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| WWE then followed up with the following press release: NXT® MOVES TO USA NETWORK NEW YORK and STAMFORD, Conn., August 20, 2019 – WWE® (NYSE: WWE) and USA Network today announced an agreement in principle to air WWE’s weekly Wednesday night show, NXT, live on USA Network at 8/7c starting September 18. Following NXT’s growth in popularity, the new two-hour weekly show will expand its reach on USA Network, the leader in cable entertainment, while staying in its Wednesday night timeslot that it has held since 2015. “The move to USA Network provides an opportunity to deepen our relationship with NBCUniversal and further build the NXT brand,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO. “Over the long term our goal is to develop a following that can be monetized to the same level as our flagship programs, Raw® and SmackDown®.” “USA Network and WWE have one of the longest and most successful partnerships in television history,” said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks – USA and SYFY. “As the #1 cable entertainment network, we’re excited to add NXT to our weekly lineup alongside powerhouse flagship Raw, and to bring a new generation of Superstars to a wide audience.” NXT launched in 2010 and has risen to become WWE’s third global brand alongside Raw and SmackDown, hosting nearly 200 live events around the world each year. Airing on Wednesday nights at 8 pm, NXT has been WWE Network’s #1 weekly series. NXT offers a unique blend of authentic in-ring action with exciting and entertaining storylines that feature WWE’s hottest up-and-coming Superstars including Adam Cole™, Velveteen Dream™, Shayna Baszler™, Johnny Gargano®, Matt Riddle™, Bianca Belair™, Io Shirai™, Candice LeRae™, Tommaso Ciampa™, Kyle O’Reilly™ and Bobby Fish™. The brand’s diverse roster consists of elite athletes from the NFL, collegiate and amateur sports, MMA and international sports such as rugby, kushti and kabaddi. It is also the birthplace to 80 percent of the current Raw and SmackDown rosters including Becky Lynch®, Seth Rollins®, Roman Reigns®, Charlotte Flair®, Bayley®, Sasha Banks®, Alexa Bliss®, Bray Wyatt®and Baron Corbin®. The series will continue to emanate from Full Sail University in Orlando as part of WWE’s production partnership with the preeminent entertainment, media, arts and technology institution. |
yeah if that happens its bye bye.
However, NXT has the advantage that its a 1 hour pre-taped show. Watch NXT on hte WWE network and you'll see some episodes are 48 minutes , some are 57 minutes. Its easier when you don't have to fit your product rigidly into a specific time frame with commercial spots.
Also, NXT is meant to be developmental. The wrestlers work on their gimick/characters and they learn the WWE style and how to perform for the cameras rather than an untelevised live audience. A two hour live NXT could be sloppier than what we are used to.
AEF or whatever the fuck it is is terrible. If WWE gets NXT in TV, it will be a big blow to AEF.
The best part of NXT was the commitment to long-term storylines since they would tape 4 weeks at a time. You know Vinny Mac will have his paws all over this and erode everything about NXT that most people like. First sub-par rating and Rollins and Reigns and Corbin will "wild carding" over to NXT.
Not looking for it to be bad. I'm excited for AEW, but am hopeful WWE raises its game in response to the perceived threat. Very skeptical that that will, in fact, happen. Just think that the need for two more hours of tv programming will end up weakening this brand and that it will end up like "ECW" did in the last year or two of its reincarnation.
AEF or whatever the fuck it is is terrible. If WWE gets NXT in TV, it will be a big blow to AEF.
AEW, an an entity, has had what, 9 hours of total programming? Don't see how anyone can call it "terrible." How much of AEW have you actually watched out of that 9?
I have no idea why any wrestling fan would want AEW to fail. It can only help WWE's increasingly awful product if it is forced to deal with being compared to another program that people are enjoying.
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Seems like perfect product for the 21-40 year olds who are die hard s and don’t like PG rated wrestling meant for kids and teenagers. WWE market is still kids and geared for kids which is why it’s so successful.
AEF or whatever the fuck it is is terrible. If WWE gets NXT in TV, it will be a big blow to AEF.
AEW, an an entity, has had what, 9 hours of total programming? Don't see how anyone can call it "terrible." How much of AEW have you actually watched out of that 9?
I have no idea why any wrestling fan would want AEW to fail. It can only help WWE's increasingly awful product if it is forced to deal with being compared to another program that people are enjoying.
