NXT

Sometimes it's a smart idea to raise the white flag and regroup.

It was almost impossible to see this idea fit WWE in the face of new competition—yet here we are.

WWE's attempts to thwart All Elite Wrestling's rise were misguided from the start, with the company shifting NXT to Wednesday nights and initially trying to play it off as not related to the new competition. Once ratings seemed closer than most might have expected, WWE personnel seemingly started to shift the goalposts to a "competition is good for the industry" angle.

And make no mistake—competition is good. But NXT sitting on Wednesday nights is hurting NXT. 

That might, at least in part, explain why WWE might entertain moving NXT to Tuesday nights. According to Fightful (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), USA Network is behind the idea of the shift.

And that's probably for the best because, to be blunt, WWE has been getting whipped in the new-era ratings war on Wednesday nights. AEW's audience has proved to be loyal, even in the crowd-less era and against the NBA playoffs and any number of other events.

What makes this so disappointing for WWE fans, and arguably wrestling as a whole, is that NXT has been doing some amazing things. Keith Lee's run was incredible. Finn Balor is there. Top female stars, from the main roster or otherwise, headlined the show. It goes on and on and on.

Yet everything NXT has done since shifting to Wednesdays against AEW has felt like it had the spectre of a ratings grab hanging over it. Sasha Banks going down there and putting on classics, for example, should have been special. And it was, partially, but it was also easy to wonder whether it would ever happen had AEW not occupied a television spot on the same night.

Maybe that's unfair. It probably is—at the end of the day, WWE just wants the best show possible for performers and fans. But positioning NXT right in a ratings war didn't help the perception. Like endlessly pushing a good-guy Roman Reigns at fans for years and years, much of it just started to not feel organic.

This, partially, has to play a role in ratings dipping. World circumstances and even AEW eating into some of the audience play a role too. So does sheer product oversaturation. But NXT feeling like it's just trying to shove aside another promotion doesn't help matters.

Maybe that's part of the reason USA Network is reportedly behind the idea of a shift to Tuesday nights. Doing so will immediately remove any idea that what WWE is doing on the programming is simply a ploy to best the competition on the same night.

And in the same turn, that means NXT can get back to just feeling like NXT. With a simple shift, a fan-favorite show immediately dominates its own night again, no questions asked.

While the internet might alight with chatter about AEW "winning the Wednesday night war," the reality is, who cares? AEW Superstars will surely even take a few shots at doing so too, perhaps even dedicating a whole segment to it (hi, Chris Jericho and the bubbly).

And again, who cares? WWE took its shot and missed. Own it and move on. There are already hints on the main roster that the company is more than willing to do the unexpected to keep fans happy during these odd times. Reigns headlining the entire company as a bad guy in 2020 is a perfect example.

Maybe moving NXT to a different night, admitting a mistake through that action and letting NXT thrive as a unique product not involved in a ratings war is the next step.

Who complains if the promotion goes through with the idea, besides those obsessively circling items on ratings charts?

Wrestling as a whole wins if NXT moves. The competition is still there, and both companies will still push one another. But the brand gets to be itself free from the perception of being a ratings-grab spectacle. That's good for the Superstars and better for the industry as a whole.

Finn Balor beat Adam Cole on Tuesday's episode of NXT to win the vacant NXT Championship and become only the third two-time NXT champion ever.

Karrion Kross won the NXT title from Keith Lee at NXT TakeOver: XXX, but he had to vacate it just days later because of injury, which prompted Triple H, Shawn Michaels and NXT general manager William Regal to reach a unique decision regarding how to crown a new champ.

It was announced that Balor, Cole, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano would face off in a Fatal 4-Way 60-Minute Iron Man match, with the winner being crowned NXT champion.

Balor seemed to have the match won, as he scored a pinfall late to break a 1-1-1-1 tie, but Cole hit him with the Last Shot from out of nowhere in the closing seconds and pinned him, giving both Balor and Cole two falls.

Each Superstar pleaded his case until Regal decided on the spot there would be sudden death the following week, with the winner of Balor vs. Cole being crowned the new NXT champion.

