Bianca Belair reveals why NXT is not bothered by competition from AEW (Exclusive)
Not long ago, I had a chance to chat with NXT Superstar Bianca Belair in a WWE teleconference about a wide variety of topics pertaining to sports entertainment. One of the subjects that I brought up during the course of our conversation was All Elite Wrestling.
AEW Dynamite airs at the very same time as NXT on Wednesday Nights, and while the former is on TNT, the latter is shown on the USA Network, which is also the home for WWE RAW. You may listen to our entire conversation in the video linked below.
I asked Belair how things have changed for NXT now that there is competition on Wednesday Nights, and she didn't miss a beat as she answered the following:
For NXT, I feel like we just go out there and we perform. That's what our focus was even before we got on the USA Network, we'd been putting on these great quality matches, we'd been putting on these great TakeOvers, that steal the show, that steal the night, that steal the weekend. We were just excited when we found out that we were going to be on the USA Network. We were just excited to show the world exactly what we'd been doing.
Belair's answer is testament to the fact that she and the rest of the NXT roster just look at putting on the best show and not worrying about what the competition seems to be doing. In fact, she pretty much stated the same in her answer:
Nothing really changed once we got on the USA Network. We just kept doing what we've always done, but just on a bigger platform. We were just excited to really showcase to the entire world what NXT was. We don't change anything. We just go out there and do what we've always done. And our fanbase has been very supportive of us. Even before we got on the USA Network, they were very supportive of us demanding that NXT is a third brand. Right alongside RAW and SmackDown.
While the question was not answered directly, it is clear from Belair's response that what AEW does, doesn't bother the NXT roster at all. One wonders if the same is true for the competition as well.
While the two brands have been pretty neck and neck in terms of ratings, AEW has consistently scored better viewership as compared to the black and yellow brand. However, with the NXT Women's Championship being defended on a stage like WrestleMania, that could potentially change quite drastically.