AEW might have emerged victorious from the so-called Wednesday Night Wars, but the real battle with WWE is only just beginning. Launching in 2019, AEW made no bones about its intention to end the McMahon dominance of the wrestling industry. Promising to restore the prestige of tag team wrestling and assuring fans that wins and losses would matter, AEW immediately positioned itself as a direct alternative to WWE, and continues to fire shots toward the other half of Florida, the most recent making fun of WWE's ban on leg-slapping during kicks.
WWE has, until now, countered episodes of AEW Dynamite with its own weekly edition of NXT, putting the companies in direct competition. While both have attracted plaudits, AEW Dynamite has routinely outperformed NXT over the past year-and-a-bit, with WWE viewership wins on Wednesday nights rarer than sightings of Bo Dallas. WWE has now announced that as of April 13, NXT will relocate to Tuesday nights. The official press release didn't cite stiff competition from AEW as the cause (obviously), but the success of Tony Khan's mob is almost certainly to blame. Naturally, some are now declaring the Wednesday Night Wars over, and AEW the victor.
In truth, the Wednesday clashes were merely the opening stage in a rivalry that will surely rumble on for years to come. AEW Dynamite and NXT running simultaneously negatively affected the viewership of both shows, and on rare occasions when one would run unopposed, the numbers usually enjoyed a corresponding boost. In September 2020, NHL playoffs gave NXT the night off, and AEW went on to register over a million viewers - a feat the company has achieved on only a handful of occasions. From April onward, AEW Dynamite will have Wednesday nights all to itself, and could begin hitting the 1 million barrier with more regularity. In this scenario, AEW would no longer be competing with NXT, but WWE's far more established main roster outlet, Monday Night RAW.
Recent episodes of RAW have typically landed around the 1.7-1.8 million mark, still some way ahead of AEW Dynamite. But with RAW suffering a record low rating in December 2020 (1.52 million), and AEW now handed a golden opportunity to bolster their weekly audience, the two shows could soon be drawing closer numbers than Vince McMahon would like. AEW Dynamite is already competing gamely with Monday Night RAW in the all-important 18-49 demographic, if not overall viewership, and that record low episode last December was actually beaten by AEW in this metric.
Having conquered NXT, AEW must now prove it can grapple with WWE's big guns week-by-week. Although so often the best of WWE's three weekly shows, NXT is still treated as the "developmental" brand, whereas Dynamite is AEW's one and only outlet on national TV. Tony Khan and the gang won't be content with toppling NXT, and surely hoped to rival WWE's main roster eventually. To paraphrase John Cena, that time is now.
Even the most ardent AEW supporter would admit that the fledgling company still lag behind WWE, not just in terms of television viewership, but general reach, lucrative deals with Fox and Peacock, merchandise and video games, and mainstream presence. But the Wednesday Night Wars coming to an end represents a huge step towards potential future parity between the rival companies. The end of direct competition with NXT also marks the beginning of a brand new battle - one that AEW might not find as easy.
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