The ratings war between AEW and WWE returns for one night only tonight (October 18, 2022) as AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT go head-to-head for the first time since WWE’s black, and gold brand moved to Tuesdays in April 2021.
The ratings war started in October 2019 when AEW got a television deal to air its flagship show on TNT. To counter-program the show, WWE inked a deal with the USA Network to air NXT in the same time slot.
That migration ended what fans called the Wednesday Night Wars. During that time, Dynamite bested NXT in viewership in every week except one.
While speaking with Sports Illustrated, AEW President Tony Khan emphasized that his promotion prioritizes being the highest-viewed wrestling program.
Tuesday Night War
“It’s important for us to be the most-watched wrestling show. We want to maintain the great audience we consistently have on Wednesdays and bring it to this one-time-only Tuesday special. We want to be the number-one wrestling show this week on Tuesday.”
Dynamite will feature four championship matches including Jon Moxley defending the World Title against Hangman Page.
“It’s ‘Title Tuesday,’ only the second time in Dynamite history we’ll have four title matches on the same show,” Khan said. “We’re going to deliver in a major way.”
WWE has also stacked their show as NXT will feature main roster stars like main roster stars such as Rhea Ripley, Raquel Rodriguez, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in matches as well as Kevin Owens in an in-ring segment.