEW fans who watch NXT, or are at least willing to watch big shows than the other way around. It was clear when the Wed night wars ended and neither show pick up that many new viewers that the crowds weren't very interested in watching the other show when they were on different nights. There was 1.5 million viewers normally watching when they were on the same time, but when they switched nights neither show was getting close to that with no competition. Do you think it's just having big stars like Becky and Dom on the shows that's making a difference now, or would you just chalk it up to WWEs overall popularity vs AEW being pretty cold the last year? Personally i think NXT is the best weekly show, as you get to watch young stars develop, some new stars ready to break out, and now some main roster stars getting new chances.
Regardless, it's looking like it could be a bloodbath next week, and I don't think TK is gonna enjoy his bday. I am sure WWE always planned on loading the show up, but once TK announced Edges first match for that night he had to know WWE was going to try to stick it to them, and I don't blame them. Regardless, wrestling fans will be the winners because NXT should be awesome, and I am sure TK is going to respond as well.
I look at it from the perspective of not caring about NXT at all and getting a guaranteed banger of a Dynamite so it’s win-win for me. Maybe they can use new fangled technology to have Moxley do commentary on his own match.