Analyzing WWE NXT’s Declining Viewership

WWE NXT is one of the best programs on the WWE Network, but for some reason, viewership is down. This is likely due to several factors, including the recent brand split on the main roster.

According to Dave Meltzer, viewership for WWE NXT has apparently “gone way down.” In his Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer said NXT was not among the top five most-watched programs on the WWE Network for this week.

This is quite alarming considering how WWE NXT is one of the network’s flagship programs. While the show is available on other services like Hulu, it has consistently been one of the network’s most watched programs.

According to Meltzer, other programs including Ride Along, Table for 3 and Legends with JBL have replaced NXT as the most watched show for video on demand recently. NXT ranked in at number nine this week on the WWE Network’s top ten most watched programs.

So what exactly is the cause of this decline in viewership? This isn’t a simple question to answer. But we should first have a look at the impact the main roster has had on the developmental brand.

One of the biggest blows to NXT came during the brand split from earlier this year. In order to fill both rosters, the WWE would need to bring up people from NXT.

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The only issue was that they could not call up everyone. Some stars, like Bayley, Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura, had to stay on NXT to make the show worth watching. After all, people were not tuning into NXT to watch Mojo Rawley or No Way Jose. They were tuning in to see the big names.

In the end, the WWE decided to bring up American Alpha, Eva Marie, Mojo Rawley, Carmella, Alexa Bliss, Finn Balor and Nia Jax to the main roster. While most of these wrestlers have found success on the main roster, they’ve left big shoes to fill on NXT.

While it might be easy to blame the brand split for NXT’s viewership decline, it is not that simple. If we compare NXT’s roster this year to its roster from last year, it is almost completely different.

One thing to point out is the fact that most of NXT’s women’s division is full of younger wrestlers. NXT veterans like Bayley, Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch are now on the main roster.

The women’s division no longer has that star power it once had. Outside of Asuka, there is really no one else in the division who could be called up immediately. NXT’s women’s division is now in full rebuilding mode.

NXT’s tag team division has also been stripped to the bone. The Revival are great as tag team champs, but the Authors of Pain and DIY are really the only other contenders to the titles. This is a problem considering how the division was once full of great teams.

While the brand split may have depleted NXT’s roster, it is important to remember that these call ups have been happening for years. All the brand split did was accelerate the process. This in turn left a lot of holes on NXT’s roster with not a lot of time to patch them.

Another thing to consider is that many people who watched NXT may have only been fans of certain wrestlers. Once those wrestlers moved to the main roster, the fans also migrated to those programs.

Stars like Finn Balor and Bayley had huge fanbases on NXT. Now that they are on the main roster, their fans might not feel that invested in NXT anymore.

Again, this is just one possibility. There really seems to be several possible reasons for NXT’s decline in viewership. We can’t just blame the brand split or fan loyalty.

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Despite the viewership struggles, WWE NXT is still a very entertaining wrestling program. Hopefully, someday, the show can go back to being the great product it once was.