Part ofa series on
Professional wrestling
History History of professional wrestling By year History of WWE Early wrestling championships Gold Dust Trio 1980s boom Black Saturday 1994 NWA World Title Tournament Monday Night War Attitude Era 2000 All Japan Pro Wrestling mass exodus The Invasion Wednesday Night Wars
Notable promotions All Elite Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling All Star Wrestling American Wrestling Association Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Extreme Championship Wrestling DDT Pro-Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions Joint Promotions Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Major League Wrestling Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance New Japan Pro-Wrestling Pro Wrestling Noah Ring of Honor Soft Ground Wrestling Stampede Wrestling Titanes en el ring Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling UWF International Women of Wrestling World Championship Wrestling(Australia) World Championship Wrestling(United States) World Wonder Ring Stardom WWE Raw SmackDown NXT Evolve Others
Notable men Early 20th century (Before 1949) Bert Assirati Billy Riley Billy Sandow Ed "Strangler" Lewis Frank Gotch George Hackenschmidt The Great Gama Jack Pfefer Joe Stecher Jim Londos Lou Thesz Martin "Farmer" Burns Orville Brown Salvador Lutteroth Toots Mondt Mid 20th century (1950−1969) Blue Demon Bruno Sammartino Buddy Rogers Danny Hodge Dick "The Destroyer" Beyer Édouard Carpentier El Santo Freddie Blassie Gene Kiniski Gorgeous George Karl Gotch Killer Kowalski Rikidōzan Sam Muchnick Stu Hart Verne Gagne 1970s Abdullah The Butcher Akira Maeda André the Giant Antonio Inoki Baron von Raschke Big Daddy Billy Robinson Carlos Colón Dory Funk Jr. Dusty Rhodes Ernie Ladd Giant Baba Gordon Solie Harley Race Jack Brisco Mil Máscaras Negro Navarro Nick Bockwinkel Terry Funk 1980s Bobby Heenan Dynamite Kid Genichiro Tenryu Hulk Hogan Jim Crockett Jr. Kerry Von Erich Randy Savage Ric Flair Ricky Steamboat Roddy Piper Satoru Sayama Stan Hansen Ted DiBiase Vince McMahon 1990s Akira Taue Antonio Peña Atsushi Onita Bret Hart Eric Bischoff Jim Ross Jushin Liger Keiji Muto Kenta Kobashi Kevin Nash Mick Foley Mitsuharu Misawa Owen Hart Paul Heyman Rob Van Dam Ron Simmons Scott Hall Shawn Michaels Sting Steve Austin The Rock The Undertaker Toshiaki Kawada Triple H Vince Russo 2000s AJ Styles Batista Brock Lesnar Chris Jericho Eddie Guerrero Edge Hiroshi Tanahashi Jeff Hardy Jeff Jarrett John Cena Kurt Angle Místico Naomichi Marufuji Randy Orton Rey Mysterio Samoa Joe 2010s−2020s Bryan Danielson CM Punk Cody Rhodes Jon Moxley Kazuchika Okada Kenny Omega Nick Khan Roman Reigns Rossy Ogawa Seth Rollins Tetsuya Naito Tony Khan Will Ospreay Zack Sabre Jr.
Notable women Early and Mid 20th century (1900−1974) Chabela Romero Cora Livingston Donna Christanello Ethel Johnson Irma González June Byers La Dama Enmascarada Mae Young Mildred Burke The Fabulous Moolah Late 20th century (1975−1999) Aja Kong Akira Hokuto Bull Nakano Chigusa Nagayo Chyna Dump Matsumoto Jackie Sato Lady Apache Lioness Asuka Madusa Miceli Manami Toyota Megumi Kudo Miss Elizabeth Sherri Martel Wendi Richter 2000s Awesome Kong Ayako Hamada Beth Phoenix Faby Apache Gail Kim Kaori Yoneyama Lita Madison Eagles Marcela Nanae Takahashi Sara Del Rey Stephanie McMahon Trish Stratus 2010s Alexa Bliss Asuka Bayley Becky Lynch Charlotte Flair Iyo Sky Kairi Sane Mayu Iwatani Meiko Satomura Mercedes Moné Princesa Sugehit Ronda Rousey 2020s Bianca Belair Giulia Liv Morgan Rhea Ripley Sareee Syuri Tam Nakano Toni Storm Utami Hayashishita