The booking of the Fatal 4-Way was a logical move on NXT's part, as it set the stage for another huge title match between two of the most successful NXT champions of all time.

Balor's title reign lasted 292 days, which stood as the longest run in NXT history for years until Cole broke it. Cole held the belt for 403 days before losing it to Lee in July. 

There was a strong case to be made for either man winning Tuesday given their accomplishments and star power, but Balor seemed to be the slight favorite since Cole was coming off a title run far more recently.

Balor entered Tuesday's match having not yet won a title during his current NXT run, and there is no question that he seemed overdue to hold gold.

By virtue of his win, Balor is the NXT champion once again, but this reign figures to be far different from his first since he has a new attitude and no longer leans on the demon character in big matches.

If Kross eventually comes back in search of the title he never lost, however, perhaps the demon can be pulled out of Balor once more.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Sixty minutes were not enough to determine NXT's new champion Tuesday as Finn Balor and Adam Cole finished with two falls apiece in their four-wrestler Iron Man match.

Balor and Cole will have a sudden-death match to lead off next week's NXT episode. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, who had one pin apiece Tuesday, will not take part.

Balor landed the first fall 25 minutes into the match:

He was exceptional, landing this front flip over the ropes on Gargano and Cole:

Bodies were strewn inside and out of the ring, including all four at one point:

After the midpoint of the match, Gargano scored his only fall, tying Balor at one:

Cole then got the pin on Gargano to pull himself into a three-man tie:

Then Ciampa got in on the action, and all four competitors found themselves with one fall apiece:

All wrestlers were still tied at one with under one minute left, but it appeared Finn Balor would get the title after landing the Coup de Grace on Ciampa, who had just hit Gargano with the Air Raid Crash.

However, an early celebration was all for naught, as Cole came in with a running knee and got the fall on Balor as time expired.

After some initial controversy as to whether Cole got the fall in time (he did), NXT general manager William Regal announced that Cole and Balor would have a sudden-death match.

Balor and Cole will now battle for the vacated NXT title, which Karrion Kross most recently held.

Kross defeated Keith Lee for the belt Aug. 23 but suffered a separated shoulder and was forced to give it up.

NXT lead announcer Mauro Ranallo is leaving WWE, the organization announced on Monday night. 

The WWE released a statement, noting it was a mutual agreement: 

"WWE and Mauro Ranallo have mutually and amicably agreed to part ways.

"Mauro's passion and enthusiasm left an indelible and exciting mark with WWE and its fans, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer provided a statement from Ranallo: "I appreciate the opportunity I had to realize my childhood dream of working in sports entertainment, and I wish WWE well in the future. Now I want to direct my focus and devote my time to my other projects and to my mental health charitable activities and the well-being of my mother and myself."

Working on SmackDown at the time, Ranallo had taken a leave of absence from the company in 2017 amid rumors he was the victim of bullying by coworker John Bradshaw Layfield. He later explained he felt exhausted by the WWE travel schedule.

WWE moved Ranallo to the NXT broadcast team, where his more demonstrative style was a perfect fit. His "Mamma mia!" catchphrase became a trademark for all of NXT's wildest moments.

Former WWE wrestler Wade Barrett worked on commentary for the most recent edition of NXT, and it's unclear whether his return coincides with Ranallo's departure. Barrett, Beth Phoenix and Vic Joseph could be the brand's broadcast trio going forward.

Meltzer noted Ranallo will continue his duties with Bellator and for Showtime's boxing events.

Wednesday night's episode of WWE NXT on USA Network saw its viewership rise compared to last week with no competition from All Elite Wrestling.

According to Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com, NXT averaged 853,000 viewers during its two-hour broadcast, which was up from last week's 619,000 viewers.

This week's viewership marked NXT's highest single-week audience since Nov. 20, 2019's show, which drew 916,000. 

There was no episode of AEW Dynamite on Wednesday because of the NBA playoffs. Instead, Dynamite will air on Saturday this week. With Dynamite off, the focus was solely on NXT and the build toward NXT TakeOver: XXX on Saturday.

