Tuesday’s viewership figures for NXT and MLW Underground Wrestling are out with both facing unusually strong competition.
The evening included Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech that began during the second hour of NXT and finished after 10 p.m. ET along with wrap-around coverage from various networks.
In addition, the L.A. Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game featured LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record and led to the late game topping everything on cable with nearly three million viewers and 1.29 in the 18-49 demographic. The game started right after NXT ended and minutes after the start of MLW.
NXT averaged 562,000 viewers and approximately 142,000 (0.11) in the 18-49 demographic, which represented decreases of 4 and 19 percent respectively from last week. (Data: Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily).
Due to all the cable coverage of the State of the Union, NXT’s ranking dropped to #50 and resulting in NXT’s lower viewership since December 6, 2022, and smallest 18-49 audience since May 10, 2022.
The 18-49 drop was affected by males dropping by 24 percent from last week while females only fell by six percent.
The demo that held up was 18-34, which increased by 10 percent including a 22 percent gain among female viewers in the demo from last week.
Adults 35-40 was a different story as the demo saw a big drop of 35 percent and men in the category fell 44 percent from last week and way below the normal level.
However, adults 50+ remained at 0.33 from last week.
In Canada, NXT averaged approximately 68,000 viewers and 33,000 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360, which was up from 59,000 and 21,000 the previous week.
The premiere of MLW Underground Wrestling on REELZ saw the show average 79,000 viewers and approximately 37,000 (0.03) in the 18-49 demographic, per Wrestlenomics and Showbuzz Daily.
The debut show on the network ranked #132 among cable originals with a stronger skewing male audience across the key demographics.
The show did air against the big L.A. Lakers game that averaged 2,976,000 viewers and 1.29 in the demo along with post-speech coverage of the State of the Union on cable.
The show included matches from the Fightland special last October including a Last Man Standing match between MLW World Heavyweight champion Alex Hammerstone and EJ Nduka.
The last time MLW aired on a similar-sized network was in October 2021 on Vice TV where they averaged 40,000 viewers and 16,000 (0.01) in the demo following an episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
Wrestlenomics reports that as of this month, REELZ is available in 37.9 million homes while the USA Network is available in 73.9 million.
WWE and AEW programs reach more than 70 million traditional U.S. TV homes on USA Network, TNT, and TBS.
Reelz, where MLW debuted this week, is in 37.9 million traditional TV homes, slightly more than AXS TV, where Impact and New Japan air in 35 million.https://t.co/BvXp7QsCcg pic.twitter.com/NEPFJiTuxY
— Wrestlenomics (@wrestlenomics) February 8, 2023
REELZ is in slightly more homes than AXS TV, which is the home of IMPACT Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, and available in 35 million homes.
After five episodes this year, IMPACT is averaging 97,000 viewers and 0.01 in the 18-49 demographic, so IMPACT is being watched by more viewers than MLW but produces a lower audience in the demo, at least after one week of MLW on the new network.
