Wednesday Night Wars

[wildturkey]

According to some credible dirt sheets, WWE is going to make an announcement in the coming days (possibly Monday) that they'll be expanding NXT to 2 hrs, moving it off the network and on to USA on Wednesdays at 8pm. The start date will be October 2nd.

AEW's television debut, Wednesday Oct 2nd at 8pm.

Buckle up buckaroos!

 

[Mistaken4193]

Yeah but Vince is gonna be involved now so it ain’t gonna be as good. I’m gonna DVR both but I will watch AEW live

 

[futballiscool]

With all this counterprogramming by WWE they're making it impossible for the companies to peacefully co-exist.

If they're getting good ratings nothing will stop AEW from eventually moving to Friday nights.

 

[wazzu31]

Yeah but Vince is gonna be involved now so it ain’t gonna be as good. I’m gonna DVR both but I will watch AEW live

Vince is going to be balls deep in the XFL in October. He will be approving what HHH, Bischoff and Heyman bring to him.

 

[DefCONNOne]

With all this counterprogramming by WWE they're making it impossible for the companies to peacefully co-exist.

If they're getting good ratings nothing will stop AEW from eventually moving to Friday nights.

AEW already started that shit with their childish clapbacks, because HHH had the temerity to make jokes at Billy Gunn's expense at the HOF ceremony.

AEW has no interest in peacefully co-existing and they sure as shit don't care about their fans. I don't care what they claim, their silence in the face of all the complaints about the Boston and Philly show sales is proof of that.

 

[wildturkey]

There's some mixed info on the sheets about the premiere date now. The initial report from PWInsider was the Oct 2nd deal I mentioned earlier. Meltzer is saying he's hearing it could premiere earlier (as early as Sept 11th) but will switch to a live format on Oct 2nd.

 

[futballiscool]

AEW already started that shit with their childish clapbacks, because HHH had the temerity to make jokes at Billy Gunn's expense at the HOF ceremony.

AEW has no interest in peacefully co-existing and they sure as shit don't care about their fans. I don't care what they claim, their silence in the face of all the complaints about the Boston and Philly show sales is proof of that.

AEW doesn't sell the tickets. The venues sell the tickets, usually through a third party group like ticketmaster, livenation, ticketweb etc. All of the issues so far have been related to excessive demand. No apology is needed to the fans. For what it's worth I was able to get 2nd row floor tickets to the Philly show for $90 each ( $110 after venue surcharges). They could have easily sold those tickets for 2 and a half times that amount. The technological glitches aren't their fault and the prices (which they do control) are fan friendly.

Both companies talked shit about one another. That's fine. ECW and the WWF talked shit about one another while Vince was funneling them money to keep them in business. What the WWE is doing now by running a cable show against theirs shifts AEW from an alternative to a direct competitor. WWE loses any moral highground- if AEW gets momentum and eventually counterprograms Smackdown I don't think WWE can complain.

 

[Duffman]

What the WWE is doing now by running a cable show against theirs shifts AEW from an alternative to a direct competitor. WWE loses any moral highground- if AEW gets momentum and eventually counterprograms Smackdown I don't think WWE can complain.

NXT has been on Wednesdays I think since it’s inception and there was talk of it moving to Wednesday nights on cable(FS1) years before AEW was even announced. If anything when AEW picked Wednesday’s it knew it was going to be H2H against NXT whether that be on the WWE network or elsewhere.

You can’t really say NXT is doing this as a result of AEW when they’ve been around for 5+ years now and like I said have been rumored to get a full show on a cable network even before WWE signed the FOX deal but especially since they did.

 

[futballiscool]

NXT has been on Wednesdays I think since it’s inception and there was talk of it moving to Wednesday nights on cable(FS1) years before AEW was even announced. If anything when AEW picked Wednesday’s it knew it was going to be H2H against NXT whether that be on the WWE network or elsewhere.

You can’t really say NXT is doing this as a result of AEW when they’ve been around for 5+ years now and like I said have been rumored to get a full show on a cable network even before WWE signed the FOX deal but especially since they did.

AEW picked Wednesday because NBA basketball is on TNT Tuesday's and Thursday's and WWEs main roster shows are on Monday's and Friday's. NXT on the WWE network is taped weeks in advance and can be watched on demand at anytime. AEWs show was scheduled for the only possible weekday that wouldn't conflict with the WWE TV. Not only is WWE putting NXT against AEW but they're reportedly changing the format from 1 hour to 2 hours a week to go in the identical timeslot as AEW.

I don't buy that it's a coincidence. It seems like a business strategy. That's fair but I do think it leaves them vulnerable to AEW returning the favor. Its now direct competition.

