WWE: More on The Hardys Meeting with WWE in Cleveland, More on NXT July 30, 2024 Viewership, More News

More on The Hardys Meeting with WWE in Cleveland on Friday

As noted before, The Hardys’ Matt & Jeff Hardy had a meeting with WWE officials on Friday morning in Cleveland, Ohio.

Fightful Select reported that their sources confirmed PWInsider’s report about The Hardys having a meeting with WWE and provided additional details.

Those spoken to reportedly stated that The Hardys were spotted outside of one of WWE talent hotels that day.

It was reported that the Hardys were already in town for their scheduled appearance for WrestleCon and were invited by WWE to film some interviews and content. It was also reported that some of this will be for an active WWE digital series and for a potential Hardy-specific presentations.

In regards to their current time in TNA, it was reported that Matt and Jeff Hardy are currently working without a contract in TNA but those spoken to stated that they are enjoying their time back in the company.

In regards to the meeting itself, it was reported that those spoken to within WWE stated that there was not much to reach into it while others spoken to outside of the company stated that they believe the Hardys will end up making an appearance in WWE when all is said and done.

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More on NXT Viewership for July 30, 2024

The July 30th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a very large decline in overall viewership and a small decline in key demographic ratings. This week’s show was notable for being the NXT Great American Bash 2024 Week 1 special and for also being preempted to SYFY due to USA Network’s commitments with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

NXT drew 468,000 viewers and a 0.15 key demographic rating on SYFY. 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 reason for NXT’s declines this week was due to very stiff sports competition from the 2024 Summer Olympics Games. Another reason reportedly was due to the large declines from their Over 50 demographic viewership group, which its percentage was not given, and their overall key demographic viewership group, which was down 18.9% compared to last week’s show. Meltzer reported that of the five NXT shows that have gone head-to-head against the Olympics in NXT history, this week’s show managed to draw the highest key demographic rating but was the fourth lowest watched show of the group. Meltzer speculated that NXT’s numbers for this week’s show likely would have been much lower had it been a normal show and not a special themed show.

In regards to notable head-to-head competition, the 2024 Summer Olympic Games drew 17,440,000 viewers on NBC and 1,340,000 viewers on USA Network, the MLB game of New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies drew 577,000 viewers on TBS, Deadliest Catch drew 645,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 323,000 viewers on MTV, and Neighborhood Wars drew 380,000 viewers on A&E.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 198,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership skew was 63.3% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 34.3% in overall viewership and down 33.6% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that the reason for the large declines was due to last year’s show aired on USA Network and wasn’t up against the Olympics.

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WWE News & Notes

WWE reportedly has sold and distributed around 54,940 tickets for Saturday’s SummerSlam 2024 event at the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio as of Saturday afternoon, according to WrestleTix.

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Cleveland, Ohio featured Nia Jax gifting Tiffany Stratton a new custom pink Stratton branded Women’s Money in the Bank briefcase following Bayley destroying Stratton’s original briefcase the week prior. Jax also warned Stratton to not dare considering cashing in on her when she beats Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam for the sake of their Queen and Princess friendship.

Friday’s WWE Speed show on Twitter featured Pete Dunne defeated Julius Creed to advance to the next round of WWE’s newest #1 Contender’s tournament for the WWE Speed Championship. Dunne will be facing off against Joaquin Wilde in the Quarterfinal round of WWE’s current tournament.

WWE recently released the video of the full match between Meiko Satomura and Bayley for the WWE Women’s Championship at their house show event on July 27th in Tokyo, Japan.

As noted before, Jimmy Uso has been absent from WWE since the April 12th SmackDown show due him being kicked out of The Bloodline and attacked at the hands of Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga that was later revealed to have been done to cover for a legitimate undisclosed injury he had suffered. In a recent interview with The Ringer’s Wrestling Show podcast, Jey Uso provided an update on his brother Jimmy’s absence and injury recovery. Jey stated “My brother will be back soon. I want to see him on TV. If you really pay attention to Jimmy, Jimmy is funny as hell. He was shining on SmackDown for a little bit, but he got hurt. I’m excited to see his character back on TV.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with The Athletic, WWE SVP of NXT and Talent Relations and NXT head booker Shawn Michaels gave his thoughts about Bron Breakker’s top star potential in WWE. Michaels stated “He has all the tools to have a run like Goldberg or Steve Austin or Roman Reigns. He’s as gifted as they come. The thing that impressed me most about him was his ability to be coached. He trusted me. He trusted our process here. When you have special athletes, sometimes they think they understand or know the system because they’ve been great at everything else. He never came across that way. I think the world of both Scotty and Rick, but he’s better than both of them already, and I mean that in the nicest way. He could maul a human being with his hands, but he chooses to allow the rest of us to live in this world.“

