Kenny Omega: We Weren’t Battling For Wednesday, We Were Battling For The Week

The Wednesday Night Wars between AEW and NXT came to an end in April when NXT moved to Tuesday nights.

The war began when AEW premiered on TNT in October 2019 and during the next 18 months, Dynamite would win 63 of 75 weeks in terms of overall viewership and 74 of 75 weeks in the 18-49 demographic rating when the two promotions went head-to-head.

Speaking on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast, Kenny Omega weighed in on the two companies going head-to-head.

“I never felt one way or another towards the war, if you want to call it that. I wouldn’t call it that. I knew we would tell different stories and show different matches in our company. I can only control what I have handed, which would be my stuff and a variety of other things that may or may not be on the show. I’m sure The Bucks feel the same way. For NXT to have moved to Tuesday, sure, great. I never felt like it was a battle for Wednesday, it’s a battle across the board. There is so much wrestling, every day during the week. I think back to when I was a fan and I thought I was a megafan and even at the height of my fandom, I couldn’t watch the amount of wrestling that is available today. The real war is how do you get the eyeballs for your day of the week. We’re not battling for Wednesday, we’re battling for the week. There are so many great wrestlers and no one roster with all the great athletes. How do you be different enough or get eyes on your product by doing something different than everyone else that week? That’s the name of the game for me. I love a lot of those NXT guys and a lot of them are my friends. I love to see them doing well and love when I hear they have a great match,” he said.

Omega went on to say he would tell fans to watch NXT if he heard about a great match, especially if it involved some of his friends like Adam Cole or Kyle O’Reilly. He also said he wants to make sure AEW maximizes its minutes in entertainment as he would like the company to stick around.

Omega continued discussing the Wednesday Night Wars by saying, “I’m trying to attract viewers. I’m not trying to steal viewers from another product, I want new viewers that watch and say this is fun or funny or dramatic and they tell a friend who tells a friend and now we have new viewers enjoying our product. I’m not competing to steal wrestling fans from another company because a lot of them watch everything. I want those fans to enjoy our product because they are the backbone and there is a huge importance for me to attract the new fan.”

Being the AEW World Champion and one of the faces of the company comes with a certain amount of pressure to lead the promotion.

When asked about the pressure to deliver numbers for AEW and TNT, Omega replied, “If my trust system is honest with me and they say, ‘you killed it tonight’ then it puts my mind at ease and I feel like the people watching at home will take the enjoyment out of it as well. We are our own worst critics so it’s tough for me to watch my own stuff or think that I’ve done a fantastic job because I always look to things that I could have done better or things that I didn’t like at all. Knowing the types of television programs that are pulling those ratings and that are beloved and are canceled, but you see that there are a group of people in love with the show and are torn apart that they are gone. It’s hard to strike the balance; how do you attract the masses but also pull in people who are looking for something specific and unique? What I do falls out of line with typical professional wrestling. I’m hoping that I can target new fans or strike a different chord with people.”

Before the show moved to Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET due to the NBA Playoffs, AEW Dynamite was often among the top shows on cable in the 18 to 49 demographic.

Omega is set to be part of Friday’s Dynamite as Don Callis has promised to expose a conspiracy against his client. Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning at 10 p.m. ET on Friday.

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