It has been a transformative last few months for WWE NXT, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
PWInsider reported more details on the reporting structure Tuesday, including that the creative team no longer is operating independently of WWE as had been the case in the Paul Levesque “black and gold” era.
For now, according to the report, NXT creative will directly report to Bruce Prichard and Christine Lubrano similar to how both Raw and SmackDown’s creative teams operate.
They also reported that longtime creative team member Johnny Russo will head up NXT creative. After moving to the NXT brand in August 2019, Russo (no relation to Vince) had been the lead writer for the brand since July 2020. He had been involved with main roster creative dating back to the fall of 2011.
Additionally, Dewey Foley and Anthony Golden Jr. will remain on the NXT creative team.
The news comes after last week’s developments where William Regal, Brian James, trainers and referees were released due to the “continued evolution of NXT 2.0.”
Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard will be behind big decisions going forward with NXT.
Bryan Alvarez reported on today’s Wrestling Observer Live that NXT will be a McMahon-Prichard production when the brand returns to live shows. Additionally, Dave Meltzer reports that McMahon and Prichard will be behind the big decisions, not the little ones, and will be behind marketing, promotion, and direction. Their role in booking may only be regarding those at the top.
“It’s gonna be like the old NXT,” Alvarez said on Wrestling Observer Live. “I have heard from several people now that when they go back to live shows, this is going to be a McMahon-Prichard production.”
“We’re doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H, Paul Levesque, who is really one of the architects of the original NXT,” Khan told Ariel Helwani. “In terms of an NXT rebrand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s gonna have a whole new look, it’s gonna have a whole new feel.”
In the last week, WWE has been pushing NXT with a new, more colorful logo. Next week’s show is taped, but will return live on September 14 with a wedding between Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell.
WWE has announced a significant change to their creative process.
In a statement issued today, it was announced that WWE has consolidated their creative teams from Raw and SmackDown into one group. Bruce Prichard will lead the group, while Paul Heyman will now focus on his role as an on-screen performer.
“In an effort to streamline our creative writing process for television, we have consolidated both teams from Raw and SmackDown into one group, led by Bruce Prichard,” WWE announced. “Paul Heyman will concentrate on his role as an in-ring performer.”
It was announced in June 2019 that Heyman had been named executive director of Raw. Eric Bischoff was named executive director of SmackDown then but was replaced by Prichard in October.
The executive director positions were newly created last June, with WWE writing that the executive directors would “oversee the creative development of WWE’s flagship programming and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business.”
Heyman’s on-screen role is being Brock Lesnar’s advocate. Lesnar hasn’t appeared since losing the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36.
The most important week in recent pro wrestling history reached strong heights before ending with an embarrassing low.
The Wednesday Night War began, with AEW Dynamite debuting on TNT opposite a stacked episode of NXT on USA. SmackDown made its move to FOX two days later and featured an appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a WWE Championship change, and the debut of Cain Velasquez. Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view looked like it was only going to be a footnote, but the main event made the show memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Here’s a look at three stories that defined the week:
1. AEW wins first night of Wednesday night ratings war
Pro wrestling returned to TNT last Wednesday as the premiere of AEW Dynamite averaged 1.409 million viewers. That topped the 891,000 viewers that NXT averaged. In the 18-49 demo, AEW posted a 0.68 rating — second for the night on cable and more than double what NXT did.
Smackdown on FOX, the ratings, what they mean, how this relates to Raw, the Velasquez vs. Lesnar and Fury vs. Strowman matches is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer.
This week’s Observer also covers:
How FOX did with the competition, how FOX did compared to last season’s premieres, how the show did in Canada, note on how the kickoff show did, match-by-match and how the ratings changed, who drew big and who didn’t, the usage of legends, the story behind Velasquez’s negotiations, the end of Kingston’s reign, plus match-by-match coverage.
What went wrong with Hell in a Cell, the disaster of a main event, the reactions by fans, Vince McMahon’s reactions to those reactions, how the match order hurt the show, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Wednesday night war with ratings, where both sides lost viewers the most, the fall from the first week on TNT, the average viewer age for AEW and NXT and how different the makeup is, how every segment on both shows did.
What segments were strong set with what age groups, and how teenage viewership both shows differs greatly.
Smackdown draft, 205 Live going forward, the plans for Saudi Arabia, why the cruiserweight distinction in NXT makes no sense anymore, new WWE signings, Mae Young Classic, WWE injuries, Goldberg and Matt Riddle situation, Hulk Hogan wants a match with Vince McMahon, former Miss America contestant signs with WWE, U.K. star moves to Florida, remake of “Badstreet USA,” value of WWE stock, most-watched shows on WWE Network over the past week, plus notes on every live event by the WWE main roster and NXT this past week with business notes, results and highlights.
Jeff Hardy’s recent arrest and a look back at his other issues over the years.
