WWE: Backstage Reaction to MMA Rules Match Issues, Gable Steveson NXT Update, More on NXT Aug. 8, 2023 Viewership

Aug 12, 2023

More on MMA Rules Match at WWE SummerSlam 2023 & Backstage Reaction to Its Poor Reception

This past Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam 2023 event in Detroit, Michigan featured a MMA Rules match between Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey, which was won by Baszler. This match was notable for issues with lack of reaction by the live crowd and the general negative reception online towards its quality.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the backstage reaction to the match was generally negative with some WWE officials blaming WWE’s creative team for not doing their ideas for the match while some within Creative blamed those people for pushing for only their ideas to be down for the match.

Meltzer reported that due to the physicality of their match, Baszler ended up suffering a legitimate bruised swollen eye and a broken right thumb injuries.

Gable Steveson NXT & U.S. Wrestling Status Update

WWE’s NXT Great American Bash 2023 this past July in Cedar Park, Texas featured a singles match between Gable Steveson and Baron Corbin, which ended in a double countout decision. This match was notable for both being Steveson’s NXT in-ring debut match and the very negative reception towards it by both the live crowd and online viewers of the show.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that his sources stated that those within WWE have been quiet regarding Steveson’s potential in the company following his poor debut match performance. Those spoken to reportedly also stated that Steveson’s name has not been brought up in backstage talks since his match.

In regards to the upcoming World Wrestling Championships this September in Serbia, Meltzer reported that Steveson is still listed as a member of the United States wrestling team and he is currently scheduled to compete on September 16th and September 17th. Meltzer also reported that Steveson’s status for this upcoming event is currently not known due to WWE officials have yet to approve nor deny his request to compete at this event due to him being under contract with them.

More on NXT Viewership for August 8, 2023

The August 8th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a large increase in overall viewers,

NXT drew 776,000 viewers and a 0.23 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 1st place.

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

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reasons for NXT’s increases this week was due the gains from their older female key demographic viewership group, which was up 4.7% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the large gains from their Over 50 viewership group, which its percentage was not stated. This reportedly offset the declines from their younger key demographic viewership and older male key demographic viewership, which were down 2.3% and 1,6% respectively compared to last week’s show. NXT’s overall viewership reportedly was its largest since the April 20, 2021 episode.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 436,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak reportedly was at 844,000 viewers for their fifth quarter. NXT’s peak for key demographic viewership was at 314,000 viewers for their fifth quarter as well. In regards to the overrun, NXT drew 870,000 overall viewers and 363,000 key demographic viewers.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 297,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 had 73,000 viewers (down 3.9%), Females 18-34 had 48,000 viewers (down 11.1%), Males 35-49 had 124,000 viewers (down 1.6%), and Females 35-49 had 45,000 viewers (up 4.7%). Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 197,000 male viewers and 93,000 female viewers for a split of 68.4% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 30% in overall viewership and up 75.7% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 159.2% compared to the same week last year.