UPDATE:
It’s official! NXT will move to the USA Network for a 2-hour long program on September 18th. NXT will air on Wednesday nights at 8pm-10pm ET.
“The move to USA Network provides an opportunity to deepen our relationship with NBCUniversal and further build the NXT brand. Over the long term, our goal is to develop a following that can be monetized to the same level as our flagship programs, Raw and SmackDown.” – Vince McMahon
The USA President Chris McCumber added:
“USA Network and WWE have one of the longest and most successful partnerships in television history. As the #1 cable entertainment network, we’re excited to add NXT to our weekly lineup alongside powerhouse flagship Raw, and to bring a new generation of Superstars to a wide audience.” – USA and SYFY president Chris McCumber.
We’ve noted that NXT has been losing money since it was created. The brand wasn’t bringing in as much money as it was spending, but that was never the intentions. Now, NXT has the chance to bring in money with the new network deals and sponsorships.
New reports indicate that WWE was set on airing NXT one Wednesday nights which is why the deal with FS1 fell through. Fox has a contract to air basketball games on Wednesday night which they couldn’t break. Knowing that WWE wasn’t going to budge from Wednesday nights will increase assumptions that this move’s primary purpose is to thwart AEW.
Before the update:
Last week, sources from Dave Meltzer and OneVotes reported that WWE would be announcing their new deal with the USA network to air NXT on Wednesdays starting in September, but it didn’t happen. All signs were pointing towards yesterday being the official day including recent changes in WWE’s stock. Both sources ended up being inaccurate and there isn’t an official update on why.
Here’s a list of things that we do know:
As of right now, the commentating team will still include Mauro Ranallo. This could change in the future as one of Ranallo’s reasons for leaving WWE recently was because of the travel schedule. There’s been more to the story, including bullying he received backstage from key members of the main roster, but Ranallo suffers from bipolar disorder and is prone to depression. With NXT rumored to be back on a touring schedule, Ranallo’s long-term fate is unknown. He still has other commitments with boxing and Bellator.
There are no talks of changing the NXT commentating team, according to Wrestling Observer Radio. It will continue to be a three-man team featuring Mauro, Nigel McGuiness and Beth Phoenix.
Since WWE will be moving NXT to television, they will be fishing around for international markets to air on. RAW and Smackdown have deals in other markets that allow them to air condensed versions of the show in new markets. With NXT rumored to be 2-hours starting in September, WWE will be pushing hard to make the same deals.
NXT will still be airing on the USA Network, but days and times have not been made official. FS1 told affiliates that they were getting NXT but the deal fell through.
NXT as we know it today is over in September. There are still rumors that the show will be changing to a two hour format which means that either they will be on tour weekly or they will tape two episodes every other week. Vince McMahon will have his hands all over it since it’ll be on a cable network. If ratings are low, we could see NXT loaded with RAW and Smackdown superstars.