AEW Dynamite Vs. WWE NXT: The Complete History Of The Wednesday Night Wars

The Monday Night Wars from 1995 until 2001 were a truly exciting time to be a pro wrestling fan as the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling fought tooth and nail to be the number one promotion in the world as WCW Monday Nitro and WWF Monday Night Raw went head-to-head each and every week.

After the death of WCW in 2001, professional wrestling wouldn’t be the same. Regardless of which promotion fans backed, the thrill of those wars was gone, and a McMonopoly of mainstream American wrestling grew a little more tedious with each passing year. WCW was the only promotion in a post-territory world that ever really affected Vince McMahon. It was because WCW got so aggressively expansive in the mid-1990s that WWF was forced to deviate from their tired old playbook and try something new in the Attitude era.

No Challengers Emerge Following The Monday Night Wars

When WCW withered and wore down to a shell of its best days, and was subsequently picked clean by the Stamford victors, there sat an opening for somebody else to build a wrestling empire. Early attempts paled in comparison to WWE. Jimmy Hart's X Wrestling Federation staged some TV tapings and house shows, but never grew beyond that phase - and that was made harder when WWE signed away their centrepiece, 48-year-old Hulk Hogan. XWF folded soon after.

Andrew McManus' World Wrestling All-Stars had a decent-enough roster of free agents, but their pay-per-views were mediocre at best. Though they drew decently for international tours, WWA raised barely a whisper stateside, and never achieved anything close to a solid foothold. They were no more by mid-2003.

Then came TNA. Jerry and Jeff Jarrett and Bob Ryder founded Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2002, and it was certainly an alternative. By the mid-2000s, TNA had begun picking up some valuable talents, putting together a very impressive roster featuring the likes of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, Abyss, Christian Cage, The Dudley Boyz, Rhino, Sting, Booker T, and Kurt Angle at a time when WWE was still very strong, though hardly bulletproof.

Unfortunately, while TNA did respectable TV numbers on Spike, their overall profile was drastically dwarfed by their larger foe. Attendance figures for non-Impact Zone events weren't very impressive outside of the United Kingdom, and pay-per-view business peaked beneath a moderate ceiling around 2006. TNA then tried to revive the Monday Night Wars in 2010, a strategy which failed miserably. 

A Challenge Emerges From Within

As the 2010s continued, WWE remained the gold standard of American wrestling for many viewers. Even with some declines in viewership and interest, the diehards, many of them who became hooked during the Ruthless Aggression era and had little frame of reference to other promotions, were still willing to tune into Raw and SmackDown for their appointment TV. 

Fans weren’t exactly satisfied with what they were watching, though, and a WWE-created alternative presented itself in WWE NXT, headed by Triple H. Originally the branding of a bizarre reality game show/weekly wrestling program hybrid, NXT became the label for WWE's developmental system starting in 2012.

By 2013, NXT was the freshest part of WWE's product line, featuring a catalogue of standout independent wrestlers and promising internal projects. NXT was also free from the monotonous, uninspired booking of weekly "main roster" television that seemed to care little for continuity or creativity. NXT and its five annual TakeOver events became among the best reasons to subscribe to the WWE Network. For $9.99 per month, you could forego weekly WWE programming while still supporting the overall empire, just as long as you got to witness subjectively the best wrestling product they had to offer. At one hour on Wednesday nights, NXT was all some fans really needed too.

Though NXT remained a developmental program in theory, it was hard to classify them as such when they grew into a glorified super-indy that showcased some of the greatest wrestlers from around the world. This was Ring of Honor with a Hollywood budget and WWE-level production, leading some to jokingly refer to NXT as "Ring of Hunter". This arrangement was also a double-edged sword as fans struggled to comprehend how the company that gave them one mind-blowing TakeOver after another could be the same one that produced Raws and SmackDowns and pay-per-views that were so void of life and energy.