Notabletag teams and stables Mid 20th century − 1970s Assassins Blackjacks Blond Bombers The Duseks Fabulous Kangaroos First Family Kalmikoffs Los Misioneros de la Muerte Sharpe Brothers Valiant Brothers Wild Samoans 1980s Brain Busters British Bulldogs Bushwackers Crush Gals Demolition Fabulous Freebirds Four Horsemen Hart Foundation Heenan Family Los Infernales Mega Powers Nasty Boys Midnight Express Revolution Road Warriors Rock 'n' Roll Express Steiner Brothers 1990s Cho-Ten Dangerous Alliance D-Generation X (New Age Outlaws) Doom Dudley Brothers and theDudley Boyz Dungeon of Doom Harlem Heat Heisei Ishingun Holy Demon Army Jado & Gedo Kai En Tai Las Cachorras Orientales Los Gringos Locos Ministry of Darkness Miracle Violence Connection New World Order (Outsiders) Public Enemy 2000s Age of the Fall Apollo 55 Beer Money, Inc. The Briscoes Brothers of Destruction Burning Colony Edge & Christian Evolution Hardy Boyz Kings of Wrestling Latin American Xchange Los Guerreros Main Event Mafia Motor City Machine Guns Tencozy Voodoo Murders 2010s and 2020s The Addiction / SCU American Wolves Blackpool Combat Club / Death Riders Bloodline Bullet Club Chaos Elite FTR Golden Lovers Judgment Day Los Ingobernables (de Japón) Los Perros del Mal New Day Oedo Tai Queen's Quest Shield Undisputed Era (reDRagon) Usos Wyatt Family Young Bucks
By region Australia Bolivia Canada China France India Iran Iraq Israel Japan Mexico New Zealand North Korea Puerto Rico Russia Saudi Arabia United Kingdom United States
Styles British wrestling All-in style Mountevans rules Cruiserweight X Division French catch Hardcore Intergender Lucha libre Midget Mini-Estrella Puroresu Shoot style U-Kei Women's
Concepts Attire Masks Wrestling singlet Wrestling shoe Blading Championship World Heavyweight Dirt sheet Glossary of terms Kayfabe Gimmick Face Heel Shoot Heat Job Push House show Match types Music Ring name Sports entertainment Tag team Weight classes Wrestling ring
Culture Backyard wrestling Cauliflower Alley Club Cauliflower ear Comic books Fantasy wrestling Films Luchador films Magazines Paintings Gustave Courbet Thomas Eakins William Etty George Luks Rib Ribera Steakhouse Ten-bell salute Video games Wrestling personalities in politics Zubaz
Media outlets Botchamania Box y Lucha Dark Side of the Ring Fighting Spirit Magazine Live Audio Wrestling OSW Review Power Slam Pro Wrestling Illustrated Solowrestling Súper Luchas WrestleCrap Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Controversies Animals in professional wrestling Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide David Arquette in WCW Death of Owen Hart Fingerpoke of Doom Killing of Bruiser Brody Killing of Rikidōzan Mass Transit incident Montreal Screwjob Premature deaths Ring boy scandal Speaking Out United States v. McMahon Vince McMahon sex trafficking scandal WWE–Saudi Arabia relationship
Lists Attendance records Championships Families Halls of fame Matches rated 5 or more stars by Dave Meltzer Moves Promotions Rivalries Rosters TV shows Wrestling families
Related topics Combat sport Comparison of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts Martial arts Mock combat Pankration Shootfighting Sport wrestling Amateur Catch Shoot Submission Lancashire Luta Livre Pehlwani Stage combat Theatre Theatresports
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TheWednesday Night War orWednesday Night Wars refers to a period of mainstream televised Americanprofessional wrestling in whichAll Elite Wrestling (AEW)'sDynamite debuted onTNT oppositeWWE'sNXT onUSA Network in a competition forNielsen ratings each week.^[1] The ratings war lasted from October 2, 2019, to April 7, 2021.

