Reason Behind New Year’s Evil Replay Going Head-to-Head with AEW Collision This Week

WWE and AEW have been more competitive with their scheduling, and this week the replay for NXT New Year’s Evil will go head-to-head with AEW Collision. Naturally, fans found this to be a very odd move and the reason behind this scheduling clash has now been revealed.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, NXT wasn’t broadcast in Los Angeles this week due to KTLA’s coverage of the wildfires. The plan to air it on Wednesday also fell through because of the fire coverage.

As a result, NXT will air on Saturday nationwide on CW from 8-10 p.m., competing head-to-head with Collision. It was noted that NXT is sometimes replayed on Saturdays anyway, but this schedule change was made specifically due to the Los Angeles delay. It’s possible the show might have been replayed on Saturday due to The Rock’s appearance, but the change came after the Wednesday broadcast was canceled.

The live airing of NXT New Year’s Evil on January 7 was a huge hit, garnering 957,000 viewers and being the highest viewership for NXT since 2019. Nonetheless, we’ll have to see whether AEW Collision will be able to gain more viewers than the replay for New Year’s Evil, as fans feel that may not happen.

What do you think about the scheduling clash between NXT New Year’s Evil and AEW Collision? Will AEW pull ahead in the ratings, or will NXT’s strong showing continue with the Saturday replay? Share your thoughts in the comments below!