The 2014 TLC pay-per-view was one of WWE's most historically-bad events, and it came just three days after Sami Zayn and PAC tore the house down in front of 400 fans in Winter Park, FL. Fans attending TLC took to chanting "NXT" during many of the evening's low points. This sentiment continued through the ensuing years, as NXT was seen as the hip, trendy, and forward-thinking brand, while the main roster seemed to be mostly designed to repel viewership. NXT and WWE may not have been competition, but for the first time in many years, many WWE fans had come to view an alternative as superior and preferable to WWE's primary product - an in-house alternative, but an alternative nonetheless.

All In

Then came an outside rival, however. On May 16, 2017, four days before another excellent TakeOver in Chicago, pro wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer responded to an innocent question on Twitter asking if ROH could ever sell out a 10,000-seat arena, something no American promotion outside of WWE had done in 17 years. Meltzer responded, "Not any time soon" which led to a swift reply from Cody Rhodes announcing, "I'll take that bet Dave."

By the time early 2018 rolled around, Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks announced All In, an independent wrestling event to be held on September 1 at the Sears Centre in Chicago. Tickets went on sale on May 13 and sold out in less than 30 minutes. Over 11,000 fans attended All In, making it the first non-WWE or WCW American wrestling card to sell 10,000 tickets since 1993.

The independently produced event garnered 50,000 buys on pay-per-view, greater than almost every TNA event that had ever taken place, and this was without weekly TV with which to promote the show. While it had been obvious for some time due to the growing popularity of Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, this only confirmed the market was there to challenge the hegemony that WWE had established in 2001. 

All Elite Wrestling Is Founded

Following the success of All In, Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC co-owner Tony Khan founded All Elite Wrestling, the most ambitious attempt at a competitor to WWE in decades. Many of the principals from All In founded AEW with Khan, chiefly the members of The Elite, while the promotion also signed proven headline stars, such as multi-time world champion Chris Jericho.

On May 15, 2019, 10 days before AEW's first ever event, Double or Nothing, the company announced a TV deal. For the first time since 2001, a Ted Turner network would broadcast pro wrestling, as AEW Dynamite was coming to TNT beginning Wednesday, October 2. Originally, AEW wanted to run its weekly show on Tuesdays, and had even trademarked the name "Tuesday Night Dynamite" with that intention. With TNT as the destination, though, Tuesdays weren't going to work as TNT aired the NBA every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the season.

Due to the NFL on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights, Wednesday became the night which made the most sense for Dynamite. This was especially the case as NXT was still a taped one-hour show on the WWE Network, and thus not head-to-head competition. That quickly changed, though.

The Wednesday Night Wars Begin

WWE announced on August 20 that NXT was moving to the USA Network beginning Wednesday, September 18. Also, the program was expanding from one hour to two, running from 8 to 10 PM in the exact same time slot as AEW Dynamite, and had a two-week jump on the competition as well. 

WWE had already expressed their annoyance at All Elite Wrestling when Triple H, during D-Generation X’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame over WrestleMania 35 weekend, referred to AEW as a "p*ssant company" that could be purchased by Vince McMahon while taking a playful dig at fellow DX stablemate (and AEW coach) Billy Gunn.

The September 18 NXT premiere drew 1,179,000 viewers to USA Network, with an 18-49 demo rating of 0.43. One week later, the numbers dropped, as the September 25 broadcast averaged 1,006,000 viewers, with a 0.32 demo. Though these numbers were easily half of what Monday Night Raw was generating at this point, that didn't matter. The goal was to render AEW second on a Wednesday depth chart of two, and giving NXT the first chance to establish a foothold on the night could potentially leave the unproven AEW scrambling for viewers.

The big day dawned on October 2. Dynamite emanated from Washington, DC's Capital One Arena, while NXT took place in its usual intimate Full Sail University setting. For the first time in almost a decade, two national wrestling promotions were battling head-to-head on cable television.