This was the first direct competition between two major promotions sinceTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, later Impact Wrestling), briefly moved their flagship series,Impact!,to Monday nights oppositeWWE Raw in 2010,^[2] and over 20 years following the originalMonday Night War that lasted from 1995 to 2001.

AEW won the ratings battle almost every week in both total viewership and in the viewership from the key 18–49 age demographic, and on April 13, 2021,NXT moved to Tuesday nights, ending the Wednesday Night Wars.

After the "Monday Night War", with the bankruptcy and subsequent acquisitions of bothWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) andExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW),WWE became the dominant professional wrestling company in the United States. In 2008, WWE began to take afamily-oriented approach, in which all of its programming received a rating ofTV-PG.^[3]

In 2010,Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), which targets an adult audience,moved their flagship, weekly series,Impact!, to Monday nights onSpike TV oppositeRaw from January to May 2010.^[4]Impact! suffered from low ratings and ultimately returned to their regular Thursday night timeslot on May 13, 2010.^[5][6]

The move itself was panned by critics and viewers. In the tenth anniversary reprint ofR.D. Reynolds andBryan Alvarez'sDeath of WCW, the authors compared the move to the original Monday Night War, writing that TNA did not have the audience that WCW did, pointing out thatWCW Saturday Night typically did better than WWE shows did in the weekend timeslots. Reynolds and Alvarez also wrote that TNA did not have the financial resources that WCW did.^[7]

In 2012,WWE NXT was revamped to focus exclusively on its developmental talent, withFCW (WWE's former developmental territory) being relaunched under theNXT brand.^[8][9][10] NXT became awebcast on WWE's official website, before later airing onHulu^[11] and theWWE Network.^[12] During this periodTriple H took charge of NXT.^[13]

In the years since the revamp, NXT garnered critical acclaim for its more grounded storylines and sports-based presentation compared to WWE's"main roster" programming,^[14][15][16] with fans and pundits eventually viewing the brand as its own distinct entity and itsTakeOver specials to be superior in quality to WWE'smonthly pay-per-views.^[17][18]

On January 10, 2018,Cody Rhodes andThe Young Bucks, members of the stable known asThe Elite, announced anindependent event calledAll In, which was scheduled for September 1 of that year at theSears Centre Arena inHoffman Estates, Illinois.^[19] Tickets for the event went on sale on May 13, and sold out in less than 30 minutes.^[20] The event was attended by 11,263 people, making it the first event in North America not held by WWE or WCW to sell 10,000 tickets or more since 1993. Four months after All In, Cody, The Young Bucks, and “Hangman” Adam Page leftNew Japan Pro-Wrestling andRing of Honor and announced plans to start a new wrestling promotion.^[21][22] The promotion, which became known asAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), began operations on January 1, 2019, and announced that its first event,Double or Nothing, would be held on May 25 of that year.^[23]

Ten days before Double or Nothing was held, AEW reached a deal withWarnerMedia to broadcast a weekly show onTNT, which would later become known asDynamite.^[24] On July 24, 2019, AEW announced thatDynamite premiered on Wednesday, October 2 and was broadcast live every week. The premiere ofDynamite marked the return of professional wrestling to a Warner-owned network after TNT broadcast the final episode ofWCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001. AEW has been described as "the first major promotion to compete financially with WWE since the closure of WCW".^[24]

In August 2019, it was announced thatNXT would be moving toUSA Network, marking the show's first broadcast on USA Network since December 20, 2017, and expanding the program to a live, two-hour format.^[25][26] Critics felt that the move was an attempt tocounterprogramDynamite, which would premiere two weeks later.NXT premiered on USA Network on September 18, 2019.^[26][27] However, due to scheduling overlap with the final episodes of original seriesSuits, only the first hour ofNXT was broadcast on USA Network for its first two weeks while the second hour was shown onWWE Network.^[28] In its first two weeks,NXT drew 1.179 and 1.006^[29][30] million viewers respectively.

