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This article is about the TV show. For the brand itself, see NXT (WWE brand).

WWE NXT, also known simply as NXT, is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring performers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show currently airs live on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the USA Network.

NXT initially debuted in 2010 as a seasonal show which was presented as a hybrid between WWE's scripted live event shows and reality television, in which talent from WWE's then-developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) participated in a competition to become WWE's next "breakout star", with the help of mentors from WWE's Raw and SmackDown brands. Five seasons of this iteration were broadcast, with Wade Barrett, Kaval, Kaitlyn, and Johnny Curtis as winners. In June 2012, WWE ended the seasonal competition format and opted to revamp the show as a developmental wrestling program, replacing FCW. NXT became the flagship television show of the NXT brand, and has since received a positive reception and high viewership, with praise for its high quality of wrestling[1][2] and captivating storylines, particularly from 2014 to 2018.[3][4]

The initial version of the show made its debut on Syfy on February 23, 2010, replacing WWE ECW, but was replaced by SmackDown in October. It then aired as an hourly webcast on WWE.com in the United States until June 13, 2012, before it was expanded to international markets on the WWE Network in 2014. In 2019, NXT expanded into a live two-hour program on the USA Network, airing on Wednesday nights, at the same time as rival promotion All Elite Wrestling's flagship show Dynamite on TNT, before moving to Tuesday nights in April 2021. In September 2021, NXT was revamped and rebranded as NXT 2.0. A supplementary show titled NXT Level Up began airing on February 18, 2022, replacing 205 Live. In September 2022, "2.0" was dropped from the title, and in October 2024, NXT will move to The CW.

The WWE Network ceased operations in the United States on April 5, 2021, with all content being moved to Peacock, which currently has most previous NXT episodes, excluding content that was censored or removed by Peacock TV's standards and practices department.[5] Recent episodes are still available for on-demand viewing 30 days after the original air date.[6]

History

Background

On February 2, 2010, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon introduced a new weekly program that would replace the canceled ECW in its time slot on Syfy. McMahon described the show as "the next evolution of WWE; the next evolution of television history".[7]

The new show's name, NXT,[8] was later discovered to be trademark already in the United Kingdom by National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Scottish Wrestling Alliance (SWA) which also used "NXT" as their brand for upcoming stars. Both parties ultimately reached an agreement that resulted in SWA releasing the "NXT" trademark in favor of a new one before the show's debut.[9][10]

The show's format was revealed in an article by Variety on February 16, with a press release from WWE made shortly later that day.[11][12][13] NXT is the second reality-based series produced by WWE, the first being WWE Tough Enough which aired between 2001 and 2004.[11] Due to WWE's nature of airing weekly shows without hiatus, the plan for NXT was to split the year's set of episodes into multiple seasons.[11]

Original format (2010–2012)

Main article: WWE NXT seasons 1–5

NXT was formed in 2010 when they paired up wrestlers from WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (dubbed "Rookies") with wrestlers from WWE's existing Raw and SmackDown brands (dubbed "Pros"). Each episode featured the rookies being mentored by the pros as they develop their gimmick and performance skills in front of a live audience. The pairings also enabled the show to crossover into WWE's Raw and SmackDown programs.[11][13] As the length of each season differed, features of the competition occur at different times accordingly. In addition to matches, weekly challenges were held during the competition to further test the Rookies' physical and mental skills.[14]

Past physical challenges include a keg carrying contest, an assault course contest and a "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em" tournament.[14][15][16] Past non-physical challenges include making 30-second promos on a given topic and selling programme within a time limit.[17][18]

During the first two seasons, the winner of the weekly challenge receives a special prize such as a main event match, a talk show segment or a feature on WWE's official website.[14][17][18] One of the more frequent prizes given out to the winner is an "Immunity Pass", which gives the holder immunity from elimination in the next round of polls.[19][20] During the last three seasons a greater emphasis on challenges was placed on the show. Instead of awarding prizes to the winner of the challenges, points are instead awarded to the winner with a cumulative tally of points recorded before each of the first three polls. The Rookie with the most points before the next upcoming poll is awarded immunity.[21] In season three, one point is awarded for winning the challenge.[21]

In October 2010, WWE moved their show SmackDown to Syfy, with NXT leaving the network at the same time.[22][23][24] Despite WWE's stated intention of broadcasting the show on another TV channel,[25] NXT began to be aired as a webcast on WWE's website for American visitors.