In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Drew McIntyre gave his thoughts about his current feud with CM Punk in WWE and some fans considering their upcoming match to be the real main event for SummerSlam 2024. McIntyre stated “That means a lot. I heard it a few times since I got here. The fans were asked, they didn’t even know I was there, ‘What do you think the main event should be?’ They said, ‘Punk and McIntyre.’ The deep, layered storytelling we can do it. Personal rivalries is where it’s at. That’s where the money is at. That’s what makes people feel. If they’re feeling something out of this Punk and McIntyre feud, they should because it’s real. It does mean a lot to me. If anyone is on after us, good luck, folks.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with CBS Sports, Gunther gave his thoughts about how much winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at SumemrSlam 2024 would mean to him and his wrestling career. Gunther stated “It’d be the biggest achievement of my career. I think that’s quite obvious. It’s the world’s heavyweight champion. It’s the biggest prize there is to win in this sport. That would be a huge accomplishment but also a big responsibility and challenge. That’s what I’m here for. I want to be in the mix with the best and in the ring with all of them. To prove myself in that regard.“

In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Cody Rhodes gave his thoughts about WWE’s WrestleMania 40: Behind The Curtain documentary that focused on Rhodes’ road to the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40 and the pivot WWE made for their original plans for the main event. Rhodes stated “They got me at my lowest point. A lot of the capture was potentially a second part for my documentary. So much of that capture ended up going towards behind the scenes. I thought Ben Houser did a great job handling the four guys. To me, it’s really a documentary more about Triple H and The Rock, and seeing that relationship come together. I watched enough of it to feel like, ‘I don’t want to relive this moment.’ I don’t want to relive that moment in Birmingham, walking back, where I didn’t even walk through Gorilla, I went around it, to go to my bus, just because I didn’t want to pretend. This is not okay. I’m also a wrestler and a professional, and we shook hands, so look each other in the eye and move on. They caught me at the lowest point and it was a little tough to watch. A little too close for me. I thought Ben Houser did a great job with it.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the SI Media podcast, CM Punk gave his thoughts about not wanting people in WWE to use Netflix as a crutch to say the “f word” during WWE RAW shows. CM Punk stated “I feel like we’re pushing the envelope now, and I don’t want people to use Netflix as a crutch to say the F word. I feel that’s immediately where everybody goes, ‘We’re going to get to swear.’ No. If everybody swears, it doesn’t mean anything. If everybody is throwing the bird, it doesn’t mean anything. If every show, someone is bleeding and they fall off a building, it doesn’t mean anything. The only thing that excites me about Netflix is what should excite everybody about Netflix; we are going to be seen by billions more people. It’s unfathomable to a lot fo people what the Netflix deal means to a wrestler in WWE. USA Network has broadcasted professional wrestling for WWE for decades. Raw has always been on USA. For it to go to a streaming service. I don’t have the USA Network app on my phone, but I have the Netflix app on my phone. I guarantee it’s like that worldwide. We are going to have doors kicked in in a lot of different markets and countries all over the world. To me, that’s exciting.” Punk also gave his thoughts about talent might get less of a filter in what they can pitch and do during RAW shows on Netflix. Punk stated “Yeah, but I think a lot of people need a filter. A lot of people need somebody to produce them and say, ‘No, we’re not going to do that.’ Netflix doesn’t mean you’re going to get all these wild lesbian angles or something like that, as wrestling fans seem to think. Maybe we can be a little more edgy, maybe. I already feel like, since Vince (McMahon) is gone, a lot of what people thought were kind of strange, like not calling a hospital a hospital, calling it a medical facility, all that is in the past. I’m looking forward to the reach Netflix has.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)