WWE: Kairi Sane WWE Return Plans Update, Dragon Lee Signed New Main Roster Contract, More on NXT Oct. 31, 2023 Viewership

Kairi Sane WWE Return Plans Update – Same Rumored to Return to WWE at Saturday’s Crown Jewel Event

As noted before, WWE officially added Kairi Sane to their internal roster list this past Thursday and her official return to the company is currently expected to be imminent.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that as of Friday morning, the word going around within WWE was that Sane could be returning as early as today’s Crown Jewel 2023 event in Saudi Arabia. Those spoken to in Japan reportedly stated that they currently believe Sane will be stateside this month.

In regards to WWE’s current return plans for Sane, Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that WWE officials wanted to make signing Sane back to the company a “priority” for this year. It was reported that Sane’s name was brought up by WWE officials for a potential return last year during the period when WWE was bringing back several previously released talents but they decided against bringing her back at the time. It was also reported that WWE officials currently have creative plans pitched for Sane once she officially comes back and her upcoming return was something that WWE did not try to keep as a secret.

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Dragon Lee WWE Contract Status Update

As noted before, Dragon Lee was officially called up and added to WWE’s SmackDown roster this past October following around a six month stint in their NXT developmental brand.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that Lee signed his new main roster contract last week. This reportedly was one of the factors behind Lee’s decision to sign with WWE instead of with AEW despite Lee’s brothers RUSH and Dralistico being currently signed there.

The terms for Lee’s new main roster deal were not given but WWE main roster deals typically are for five years in length.

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More on NXT Viewership for October 31, 2023

The October 31st episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a a very large decline in overall viewership and a slight decline in key demographic ratings but gained a slight increase in key demographic rankings. This week’s show was notable for being the Halloween Havoc 2023 Night 2 special.

NXT drew 674,000 viewers and a 0.20 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 6th place.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the main reasons for NXT’s declines this week was due to stiff sports competition that night especially from the 2023 MLB World Series and the large declines from their younger key demographic viewership and Over 50 viewership groups, which was down 17.7% for the former compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the gains from their older male key demographic viewership and older female key demographic viewership groups, which were up 5.9% and 29.6% respectively compared to last week’s show.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the 2023 MLB World Series Game 4 of Texas Rangers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks drew 8,480,000 viewers on FOX, the NBA game of New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers drew 1,298,000 viewers on TNT, the NHL game of Los Angeles Kings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs drew 418,000 viewers on ESPN, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drew 466,000 viewers on BRAVO, My Big Fat Fabulous Lie drew 559,000 viewers on TLC, and Catfish drew 310,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 258,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 was 71,000 viewers (down 16.5%), Females 18-34 was 36,000 viewers (down 20%), Males 35-49 was 126,000 viewers (up 5.9%), and Females 35-49 was 35,000 viewers (up 29.6%). Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership split was 197,000 male viewers and 71,000 female viewers for a split of 76.4% in favor of males. Meltzer reported that this year’s two week Halloween Havoc 2023 specials drew the lowest percentage of female viewers out of any televised wrestling show over the past two weeks.

NXT’s peak overall viewership reportedly was at 716,000 viewers for the quarter hour featuring the Bron Breakker vs. Mr. Stone match while the peak key demographic viewership was at 280,000 viewers each for the first and second quarters featuring Tables, Ladders, and Scares match of The Creed Brothers vs. Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo. Meltzer reported that NXT’s overrun drew 655,000 overall viewers and 275,000 key demographic viewers for the bulk of the NXT Championship match of Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov (c) & post-match angles with Trick Williams & Baron Corbin.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 0.6% in overall viewership and up 31.8% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 39% compared to the same week last year.