A full report on the UFC show from Australia, the record crowd, business notes, and a look at Israel Adesanya.
The situation with Dragon Lee going forward as well as where WWE and AEW may fit in, his being pulled from the New Japan tour as well as a look at this year’s Junior heavyweight tag team tournament that starts this coming week.
A full report on the debut of NWA Power, the new Internet television show Billy Corgan and Dave Lagana have put out, glory days of Georgia Championship Wrestling and its ratings, a look at Nick Aldis as NWA champion, business notes and economic realities regarding the company as well as what kind of Youtube numbers the different shows are doing.
Full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
A special preview of WWE Backstage will air tonight following the Astros-Yankees ALCS game on Fox Sports 1. Triple H will be on the show to announce a trade between Raw and SmackDown. Renee Young and Booker T will be joined by Paige and Christian. Shawn Michaels and Sting will also be on the show to break down their favorite match.
On Twitter, Eric Bischoff commented on Bruce Prichard replacing him as the executive director of SmackDown: “Bruce is a great producer, good friend and I am certain he is going to thrive in his position. He’s going to be working with a great team of the most dedicated and hard working people I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know.” WWE has confirmed that Bischoff is no longer with the company.
Cain Velasquez on Ariel Helwani’s show mentioned that WWE is allowing him to work one more AAA date.
Maria Kanellis on Instagram noted that she has not asked for release and attempted to clear up misconceptions about her and Mike’s situation: “1. Family first. 2. I love and support my husband. 3. I make no apologies for either of my pregnancies. 4. Mike never went to rehab nor did WWE pay for it. 5. Mikes addiction was from about September 2013-July 2017. 6. We debuted in June 2017. 7. He never took time off. 8. I have not asked for my release. 9. You can unfollow me at anytime if you don’t like what I stand for. 10. Suck it. P.S. Have a nice day!”
Roman Reigns spoke to Forbes about how fans reacted to the finish of Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend at Hell in a Cell: “I think you should express your opinions, but it doesn’t hurt anybody if you have a shred of respect. Have a little respect for the performers who were out there killing themselves for you. I didn’t like the Hell in a Cell finish either, but I wasn’t about to cuss some guys out who got hit in the head over and over. Bray Wyatt put his health on the line to entertain some fans to the best of his ability. I didn’t like it, but I respect Bray’s effort and willingness to go out there and do what you have to do. So, if you can, just a little bit of respect.
Tommaso Ciampa tweeted about returning to the ring against Angel Garza on tomorrow’s episode of NXT: “I had neck surgery on March 7th. At the time, I was told that my estimated return date was March 7th, 2020. Tomorrow, I have my first match back. That’s 142 days ahead of protocol. Good luck, Garza.”
WWE posted an AOP video with them reacting to not being picked in the WWE Draft. In the promo, AOP said they’re going to take their frustrations out on somebody sooner than later.
AEW uploaded The Lucha Bros, Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Private Party & Best Friends from AEW Dark with Spanish commentary from Alex Abrahantes and Dasha Kuret (formerly Dasha Fuentes in WWE).
WWE has confirmed that Eric Bischoff is no longer with the company.
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Less than four months after he was announced for the position, Eric Bischoff is being replaced as executive director of SmackDown.
WWE issued a press release today announcing that Bruce Prichard has been named the new executive director of SmackDown and will report directly to Vince McMahon. Prichard “will oversee the creative development of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX and ensure integration across all platforms and lines of business, replacing Eric Bischoff.”
Prichard returned to the WWE creative team this February.
In June, WWE announced Paul Heyman as the executive director of Raw and Bischoff as the executive director of SmackDown, hyping that “the creation of these roles further establishes WWE’s ability to continuously reinvent its global brand while providing two distinct creative processes for its flagship shows.”
Bischoff moved to Connecticut for the role at the beginning of July.
SmackDown made its FOX debut on October 4. This past Friday’s episode was the first night of the WWE Draft.
PWInsider reported today that Prichard has been hired to return to the company full-time in a top position on the creative team. The report stated that Prichard will start with WWE at this coming Monday’s episode of Raw.
PWInsider noted that Prichard’s position has been described to them as being “as important as possible” on the creative team and that they’ve been told Prichard’s role “will be very similar to his former position in that he will be working directly with [Vince] McMahon on all things creative.”
Prichard was released from WWE in 2008, though he appeared as Brother Love on Raw’s 25th anniversary episode last year. A video spinoff of Prichard’s “Something to Wrestle” podcast with Conrad Thompson also had 13 episodes on the WWE Network.
Since 2008, Prichard has had stints with Impact Wrestling working behind the scenes and as an on-screen talent. He had a stint with MLW as well, with the MLW Radio Network also being the home of his podcast with Thompson.
MLW’s Court Bauer congratulated Prichard on Twitter: “Congrats @bruceprichard! Bruce and @WWE go together like peanut butter and jelly.”
