WWE: Kevin Owens on His Attack on Cody Rhodes on 12/14 SNME Show, Jim Smallman Announces Departure from WWE NXT Creative Team, More on NXT Dec. 17, 2024 Viewership

Dec 21, 2024

Kevin Owens Comments on His Attack on Cody Rhodes on Dec. 14th WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Show

As noted before, the December 14th WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event show in Uniondale, New York was notable for a post-match angle that involved Kevin Owens attacking Cody Rhodes resulting in Rhodes suffering a storyline injury and Owens leaving with the Undisputed WWE Championship.

During Friday’s WWE SmackDown show, which was taped on December 13th in Hartford, Connecticut, Owens gave his thoughts about his reason for his attack on Rhodes and his current mental state.

During his promo, Owens stated that he has possession of Rhodes’ Winged Eagle WWE Championship belt because he deserved it and claimed it was a travesty what happened to him against Rhodes.

Owens also stated that he has not snapped yet and they don’t want him to snap. Owens stated that it can all get so much worse and they don’t want him to snap. Owens also stated that what happens next is on Rhodes, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, and WWE officials.

“I haven’t snapped yet.”

What else does @FightOwensFight have up his sleeve? 😳
#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/4YlfilCuRV
— WWE (@WWE) December 21, 2024

Jim Smallman Departs from WWE’s NXT Creative Team

PROGRESS Wrestling former co-owner Jim Smallman announced on Instagram that this past Thursday was his last day in WWE’s NXT brand and he has departed to move back to the United Kingdom to be with his family.

“Yesterday was my last day as part of the NXT creative team, as I resigned from my position as Senior Writer / Producer in order to move back to the UK and be a better dad to my two children.
This was an incredibly difficult decision as I was lucky enough to work with some of the most talented and excellent human beings on the planet, and yesterday was a very emotional day as I said goodbye – for now – to so many great friends.
Alas, it is impossible to be a good dad from 4000 miles away, and some personal health issues last year put that into sharp focus. It’s time to head home and make up for lost time.
I wrote 216 episodes of NXT UK, 150 episodes of Level Up, worked on 190 episodes of NXT and I lost count of how many in ring and backstage promos that I wrote and produced. I am forever grateful to Shawn and Hunter for giving me my chance, Johnny and the writing team for being amazing, Mr Regal for putting me forward for everything, Joe for showing me the ropes… and to every gifted talent that I’ve worked with in both Europe and the USA. I wish I could have thanked every single person yesterday but we had a tv show to film! Thank you for tolerating a strange British idiot.
I’m a very lucky man to have lived this life, but even luckier to be heading home now to an 8 year old who wants to play Fortnite and Hot Wheels and a 21 year old who wants to come to Japan with me.
And this might be goodbye to the NXT creative team, but not to WWE. I hope to see all of my friends again down the line.

In a follow-up post, Smallman clarified on Instagram that he is not leaving WWE and is only leaving his job in their NXT brand.

“TWO THINGS! 1: I am genuinely shocked and humbled by all the wonderful messages after my big news. I am blessed to know so many kind people, and my heart is full. Thank you
2: I am not leaving WWE. Just my job in NXT creative. And also the state of Florida, obvs. Next stop, Manchester Airport tomorrow morning!

Prior to his announcement, Smallman had been working as a member of WWE’s creative team for their NXT and NXT UK brands since 2018.

More on NXT Dec. 17, 2024 Viewership

The December 17th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a small increase in overall viewership but suffered a slight decline in key demographic ratings.

NXT drew 708,000 viewers and a 0.16 key demographic rating on The CW.

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

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for NXT’s mixed results this week was due to the large increase from their Over 50 demographic viewership group, which its percentage was not given. This reportedly offset the decline from their overall key demographic viewership group, which was down 7.9% compared to last week’s show. Of the key demographic decline, NXT’s younger key demographic viewership group was down 18.2% compared to last week’s show. Meltzer reported that NXT’s overall viewership was very heavy in over 50 male viewership resulting in the median age for this week’s show being the oldest for a WWE television show this year. Meltzer also reported that of NXT’s total overall viewership, only 63,000 viewers were from the younger key demographic viewership group.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2024 NBA Cup Finals game of Milwaukee Bucks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder drew 2,988,000 viewers on ABC, the College basketball game of North Carolina vs. Florida drew 987,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Michigan State vs. Oakland drew 329,000 viewers on ESPN2, 1000-LB Sisters drew 933,000 viewers on TLC, Curse of Oak Island drew 1,775,000 viewers on History Channel, Moonshiners drew 840,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Real Housewives of New York City drew 388,000 viewers on BRAVO, and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills drew 806,000 viewers on BRAVO.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 210,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership skew was 71% in favor of males.

In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak overall viewership was at 771,000 viewers for the second quarter featuring the ending of the Axiom vs. Oba Femi match and the start of the Zaria & Sol Ruca vs. Meta-Four tag team match. NXT’s peak key demographic viewership was at 227,000 viewers for the eighth quarter featuring the NXT Championship match of Eddy Thorpe vs. Trick Williams (c).

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 10.5% in overall viewership but down 5.8% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 key demographic viewership was down 35.8% compared to the same week last year.