WWE Rumors: Company could be forced to cancel many shows
There has been a lot of buzz surrounding NXT ever since it got a live TV slot on the USA Network on Wednesday nights. While NXT is an important part of WWE's plan to thwart the threat posed by AEW, the company could be forced to take a few drastic steps when it comes to the live events of the Yellow brand.
As revealed by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there has been backstage talk about cutting down on the number of NXT house shows. The attendance at NXT live events has reduced in the past year and the company feels it would be the right decision to cancel the NXT events that happen on Thursdays.
One of the reasons behind the proposed move is local burnout, as per a person who is familiar with the situation in Florida. The attendance has also taken a hit as WWE usually advertises non-TV talents for these shows and the Superstars who have drawing power don't usually make the events.
Meltzer noted:
There is talk of cutting back on NXT house shows, particularly in Florida, in 2020. The attendance has gone down pretty significantly in the last year. The talk is to cut back on Thursday shows because they are the weakest drawing night. According to one person familiar with the Florida scene, the issue is local burnout.
Another reason behind the attendance taking a hit is the divergence of fans, according to Dave Meltzer. Many of the NXT live events reportedly have a mix of new and old school fans, the latter of which just show up to get drunk and rile up the heels. This apparently puts off the new school fans, who end up having no fun.
"There’s not one specific reason, but a number of things that they believe have hurt attendance, some of which has to do with the divergence of fans (the respectful fan vs. old school fan who comes to yell at heels and make noise and often drink a lot and try and rile up heels leaves both fans not having fun when you’re in a small building with so few fans).
"Then it becomes an issue with security, as if they let the old school fans go, the new school fans are mad the crowd isn’t respectful and it’s no fun, or they think the crowd is cheering match quality and not booing heels and it’s no fun."
It was also added that top NXT talents such as Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa are infrequently featured at NXT shows, which further hampers the overall attendance.
It was also stated that the company doesn't have Superstars such as Ricochet and Shinsuke Nakamura, who had the drawing power to maintain respectable attendance figures.
As of this writing, Triple H and his team may have no option but to cancel a few shows going forward.
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