 

[Duffman]

AEW picked Wednesday because NBA basketball is on TNT Tuesday's and Thursday's and WWEs main roster shows are on Monday's and Friday's. NXT on the WWE network is taped weeks in advance and can be watched on demand at anytime. AEWs show was scheduled for the only possible weekday that wouldn't conflict with the WWE TV.

I don't buy that it's a coincidence. It seems like a business strategy. That's fair but I do think it leaves them vulnerable to AEW returning the favor. Its now direct competition.

But it's not as if NXT was on a different day and WWE moved it to Wednesday's to compete with AEW, WWE is keeping it on the day it's already airing on. You can't say they're trying to compete with AEW when they didn't change the day it airs and were heavily rumored to put it on a big cable network long before AEW even existed.

but they're reportedly changing the format from 1 hour to 2 hours a week

Which I'm sure would be a USA call since they love more from WWE as evident by Raw being 3 hours. USA also likes WWE to be live so I'm sure that was their call as well.

USA probably said we want NXT live for 2 hours every week and WWE said ok, that's all there is to it.

 

[futballiscool]

Here's our disagreement. You're saying it's been rumored forever as proof its not related to AEW. I would say that being rumored forever but then finally happening in a few month window of a new company getting a major cable show as proof that the two are linked. This hurts the WWE network, it oversaturates the product and it also takes away from NXTs role as a developmental brand.

 

[Duffman]

Here's our disagreement. You're saying it's been rumored forever as proof its not related to AEW. I would say that being rumored forever but then finally happening in a few month window of a new company getting a major cable show as proof that the two are linked. This hurts the WWE network, it oversaturates the product and it also takes away from NXTs role as a developmental brand.

WWE didn’t choose when their FOX deal would start, FOX chose that date. So USA lost SD and is replacing them with NXT, that’s not a WWE decision.

Also you say it’s finally happening when AEW is finally getting a cable tv deal but AEW chose when they wanted to start and they chose to do it the week SD starts on FOX. So USA is losing SD and in that same week airing NXT, that’s just smart business so they don’t lose a week of a WWE show bringing them ratings.

And while the network is losing NXT tv I can see them adding a monthly Takeover special instead of Quarterly, if that’s the case then the network will be just fine as while NXT is a reason people have the network it’s not the main reason so getting 12 NXT Specials a year instead of 4 isn’t going to hurt their plans to keep the network if NXT tv isn’t on it.

And you say it over-saturates the market but it doesn’t really, adding an extra hour to NXT which most of the Internet considers the best WWE produced show anyways is just going to help WWE not hurt them. Now if Vince takes total control then yes it might but if they let HHH keep control (which you can say they will as if they knew this was coming giving Bischoff and Heyman Raw and SD makes a ton more sense) so it will still be a development show just more mainstream.

 

[futballiscool]

WWE didn’t choose when their FOX deal would start, FOX chose that date. So USA lost SD and is replacing them with NXT, that’s not a WWE decision.

Also you say it’s finally happening when AEW is finally getting a cable tv deal but AEW chose when they wanted to start and they chose to do it the week SD starts on FOX. So USA is losing SD and in that same week airing NXT, that’s just smart business so they don’t lose a week of a WWE show bringing them ratings.

And while the network is losing NXT tv I can see them adding a monthly Takeover special instead of Quarterly, if that’s the case then the network will be just fine as while NXT is a reason people have the network it’s not the main reason so getting 12 NXT Specials a year instead of 4 isn’t going to hurt their plans to keep the network if NXT tv isn’t on it.

And you say it over-saturates the market but it doesn’t really, adding an extra hour to NXT which most of the Internet considers the best WWE produced show anyways is just going to help WWE not hurt them. Now if Vince takes total control then yes it might but if they let HHH keep control (which you can say they will as if they knew this was coming giving Bischoff and Heyman Raw and SD makes a ton more sense) so it will still be a development show just more mainstream.

What would convince you that WWE is counterprogramming AEW if this all a coincidence?

 

[wazzu31]

How does an established company lose any moral high ground by putting the product they have had for years on network television? It would be like NCAA basketball getting pissed off the that Golden State has a game on at the same time as Duke/UNC. Wrestling fans will decide which one they want to watch just like the Monday Day Night Wars. Some fans loved WCW until the product went to shit and they switched to the WWF/E. Capitalism at its finest. WWE ratings suck because the product hasn’t had competition. If the NFL had two teams playing every Sunday fans would bitch just as much. You like the new shiny toy more than the toy you have had since you had your first memory.

