WWE: WWE Reportedly Still Not Interested in Potential CM Punk Return, Triple H on Endeavor, More on NXT Nov. 7, 2023 Viewership

AEW

Nov 11, 2023

WWE Reportedly Still Not Interested in CM Punk Return Nor Have Plans for Potential Return at Survivor Series 2023

As noted before, WWE is currently believed to have decided against bringing back CM Punk to the company following his firing from AEW this past September.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there have been no updates from his sources regarding WWE officials potentially changing their minds over CM Punk making a potential return to the company.

Meltzer reported that those within WWE’s Creative have not been told of anything involving Punk nor know of any creative plans for him for a potential return at Survivor Series 2023 later this month in Chicago. Meltzer also reported that several WWE officials who would normally be in the know about these type of things including big surprise returns like Cody Rhodes’ return in 2022 also currently have no knowledge of any return plans for Punk.

Those spoken to within WWE reportedly stated that WWE officials would be open to changing their minds depending on fan reaction being overwhelming in favor of wanting Punk back. Meltzer reported that the backstage reaction towards a potential Punk return is still one of a general negative feeling.

Triple H Comments on WWE’s Future with Endeavor Being Bright

As noted before, Endeavor finalized their purchase of WWE and merger of WWE and UFC into a new company called TKO Group this past September.

Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque. One of the topics discussed included Levesque’s thoughts on working with Endeavor and the future being bright for WWE under Endeavor’s ownership.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am. Working with Endeavor, it’s next level. The flywheel for all the things they touch–if you were trying to build that on your own, it’s taking you a decade. For us, now, it fast tracks everything we’re doing.
Endeavor, UFC, they’re the best in the business at what they do. They put things on a different level of professionalism, and we fit right into that. The future is so bright because of the opportunities Endeavor is going to provide for us and the synergies that are there. We’re going to take this to a whole new level.”

More on NXT Viewership for November 7, 2023

The November 7th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a very large increase in overall viewership and a large increase in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 794,000 viewers and a 0.26 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 1st place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for NXT’s increases this week was due to a combination of a weaker than usual sports competition, weaker than usual 2023 Elections news coverage competition, and the very large gains from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was up 43% compared to last week’s show. Another reason reportedly was due to the very large gain from their older female key demographic viewership group, which was up 85.1% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the 2023 Election Night in America drew 1,303,000 viewers on CNN, the 2023 Election Night in America drew 1,380,000 viewers on CNN, the College Basketball game of Auburn vs. Baylor drew 582,000 viewers on ESPN, the NHL game of Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers drew 532,000 viewers on TNT, the College Football game of Ohio vs. Buffalo drew 368,000 viewers on ESPN2, Wipeout drew 450,000 viewers on TBS, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,077,000 viewers on History Channel, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 445,000 viewers on BRAVO, My Big Fat Fabulous Lie drew 639,000 viewers on TLC, and Catfish drew 367,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 347,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 was 84,000 viewers (up 18.3%), Females 18-34 was 69,000 viewers (up 91.7%), Males 35-49 was 128,000 viewers (up 1.6%), and Females 35-49 was 65,000 viewers (up 85.7%). Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership split was 212,000 male viewers and 134,000 female viewers for a split of 61.4% in favor of males.

NXT’s peak overall viewership reportedly was at 833,000 viewers for the quarter hour featuring the Bron Breakker vs. Von Wagner match while the peak key demographic viewership was at 383,000 viewers for the same quarter hour. Meltzer reported that NXT’s overrun drew 791,000 overall viewers and 353,000 key demographic viewers for the Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, & Lexis King in-ring promo segment.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 19.6% in overall viewership and up 77.9% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 82.1% compared to the same week last year.