WWE: Dates Announced for 2023 WWE Draft, Shinsuke Nakamura, More on NXT Apr. 11, 2023 Viewership

WWE Announces 2023 WWE Draft to Start on April 28th & Conclude on May 1st

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Lincoln, Nebraska featured WWE airing an ad officially announcing that this year’s WWE Draft will start on the April 28th SmackDown show in Corpus Christi, Texas and will conclude on the May 1st RAW show in Fort Worth, Texas.

WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque had previously announced during last week’s SmackDown show that this year’s Draft would start in a “few weeks” and that “every WWE superstar” would be eligible.

This will be the first time that WWE will be holding a WWE Draft since October of 2021.

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Shinsuke Nakamura Comments on His WWE In-Ring Return

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Lincoln, Nebraska featured Shinsuke Namakura making his in-ring return for WWE. Nakamura faced off and defeated Madcap Moss in a singles match on the show.

Following the show, WWE held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Nakamura. One of the topics discussed included Nakamura’s thoughts about his return to WWE.

“I’m glad to be back. I’ve been to Japan, so I had a great victory against Great Muta. That was a historic [match]. Then I recharged, I rebooted.”

Nakamura also gave his thoughts about his current goals for his career in WWE.

“I need some meat. I need a great opponent. Also, I aim for [the] world title.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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More on NXT Week 183 Viewership – April 11, 2023

The April 11th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a large increase in key demographic rankings but suffered a small decline in overall viewership.

NXT drew 528,000 viewers and a 0.13 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 18th 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 mixed results this week was due to very stiff sports competition from the 2023 NBA Playoffs Play-In Tournament and the large decline from their older key demographic viewership group, which was down 17.6% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the small decline from their Over 50 viewership group, which was down 3.2% compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the large gain from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was up 33.3% compared to last week’s show. Meltzer reported that NXT’s overall viewership was the lowest ever and its key demographic viewership was the ninth lowest ever for a NXT show in USA Network history. Meltzer reported that the previous record for lowest ever overall viewership was the May 10, 2022 episode which drew 533,000 viewers.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2023 NBA Playoffs Play-In game of Atlanta Hawks vs. Miami Heat drew 2,245,000 viewers on TNT, the NHL game of Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning drew 343,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Edmonton Oilers vs. Colorado Avalanche drew 388,000 viewers on ESPN, the MLB game of San Diego Padres vs. New York Mets drew 278,000 viewers on TBS, the MLB simulcast games of Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco and Milwaukee vs. Arizona drew 153,000 viewers on MLB TV, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,489,000 viewers on History Channel, 7 Little Johnstons drew 452,000 viewers on TLC, and Real Housewives of New Jersey drew 901,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 169,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 117,000 male viewers (down 4.9%) and 52,000 female viewers (up 13%) for a split of 69.2% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 13.4% in overall viewership but up 11.9% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 71.4% compared to the same week last year.