While WWE still hasn't made an announcement or acknowledge an official night change for NXT, additional reports are surfacing that the move is happening and some of those reports have detailed the reasoning behind the change.
Word surfaced on Tuesday that WWE was moving NXT to Tuesday nights starting in April. While the company didn't officially announce the change and speculation was that it might have to do with ratings, the real reason for the move is less controversial.
As per Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer Live, the move is considered a done deal within the USA Network. He's reporting that advertisers who are interested in booking slots in that 2-hour NXT block have been told those slots will be for Tuesday nights starting on April 13, which is the Tuesday after WrestleMania.
The reason for the change has nothing to do with ratings or AEW, but is related to the closure of NBC Sports and the USA Network grabbing additional NHL content. The NHL has network priority since they bring in more revenue and this is regardless of the ratings for each program. The sponsors for hockey are more lucrative than the sponsors for wrestling, so USA is bumping NXT.
This Really Isn't A Surprise
It's more mysterious and controversial to suggest NXT is running from the competition but that's simply not the case. In fact, NXT’s move to Tuesday shouldn't have come as a surprise with the news of NBC Sports shutdown.
It was widely expected that USA was going to see some changes in their programming schedule and this has been on the table since January.
Still, AEW is the promotion who benefits here as they'll go unopposed following WrestleMania on Wednesdays. Expect that first Dynamite episode to include a stacked card.