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HBK Reportedly Instrumental In Shortening NXT Entrances
Over the last several week’s fans have noticed that ring entrances for wrestlers on WWE’s NXT program had been shortened from their original length, with many questioning why the yellow-and-black brand would cut back on one of their best features.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this was brought up by WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, who believed that the longer ring entrances would give a viewer more time to switch over to AEW, which was running in competition with NXT on Wednesday nights prior to their move to Tuesday. The report mentions that the idea of cutting time from entrances is to have more time for angles and in-ring action.
The publication adds that the full story actually began with the Heartbreak Kid’s wife, Rebecca, who told him that she thought the entrances were on the longer side and could potentially force someone to change the channel. Michaels would later approach Triple H on the subject, leading to the shorter entrances.
The move to Tuesday has proved effective for NXT in terms of overnight viewership, as their numbers improved greatly once they didn’t have AEW to directly compete with them. Their most recent episode, the fallout from Takeover: In Your House, saw the return of Samoa Joe as a backstage enforcer, and boosted them to one of their best overnight numbers in the last couple of months.