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". The new show's name,
NXT, 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. 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
WWE Tough Enough which aired between 2001 and 2004. 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
programme 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. In season three, one point is awarded for winning the challenge. Despite WWE's stated intention of broadcasting the show on another TV channel,
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. 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. • 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. 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 prize for the winner is a WWE contract as well as a championship match at any
list of WWE pay-per-views. 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 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.
Reboot (2012–2019) 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. 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.
NXT was then aired exclusively on Hulu and Hulu Plus in the United States, while continuing to be broadcast internationally. in
Ralston, Nebraska in 2016. NXT returned to cable on December 20, 2017, airing a 1-hour special on
USA Network.
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. 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, during which NXT was broadcast in direct competition with rival wrestling show
AEW Dynamite, which aired in the same time slot on
TNT. Several publications noted the similarity between this ratings war and the
Monday Night War that had involved
Raw and
WCW Monday Nitro. 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, citing logistical issues preventing it from continuing its residency at the university. The studio—which had been used by
Raw and
SmackDown from March to August due to COVID-19—was reconfigured as the "Capitol Wrestling Center", which featured a
virtual audience on a video wall, and a limited in-person audience shielded behind
plexiglass barriers. COVID-19 measures in the studio began to be lifted in April 2021, and removed entirely in June. With the end of
Wednesday Night Wars, on April 13, 2021, following
WrestleMania 37, WWE moved
NXT back to Tuesday nights. After twelve NXT wrestlers were released from their contracts that August,
Dave Scherer and Mike Johnson of
Pro Wrestling Insider reported there had been internal talks of major changes to the brand, such as: "a new logo, new lighting, a focus on younger talents and a different format to the TV shows."
Dave Meltzer reported that, after having lost the ratings war with AEW, NXT will likely go back to their developmental roots, with "talent that are younger, bigger and that could someday main event at
WrestleMania." WWE President Nick Khan subsequently confirmed that NXT would undergo a "complete revamp" overseen by
Triple H. However, due to undergoing heart surgery in September, Levesque stepped away from NXT with
Shawn Michaels stepping in to oversee the changes. On the September 14, 2021 episode of
NXT, the program was relaunched as
NXT 2.0 to mark the changes, introducing a new rainbow-colored logo and redesigned studio. In September 2022, Michaels' role was made permanent, with his job title confirmed as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative, responsible for both creative and development at NXT. At the conclusion of the September 13, 2022 episode of
NXT (which marked the one-year anniversary of the relaunch), an updated
NXT logo was unveiled, removing the "2.0" branding and returning to a gold color scheme.
Move to The CW (2024–present) On November 7, 2023, WWE announced that
NXT would move to
The CW in October 2024 under a five-year deal. The network had previously broadcast
SmackDown (as a carry-over from its co-predecessor,
UPN), as well as the short-lived
Saturday Morning Slam (as part of the
Saban Brands-produced Saturday morning block
Vortexx).
NXT premiered on The CW October 1, 2024; as part of the launch, the program scheduled two weeks of travel shows while the Performance Center studio was redesigned, with the season premiere from
Allstate Arena in Rosemont, followed by
Enterprise Center in St. Louis the following week. However, the St. Louis show was later moved to a smaller venue—The Factory at The District—in the suburb of
Chesterfield, Missouri due to low ticket sales. On October 21, 2024, WWE announced that it would broadcast
NXT 2300 from
2300 Arena in Philadelphia (the former home arena of
ECW) on November 6, a special Wednesday night broadcast due to The CW simulcasting
corporate sibling NewsNation's coverage of the
2024 United States presidential election the previous day. On April 28, 2026, WWE announced that the NXT brand's live events would air as television specials on The CW under a multi-year deal covering around 20 events, beginning with
The Great American Bash; the rights to NXT live events were previously held by
Peacock until March 2026, when they moved to
YouTube on an interim basis. The next day, The CW also announced an agreement with
ESPN to sublicense all sports programming carried by the network to
the ESPN app for Unlimited subscribers (accompanying its rights to main roster live events). ==Special episodes==