WWE NXT, also simply called NXT, is a professional wrestling television program that is produced by WWE and is broadcast on the WWE Network every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
Since June 2012, NXT has served as the flagship television show of WWE's developmental system while prior to this it existed as a seasonal show which was presented as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, in which talent from WWE's 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 version of NXT were broadcast from February 23, 2010 to June 13, 2012, with the first four seasons seeing Wade Barrett, Kaval, Kaitlyn, and Johnny Curtis as winners. In the later stages of season five, the all-rookie competition was abandoned with no winner being officially named, although Derrick Bateman was the final remaining rookie on NXT Redemption after both Darren Young and Titus O'Neil were signed to the SmackDown brand. Following the end of the fifth season, WWE ended the seasonal competition format of the show and renamed its developmental territory FCW to NXT.
The reformatted version of the show originally made its debut on Syfy on February 23, 2010, replacing ECW, which concluded the previous week. A month after its premiere in April 2010, it was announced that SmackDown would move from MyNetworkTV to Syfy on October 1. NXT aired its final episode on Syfy on September 28 to make way for SmackDown moving there on October 1 (albeit on Fridays as opposed to NXT's Tuesday timeslot) and began airing as a webcast at WWE.com for visitors from the United States from October 5 to June 13, 2012. It soon aired as a WWE Network exclusive from 2014, where it remains today.
All episodes of NXT are now available for streaming on the WWE Network.
Format
WWE NXT TakeOver Orlando 2017 Highlights HD - NXT TakeOver: Orlando was a professional wrestling event in the NXT TakeOver series. It took place on April 1, 2017, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida[3], as part of the WrestleMania...
Original format (2010â€"2012)
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 characters and performance skills in front of a live audience. The pairings also enabled the show to crossover into WWE's Raw and SmackDown programs. 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. Past physical challenges include a keg carrying contest, an assault course contest and a "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em" tournament. Past non-physical challenges include making 30-second promos on a given topic and selling programs within a time limit. 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. 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. 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. In season three, one point is awarded for winning the challenge. In season four, the number of points vary on the difficulty of the challenge. In the result of a tie-break, the audience is then asked to vote for the Rookie they want to get immunity. 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. In various weeks, polls were held to evaluate the success of each Rookie and determine the winner of the competition. The poll rankings are entirely determined by votes from the Pros and starting from season 2, votes from fans via WWE's official website. In the Pros' votes, each of the Pros vote for their favorite Rookie, but cannot vote for their own Rookie. Their votes are based on the following four criteria:
- 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. However, since August 17, 2010 only the elimination is revealed. 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. Season 2 was set to use this format, but was changed to have the first poll an elimination poll. Season three also used the second season's format. 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. The prize for the winner is a WWE contract as well as a championship match at any pay-per-view event. 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. Starting in 2012, the all-rookie competition was abandoned with the show now featuring past and present rookies alongside lower card members 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, 2017, 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 Langston, Seth Rollins, Damien Sandow, Hunico, Bo Dallas and Adam Rose as the season's rookies, but ultimately was cancelled before airing.
Revised format (2012â€"present)
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. WWE continued to air NXT Redemption, hoping a new television deal for NXT 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 University on May 17. However, WWE removed all of the NXT material from their website on June 19. NXT was then aired exclusively on Hulu and Hulu Plus in the United States while continuing to be broadcast internationally. NXT, now under the NXT brand, began airing on the new WWE Network on February 27, 2014, starting with a live event called NXT Arrival.
Seasons
Season 1
The first season of NXT began airing on Syfy on February 23, 2010 and ended on June 1, 2010. The majority of the season one cast was revealed a week before the premiere on the series finale of ECW. However, before the season's premiere aired Skip Sheffield's Pro was changed with William Regal replacing the announced Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). Near the end of the season, several changes were made to the original plan of the format. The season was shortened from the planned 17 episodes to 15 episodes. In the first elimination episode that aired on May 11, both Daniel Bryan and Michael Tarver were eliminated by WWE management and removed from that night's Pros' Poll after both made comments about wanting to be voted off. The show ended with three eliminations, with Sheffield ranked last in the Poll. Carlito was released on May 21 for refusing rehab after violating WWE's Wellness Program. Subsequent Pros' Polls were held without him for the rest of the season. The winner of season one was Wade Barrett. Immediately after the conclusion of season one, the Rookies were used in a storyline that had them forming an alliance called The Nexus. Led by Barrett, the group invaded the first Raw following the conclusion of season one in an attempt to gain WWE contracts for the losers of NXT. The invasion consisted of the group attacking John Cena as well as other wrestlers and WWE personnel. Barrett announced that he would invoke his title shot at Night of Champions for the WWE Championship in a six-pack challenge. At the event on September 19, Barrett lost in his title match to Randy Orton.
