When AEW Dynamite first debuted on TNT two years ago the show went head to head with NXT, and the Wednesday Night Wars kicked off. Following WrestleMania 37 WWE shifted the NXT brand to Tuesday nights, and recently it was relaunched as NXT 2.0.
People in the wrestling industry have downplayed the idea of a war between the two companies, but AEW did beat out NXT in the ratings for the majority of weeks that the shows aired on Wednesday nights. Adam Cole was in NXT while the two brands were going head to head and while talking about NXT 2.0 on Talk Is Jericho he noted that he thinks AEW played a part in WWE rebranding NXT.
“This is all just me guessing. I think, for sure, (AEW beating NXT) played a part (in the rebrand). I also understand the thought process of…there were so many guys in NXT who were presented a certain way and then they’d go to Raw or SmackDown and it was a complete 180. I see the standpoint of, if I am Vince McMahon, him looking at NXT as this breeding ground for guys on Raw and SmackDown, he wants his hands in it a little bit more and he wants bigger guys. Not saying everyone is going to be big, but more guys who are geared to be ready to go for Raw and SmackDown. I understand that.
When I was there at NXT, it was treated as a third brand. We got on television because of it, we had the big Survivor Series month, which was really cool. It was the more athletic pro wrestling storytelling and style. Them going back to this, certainly, AEW has to play a factor in my mind. It just has to. More important, I do think it’s so they don’t have to change a thing about guys when they are in NXT now.”
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H/T Fightful