NXT had the advantage of total WWE backing, an established brand that had been on cable for decades, and many within WWE and the television industry believed NXT would handily defeat the upstart AEW Dynamite. On night one of the Wednesday Night Wars, though, Dynamite obliterated NXT with 1,409,000 viewers to 891,000. They also more than doubled NXT in the demo, 0.68 to 0.32. For NXT to have drawn the same demo from an unopposed week to the first head-to-head night seemingly indicated a lapsed audience that desperately wanted to see wrestling without the time-worn WWE branding.

WWE, seemingly to get ahead of what was going to be a loss for NXT in the first head-to-head battle, issued a statement, which read in part:

"Congratulations to AEW on a successful premiere. The real winners of last night's head-to-head telecasts of NXT and AEW are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint."

The "real winners" remark smacked of spin for many, while the marathon/sprint analogy entered the lexicon of many an AEW fan for whom viewership totals were just as anticipated as weekly AEW Dynamite itself.

AEW Primarily On Top, With One NXT Win

Early on, AEW remained on top, often beating NXT by around 200,000 viewers a week, while coming close to doubling NXT in the demo. That changed on November 6, when members of the Raw and SmackDown rosters invaded NXT, setting the stage for a three-way conflict at Survivor Series. Though AEW still won for the night, they only took the viewership by 9000 viewers, while holding off NXT in the demo by a slimmer score of 0.35 to 0.30.

Later in November, NXT won two weeks in viewership, including a dominant victory on the Thanksgiving Eve broadcast. AEW still managed to win the demo both nights, an indication as to which brand's audience skewed younger.

NXT's standing was then bolstered by dominance at Survivor Series, as the underdog brand won four of the seven matches they competed against Raw and SmackDown in. With WWE showing at least a seasonal willingness to put NXT on par with its "main roster" stars, NXT seemingly had plenty of artillery at its disposal. 

The battles in December seemed to indicate a shift in line with that. AEW barely won on December 4, while the two shows tied in viewership on December 11. On the week before Christmas, not only did NXT win in viewership, but for the first time ever, they defeated AEW in the demo, 0.27 to 0.25. Though some may have interpreted this as the turning of the tide, NXT would never win the demo again.

After not airing on Christmas Day, Dynamite returned on New Year’s Day, beginning a period of three straight weeks averaging over 900,000 viewers, whereas NXT peaked at 721,000 in the same stretch. For the demo, AEW either doubled or came close to doubling NXT in each of those weeks.

The autumn momentum for NXT was dissipating, while AEW had something to celebrate. On January 15, WarnerMedia extended Dynamite's deal through 2023 on a deal worth around $45 million per year, with a network option for 2024. The deal also included an additional hour of television to begin at a future date.

Though NXT managed to narrow the viewership gap in February, their days of being held in parity with Raw and SmackDown were pretty much over. AEW didn't get squashed out of the gate, and after just three months on the air, they earned a hefty contract extension, solidifying themselves as a cornerstone of WarnerMedia's broadcast line-up. 

AEW Dynamite Ascendant

Both brands, however, were soon faced with the same problem that everyone else in the world was forced to deal with in the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020. Both shows had to tape on closed sets, with NXT setting up shop in the empty Performance Center, while AEW made do with the more spacious Daily's Place in Jacksonville, save for the month they spent at QT Marshall's training facility in Georgia.

Gradually, AEW made the best of their situation. Contracted talents and young indy wrestlers filled out the ringside area to act as fans, the standouts being the vociferous Austin Gunn, the sometimes-confrontational Big Swole, and the highly-expressive Madi Wrenkowski. Neither locale was ideal for a booming wrestling product, but AEW clearly did better with what they had to work with. NXT eventually adopted the underground-feeling Capitol Wrestling Center as its home, but it didn't hold a candle to Daily's Place, especially when AEW began allowing fans in August 2020, albeit in distanced clusters.