Contestants
Poll results
-     â€" Winner of competition
-     â€" Safe in competition
-     â€" Eliminated from competition by Pros' Poll
-     â€" Eliminated from competition by WWE management
-     â€" Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
Season 2
The second season of NXT started on June 8, 2010 and ended on August 31, 2010. The season 2 cast was revealed on the first season finale on June 1. The season was originally planned to last 12 weeks. However, it was later extended to 13 weeks. In this season, the polls were different as rankings were based half on Pro votes and half on votes from fans via WWE's official website. The first poll was shown on July 6. Originally, the polls format was set to match the previous season, with a non-elimination poll followed by weekly elimination polls on July 27. However, the first poll was made a surprise elimination round on the night with a second elimination poll held on August 3 instead. In addition, a double elimination stipulation was added to the fourth NXT poll on August 17. The winner of the season was Kaval. Along with Kaval, Alex Riley was immediately promoted to aid his Pro The Miz on the Raw brand. On November 21, Kaval invoked his title shot at Survivor Series for the Intercontinental Championship against the reigning champion Dolph Ziggler, but he was defeated. Kaval was released from his contract in December 2010.
Contestants
Poll results
-     â€" Winner of competition
-     â€" Safe in competition
-     â€" Eliminated from competition by NXT Poll
-     â€" Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
Season 3
The third season of NXT started on September 7, 2010 and ended on November 30, 2010. The season was exclusive to female wrestlers and was the second different contest produced by WWE to find new female wrestlers, the first being the Divas Searches held from 2003â€"2007. The first four episodes of season three were aired on Syfy. Due to the debut of SmackDown on Syfy on October 1, NXT left the channel and became a webcast at WWE.com for visitors from the United States from October 5 onwards. A new interactive website for NXT was also launched at the beginning of the season to accommodate the move. The reward to the victor was changed in contrast to the previous seasons. Unlike the first two male victors, the female victor of season three would not get a shot at a title of her choice (the only title being the Divas Championship), but rather a WWE contract. Other changes in the third season include a greater emphasis on challenges for the first three polls where the winner of the most challenges before the next upcoming poll would be awarded immunity. The first elimination poll took place five weeks into the competition. The majority of the season three cast was revealed on the second-season finale on August 31. However, before the season's premiere aired prospective rookie wrestler Aloisia was dropped from the show. On screen, Aloisia's exit stemmed from an argument between Aloisia and her Pro Vickie Guerrero, forcing Guerrero to fire her. In reality, it was reported that Aloisia was allegedly dropped from the show after pornographic photos of her were leaked onto the Internet. However, in an interview Aloisia herself was unsure whether this was the reason for her exit or not. Guerrero later revealed her new rookie in the season three premiere to be Kaitlyn, who would ultimately win the season.
Contestants
†Originally slated to be Lindsay Kay Hayward as Aloisia, who had previously wrestled as Isis the Amazon.
Poll results
-     â€" Winner of competition
-     â€" Safe in competition
-     â€" Eliminated from competition by NXT Poll
-     â€" Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
1 As the result of a tie break between A.J. and Kaitlyn before the poll, Kaitlyn won immunity through a crowd reaction vote.
