It’s no secret that NXT is far and away my favourite thing that WWE does. It’s logical, it’s fun, it’s as close as you’re going to get to a perfect mix of action and story progression in the modern era, and the shorter length of the TV shows and the Takeover specials means that things rarely if ever overstay their welcome.
But apparently that last bit is one that I’d better enjoy while I can. Because we live in a world of content where more is more regardless of whether or not anyone wants more or if more is even a good idea, we’re getting two hours of live NXT every week on USA Network starting in September.
I’m sure people are excited, but I am not one of those people. NXT is perfect as it is. Leave it alone.
Yes an extra weekly hour will allow more people to get on TV, but not everyone needs to be on TV. That’s one of the major problems with Raw and Smackdown. Everybody’s around all the time and by consequence, nobody is ever special because you never get the chance to miss them.
Two hours also means more matches, which means you’re either stuck for weeks trotting more meaningless segments than necessary out there so that you can build your main feuds properly or that you have to burn through storylines faster to make sure people watch the show every week. And on USA ratings matter more than they do on WWE’s own network, so it’s fairly obvious which direction we’re probably going to be heading.
And let’s not rule out the very distinct possibility that because the weekly television is now 100 percent longer that it’s going to mean either more Takeovers, longer Takeovers or both. None of those options are filling me with joy for reasons that should be obvious to anyone that makes even the slightest attempt to keep up with wrestling.
I know they’re doing this for the money and to get a jump on competing with All Elite (NXT is getting a two week head start on AEW’s Wednesday night TNT show), but even though those are both valid reasons and even though competition is ultimately good, I still wish they could have found something else to ruin and left my NXT alone.
It was announced this morning that WWE and USA Network have reached an agreement for NXT to begin airing live weekly on USA starting on September 18. The show will be two hours long each week and will air from 8-10 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesdays.
NXT will continue to take place from Full Sail University.
WWE sent out an email announcing that — when the move begins — NXT will be made available on demand on the WWE Network every Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern. It was noted that TakeOver events will continue to air live exclusively on WWE Network.