Shawn Michaels' wife responsible for a major change in NXT to stop viewers from switching to AEW- Reports
The Wednesday Night Wars between AEW and WWE NXT came to an end in April following the Black and Gold brand's move to Tuesdays.
AEW clearly came out victorious despite the earnest efforts of Triple H and his team. NXT made several changes along the way to get ahead in the TV rating and viewership battle.
It has now been revealed that Shawn Michaels' wife Rebecca was reportedly responsible for NXT cutting down on the runtime of its superstar entrances.
As reported by Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Shawn Michaels felt that the lengthy ring entrances gave NXT viewers more time to switch over to AEW:
"One of the reasons the ring entrances have been cut back on as far as time on the NXT TV show is Shawn Michaels felt that long ring entrances gave the viewers more time to check out AEW," Dave Meltzer reported.
NXT has more time for matches and angles with shorter entrances
A story going around backstage suggested that it was indeed Shawn Michaels' wife who highlighted the issue with NXT's lengthy entrances. Rebecca allegedly felt that the pre-match segments provided viewers with a window to switch stations. Michaels later brought the problem to Triple H's attention.
While the validity of the above story is still in question, NXT officials have altered the show's presentation regarding entrances to free up more time for angles and in-ring action:
"Even though that's no longer an issue, because Michaels is Paul Levesque's main guy, they have done it with the idea of getting more time for in-ring and angles. Whether this is true or not, within the company the story that has gone around is that it was Rebecca, Shawn's wife, who was watching the show and told him she thought the ring entrances were too long and giving people too much time to switch stations, and he brought that up to Levesque," Meltzer added.
NXT and AEW now air unopposed on different nights, but the comparisons between the two products continue to be a major talking point in wrestling circles.
NXT management no longer has to worry about its viewers potentially checking out AEW during its broadcast. Still, the new mandate for entrances could prove beneficial for the company in the long run.