Season 4
The fourth season of NXT started on December 7, 2010 and ended on March 1, 2011. Returning to the male-orientated format of the first two seasons, the season four cast was revealed on the third-season finale on November 30. In a change from the third season, "immunity points" were now rewarded to the winner of each challenge, which vary depending on the challenge's difficulty. The person with the most points before the next upcoming poll is then awarded immunity from that poll. On the January 4, episode of NXT, it was announced that the winner would earn a WWE Tag Team Championship match with their respective Pro as their partner. That same night, Dolph Ziggler won a battle royal consisting of each of the Pros and as a result was able to trade off his Rookie Jacob Novak for Byron Saxton, who was originally mentored by Chris Masters. Similarly on the February 1 episode of NXT, a fatal four-way elimination match was held between the remaining four Rookies. Brodus Clay won and as a result was able to trade off his Pros The Million Dollar Couple (Ted DiBiase and Maryse) for Alberto Del Rio, who was originally mentoring Conor O'Brian before O'Brian's elimination on January 25. The winner of the season was Johnny Curtis, earning himself and his Pro R-Truth a shot at the tag team titles. On April 18, R-Truth turned into a villain by attacking John Morrison and subsequently R-Truth and Curtis never invoked their shot at the titles. Curtis would eventually debut on the main roster in June when he stated that he would not be challenging for the tag team titles with R-Truth and instead used his title shot with season two runner-up Michael McGillicutty on the October 11, 2012 episode of NXT against Team Hell No for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but was defeated.
Contestants
Poll results
-     â€" Winner of competition
-     â€" Safe in competition
-     â€" Eliminated from competition by NXT Poll
-     â€" Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
1 As the result of a tie break between Brodus Clay and Johnny Curtis before the poll, Curtis won immunity through a crowd reaction vote.
NXT Redemption (season 5)
NXT Redemption, the fifth season of NXT, started on March 8, 2011. The season consisted of seven rookies chosen from the previous male-only seasons and initially followed a similar format to the previous four seasons, with the winner of season 5 stated to win a spot in the planned sixth season of NXT alongside a WWE pro of their choice. No eliminations took place for the first 10 weeks of the show and following the elimination of Conor O'Brien after 17 weeks Derrick Bateman replaced him as a new Rookie contestant. The show's competition format was then gradually and quietly forgotten about (although it was never officially dropped), the Pros ceased to appear and NXT Redemption subsequently morphed into its own entity, featuring self-contained storylines and matches involving long-tenured lower-card performers such as Tyson Kidd, Maxine, Yoshi Tatsu, JTG, Trent Baretta, Kaitlyn, Johnny Curtis, Percy Watson, Tyler Reks, AJ Lee, Curt Hawkins and Michael McGillicutty, among others. After 59 weeks, Darren Young and Titus O'Neil were moved to the SmackDown roster on April 18, 2012, leaving Bateman as the sole remaining Rookie on the show, though he was not declared the winner and new episodes continued to be taped until June 12. The final episode of NXT Redemption aired on June 13, after which the show ended with no conclusion, with a "new NXT" advertised for the following week. In total, NXT Redemption ran for over a year and 67 episodes were produced, exceeding the total number of episodes for all previous seasons combined. The first season was a distant second at 15 episodes.
Contestants
Poll results
"Lost" season
In May and June 2017, WWE published an article and a video detailing a planned and subsequently cancelled season of NXT which was to feature the following wrestlers:
- Big E Langston
- Bo Dallas
- Damien Sandow
- Jinder Mahal
- Hunico
- Leo Kruger
- Seth Rollins
- Xavier Woods
Developmental territory (season 6 onward)
After season five ended, WWE's developmental territory FCW changed its name to NXT and the various FCW championships were replaced by corresponding NXT championships, including the NXT Championship and NXT Tag Team Championship. NXT thus ceased to become a seasonal competition between rookies and instead became a developmental territory. Starting with NXT Arrival in February 2014, NXT occasionally aired live two-hour episodes on the WWE Network, which effectively serve as the NXT equivalent of main roster pay-per-view shows.
Accomplishments
On-air personalities
Authority figures
On August 24, 2011, Maryse underwent surgery for an abdominal hernia and was on medical leave from WWE, therefore Maryse's role as co-host ended. She would later be released from WWE on October 28 and would not return to NXT. As of November 2011, there is no official co-host. Dusty Rhodes was named Interim NXT General Manager on June 20, 2012, which coincided with the rebranding of NXT into a full scale developmental promotion. On the August 29 episode (taped July 29) of NXT, Rhodes was noted as NXT Commissioner. On September 25, 2013, Triple H relieved Dusty Rhodes of his duties and replaced him with John Bradshaw Layfield.On November 25, 2015, the Raw lead commentator Michael Cole replaced William Regal as NXT General Manager while Regal was recovering from neck surgery.
