WWE‘s NXT won out in the so-called Tuesday Night War against AEW‘s “Dynamite.”
According to the Nielsen overnight ratings, NXT pulled in 921,000 viewers on Tuesday night with 396,000 in the key adults 18-49 demographic. “Dynamite” averaged 609,000 viewers with 346,000 in the demo. While that is a far cry from the numbers seen during the Monday Night Wars between WWE (then WWF) and WCW, it is still a resounding victory for WWE, with NXT up approximately 7.5% compared to last week’s show.
The two shows do not typically air against each other. NXT currently runs on Tuesdays on USA Network, while “Dynamite” airs on Wednesdays on TBS. But the Major League Baseball playoffs on TBS this week meant that “Dynamite” needed to shift nights, putting them once again in direct competition with WWE’s developmental show.
Both companies tried to pull out all the stops to draw viewers. AEW announced what they called “Title Tuesday,” which saw multiple AEW titles on the line in matches across the program. In addition, Adam Copeland, a.k.a Edge, also made his in-ring debut for AEW against Luchasaurus and Saraya lost the AEW women’s championship to Hikaru Shida.
Not to be outdone, WWE showcased multiple main roster stars like John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Asuka, Rhea Ripley, and LA Knight on NXT. Even The Undertaker, who retired in 2020, made an appearance to chokeslam NXT star Bron Breakker. Both companies also offered at least 30 minutes of ad-free programming to kick things off for the night.