Without Judgment Day, WWE NXT Falls In The Ratings From Last Week's Historic High

It was just last week when "WWE NXT" saw its highest viewership in two years with an average of 776,000 viewers overall, apparently boosted by The Judgment Day's presence. "NXT" North American Champion Dominik Mysterio and WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley were on the episode, where Mysterio successfully defended his title against Dragon Lee. WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio was in Lee's corner.

According to Wrestlenomics, the August 15 episode's total viewership was down to an average of 680,000 overall, a 12 percent drop compared to last week. The key age 18 to 49 demographic was at 249,000 viewers for a 0.19 rating, down 16 percent from last week's 0.23.

This past Tuesday's episode only featured "Dirty" Dom and Ripley in a backstage promo to announce that they will team together on next week's "NXT: Heatwave" special against Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria. Their backstage segment, according to Wrestlenomics, is the most-watched "NXT" video on WWE's YouTube channel. Mysterio and the whole Judgment Day crew (Ripley, Damian Priest, and Finn Balor) were all present on the developmental brand for its July 18 episode, it was also when Mysterio defeated Wes Lee to become the new champion. That episode's total viewership was an average of 746,000 viewers. 279,000 of those viewers were in the key P18-49 demo.

This week's episode ended with "NXT" Champion Carmelo Hayes and Wes Lee signing for their Heatwave title match. Earlier on the show, Lee had to defeat Dijak to become Hayes' next challenger. Also, Blair Davenport defeated Dana Brooke, Jacy Jayne defeated Chase U's Thea Hail, and the "NXT" Tag Team Champions Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo successfully defended their titles against The Dyad (Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid) in the opening match.