WWE NXT is about to find itself in a pretty unusual Wednesday night fight. The November 4 episode is expected to move away from its normal Tuesday slot, putting NXT directly against AEW’s annual Blood & Guts edition of Dynamite.
Upcoming listings for NXT, including Netflix and Futon Critic, currently have the show airing Wednesday, November 4. The move comes because The CW will have coverage tied to the U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3.
Dave Meltzer addressed the situation on Wrestling Observer Radio and said the change isn’t officially locked in from what he’s heard, but it’s considered probable. With too many CW affiliates expected to preempt NXT for election coverage on Tuesday, Wednesday apparently makes the most sense.
“I don’t know this 100%. I was told by people who know that CW wants to move NXT to that Wednesday. It probably will be moved because if it’s on Tuesday, it’ll be preempted on far too many stations.”
The problem for WWE is that Wednesday isn’t exactly an empty night. AEW already has Blood & Guts lined up for November 4, with two Blood & Guts matches set for what is traditionally one of Dynamite’s biggest special episodes of the year.
“That’s the night of Blood and Guts. AEW has the two Blood and Guts matches they set up tonight that are going to be pretty wild.”
Meltzer also questioned whether AEW even knew about the expected NXT move when he discussed it. Either way, he believes WWE could now have extra pressure to leave Halloween Havoc with something big enough to carry viewers into that Wednesday episode.
“I don’t know that AEW knows any of this right now, but obviously they will in five minutes. NXT is going to have to shoot a big angle on Halloween Havoc because it’s a tough situation.”
Things get even stranger because NXT wouldn’t be WWE’s only programming running that night. WWE EVOLVE airs Wednesdays at 8 PM ET on Tubi, while Main Event recently moved to the same time slot on Rumble.
That means WWE could have three different shows airing against AEW Dynamite at the same time. As Meltzer pointed out, WWE wouldn’t just be competing with Blood & Guts — its own shows would also be competing with each other for wrestling fans.
“WWE will actually have three shows going against Blood and Guts. They’re going to have NXT, which isn’t 100% but is probable, the Evolve show, and the Main Event show, all at the same time.”
For AEW, the timing means Blood & Guts suddenly has a lot more wrestling competition than expected. Meltzer described the situation as WWE going up against one of AEW’s signature shows while simultaneously splitting its own Wednesday night audience across three programs.
“They’re competing with themselves on three levels, and they’re competing with one of AEW’s signature shows of the year on their own night.”
This doesn’t appear to be WWE deliberately moving NXT to Wednesday just to counter AEW, since the midterm election coverage is driving the expected schedule change. Still, the end result is another NXT versus Dynamite showdown, only this time WWE could have three different shows fighting for viewers on the exact same night.
What do you think about WWE potentially having three shows airing against AEW Blood & Guts on November 4? Let us know in the comments below.
