The hot buzz on Monday was the reported impending announcement from WWE that NXT, the former developmental brand for the WWE Universe that has blossomed into a third brand for the company, will be moving from its traditional one hour slot on the WWE Network on Wednesdays and heading to the USA Network, where it will expand to a 2-hour format.
In a report from Dave Meltzer with Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the launch will happen on Wednesday, September 18. While discussing NXT’s move to USA Network on Observer Radio, Meltzer implied that many people’s worst fears – that Vince McMahon would ultimately get involved with the yellow and black brand for the first time since its inception – would, unfortunately, come true, stating that Vince “isn’t going to be hands-off on a show on the USA Network.”
Oddly enough, on Monday’s edition of Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM, All Elite Wrestling (AEW)‘s Chris Jericho was the guest and effectively tried to “spoil” the announcement for tonight, declaring it was going to be the announcement of NXT to USA, but in contradiction to Meltzer’s report, Jericho claims that the launch date will be the following week, on Wednesday, September 25. While many wrestling fans take WWE’s move to put NXT head to head against AEW’s debuting Wednesday night show as an act of war, Jericho stated that a ‘wrestling war’ was something AEW had no interest in. “It’s a reactionary move that’s done by a guy who wants to start a war,” Jericho said of the move. “We don’t care if you want to start a war, that was never our intention. There’s no war for us, we’re just doing what we’re doing. People there don’t like that and they’re reacting to it, and it just dilutes their own product.”
While the date is still in question and will likely be part of the announcement tonight on Raw, it appears that NXT is indeed heading to the USA Network. At least another member of AEW’s roster besides Chris Jericho didn’t seem that upset by the impending news.
We aren’t scared. https://t.co/7mMS8zC1KQ
— Being the Elite (@BeingTheElite) August 19, 2019
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