WWE: Kofi Kingston Injury Update, Interest in Komander Update, More on NXT Mar. 14, 2023 Viewership

Kofi Kingston Ankle Injury Update

As noted before, Kofi Kingston has been out of action for WWE since earlier this month due to an ankle injury and underwent surgery on Friday.

Kingston provided an update on Instagram stating that his surgery was successful and he will be starting his recovery process.

“Surgery went very well! Of course I had to FaceTime the boyzzz [Big E and Xavier Woods] upon regaining consciousness…Very little recollection of the conversation, lol.

Thanks to everybody who sent me a message! I appreciate it more than you know! I’m home now. Let the road to recovery begin!”

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More on WWE’s Interest in Komander

As noted before, Lucha Libre AAA talent Komander made his official debut for AEW earlier this month. Both AEW and WWE are currently interested in signing Komander to a potential contract with their respective company.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE had contacted Komander prior to his booking with AEW but this was only for a tryout and not a contract offer. WWE officials reportedly sped up their process for Komander contacting him right after he was officially announced by AEW for their Face of the Revolution 2023 Ladder match and also right after his match.

Meltzer reported that WWE’s recent change to their head of recruiting has led to the company speeding up their process when it comes to their interest towards new talents.

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More on NXT Week 179 Viewership – March 14, 2023

The March 14th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a small decline in overall viewership and key demographic rankings and a slight decline in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 590,000 viewers and a 0.15 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 19th 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 declines this week was due to stiff sports competition from NCAA basketball games that night and the large declines from their male key demographic viewership and younger key demographic viewership groups, which were down 18.2% and 13.3% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Denver Nuggets vs. Toronto Raptors drew 300,000 on NBA TV, the NBA game of Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns drew 416,000 viewers on NBA TV, the 2023 NCAA Basketball Tournament game of Missouri State vs. Texas A&M CC drew 1,224,000 viewers on TruTV, the 2023 NCAA Basketball Tournament game of Pittsburgh vs. Mississippi State drew 1,736,000 viewers on TruTV, the 2023 NIT Basketball Tournament game of Toledo vs. Michigan drew 569,000 viewers on ESPN2, the 2023 NIT Basketball Tournament game of Villanova vs. Liberty drew 384,000 viewers on ESPN2, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,561,000 viewers on History Channel, 1000-lb Sisters drew 1,238,000 viewers on TLC, and Real Housewives of New Jersey drew 816,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 189,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 117,000 male viewers (down 18.2%) and 72,000 female viewers (down 8.9%) for a split of 61.9% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 5.4% in overall viewership and up 6.2% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 85.7% compared to the same week last year.