Heatwave raised NXT’s numbers into the cable top five

The ratings and viewership data are in for the Aug. 16 Heatwave edition of NXT.

According to Showbuzz Daily, last night’s special episode was watched by 723,000, a hefty 21% increase over last week. It was NXT’s biggest audience since last October’s Halloween Havoc. The rating among 18-49 year olds also jumped. The .17 was an almost 31% improvement from Aug. 9, and NXT’s best number in two months. Heatwave completely outperformed the last themed edition, The Great American Bash, but that show did come right after a long holiday weekend that could have impacted its numbers.

NXT finished fifth among cable originals, with only Fox News programming drawing better demo ratings. That’s the second highest WWE’s developmental show’s ever charted for USA. Only the premiere episode back in 2019 (before the start of the “Wednesday Night War” with AEW) did better.

Another instance of the Triple H effect, or would fans have tuned in for this well promoted show regardless? Mull that over as you peruse NXT’s viewership and 18 - 49 year old demo rating since the 2.0 rebranding last September.

• Sept. 14 - 770K / .21
• Sept. 21 - 746K / .20
• Sept. 28 - 655K / .14
• Oct. 5 - 632K / .13
• Oct. 12 - 632K / .15
• Oct. 19 - 606K / .14
• Oct. 26 - 746K / .18
• Nov. 2 - 631K / .15
• Nov. 9 - 603K / .15
• Nov. 16 - 574K / .11
• Nov. 23 - 625K / .14
• Nov. 30 - 637K / .15
• Dec. 7 - 590K / .11
• Dec. 14 - 561K / .14
• Dec. 21 - 591K / .11
• Dec. 28 - 662K / .16
• Jan. 4 - 685K / .16
• Jan. 11 - 647K / .14
• Jan. 18 - 587K / .11
• Jan. 25 - 593K / .14
• Feb. 1 - 619K / .13
• Feb. 8* - 400K / .07
• Feb. 15* - 525K / .11
• Feb. 22 - 612K / .12
• Mar. 1 - 551K / .13
• Mar. 8 - 613K / .13
• Mar. 15 - 624K / .14
• Mar. 22 - 628K / .14
• Mar. 29 - 626K / .14
• April 5 - 631K / .14
• April 12 - 610K / .12
• April 19 - 569K / .12
• April 26 - 577K / .14
• May 3 - 661K / .13
• May 10 - 533K /.10
• May 17 - 601K / .14
• May 24 - 551K / .13
• May 31 - 534K / .12
• June 7 - 657K / .14
• June 14 - 612K / .12
• June 21 - 637K / .18
• June 28 - 570K / .11
• July 5 - 593K / .12
• July 12 - 582K / .14
• July 19 - 588K / .13
• July 26 - 600K / .13
• Aug. 2 - 649K / .15
• Aug. 9 - 597K / .13
• Aug. 16 - 723K / .17

For complete results and the live blog for NXT this week click here. To read a recap & review of the night’s show click here. For a full playlist of the show click here.

* Aired on SyFy