The guys running it have done Haduken, invisible tag teams and hired the guy who did the stupid invisible grenade. There is no place for that in wrestling. Its absolutely stupid and they probably will find even dumber things to do. I agree 100% with Cornettes feelings towards the young bucks and kenny omega hopefully Cody can reel them in when they wanna fo dumb shit.
Mandy Rose (WWE). Mandy was a slam dunk. One of my colleagues Dani had gotten in touch with someone at the WBFF (World Body Building Fitness and Fashion) of which Mandy had finished first in a couple of recent competitions. She sent her our way, Dani showed her to me, we put her at the top of our first pitch, my boss obviously loved her the first time she laid eyes on her and the rest is history as Mandy is a big part of the story line on a weekly basis.
Daria Berenato (WWE). Daria came to us through Maria Menounos of all people. Maria knew Daria and I was told to interview her by my boss. I did and loved Daria from the start. She was some sort of mma fighter at the time, I believe, so it was a natural transition for her. She and Mandy immediately bonded on the show, and the have been pretty much attached at the hip ever since. But they're in there and they're both doing it, which is pretty cool.
Velveteen Dream (Patrick Clark - NXT). Patrick is a cool story. The first pitch I did to my boss and the WWE/NXT higher ups, I went in with a mix of about 25 potential candidates to show (we were trying to find about 30-40 for our boot camp). Of those 25 in our first pitch I believe 22 or so were very well liked by my boss. Surprisingly, Patrick Clark who we had pitched happened to be one of three people who were not liked and he was actually passed on. I didn't like the decision but I wasn't going to complain, as we had tons of great potential candidates and if 22 of 25 were green lit, we're happy. It's rare to have so many in a pitch get the thumbs up so even though my casting team believed he should be included, we weren't going to rock the boat.
Anyhow, when we were filling out the end of our third pitch and final pitch we were coming in a little light and needed a few more candidates who weren't just throw ins. One of my other colleagues DJ and I were discussing it and we decided to take a shot and throw Patrick back in at the end of the pitch. We just thought he should honestly be in the mix and I had him that my boss wasn't really paying attention when his video came on during the first pitch so if we snuck him back in there maybe she would have a change of heart. Well, my boss watched him and this time she loved him. The rest is history, as I think he's one of the most compelling characters in NXT.
Chelsea Green (NXT). When I first got the job to help cast this show for WWE, the casting team and I went to the performance center in Orlando to watch s tryout of about 40 athletes/WWE wannabes. They really wanted us to see what they look for and what they had to go through during a tryout. The same tryout whomever we cast were going to have to experience for themselves. In addition if they really liked someone at thet tryout then they were off limits to us. BUT if they passed on someone whom WE liked, (casting) we could interview them as a possible candidate for the show. Well, although they really liked Chelsea for some reason they said they were likely going to pass on her so that we could interview her. We loved her athleticism and her look and thought she had what it took.
When it came time to finally cast the show, Chelsea was one of the last cuts and I believe was chosen to be an alternate. About a week or two into the show one of the girls either quit or was hurt or sent home for some reason and Chelsea was the brought in. Chelsea ended up not getting a contract at first with the WWE or NXT but she busted her ass in the indy scene (got engaged to Zack Ryder) and went on to finally get her shot with NXT just a little less than six months ago. And now she'll be on the new show.
All three girls are GREAT girls and just super nice people who deserve everything they've achieved and I'm very happy and proud of all of them. And Patrick is much more than I ever could've expected.
We actually had a bunch of other great potential wrestlers who didn't make it but I honestly believe could've. Mada Abdelhamid who is now getting his shot in movies along his good friend Jason Mamoa. Giorgia Piscina (google her) who just finished 5th in the WBFF Pro Bikini championships a couple weeks ago. Josh Briedl and Sara Weston both of whom won but are no longer employed by WWE as far as I know. Though Sara is married to NXT star Wesley Blake. Davey Barnes also had the body and look for it but couldn't work out a deal with the WWE/NXT for various reasons.
Anyhow, as I guy who was born in 1975 and who grew up on Long Island as a huge WWF fan during the 80's, getting to see the inner workings and contribute to something like this is one of the highlights and favorite castings of my career. Oh, and I also got to meet Ric Flair so WHOOOOOOO! I hope you die hard wrestling and fellow Giants fans enjoyed the info...
Sara ended up winning, but never did anything with the opportunity