NXT moving permanently to Florida

[Karamellion]

ORIGINAL: WWE will be moving NXT to Florida, combined with their developmental company Florida Championship Wrestling for its own tapings beginning Thursday, May 17 at 7 PM.

The tapings will be at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida (near Orlando) at the Full Sail Live gym. Tickets will be free for FSU staff and students with ID, as long as they reserve in advance. There hasn't been any word on how much it costs for the general public.

The tapings will be called "WWE Superstar Showdown". They are being moved to better mix developmental talent into NXT. There is also the hope that the University setting can have better crowd reactions and give FCW TV a "grander" look than the FCW Arena in Tampa. NXT will have more attention instead of being secondary to the Smackdown tapings.

HHH is the one behind the move and will be hands-on with the shows. He is a fan of the venue after he and several other company executives visited it last year, including Kevin Dunn and Stephanie McMahon.

WWE filmed several pilots at the venue and signed an exclusivity deal to stop any other wrestling-related events from being held there. Full Sail is an entertainment media university that has state-of-the-art production facilities.

Triple H will be on the first taping, which will have Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio and R-Truth & Kofi Kingston vs Epico & Primo.

Here are the dates:

May 17, 2012
June 14, 2012
July 5, 2012
July 19, 2012
August 9, 2012
August 23, 2012
September 6, 2012
September 20, 2012

Credit: PWInsider

 

[Karamellion]

UPDATE: PW Torch reports that the WWE began moving toward the NXT change when Titus O'Neil & Darren Young were moved to Smackdown in April, which left Derrick Bateman as the sole "Rookie" left on the show. It isn't yet clear on whether the company will continue releasing NXT episodes online via YouTube, nor is it known whether WWE has obtained a new TV deal for the show.

The tapings for Smackdown are expected to go as a dark match, Superstars taping and then Smackdown, so basically the same as before without NXT. The plan is to allow developmental talent to perform in a more intimate setting, with a crowd mostly made-up of college students who are more likely to react well to the talent. In addition, WWE will be able to focus more on the tapings instead of ignoring it in favor of putting the finishing touches on Smackdown.

Florida Championship Wrestling has not acknowledged the change, with the only indirect acknowledgement being a note on their events page that says "No FCW Arena Live Event" on May 17th, the first day of the change.

- WWE issued the following press as to WWE NXT moving full-time to Full Sail University:
WWE and Full Sail University are combining forces to make entertainment history! The WWE franchise NXT is moving full-time to Full Sail University and Thursday, May 17th, 2012 will be its inaugural event. A powerhouse night of hard-hitting action returns to the Full Sail Live Venue as WWE invades the Full Sail University campus!

The night will feature a special appearance by WWE's own Triple H and includes a WWE Superstar Showdown with World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus going against Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship and Kofi Kingston and R-Truth going against Epico and Primo for the World Tag Team title!

Want to sit ringside? Wear your favorite WWE shirt and bring your most creative wrestling sign and you could find yourself closer to the action than you ever imagined.

This event is free to all Full Sail students and staff with a valid Full Sail ID. Please send your ticket request to events@fullsail.com for tickets!

 

[Busby]

Might as well move it there since FCW is most likely up the street from them....also they save money from having all the rookies in one spot instead of traveling with the main roster...

 

[Karamellion]

Yep makes perfect sense. I'm intrigued to see how having the same crowds week in and week out works. Will it make the rookies look like a big deal? or will it have that Impact feel where you just want the crowd to fukk up.

 

[Thebadguy]

Probably for the best. NXT and Superstars probably took a lot out of the crowd.

 

[R=G]

Cripple H recently starting to think about developmental guys more than usual...will be funny to see how that plays out. I wonder how long it's gonna take before they fukk up the Cesaro kid on Smackdown though?

LOL@Full Sail students getting to go free.....expensive ass school

 

[wuppazz314]

Very good move.