The key segment on Wednesday's show was a face-to-face confrontation between former NXT champion Adam Cole and former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee. In an effort to combat Cole and Undisputed Era, McAfee came out with some friends of his own, including former NFL defensive back Darius Butler and linebacker A.J. Hawk.

McAfee cut a scathing promo against Cole and proved he had the chops needed to be in the wrestling business in that regard. Security tried to step in at one point when it started to get heated, but Cole laid them all out.

Cole ended the segment by vowing to beat and embarrass McAfee at TakeOver: XXX in a match that should have no shortage of mainstream attention.

There were also two matches with major implications for TakeOver in the form of Johnny Gargano vs. Ridge Holland and the main event of Finn Balor vs. Velveteen Dream. The winners of those matches qualified for the North American Championship ladder match at TakeOver.

Gargano beat Holland in the first match despite getting dropped on his head as part of a scary spot, while Dream beat Balor in the main event after Timothy Thatcher showed up and took out Balor.

Dream and Gargano will join Bronson Reed, Damian Priest and Cameron Grimes in the ladder match, which is guaranteed to crown a new North American champion.

Also on the show, Dakota Kai beat Jessi Kamea and then beat down NXT women's champion Io Shirai with help from the returning Raquel Gonzalez. Legado del Fantasma beat Breezango and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott in a six-man tag team match, and the team of Rhea Ripley and Shotzi Blackheart beat Mercedes Martinez and Aliyah.

The main event of Saturday's NXT TakeOver: XXX features Keith Lee defending the NXT Championship against Karrion Kross.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

WWE Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy and Development and NXT founder Triple H addressed the allegations made against Velveteen Dream during an interview Monday.

Multiple people have alleged that Dream (real name Patrick Clark) had inappropriate communications with them while they were underage.

Dream made his return to NXT television last week after over one month away, and Triple H explained to Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports that Dream's absence was due to a car accident he was involved in rather than the allegations:

"Everything that we have done, we are comfortable with him continuing to do what he does and everything else. But he had a car accident. It stemmed down to people thought we removed him from TV for different reasons. We didn't. He was in a car accident.

"Once he was medically cleared to be able to return to the ring from his car accident, we continued forward the way we did. We looked into what was there and we didn't find anything."

Triple H also noted that WWE looked into the allegations against Dream and didn't find anything that warranted disciplinary action or his release from the company:

"You know, in this day today, accusations are made and you take them all very seriously. You look into them the best you can, and you find out what is there and what isn't. In this situation, [Clark] was also involved in a car accident. That's what took him off TV. In the moment, all this other stuff happens and you look into it and you find that there is a situation that people bring to everyone's attention, you look into it and find that it is what it is and there's nothing there."

Per WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton, independent wrestler Josh Fuller is among those who levied allegations against Clark. Fuller said he met Clark at an independent wrestling show when he was 16 and Clark was 19.

Fuller alleged that Clark "tried to get [him] to show him his full body, and allegedly promised to help get Fuller a job with WWE." Clark also allegedly tried to keep their relationship a secret.

Following Clark's return to television, Fuller tweeted that no one from WWE had contacted him to investigate his allegations.

In April, a person who said they were 17 years old posted screenshots of a conversation they allegedly had with Clark through Instagram direct messages that included a censored version of an explicit photo they said Clark sent to them.

In a tweet that has since been deleted, Dream denied any wrongdoing: "Be assured I did not communicate inappropriately with anyone. A private photo of mine was shared without my consent or knowledge and I am working with a third party to look into this matter."

The 24-year-old Dream has been a fixture in NXT over the past few years. He is also known for appearing on the sixth season of WWE Tough Enough in 2015.

The former NXT North American champion made his return on last week's episode of NXT in a Triple Threat match against Cameron Grimes and Kushida, with the winner earning a place in the North American Championship ladder match at NXT TakeOver: XXX this weekend.

Dream lost the match when Grimes pinned Kushida, and he then turned heel afterward by attacking Kushida until Finn Balor interrupted.

Balor and Dream are scheduled to face each other on Wednesday's episode of NXT for a spot in the ladder match at TakeOver.