The Wednesday Night Wars were a period of mainstream televised American professional wrestling in which All Elite Wrestling (AEW)'s Dynamite debuted on TNT opposite WWE's NXT on the USA Network in a competition for Nielsen ratings each week. The ratings war lasted from October 2, 2019, to April 7, 2021. This was the first direct competition between two major promotions since Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling), briefly moved their flagship series, Impact!, to Monday nights opposite WWE Raw in 2010, and over 20 years following the original Monday Night Wars that lasted from 1995 to 2001. AEW would win the ratings battle almost every week in both total viewership and in the viewership from the key 18–49 age demographic, and on April 13, 2021, NXT moved to Tuesday nights, ending the Wednesday Night Wars.
Background[]
After the "Monday Night Wars", with the bankruptcy and subsequent acquisitions of both World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), WWE became the dominant professional wrestling company in the United States. In 2008, WWE began to take a family-oriented approach, in which all of its programming received a rating of TV-PG. In 2010, TNA attempted to challenge WWE by moving its flagship show Impact! to Monday nights, but after low ratings and poor reception, it returned to its original Thursday night slot after three months.
In 2012, WWE launched NXT as a developmental brand for its future main roster stars. NXT initially aired as a web series on WWE.com and Hulu, before moving to the WWE Network in 2014. NXT gained critical acclaim for its quality of wrestling, storytelling, and talent development, and became a popular alternative to WWE's main roster shows Raw and SmackDown. NXT also began to produce live events called TakeOver, which were held several times a year and often coincided with WWE's main roster pay-per-view events.
In 2019, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was founded by professional wrestlers Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), and Kenny Omega, who also served as executive vice presidents of the company. AEW was backed by billionaire businessman Shahid Khan and his son Tony Khan, who was the president and CEO of the company. AEW's mission was to provide a fresh and diverse product that catered to wrestling fans who were dissatisfied with WWE's creative direction. AEW also boasted a roster of established and rising stars from various promotions around the world, such as Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE), Hangman Adam Page, PAC (formerly Neville in WWE), MJF, Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Nyla Rose, and others.
On May 25, 2019, AEW held its inaugural event Double or Nothing at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was a commercial and critical success, drawing over 11,000 fans in attendance and over 100,000 pay-per-view buys. On July 24, 2019, AEW announced that it had signed a multi-year deal with WarnerMedia to air a weekly two-hour live show on TNT starting from October 2, 2019. The show was later named Dynamite.
On August 20, 2019, WWE announced that NXT would move from the WWE Network to the USA Network starting from September 18, 2019. The show would also expand from one hour to two hours and air live every Wednesday night from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The move was widely seen as a countermeasure by WWE to prevent AEW from gaining viewership and momentum on cable television.
Ratings war[]
The first head-to-head battle between Dynamite and NXT took place on October 2, 2019. Dynamite drew 1.409 million viewers and a 0.68 rating in the key 18–49 demographic, while NXT drew 891,000 viewers and a 0.32 rating in the same demo. Dynamite ranked #2 on the Cable Top 150 for the night behind American Horror Story on FX, while NXT ranked #10. Dynamite also beat NXT in every demographic except for viewers over 50 years old.
Dynamite would continue to outdraw NXT in both total viewership and in the key demo for most weeks of the ratings war. Dynamite's highest viewership was on December 30, 2020, with 1.018 million viewers and a 0.42 rating in the key demo for its Brodie Lee tribute show following his death on December 26. NXT's highest viewership was on December 18, 2019, with 795,000 viewers and a 0.27 rating in the key demo for its year-end awards show.
NXT would occasionally beat Dynamite in total viewership, but rarely in the key demo. NXT's first victory over Dynamite in total viewership was on November 20, 2019, with 916,000 viewers and a 0.30 rating in the key demo, while Dynamite drew 893,000 viewers and a 0.39 rating in the same demo. NXT's first and only victory over Dynamite in the key demo was on December 16, 2020, with 766,000 viewers and a 0.19 rating in the key demo, while Dynamite drew 806,000 viewers and a 0.32 rating in the same demo.
Both shows would also face competition from other sports and entertainment programs on Wednesday nights, such as the NBA, the NHL, South Park, The Challenge, The Masked Singer, and others. Both shows would also be pre-empted or moved to different time slots due to various reasons, such as the NBA playoffs, the U.S. presidential debates and elections, and the U.S. Capitol riot.
The final head-to-head battle between Dynamite and NXT took place on April 7, 2021. NXT drew 768,000 viewers and a 0.22 rating in the key demo for its TakeOver: Stand and Deliver Night One show, which also aired on Peacock with no commercials. Dynamite drew 688,000 viewers and a 0.28 rating in the key demo for its regular show. NXT ranked #11 on the Cable Top 150 for the night, while Dynamite ranked #5.
End of the war[]
On March 2, 2021, WWE announced that NXT would move to Tuesday nights starting from April 13, 2021. The move was reportedly due to NBCUniversal's decision to shut down NBCSN by the end of the year and move some of its sports programming to USA Network, which would conflict with NXT's Wednesday night slot. WWE also signed a multi-year extension with USA Network for NXT as part of the deal.
The move was seen as a concession by WWE that it had lost the ratings war to AEW and that it was no longer interested in competing with Dynamite on Wednesday nights. AEW President Tony Khan claimed that he was not surprised by the move and that he was happy that AEW had won the war. He also said that he was looking forward to having unopposed shows on Wednesday nights and growing AEW's audience.
Impact[]
The Wednesday Night Wars had a significant impact on the professional wrestling industry and culture in the United States. The war increased the exposure and popularity of both AEW and NXT among wrestling fans and media outlets. The war also created a loyal fan base for both brands, as well as a rivalry between them. The war also sparked debates and discussions among fans, wrestlers, journalists, and analysts about various aspects of wrestling, such as ratings, quality, creativity, diversity, booking, storytelling, talent development, and fan engagement.
The war also benefited other wrestling promotions outside of WWE and AEW. Impact Wrestling gained more attention and viewership after forming a partnership with AEW in late 2020, which saw several AEW wrestlers appear on Impact's weekly show on AXS TV and vice versa. Ring of Honor (ROH) also saw an increase in interest and viewership after revamping its product and roster following a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) also expanded its presence in the U.S. market by launching NJPW Strong on NJPW World and Roku Channel.
The war also inspired other wrestling promotions to create their own weekly shows on different nights of the week. Major League Wrestling (MLW) launched MLW Fusion on YouTube and BeIN Sports on Saturday nights. National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) relaunched NWA Power on FITE TV on Tuesday nights. Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) launched GCW Fight Forever on YouTube on Friday nights.