CW Network executive praises WWE NXT women’s division
Brad Schwartz, president of The CW Network, is a big fan of the WWE NXT women’s division.
Appearing at the 2025 Sports Business Journal Media Innovators conference on Tuesday, Schwartz discussed the addition of NXT to The CW’s portfolio. NXT joined the station in 2024 as part of a new strategy by The CW to increase the amount of live sports it offers. A highlight for Schwartz has been the female talent, who he believes are stronger than their male counterparts.
“I think the women of NXT are better than the men,” Schwartz said. “The women’s division of NXT is probably the strongest in all of WWE wrestling.”
Schwartz noted that adding sports to The CW was a way for the channel to bring in simultaneous live audiences. NXT in particular has the benefit of being a year-round program that airs every week.
“What NXT offered us was the opportunity to have live-event programming 52 weeks a year on a Tuesday night,” Schwartz said. “And so that was a really, really big move for us. We can try and turn these wrestlers into stars, we can market it, we can promote it, we can put the whole machine of Nexstar [the media group that owns The CW] behind getting people to watch it and know that the value of that growth comes back to us for the next five years.”
NXT is in New York City tonight for the start of its Gold Rush 2025 special. The show is airing as a two-week TV event.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.