WWE is making some big moves in regard to their television shows as it was confirmed in September that SmackDown will be moving to USA, and this week it was officially announced that the CW will be NXT’s new home.
Fightful Select is reporting that the deal had been discussed for months and discussions started well before rumors of NWA and the CW started making the rounds. One source on the WWE side of things noted that the company is very happy with the deal, and it’s being said that the WWE side felt things moved quickly.
The deal was appealing to WWE as they will be getting a 70 percent rights fee increase. The exact number is unknown at this point in time, but Deadline reported that they’ve heard it was double the $15 million per year that WWE was getting for the current contract.
Current plans call for NXT to remain on Tuesday nights. However, more conversations will be taking place between WWE and the CW in 2024 before that is made official. NXT is expected to remain similar to how it is now as WWE has been happy with the viewership increases the show has seen.
Talent in NWA who spoke on the subject were surprised by the news with one talent saying that they were blindsided. The word going around was that NWA was working on a deal with CW, but sources in WWE do not expect the deal to happen.
