The Rock Leads WWE NXT To Highest TV Audience In Over 5 Years
An appearance from The Rock helped give the WWE NXT brand its biggest television audience in over five years.
It is not that common for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to appear on WWE programming in this era, but the movie star found his way back home to WWE at Monday Night Raw on Netflix and WWE NXT on The CW. Both shows took place in Los Angeles.
After his appearance on Raw, Rock let WWE fans know that he would be appearing on NXT for the first time as well.
During the WWE NXT broadcast, The Rock had a backstage segment with his daughter Ava, who is the NXT GM, and former NXT Champion Ethan Page. Rock said he heard that Ethan broke a guy’s jaw, then Page said Je’Von deserved it and Rock warned him that payback’s gonna be a bitch although Page seemed to doubt that. Rock said that he is The Final Boss, but on this show on NXT, Ava is the Final Boss. Rock told Page if you are going to be cool with The Rock then be cool with her. Rock wished Page good luck on the main roster one day.
The Rock appeared in the NXT main event segment where he said multiple swear words that were muted and led him to apologize for it. Rock addressed his comments from Raw when he complimented and he went on to tease that maybe there is something planned for Cody after all.
“What did they say? ‘You can’t be nice to Cody. Don’t be nice to Cody. Don’t drink tequila with Cody.’ Oh, f***. At the end of the day, let us all remind them that The Rock is the Final Boss, thinking 20 steps ahead, so the best thing for them to do is to know their role, shut their mouth, and enjoy the ride that The Rock is taking them on.”
Other than that, Rock thanked the fans for supporting WWE and the NXT brand while saying that the fan’s support means so much to the talent in the ring.
In addition to The Rock appearing on the show, there were also three title changes on NXT. Lexis King won the Heritage Cup from Charlie Dempsey, Giulia beat Roxanne Perez to become the NXT Women’s Champion and Oba Femi won the NXT Championship in a triple threat match with former champion Trick Williams and Eddy Thorpe.
WWE NXT Audience Reaches Five-Year High With The Rock
According to Variety per Nielsen, NXT scored 957,000 viewers, which is up 53% from last week.
In the coveted 18-49 age demographic, NXT did an impressive 0.25 for 341,000 viewers, which is up 67% from last week.
From a historical standpoint, Variety noted it was the best NXT audience in over five years.
That is the best viewership for NXT since September 2019, when it was airing on USA Network. It is also the best viewership for the show since it moved to The CW in October 2024, with the premiere on the broadcast network netting 895,000 viewers on Oct. 1.
It should also be noted that NXT was pre-empted in the Los Angeles area due to the CW covering the raging wildfires in the area, so the show was supposed to air on Wednesday night in Los Angeles although it may get pre-empted again due to the fires.
Next week’s January 14th episode of NXT will feature Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn and Nathan Frazer & Axiom defending the NXT Tag Team Championships vs. OTM. The Rock is not expected to be there.