On October 2, 2019,Dynamite debuted on TNT, which averaged 1.409 million viewers and approximately 878,000 viewers in 18-49. This number was touted by TNT as the most successful premiere show in over 5 years for TNT. According toDave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the first 15 minutes of Dynamite was watched by a whopping 1.625 million viewers and 1.015 million in 18-49.NXT made their full two-hour debut on USA Network on the same night, which averaged 891,000 viewers and 415,000 in 18-49.^[31]Dynamite beatNXT in the ratings among both viewers in the 18–49 range and total viewers for its first seven episodes.NXT began to gain ground when WWE announced that the brand's wrestlers would compete at that year'sSurvivor Series, officially endorsing NXT as WWE's "third brand".^[32] Competitors from theNXT brand went on to win three of the five triple-threat matches at the pay-per-view, which sawNXT Women's ChampionShayna Baszler defeatRaw Women's ChampionBecky Lynch andSmackDown Women's ChampionBayley in the main event.^[33][34] These developments helpedNXT to place first in the ratings for three out of the six remaining weeks of 2019, which culminated in a match whereRhea Ripley defeated Shayna Baszler to win the women's championship on the December 18 episode.^[35]NXT ran unopposed on December 25, the final Wednesday of 2019, asDynamite did not air due toChristmas Day.^[36]

BothNXT andDynamite began broadcasting empty arena shows in March 2020 as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic. Both shows stopped touring and started broadcasting from fixed venues.NXT was broadcast initially from Full Sail University and later, from October 2020, theWWE Performance Center.Dynamite was initially held atDaily's Place, an amphitheater adjacent toTIAA Bank Field. AEW later taped shows at the Nightmare Factory training facility inNorcross, Georgia, in late March and early April, taping up to six weeks of episodes preparing for that year'sDouble or Nothing pay-per-view. As live sports were allowed to resume in the Jacksonville area by early May, AEW returned to Daily's Place, which became AEW's home base for over a year.^[37] For the 18 months head to head Dynamite would be beat NXT in mostly every Demographic except people over the age of 50 which NXT had a wider margin over Dynamite and helped score a handful of wins in Total Viewers. During the latter half of 2020 NXT’s P18-49 (Which Networks and Advertisers prioritise) began to weaken while Dynamite’s was only increasing. Which led to beginning talks about NXT possibly moving to a different night.

On March 30, 2021, it was reported thatNXT would move to Tuesday nights on April 13, 2021. In January, USA Network's parent company,NBCUniversal, announced it would shut downNBCSN by the end of the year, with certain sport programming rights moving to USA and streaming servicePeacock.^[38][39] WWE confirmed the move to Tuesdays as part of a multi-year renewal agreement.^[40] The move to Tuesday nights brought an end to the Wednesday Night Wars.

Following the end of the Wednesday Night Wars, both programs benefitted in the Nielsen ratings without the direct competition.NXT's April 13 episode averaged 805,000 viewers with a 0.22 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This viewership number was an increase from the 768,000 viewers who tuned into night one of the NXT specialNXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver the previous Wednesday.^[41] The next day,Dynamite drew over 1.219 million viewers to TNT, up 77% from the prior week’s 688,000 almost doubling Total Viewers. This wasDynamite's best viewership number since its debut episode on October 2, 2019. AEW also placed 2nd that evening in the Cable Top 150 with a 0.44 rating in the 18-49 demographic, their best key demographic rating since the October 23, 2019 episode ofDynamite.^[42]

Viewership ratings

Key demographic ratings

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• TNA Impact!'s move to Monday nights

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