Former WWE superstar Sean Waltman reckons NXT will have better ratings than both Raw and SmackDown after it moves to USA Network in September.
Exciting times lie ahead for WWE, with big moves being made. SmackDown will move to Fox in October and we could expect a bit of a difference once that happens. But NXT's upcoming move to TV happens to be better news.
Raw and SmackDown have both suffered from a drop in ratings this year, and year-over-year data shows that they've been losing a significant percentage of their audiences with every passing year.
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With All Elite Wrestling having emerged as an option, WWE risks losing even more fans but it appears that they've made the best move they can to secure viewers by bringing NXT to USA. And Waltman says the show will beat the main brands at least once within its forst six months on TV.
“This is my prediction, that within six months they are going to beat Raw or SmackDown in the ratings at least once," he said on the newest episode of his X-Pac 12360 (h/t Sescoops.com). "Maybe way sooner than six months…. I really do, I am not just saying that to try and hype up the positive attitude. Just being optimistic, I honestly think that that’s going to happen.”
NXT will kick off on the network on September 18 and will be broadcasted live from the Full Sail campus in Florida on Wednesday nights for at least the first three months.
AEW's TV show will also be airing on Wednesdays as the company has reached a deal with TNT, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
WWE denies having moved its developmental brand to television as a means of countering the startup promotion but it will be hard to convince most people that this wasn't the case.
In any event, it's still a great move on their part and we don't doubt that it can surpass both Raw and SmackDown in popularity after a few months.