 

[futballiscool]

How does an established company lose any moral high ground by putting the product they have had for years on network television? It would be like NCAA basketball getting pissed off the that Golden State has a game on at the same time as Duke/UNC. Wrestling fans will decide which one they want to watch just like the Monday Day Night Wars. Some fans loved WCW until the product went to shit and they switched to the WWF/E. Capitalism at its finest. WWE ratings suck because the product hasn’t had competition. If the NFL had two teams playing every Sunday fans would bitch just as much. You like the new shiny toy more than the toy you have had since you had your first memory.

If NCAA football started putting some of their biggest games of the week on Sunday afternoon it would be suicide. They would be hurting themselves and the NFL financially for no reason. If the NFL returned the favor and started putting a few of their biggest games on Saturday each week they would be completely justified.

I honestly think it was in everyone's best interest for AEW to work as an alternative and not compete directly with the WWE. The WWE has made it direct competition. That's the "moral highground" being lost. AEW is now justified putting a show on Friday night.

 

[DefCONNOne]

AEW doesn't sell the tickets. The venues sell the tickets, usually through a third party group like ticketmaster, livenation, ticketweb etc. All of the issues so far have been related to excessive demand. No apology is needed to the fans. For what it's worth I was able to get 2nd row floor tickets to the Philly show for $90 each ( $110 after venue surcharges). They could have easily sold those tickets for 2 and a half times that amount. The technological glitches aren't their fault and the prices (which they do control) are fan friendly.

Both companies talked shit about one another. That's fine. ECW and the WWF talked shit about one another while Vince was funneling them money to keep them in business. What the WWE is doing now by running a cable show against theirs shifts AEW from an alternative to a direct competitor. WWE loses any moral highground- if AEW gets momentum and eventually counterprograms Smackdown I don't think WWE can complain.

1) I'm aware of that. They could've put out some BS "we'll work with (insert compay here) to make sure fans, blah blah, blah..." after the complaints started rolling in, but they didn't. Exhibit A that they don't care about the fans.

2) You may want to look at the Boston venue before you try and sell that fan-friendly bullshit to me.

3) AEW is the one trying to claim the moral highground, not WWE. NXT to USA (or another equivalent) had been in the pipeline long before AEW was a thing. So you can drop that narrative.

4) Have you listened to 83 Weeks? They can, and will, complain if that happens.

 

[DefCONNOne]

What would convince you that WWE is counterprogramming AEW if this all a coincidence?

Or, or...AEW intentionally picked TNT as their TV partner, knowing full well the only day they'd be on is Wednesday. Thus they get to try and claim the moral highground to AEW apologists, such as yourself.

 

[DefCONNOne]

If NCAA football started putting some of their biggest games of the week on Sunday afternoon it would be suicide. They would be hurting themselves and the NFL financially for no reason. If the NFL returned the favor and started putting a few of their biggest games on Saturday each week they would be completely justified.

I honestly think it was in everyone's best interest for AEW to work as an alternative and not compete directly with the WWE. The WWE has made it direct competition. That's the "moral highground" being lost. AEW is now justified putting a show on Friday night.

AEW made it direct competition. To claim otherwise is just ignorant.

 

[futballiscool]

Or, or...AEW intentionally picked TNT as their TV partner, knowing full well the only day they'd be on is Wednesday. Thus they get to try and claim the moral highground to AEW apologists, such as yourself.

I don't want to put words in your mouth so let me know if this is correct..

You think AEW partnered with TNT not because it's the most high profile option or because they gave them the best financial deal but to hurt WWEs pretaped developmental brand that first airs their on demand internet show on Wednesday? They went with TNT to have an excuse for airing on Wednesday? If AEW picked another major network that gave them a Tuesday or Thursday timeslot you honestly dont think that would have become NXTs cable TV day?

And you think I'm an AEW apologist?

I suspect that there are people in this thread younger than I am who grewup on the idea that WWE as a company is synonymous with major prowrestling and feels an intense brand loyalty as a result. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm not AEW apologist or a WWE brand loyalist

 

[futballiscool]

1) I'm aware of that. They could've put out some BS "we'll work with (insert compay here) to make sure fans, blah blah, blah..." after the complaints started rolling in, but they didn't. Exhibit A that they don't care about the fans.

2) You may want to look at the Boston venue before you try and sell that fan-friendly bullshit to me.

3) AEW is the one trying to claim the moral highground, not WWE. NXT to USA (or another equivalent) had been in the pipeline long before AEW was a thing. So you can drop that narrative.

4) Have you listened to 83 Weeks? They can, and will, complain if that happens.

I don't understand your issue with tickets. There's an excessive demand for their shows right now because of the novelty factor and their low prices. It was impossible to get WWE tickets for major shows in the late 90s and early 00s. They didn't owe anyone an apology and neither does AEW. The Boston venue was sold through Ticketmaster who handles 90 percent of the major sporting events and concerts in the US.