The Wednesday Night War between AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT is officially coming to an end.
WWE and the USA Network announced today that, starting with the April 13 edition of the show, NXT will move to airing live on the USA Network on Tuesday nights. It was also announced that WWE and the USA Network have signed a multi-year extension for NXT to continue airing on the USA Network.
“We are incredibly proud of our three-decade partnership with WWE and in extending USA’s NXT deal, we are further establishing our portfolio as an unrivaled home for quality WWE content,” said Frances Berwick, Chairman, Entertainment Networks, NBCU. “By transitioning NXT to a Tuesday timeslot where WWE has performed well in the past, we are giving our passionate fanbase more of what they love with back-to-back nights of exhilarating, live programming.”
“We are thrilled to continue WWE and NBCUniversal’s longstanding partnership with the extension of NXT on USA Network,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy & Development. “The move to Tuesdays provides a new opportunity for us to grow the NXT brand and enables our partner, USA Network, to continue to build its strong portfolio of sports and entertainment programming.”
Levesque also spoke to Variety about NXT’s move to Tuesday nights: “We now feel like we’re in a good place where we can move that consistent fanbase over to Tuesdays. We believe they’ll follow us. That way we can grow the brand more given the lead in from ‘Monday Night Raw,’ which we’ve seen in the past.”
The day after NXT episodes premiere on the USA Network, they’ll be made available on demand on Peacock in the United States.
Ahead of Dynamite making its debut, NXT began airing live weekly on the USA Network in September 2019. NXT had aired as a taped show on the WWE Network on Wednesday nights prior to that. The Wednesday Night War between Dynamite and NXT then kicked off on October 2, 2019.
It had been confirmed earlier this month that NXT was close to finalizing a move to Tuesday nights. In January, it was announced that NBCUniversal will be shutting down NBC Sports Network by the end of the year. Some of that sports programming will be moving to the USA Network, which — prior to the announcement of NXT moving to Tuesdays — would have created a conflict on Wednesday nights if NBCUniversal is able to retain rights to the NHL in the league’s next television package.
The Tuesday, April 13 episode of NXT will be the TakeOver: Stand & Deliver fallout edition of the show. TakeOver: Stand & Deliver is a two-night event that’s taking place on Wednesday, April 7 and Thursday, April 8. Night one will be live on the USA Network, while night two will be live on Peacock in the United States and live on the WWE Network everywhere else.