WWE NXT

WWE NXT
WWE Show
Created by	Vince McMahon Paul "Triple H" Levesque
Promotion	WWE
Commentators	Vic Joseph Wade Barrett Beth Phoenix
Starring	NXT roster
Opening Theme	"All Out Life" by Slipknot "Rage" by CFO$ (Bumper)
No. of episodes	513
Original Run	February 23, 2010 - present
Orininal Network	Syfy (2010) WWE.com (2010–2012) Hulu (2012-2014) WWE Network (2014–2019) USA Network (2019–present)
Related shows	Raw SmackDown NXT UK

WWE NXT, also simply called NXT, is a professional wrestling television program that is produced by WWE and is broadcast 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 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 being announced as winners.

In June 2012, WWE ended the seasonal competition format and opted to revamp the show. WWE NXT became the flagship television show of the NXT brand, and has since received universally positive critical reception and high viewership, with praise directed toward the high quality of wrestling and captivating storylines. Most consider NXT to be superior to WWE's flagship shows.

The initial version of the show originally made its debut on Syfy on February 23, 2010, replacing ECW, but was replaced by SmackDown in October. It then aired as a webcast at WWE.com for visitors from the United States until June 13, 2012, before it was moved to the WWE Network in 2014. In August 2019, it was announced that NXT would expand into a live program on USA Network beginning September 18, 2019.

History

Beginnings

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. Outside of the polls, Rookies could still be eliminated via an executive decision from WWE management, as the first season saw both Michael Tarver and Daniel Bryan 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.

Revised format (2012–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, 2012 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. On June 19, however, WWE removed all of the NXT material from their website. NXT was then aired exclusively on Hulu and Hulu Plus in the US, while continuing to be broadcast internationally. NXT began airing on the new WWE Network on February 27, 2014, starting with a live event called NXT Arrival.

Since April 4, 2019, the official theme song for NXT is "All Out Life" by Slipknot, being announced by Triple H on social media. Before this, the theme song was "Resistance" by Powerflo which was first used on the May 31, 2017 episode of NXT. 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.

Wednesday Night Wars

In August 2019, WWE announced that NXT would permanently move to USA Network as a live, two-hour program on Wednesday nights beginning September 18, with replays available the following day on WWE Network. Due to the final episodes of Suits, the second hour of the program will be temporarily exclusive to WWE Network until October 2, when the show will begin airing in its entirety on USA Network. Critics felt that the move was an attempt to counter-program the upstart All Elite Wrestling, which is airing its weekly TNT series Dynamite on Wednesday nights beginning in October. Also on October 2, NXT would make their two-hour debut on USA Network, they averaged 891,000 viewers. Dynamite beat out NXT in viewership and more than doubled its competition in the key adults 18-49 demographic, scoring 878,000 viewers compared to NXTs 414,000. This would also mark the beginning of the "Wednesday Night Wars".

Expansion

In 2015, NXT promoted its first live events outside of Florida, with an event that was held in March in Columbus, Ohio. In August of that year, NXT held their first TakeOver show outside of Full Sail with NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and in December, held their first international TakeOver event with NXT TakeOver: London. By 2016, NXT was running approximately 200 shows per year between the U.S. and overseas.

Controversies

In late February and March 2015, several former NXT trainees previously working within WWE developmental system alleged misconduct by head trainer Bill DeMott, with Judas Devlin and Brandon Traven publicizing complaints which they claimed they had submitted to WWE management about DeMott back in March 2013 when they were still employed with WWE. Meanwhile, other ex-trainees like Briley Pierce, Derrick Bateman, and independent wrestler Terra Calaway also made allegations in 2015, while previous allegations made in 2013 by Chad Baxter and Chase Donovan were also noted. They accused DeMott of making trainees perform dangerous drills, physically assaulting and bullying trainees, using homophobic and racial slurs amongst other derogatory terms, and condoning sexual harassment. WWE released statements regarding some of the claims that came to light in 2013 and 2015 saying that investigations were done and no wrongdoing was found. On March 6, 2015, DeMott denied the allegations but resigned from WWE "to avoid any embarrassment or damage" to the company.

Themes

• "Wild and Young" by American Bang (Seasons 1–2, 4–5)
• "You Make The Rain Fall" by Kevin Rudolf
• "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria (Season 6)
• "Roar of the Crowd" by CFO$ (February 27, 2014 - 2016)
• "Resistance" by Powerflo (May 23, 2017 - April 1, 2019)
• "All Out Life" by Slipknot (April 4, 2019 - present)

On-air personalities

• WWE NXT on-air personalities

Commentators

• Vic Joseph (2020 – present)
• Wade Barrett (2020 – present)
• Beth Phoenix (2019 – present)

Ring announcers

• Alicia Taylor (2019 – present)

Gallery

2014–2019

External links

• WWE NXT on Wikipedia