NXT Heatwave brings in a huge increase in viewership for WWE
This week's episode of WWE NXT 2.0 brought in a large audience. The special Heatwave edition of the show featured three title matches, a grudge match between former Women's Tag Team Champions, and a Street Fight.
According to Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics, the special Heatwave edition of NXT drew 723,000 viewers on the USA Network. Last week's edition of NXT 2.0 brought in 597,000 viewers.
Heatwave also did a 0.18 rating in the 18-49 demographic, an increase from last week's 0.13 rating. Tuesday's show was the highest total viewership for NXT since Halloween Havoc on October 26, 2021.
NXT Heatwave ranked #5 in the key demographic among cable originals for Tuesday as well.
"Highest viewership since October 26, 2021 "Halloween Havoc" episode. Highest P18-49 since June 21. NXT ranked #5 in P18-49 among cable originals for Tuesday, the 2nd-highest daily rank in NXT's history. Only behind Sept 19, 2019 1 hr pre-Wed Night War ep."
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Highest viewership since October 26, 2021 "Halloween Havoc" episode. Highest P18-49 since June 21.
NXT ranked #5 in P18-49 among cable originals for Tuesday, the 2nd-highest daily rank in NXT's history. Only behind Sep 18, 2019 1hr pre-Wed Night War ep.
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WWE legend Shawn Michaels praises Heatwave match
Shawn Michaels praised the opening match of NXT Heatwave on Twitter. Carmelo Hayes defended his NXT North American Championship against Giovanni Vinci in the first match of the night.
Vinci was formerly known as Fabian Aichner in the disbanded Imperium faction. Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser have since joined WWE's main roster.
Carmelo and Giovanni had a terrific match to kick off the show, and The Showstopper noticed. The 57-year-old took to Twitter to praise both wrestlers for starting off the show in the right way.
"Gives a new meaning to a hot start! Incredible job by both men! #NXTHeatwave," tweeted Michaels.
Gives a new meaning to a hot start! Incredible job by both men! #NXTHeatwave twitter.com/wwenxt/status/…
In addition to the North American Championship being defended, both the NXT Women's and NXT Championships were on the line last night at WWE NXT Heatwave.
Zoey Stark earned a shot at the NXT Women's Championship by winning a Battle Royal. Mandy Rose won after removing Zoey's knee brace and using it to hit her Kiss the Rose finisher. The Golden Goddess has now been the Women's Champion for 293 days.
Bronn Breakker defended the NXT Championship against JD McDonagh in the main event. Breakker picked up the victory but was confronted by Tyler Bate after the show. Tyler came to the ring holding the NXT UK Championship and raised it in front of Breakker.
The episode where Bate won the title hasn't aired yet, so this was a spoiler for fans.
It will be interesting to see if Tyler Bate and Bron Breakker battle at the rumored NXT event on the same day as AEW All Out.
Did you enjoy WWE NXT Heatwave? Let us know in the comments section below.