In season four, the number of points vary on the difficulty of the challenge.[26][27] In the result of a tie-break, the audience is then asked to vote for the Rookie they want to get immunity.[28] Season four also saw the introduction of challenge matches involving the entire roster of Pros or Rookies where the winner would be given the chance to swap their respective Rookie or Pro for another.[29][30] In various weeks, polls were held to evaluate the success of each Rookie and determine the winner of the competition.[31] The poll rankings are entirely determined by votes from the Pros and starting from season 2, votes from fans via WWE's official website.[32] In the Pros' votes, each of the Pros vote for their favorite Rookie, but cannot vote for their own Rookie.[31] Their votes are based on the following four criteria:[33]

  • Win–loss record within the show
  • Strength of opponents
  • Work ethic
  • "It" factor

Initially, in the first two seasons the full results and rankings from the poll were revealed.[34] However, since August 17, 2010 only the elimination is revealed.[35] The first poll, usually held a third of the way through the competition, determines the Rookies' rankings. Subsequent polls are held several weeks later near the end of the season, where the lowest ranked Rookie without immunity is eliminated.[34] Season 2 was set to use this format, but was changed to have the first poll an elimination poll.[20][36] Season three also used the second season's format.[21] The show continued until the season finale, where the final two or three Rookies appear. One or two final polls were then held to determine the winner of the competition.[34][37] The prize for the winner is a WWE contract as well as a championship match at any list of WWE pay-per-view and WWE Network events.[34][38] Outside of the polls, Rookies could still be eliminated via an executive decision from WWE management, as the first season saw both Daniel Bryan and Michael Tarver eliminated by management for a lack of self-confidence.[39]

Starting in 2012, the all-rookie competition was abandoned with the show now featuring past and present rookies alongside lower cardmembers of the main WWE roster. William Regal would also take over as the authority figure and match coordinator, with Matt Striker being retained as the show's host. On May 30, 2012, it was revealed that a sixth season of NXT under its original format was set to air. The season was supposed to star Big E, Seth Rollins, Damien Sandow, Hunico, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose as the season's rookies, but ultimately was cancelled before airing.[40][41]

Reboot (2012–2019)

Main article: NXT (WWE brand)

In May 2012, the show's format was revamped. The show began using more talent from FCW as well as talent from the main roster. The first four episodes under the new format were taped at Full Sail University on May 17.[42] Beginning with NXT Arrival in February 2014, NXT has occasionally aired live specials on the WWE Network. These events would be aired under the NXT TakeOver banner from May 2014 to 2021, and effectively serve as the brand's equivalent to the main roster's pay-per-view shows.

WWE continued to air NXT Redemption, hoping a new television deal could be made. WWE.com revealed on June 13 that the new version of NXT would be made available online via WWE.com and YouTube beginning on Wednesday, June 20; when WWE would begin airing the episodes they taped at Full Sail on May 17. However, WWE removed all of the NXT material from their website on June 19.[43] NXT was then aired exclusively on Hulu and Hulu Plus in the United States, while continuing to be broadcast internationally.[44][45]

NXT Arena during a Live Event in 2016

NXT returned to cable on December 20, 2017, airing a 1-hour special on USA Network.[46]

Move to USA Network (2019–2024)

In September 2019, NXT permanently moved to USA Network and was revamped as a live, two-hour program on Wednesday nights, with replays available the following day on WWE Network.[47][48] Due to scheduling overlap with the final episodes of Suits, the second hour of the program was aired on WWE Network until October 2, when it began airing in its entirety on USA. This started the Wednesday Night Wars,[49] during which NXT was broadcast in direct competition with rival wrestling show AEW Dynamite, which aired in the same time slot on TNT.[50] Several publications noted the similarity between this ratings war and the Monday Night War that had involved Raw and WCW Monday Nitro.[51][52]

Beginning with the March 18, 2020, episode of NXT, WWE began filming all of its programs without an audience at Full Sail University as a result of restrictions imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 4, 2020, NXT relocated from Full Sail to the WWE Performance Center's main studio, which was reconfigured as the "Capitol Wrestling Center"; the studio was a variation of the WWE ThunderDome concept used by Raw and SmackDown since August, with a virtual audience and limited in-person audience.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY SHUTS DOWN, NXT TAPINGS HEADING TO WWE PC | PWInsider.com |url=https://www.pwinsider.com/article/134680/full-sail-university-shuts-down-nxt-tapings-heading-to-


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).

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