WWE: Natalya Signs New Deal, WWE Announces 15 New Dates for Rest of 2024, NXT Talents Concerned Over Potential New Roster Cuts, More on NXT July 9, 2024 Viewership

Natalya Reportedly Signs New Deal with WWE

As noted before, Natalya’s contract with WWE was currently set to expire very soon.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Natalya recently signed a new contract with WWE to remain in the company for the foreseeable future.

Johnson reported that details regarding the length of her new contract and monetary amount are currently not known.

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WWE Announces 15 New Dates for Remainder of 2024 Live Events Schedule

WWE recently announced that they have added fifteen new dates for their live events schedule for the remainder of 2024.

Official press release:

WWE^® ANNOUNCES 15 LIVE EVENTS AS PART OF 2024 TOUR

WWE^® ANNOUNCES 15 LIVE EVENTS AS PART OF 2024 TOUR

STAMFORD, Conn., July 12, 2024 – WWE^®, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), today announced 15 live events as part of the company’s 2024 touring schedule.

Tickets for each live event go on sale Friday, July 26 at 10 a.m. local. To learn more about registering for pre-sale opportunities, please visit: https://www.wwe.com/new-2024-events-presale-registration.

Friday, October 4
Nashville, Tenn.
Friday Night SmackDown
Bridgestone Arena

Friday, October 11
Greenville, S.C.
Friday Night SmackDown
Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Friday, October 18
Columbia, S.C.
Friday Night SmackDown
Colonial Life Arena

Monday, October 21
Philadelphia, Pa.
Monday Night RAW
Wells Fargo Center

Friday, October 25
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Friday Night SmackDown
Barclays Center

Friday, November 8
Buffalo, N.Y.
Friday Night SmackDown
KeyBank Center

Monday, November 11
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Monday Night RAW
Van Andel Arena

Friday, November 15
Milwaukee, Wis.
Friday Night SmackDown
Fiserv Forum

Friday, November 22
Salt Lake City, Utah
Friday Night SmackDown
Delta Center

Monday, November 25
Glendale, Ari.
Monday Night RAW
Desert Diamond Arena

Monday, December 2
Everett, Wash.
Monday Night RAW
Angel of the Winds Arena

Friday, December 6
Minneapolis, Minn.
Friday Night SmackDown
Target Center

Monday, December 9
Wichita, Kans.
Monday Night RAW
INTRUST Bank Arena

Friday, December 13
Hartford, Conn.
Friday Night SmackDown
XL Center

Monday, December 16
Boston, Mass.
Monday Night RAW
TD Garden

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NXT Talents Reportedly Concerned Over Potential New Roster Cuts Following Damon Kemp’s Release

As noted before, NXT talent Damon Kemp’s contract with WWE expired this past Monday and departed from the company.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that NXT talents became concerned over their futures in WWE following Kemp’s departure. Meltzer reported that this concern and nervousness was mainly from those whose contracts are expiring soon and currently feel that if someone like Kemp was cut, then their own jobs are not safe.

The reason for this belief reportedly was due to Kemp was viewed as someone who was good in the ring for his level of experience and also someone that nobody had anything negative to say about his time in the company.

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More on NXT Viewership for July 9, 2024

The July 9th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a very large increase in overall viewership and a large increase in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 656,000 viewers and a 0.24 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking was #3 for the night.

Detailed key demographic viewership 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 to the very large gains from their younger key demographic viewership group, which was up 80% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the 2024 Copa America soccer game of Argentina vs. Canada drew 1,985,000 viewers on FS1 and 304,000 viewers on TUDN, the MLB game of Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies drew 356,000 viewers on TBS, 6000 LB Shark drew 642,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Deadliest Bite drew 513,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Secret of Skinwalker Ranch drew 1,288,000 viewers on History Channel, Chopped drew 487,000 viewers on Food Network, Catfish drew 368,000 viewers on MTV, and Real Housewives of Dubai drew 278,000 viewers on BRAVO.

In an interesting note, Meltzer reported that this week’s NXT’s show managed to top this week’s AEW Dynamite show in key demographic ratings at a 0.24 for NXT compared to a 0.23 for Dynamite. Meltzer reported that this was just the fourth time in history that NXT managed to top AEW in key demographic ratings for their respective shows during the same week.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 311,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that NXT’s males/female viewership split was 64.6% in favor of males.

In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak overall viewership was at 735,000 viewers for their first quarter featuring the Ethan Page, Trick Williams, Shawn Spears, & Je’Von Evans promo & brawl segment. NXT’s peak key demographic viewership was at 342,000 viewers for the quarter hour featuring the NXT Heritage Cup Championship match of Lexis King vs. Tony D’Angelo (c) and the Brooks Jensen & Ava backstage promo segment.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 2.2% in overall viewership but up 21.5% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 63.6% compared to the same week last year.