Viewership for both shows sagged as 2020 wore on, because some fans just don't want to watch compromised wrestling, no matter who is on TV. NXT gained a few viewership wins in April, and at the beginning of summer, the latter due in part to their two-week Great American Bash specials. As the summer wore on, though, AEW was back firmly on top. 

August 19 kicked off a four-week stretch where both shows experienced pre-emptions due to the NBA and NHL playoffs. NXT and Dynamite each ran for two weeks unopposed, and experienced the expected viewership increases as a result. In a sign of how the "war" was going, both unopposed NXT episodes drew fewer viewers than the first Dynamite did once head-to-head battles were resumed in 853,000 and 824,000 to 886,000.

For the rest of 2020, NXT only won in viewership once (for the Halloween Havoc special) and they tied Dynamite on Thanksgiving Eve. Otherwise, there were a few massacres, including Dynamite's 255,000-viewer win for the December 2 "Winter is Coming" broadcast that featured Sting’s surprise debut and Kenny Omega’s AEW World Title win, and the 336,000-viewer gap the following week. For that latter program, Dynamite did its best demo number in 14 months, nearly tripling NXT.

Though NXT nearly caught AEW in viewership for their duelling New Year programs on January 6 - which did lower combined viewership due to all-day coverage of the US Capitol insurrection, the next few months played out the same as usual. Some weeks Dynamite won by a few thousand, some weeks by a couple hundred thousand. In many instances, Dynamite continued to double NXT in the 18-49 demographic. In some cases, NXT was drawing nearly a quarter of the demo number they drew for their unopposed premiere, going as low as a 0.12 rating on February 10, 2021.

WWE NXT Moves To Tuesday Nights

By March, rumours were looming that NXT were looking to change nights, getting away from an AEW Dynamite product that routinely drew a larger audience.

On March 30, the announcement was made; NXT was moving to Tuesday nights on USA beginning after WrestleMania 37. Though Paul Levesque would publicly state that the AEW-NXT battles were "not a war", reports began emerging that Levesque took the blame within WWE for NXT failing to contain the competitor, allowing it to grow into its own juggernaut.

Triple H then rapidly lost power within WWE and took time off following a life-threatening heart incident. In September 2021, NXT was rebranded to NXT 2.0 at the direction of Vince McMahon, with Shawn Michaels in charge of day-to-day creative of NXT. 

NXT did win one last viewership battle in the final head-to-head showdown of the Wednesday Night Wars on April 7, as it was part of a two-night TakeOver special. Nonetheless, AEW still outsized NXT in the 18-49 demo, just as they had in 73 of the previous 74 head-to-head battles.

The Legacy of the Wednesday Night Wars

WWE NXT was the first line of defence against the emerging threat out of Jacksonville, and there was a tremendous irony there.

When the tenets of AEW were mere ideas in one of Tony Khan's notebooks, fans had already discovered an alternative to same old WWE, and it was NXT. NXT was the antithesis of the WWE way that many of those fans had grown so sick of, with one blockbuster TakeOver after another, and a conveyor belt of international and indy all-stars feeding into the WWE Performance Center. The WWE logo may have been stamped across NXT, but to its fanbase, NXT was a WWE property in name only.

When AEW - a product that many alternative-seekers quickly became keen to watch - gained TV clearance, WWE's in-house alternative was employed as weaponry against the new product. Suddenly, NXT became part of that "same old" WWE, holding off the blitz in the hopes that the main roster product wouldn't have to be compelled to change its own playbook.

The developmental brand lost a bit of its charm and shine when it moved to USA. Two hour programs and some subtle tonal shifts were enough to erode away what made NXT so special in the first place. Instead of being an alternative to the machine, it was shown clearly to be part of that machine. AEW, meanwhile, quickly established themselves as the genuine alternative, without any tethers or caveats. 

WWE said the Wednesday Night Wars weren't a sprint, but rather a marathon. In this particular element of the 18-month war, they ended up getting lapped several times over, before eventually deciding to retreat to another night altogether.