The NXT “New Year’s Evil” event on Jan. 7 drew the WWE developmental brand’s biggest TV viewership in over five years.
According to Nielsen data, “New Year’s Evil” averaged approximately 957,000 total viewers from 8-10 p.m. on The CW, with 341,000 viewers in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic. That is the best viewership for NXT since September 2019, when it was airing on USA Network. It is also the best viewership for the show since it moved to The CW in October 2024, with the premiere on the broadcast network netting 895,000 viewers on Oct. 1.
“New Year’s Evil” originated from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Among the matches on the card, Giulia defeated Roxanne Perez for the NXT women’s championship, Stephanie Vaquer defeated Cora Jade, Kelani Jordan, and Lola Vice for the NXT women’s North American championship, and Oba Femi defeated Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe to win the NXT championship for the first time. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also made a special appearance at the show, including closing out the night by delivering a promo in the ring.
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NXT is the brainchild of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who now serves as WWE’s chief content officer. The show is currently overseen by Shawn Michaels, himself a WWE Hall of Famer with a legendary in-ring career.
The high ratings for NXT came just after WWE officially moved their flagship “Monday Night Raw” series to Netflix, with the first episode streaming live from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA, on Jan. 6. Johnson was also present at that show, appearing in multiple segments.