It's been a memorable month of viewership for "WWE NXT," mostly because of their January 7 episode involving The Rock. That show went through a rollercoaster of ratings data, at one point seemingly having drawn nearly a million viewers, before it later coming out that the show was in the high 700K's. Still, the number was among the strongest "NXT" had done in the past year, and it was difficult to believe that an "NXT" episode not featuring The Rock could top those numbers.
And yet, that's exactly what Tuesday's episode seems to have done. Programming Insider reports that "NXT" drew 812K total viewers, and 0.22 in the coveted 18-49. There is still some wiggle room for error, as Wrestlenomics noted that they themselves hadn't confirmed the number. Should these figures hold true, it would mean "NXT" was up from last week, with total viewership rising 4% from 779K, while 18-49 was up a whopping 29% from 0.17.
Perhaps most impressively, the numbers were higher in both categories than The Rock's episode, which ultimately drew 798K total viewers and 0.21 in 18-49. As such, it would make this week's "NXT" the highest rated episode since the October 8 episode, which featured Randy Orton, and was the second show to air on The CW following their debut on October 1.
The main attraction on "NXT" this week was Oba Femi making his first defense of the NXT Championship, defending against Eddy Thorpe, who had watched Femi win the title in a three way match involving himself, Femi, and former champion Trick Williams. Much like that bout, Femi got the better of Thorpe, defeating him in under ten and a half minutes to retain the gold.