Commentators
- Notes
- ^ Matt Striker became the alternate color commentator on NXT beginning May 3, 2011 (2011-05-03) due to Regal's increased in-ring schedule (Regal would continue as commentator when he was not wrestling). This ended on the May 17, 2011 (2011-05-17) episode of NXT when Regal would return to the announce table as normal.
- ^ ^ Michael Cole served as special guest color commentator on NXT for the May 31, 2011 (2011-05-31) broadcast substituting for an absent William Regal. Cole would also substitute for Regal again on commentary on the September 13, 2011 (2011-09-13) broadcast due to Regal and Striker competing in a match that night.
- ^ Matt Striker and Josh Mathews were guest commentators on NXT for the November 9, 2011 (2011-11-09) broadcast substituting for the absent William Regal and Jack Korpela. Striker and Mathews returned to commentary the following two weeks because Jack Korpela's contract with the WWE had expired and he opted not to renew.
- ^ Matt Striker and William Regal commentated the November 23, 2011 (2011-11-23) episode of NXT due to Mathews being absent.
- ^ Following the absence of Josh Mathews from NXT after being attacked by Brock Lesnar on the April 23, 2012 (2012-04-23) episode of Raw, Matt Striker was joined by various guest commentators for one night on NXT. The following is a list of the guest commentators who joined Matt Striker on April 25, 2012 episode of NXT.
- ^ On the April 19, 2011 (2011-04-19) episode of NXT, Josh Mathews was substituting for an absent Todd Grisham. This repeated on November 16, 2011 (2011-11-16), but this time he was substituting for an absent Jack Korpela, who would later be released from his WWE contract.
- ^ Jim Ross only called the main event.
- ^ The pairings of Dawson and Regal and Phillips and Maddox commentate on alternate shows. Riley replaced Maddox in August 2013 after Maddox became the Raw General Manager. Scott Stanford serves as narrator.
Ring announcers
(*) If Chimel was absent from the NXT/SmackDown tapings, he would have been substituted as ring announcer by Raw’s Justin Roberts or Superstars’ Eden Stiles, who would also serve as SmackDown’s ring announcer for that week's episode. Effective December 8, 2011, Chimel has been replaced by Lilian Garcia on SmackDown and Eden Stiles has picked up Chimel's NXT announcing duties until December 13, 2011. On December 21 prior to NXT being uploaded on WWE.com, Stiles announced that she asked for her release from WWE a day after her final Superstars and NXT appearances had been recorded.
Production
On February 2, 2010, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that a new weekly program 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".
On the February 4 episode of Superstars, the new show's name was announced as NXT. The name was later discovered to be trademarked 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.
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. NXT is the second reality-based series produced by WWE, the first being Tough Enough which aired between 2001 and 2004. 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.
In March 2010, WWE announced that their show SmackDown would move to Syfy in October, with NXT leaving the network at the same time. The show aired its final episode on Syfy on September 28. Shortly after their March announcement, WWE also stated their intent of looking for another channel to broadcast the show. Despite their initial comments, WWE began to air the show as a webcast on their official website for American visitors as of October 2010.
Since the May 31, 2017 episode of NXT, the official theme song is "Resistance" by Powerflo, being announced by Triple H on social media. During the previous month and a half at April 12, 2017, the theme song for the show was "Rage" by CFO$. The song "Roar of the Crowd" by CFO$ served as the official theme song for NXT since its arrival to the WWE Network (February 27, 2014) to April 5, 2017. A remix of the same song was used starting on June 15, 2016 since NXT was now a developmental branch. "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria was used from June 20, 2012 to February 24, 2014. The American Bang song "Wild and Young" had been used for each reality show season with the exception of the third season. During season three, the show's opening theme song was "You Make the Rain Fall" by Kevin Rudolf. Also promoting it as an "official theme song" for the show, NXT used "Get Thru This" by Art of Dying as bumper music during the initial five seasons of the show.
NXT returned to cable on December 20, 2017, airing a 1-hour special on USA Network.
International broadcasters
See also
- WWE Performance Center, NXT's training facility, which is close to Full Sail University
References
External links
- Official website
- WWE NXT on IMDb
- WWE NXT at TV.com