It’s one thing to assume AEW is smart for choosing a night on TNT that doesn’t have wrestling on any cable network. RAW on Monday, SDLive on Tuesday(soon Friday), Impact on Thursdays and most regions have ROH late Saturday nights.
It’s another thing to assume WWE was going to just sit back and let AEW alone. That’s not what the WWE does, that’s NOT what Vince McMahon accepts.
As of right now, Monday morning, August 19, we can only speculate about NXT going to the USA Network to compete with AEW on Wednesday nights. The wrestling world is watching the clock tick down as we wait for a “big announcement” tonight on RAW.
If that’s the announcement, it very well could explain why they had The Street Profits in multiple segments with the NXT titles on RAW the past few weeks.
However, let’s take a look at a few things as we the people instantly assume Vince will ruin WWE NXT.
- Vince hasn’t touched TakeOver.
If you think Vince is going to start messing with TakeOver, which he could as the CEO of it all, then you’d have to assume he would have already had his dirty fingers in the NXT pot already.
Example: WrestleMania is the biggest weekend Vince could ever imagine. Don’t you think he would have already started to mess around with TakeOver to make sure nothing ruined HIS big weekend? Hard to say, but with TakeOver being the night before each big PPV, where they seem to spend 4 days in the same city, I would think he’d already been having some creative say in the beloved TakeOver. - The Networks have shown their hand, and it’s arguably stronger than Vince’s.
Look, we heard all year about WWE moving Smackdown to Fox Sports. No big deal, right? Well, that was until we started hearing whispers of Fox Sports wanting certain things and then seeing Vince reveal stupid concepts like “The Wild Card” rule. Now Fox Sports can go to Vince and say “Hey, that wild card rule is great…we want Lesnar to use it to come take the title from Randy Orton after Orton beats Kofi”
I know, just the thought of that actually happening has already made your blood boil, but let’s face it: The Networks have the money and Vince has already proven that he’ll bend the knee and bow to their demands.
Look at the RAW Reunion that The USA Network wanted to help ratings.
Was this all something Vince and Triple H wanted? Or was NXT offered up as a sacrifice to let Smackdown Live leave the USA Network?
That’s something we’ll probably never know. If so though, USA already has way too much control over the future of NXT and TakeOver.
The question stands: If NXT moves to the USA Network every week, will Triple H keep control?
Either way, the smart move for the USA Network is to play their cards against Vince and keep him out of NXT, but they can’t use those same cards to change NXT into what they want to see for ratings.
If you air it, they will watch.
I think this will be more about what the USA Network wants and in turn, it will make Vince jump in to turn NXT into another show with the RAW/Smackdown feel.
Also, where does this leave NXT UK?
Editor’s Note: This angers me, honestly. I was really excited to watch AEW on TNT every Wednesday night and then turn on the WWE Network to watch NXT from the beginning later that night, or the next morning. Now, like WCW vs WWF, we have to flip back and forth. We can only assume USA will want the same deal as it does for RAW where the USA shows can’t be put on the WWE Network until 30 days later.
