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Showbuzz Daily, the wrestle web’s main source for television viewership and ratings data, still isn’t updating. So we don’t have a complete picture of how NXT did on May 18.
What we do have is very much in line with their numbers from a week ago, meaning there’s no reason to believe the show won’t continue to do on Tuesdays what it had been doing on Wednesdays.
Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston used information SportsTVRatings.com posted on Twitter to give us the lackluster news:
WWE NXT also on USA was watched by an even 700,000 viewers and 199,000 in 18-49, equivalent to about a 0.15 demo rating, the lowest since March 24, when it was opposed head-to-head by AEW Dynamite.
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) May 19, 2021
While this was NXT without competition from another wrestling show, it wasn’t NXT without competition. In fact, going up against two NBA playoff play-in games on May 18 was pretty steep competition. The Boston Celtics/Washington Wizards game that started during the second half of last night’s WWE show was watched by 2.5 million people. Turner Sports PR says it was the most watched TNT game of the season since opening night.
Here’s a rundown of NXT viewership and rating in the 18-49 demo since the move to Tuesdays:
- Apr. 13: 805,000 / .22
- Apr. 20: 841,000 / .23
- Apr. 27: 744,000 / .22
- May 4: 761,000 / .18
- May 11: 697,000 / .17
- May 18: 700,000 / .15
The playoffs may be a factor for the next few weeks. But for this week, they provide justification for another set of not-what-WWE-was-hoping-for numbers.
For complete results and the live blog for NXT this week click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s events click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.