Three Key Points:
- WWE kicks off 2024 with New Year’s Knockout Week, featuring six shows including the anticipated return of Raw and SmackDown.
- Authors of Pain with Paul Ellering set to reappear as SmackDown regulars at the New Year’s Revolution event.
- NXT experiences mixed viewership results, with fluctuations based on various demographic groups and competition from other sports and television programs.
WWE Welcomes 2024 with New Year’s Knockout Week
WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque, known to many as Triple H, has unveiled an action-packed week to start the new year with a bang. Named New Year’s Knockout Week, this series includes six premium WWE events beginning with WWE Raw Day One. Levesque’s Twitter announcement got the fans buzzing in anticipation, highlighting the excitement that WWE plans to deliver as 2024 arrives.
Event Schedule Released for Knockout Week
The lineup for the celebratory week is as follows:
– January 1st: Begin with the excitement of WWE Raw Day 1.
– January 2nd: NXT New Year’s Evil brings more thrilling action.
– January 3rd-4th: Relive peak moments with Best of The Bump 2023, The Best of 2023, and a special WWE Preview, all on Peacock.
– January 5th: The week concludes with WWE SmackDown New Year’s Revolution.
Authors of Pain to Re-Emerge on SmackDown
The imposing tag team Authors of Pain, Akam & Rezar, managed by the strategic Paul Ellering, made their awaited return on a recent SmackDown episode. According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the trio is scheduled to appear as regular talent on SmackDown’s roster at the January 5th event in Vancouver, reinforcing the intensity of the New Year’s Knockout Week.
NXT Viewership Under The Microscope
The December 12th airing of WWE NXT marked a surge in viewership, scoring a 0.18 key demographic rating and placing sixth in its slot on the USA Network. Despite this growth, the younger demographic saw a significant downturn, affecting the overall figures. Respected journalist Dave Meltzer attributed these mixed results to fluctuations in viewer preferences across different demographics, with older viewership providing some offset.
Competition and Demographics Impact NXT Ratings
The NXT program saw minor decreases in viewership and demographic ratings on December 19th amidst stiff competition from various televised sports events. Meltzer’s analysis pointed to a decline in the older demographic segments while noting a promising increase in younger audience engagement compared to the previous week.
Yearly Trends in NXT Viewership
Year-on-year, data presents a varied landscape for NXT, with a slight uptick in viewer engagement in key groups despite some overall decline. Such statistics underline the ebb and flow of audience trends in professional wrestling viewership across demographics and against diverse competitive programming.
