WWE: Update on WWE’s Current Plans for Hall of Fame 2024 Class, More on NXT March 12, 2024 Viewership, More News

Mar 16, 2024

Update on WWE’s Current Plans for This Year’s WWE Hall of Fame Class & Bray Wyatt Induction Status

As noted before, WWE is currently expected to announce Lia Maivia as the next inductee for this year’s class of inductees for their Hall of Fame. Besides Maivia, Bray Wyatt’s name was on a list of inductees for this year’s class that had been recently leaked online.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in Friday’s Daily Update that his sources confirmed that with the execption of Maivia, all of the members of this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class have been announced.

In regards to Wyatt, Meltzer reported that WWE officials currently do not have any plans for Wyatt to be included in this year’s class as of this past Thursday. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Wyatt is expected to be inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame in the future.

More on NXT Viewership for March 12, 2024

The March 12th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a large decline in overall viewership but gained a small increase in key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 588,000 viewers and a 0.16 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking was 10th place.

Detailed key demographic viewership breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reasons for NXT’s mixed results this week was due to the large declines from their Over 50 viewership and female key demographic viewership groups, which its percentages were not given. This reportedly mostly offset the gains from their male key demographic viewership, which its percentage was not given.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the NBA game of Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks drew 973,000 viewers on TNT, the NBA game of Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Clippers drew 877,000 viewers on TNT, the College basketball game of Gonzaga vs. St. Mary’s drew 1,184,000 viewers on ESPN, the Women’s College basketball game of Texas vs. Iowa State drew 336,000 viewers on ESPN2, Vanderpump Rules drew 929,000 viewers on BRAVO, Watch What Happens Live drew 644,000 viewers on BRAVO, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,421,000 viewers on History Channel, and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 361,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 206,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership split 68.8% in favor of males.

In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak overall viewership reportedly was 620,000 viewers for the quarter hour featuring the Ilja Dragunov & The Family video promo segment and the Lexis King vs. Robert Stone match. NXT’s peak key demographic viewership reportedly was 221,000 viewers for the same quarter hour. NXT’s overrun reportedly drew 582,000 overall viewers and 244,000 key demographic viewers for the Trick Williams & Meta-Four promo & brawl segment.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 1.3% in overall viewership and up 9% in key demographic viewership.

AEW News & Notes

As noted before, Game Changer Wrestling and Josh Barnett recently announced that Shayna Baszler will be making an appearance at their Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport X event next month in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque was the person who made the decision allowing Baszler and other WWE talent to take indie bookings during WrestleMania 40 week. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Levesque has a different viewpoint than Vince McMahon had when it comes to WWE talent working at non-WWE events.

Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources within WWE stated that the reason why WWE’s offer for Will Ospreay was for “a lot less money” than AEW’s offer was due to WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque did not realize how charismatic Will Ospreay is on the microphone. This low-ball offer reportedly was a key factor in Ospreay’s decision to sign with AEW instead.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE officials have held recent talks regarding the idea of the return of Legacy inductees for this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class.

As noted before, a lawsuit against WWE by a fan named Marvin Jackson who claimed that he was injured while attending WrestleMania 38 in 2022 due to negligence issues by the company was dismissed this past May. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that this lawsuit was ordered to go back to arbitration based on recent court records. Johnson reported that The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled on March 8th holding up a previous decision made by District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. This ruling by the lower court was in favor of WWE and stated that WWE was correct in arguing that any issues arising from Jackson’s claims would have to go to arbitration based on the agreement he entered when using the ticket for the event that was purchased by a relative.

In a recent post on Twitter, Bronson Reed is currently asking fans to voice their support for WWE to hold a Meaty Men Invitational match at next month’s WrestleMania 40 match due to him wanting some “big brothers” to be featured at the event. Reed stated “There are some BIG brothers currently not on this year’s #WrestleMania. I think its time for @WWEBigE MEATY INVITATIONAL! If you, the WWE universe want it, let your voice be heard!!! #MEATMANIA“

In a recent interview with the WWE The Bump show, Baron Corbin gave his thoughts about his recent NXT Tag Team Championship victory and revealed that his contract with WWE had been set to expire at the end of 2023. Corbin stated “It feels good. I can’t lie about that. It feels amazing to have this and walk around with this title and be proud of that. I went into NXT with no expectations, and Shawn [Michaels] and Baldo [Matt Bloom] and [writer/producer Johnny] Russo, they all grabbed ahold of me, and they’re like, ‘Let’s let you do your thing.’ They have kind of let me really come into my own, and it’s made it exciting for me to go to work every day again. It’s made me excited to go in the gym and put in the extra work. Then I got a tag partner. People don’t know, my contract was running up at the end of the year, and it’s kind of one of those things, it’s a question of like, ‘What am I doing? Do I need to go and find myself?’ Or whatever. NXT was going so well, and the opportunity to work with him, I was like, man, this is where I belong. This is how we get the life back to what I’m doing.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

WWE recently announced three new matches and one segment for next week’s SmackDown show on March 22nd in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:

WWE Tag Team Championship Six-Pack Challenge Ladder Qualifier Tournament Bracket #1 match – The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. AOP (Akam & Rezar)
WWE Tag Team Championship Six-Pack Challenge Ladder Qualifier Tournament Bracket #1 match – The OC (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs. Grayson Waller & Austin Theory
Rey Mysterio vs. Santos Escobar
Roman Reigns & Cody Rhodes face-to-face segment

WWE also recently announced one new segment for next week’s RAW show on March 18th in Raleigh, North Carolina: