WWE: Gunther on Wanting Match with Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton Update, More on NXT Feb. 14, 2023 Viewership

Feb 18, 2023

Gunther Comments on Cody Rhodes Being “Perfect Opponent” for Him in WWE

A recent episode of the WWE After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves podcast had Gunther as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Gunther’s thoughts on his belief that Cody Rhodes is the “perfect” opponent for him in WWE and wanting a match between the two.

“Obviously, it does. When I knew that scenario would go down with me and Cody at the end, I knew he was out for a little bit, and since then I was able to work my way up and I had to introduce him to the new reality. That was my attitude going into it. Obviously, that was just a taste for everybody. Cody is one of those guys where, that’s a perfect match for me. Perfect opposites, if that makes sense. The match is right there whenever it needs to happen. If it happens in Europe, that would be fantastic.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Randy Orton WWE Return Status Update

As noted before, Randy Orton has been out of action for WWE since this past May due to a back injury and underwent back fusion surgery this past November. Orton was recently seen to be in good shape and likely training for a potential return to WWE based on a photo taken of him earlier this month at the The Boone Center in Missouri.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Orton is currently rumored to have recently contacted his boot maker for the production of a new set of wrestling boots. Meltzer reported that this would mean that Orton is currently planning to make his return from injury to WWE within the near future.

More on NXT Week 175 Viewership – Feb. 14, 2023

The February 14th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a large increase in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a small increase in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 640,000 viewers and a 0.15 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 17th place.

Detailed viewership and key demographic breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reason for NXT’s increases this week was due to the very large gains from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was up 52.9% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the large gain from their Over 50 viewership group, which was up 6.1% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large decline from their older key demographic viewership group, which was down 8.2% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks drew 1,672,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of Notre Dame vs. Duke drew 733,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Kansas vs. Oklahoma State drew 746,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Missouri vs. Auburn drew 215,000 viewers on ESPN2, the College basketball game of Michigan vs. Wisconsin drew 349,000 viewers on ESPN2, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,509,000 viewers on History Channel, 1000-lb Sisters drew 1,112,000 viewers on TLC, and Real Housewives of New Jersey drew 859,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 201,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 138,000 male viewers and 63,000 female viewers for a split of 68.7% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 21.9% in overall viewership and up 38.6% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 87.5% compared to the same week last year. Meltzer also reported that the reason for NXT’s very large increases was due to last year’s show aired on SyFy network.