WWE NXT On CW Debut Generates Highest Ratings In Nearly A Year

On Tuesday night, the WWE NXT debuted on the CW from the Allstate Arena in Chicago. Their inaugural outing proved to be a success.
WWE NXT on CW drew an average of 895,000 viewers with an 0.26 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. The number was the highest vieweship and rating number for NXT since the October 10, 2023 edition on the USA Network. That show drew 921,000 viewers and a 0.30 rating in the 18-49 demo.
895,000 viewers tuned in to the NXT debut on The CW - our best numbers in a year. Great start. See you next week live from St. Louis!
— Shawn Michaels (@ShawnMichaels) October 2, 2024
"895,000 viewers tuned in to the NXT debut on The CW - our best numbers in a year," Shawn Michaels, the Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative for NXT, said. "Great start. See you next week live from St. Louis!"
The main event of the show had Trick Williams capturing the NXT Heavyweight Championship for the second time, besting Ethan Page with CM Punk being the special guest referee.
HE DID IT!!!
— WWE (@WWE) October 2, 2024
TRICK WILLIAMS IS THE NEW #WWENXT CHAMPION!!! pic.twitter.com/qkdlwvEDDN
Michaels, WWE CCO Paul "Triple H" Levesque and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill made surprise appearances on the show.
ARE YOU READY?!?@ShawnMichaels and @TripleH get the new era started with some brand-new titles!!!#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/hRCnp8Kuiv
— WWE (@WWE) October 2, 2024
Michaels and Levesque opened the NXT on CW debut by getting the crowd amped up for the show. This led to the first match of the show featuring Roxanne Perez shockingly retaining the NXT Women's Title, defeating Giulia due to interference by the returning Cora Jade. Belair and Cargill came out to help Women's American Champion Kelani Jordan thwart off Fatal Influence.
Business just picked up! 🤯@kelani_wwe's backup plan is @BiancaBelairWWE and @Jade_Cargill!!!#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/VVvNtJgQj4
— WWE (@WWE) October 2, 2024
The show also featured a violent Street Fight between former best friends Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz, and a special Miz TV with Miz, North American titlist Oba Femi and Tony D'Angelo.
.@Obaofwwe has arrived to Chicago! 😤#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/DqEkxOJII1
— WWE (@WWE) October 2, 2024
Next Tuesday's show features a guest appearance by Randy Orton as he'll be in action when he takes on rising star

: Steven Muehlhausen is a veteran combat sports writer for various outlets including Sporting News and Yahoo Sports. He can be reached at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @SMuehlhausenJr.
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