History of IWE NXT
From Iwe
IWE NXT is a sports entertainment television program that is produced by IWE. Five seasons of NXT were broadcast from February 23, 2010 to June 13, 2012, in which NXT was presented as a hybrid between reality television and IWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show followed select talent contracted to IWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in a competition to become IWE's next breakout star with the help of mentors from IWE's Raw and SmackDown brands. The first four seasons saw Wade Barrett, Kaval, Kaitlyn, and Johnny Curtis winning NXT. In the later stages of season five, the all-rookie competition was abandoned with no winner being officially named, although Derrick Reich was the final remaining rookie on NXT Redemption after both Titus O'Neil and Darren Young were signed to the SmackDown brand. Following the end of the fifth season, IWE ended the seasonal competition format of the show and renamed its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling to NXT Wrestling. This article focuses on the five seasons and not the later developmental territory.
The show originally made its debut on Syfy in February 2010, replacing XCW, which concluded the previous week. Less than a month after its premiere, it was announced that IWE SmackDown would move from MyNetworkTV to Syfy in October. NXT aired its final episode on Syfy on September 28, 2010 to make way for SmackDown, and began airing as a webcast at IWE.com for visitors from the United States from October 5, 2010 to June 13, 2012. IWE NXT is not broadcast on television in the United States, but is currently broadcast on Hulu Plus. Outside of the United States, the show is still televised.
Contents |
[edit] Format
[edit] Original format (2010–2011)
[edit] Revised format (2012)
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. IWE continued to air NXT Redemption, hoping a new television deal for NXT could be made.
IWE.com revealed on Wednesday, June 13 that the new version of NXT would be made available online via IWE.com and YouTube beginning on Wednesday, June 20 when IWE would begin airing the episodes they taped at Full Sail University on May 17. On June 19, however, IWE removed all of the NXT material from their website. NXT no longer airs in the United States, but continues to be broadcast internationally. Currently NXT is airing on HuluPlus in the US.
[edit] Seasons
[edit] Season 1
| IWE NXT | ||
| Season 1 | ||
| Broadcast from | February 23 – June 1, 2010 | |
| Host(s) | Matt Striker | |
| Broadcaster | SyFy | |
| No. of episodes | 15 | |
| Winner | ||
 Wade Barrett, winner of season 1 | ||
| Name | Wade Barrett | |
| Hometown | Manchester, England | |
| Pro(s) | Khris Jericho | |
| Runner-up | ||
| David Mahrt | ||
The first season of NXT began airing on Syfy on February 23, 2010 and ended on June 1, 2010. The majority of the season 1 cast was revealed a week before the premiere on the series finale of XCW. However, before the season's premiere aired, Skip Sheffield's Pro was changed with William Kapphan replacing the announced Mikhail 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 on May 11, both Michael Tarver and Kody Brown 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 IWE's Wellness Program. Subsequent Pros' Polls were held without him for the rest of the season.
The winner of season 1 was Wade Barrett, who began performing on the Raw brand. Immediately after the conclusion of season 1, the Rookies were used in a storyline that had them forming an alliance called The Nexus. Led by Barrett, the group invaded the Raw show in an attempt to gain IWE contracts for the losers of NXT season 1. The invasion consisted of the group attacking Dustin Simpson as well as other wrestlers and IWE personnel. Kody Brown was (legitimately) released from his contract when he strangled ring announcer Justin Roberts with Roberts' tie during the first ambush, which IWE reportedly felt was too violent for their TV-PG programming. His release was put in a storyline, where the rest of the NXT rookies kicked him out of the group for showing remorse for his actions and declared he wouldn't be seen in the IWE ever again. The group were eventually all signed to Raw, but continued their disruption of the show, including an attack on IWE Chairman Vince Woodward. Brown eventually returned to IWE two months later at SummerSlam, when he became the surprise seventh member of Team IWE in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. After their initial attacks, Barrett along with the other Nexus members were barred from competing for a IWE championship. However, more than a month later, the ban was lifted and Barrett announced that he would invoke his title shot at Night of Champions for the IWE Championship in a Six-Pack Challenge. At the event, Barrett lost in his title match to Kevin McAlmond. Meanwhile at the same event, Brown became the first Rookie to win a IWE championship when he defeated his former pro, The Miz, for the IWE United States Championship.
Barrett later got a fair singles match against McAlmond once more, which he also lost, in spite of having Nexus weakening McAlmond before. This set up McAlmond to be defeated by the Miz who cashed in his Money in the Bank, which he had held in spite of losing his US title. Barrett would later win the Intercontinental title on Smackdown from Jose Serrano.
Although Kody Brown did not win the first season, he did become the first Rookie on the show to win a world title in IWE, as he won the World Heavyweight Championship at Tables, Ladders, & Chairs 2011.
[edit] Contestants
| Rookie | Pro | Wins | Losses | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wade Barrett | Khris Jericho | 8 | 5 | Winner |
| David Mahrt | B-Truth | 6 | 5 | Eliminated (Week 15) |
| Jeremiah Garcia | Matt Hooper | 7 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 15) |
| Devin Keller | Khristian | 5 | 6 | Eliminated (Week 14) |
| Darren Young | CM Punk | 7 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 13) |
| Skip Sheffield | William Kapphan | 2 | 5 | Eliminated (Week 12) |
| Kody Brown | The Miz | 0 | 10 | Eliminated (Week 12) |
| Michael Tarver | Carlito | 1 | 7 | Eliminated (Week 12) |
[edit] Poll results
- – Winner of competition
- – Safe in competition
- – Eliminated from competition by Pros' Poll
- – Eliminated from competition by IWE management
- – Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
| Rookie | Week 6 (March 30) | Week 12 (May 11) | Week 13 (May 18) | Week 14 (May 25) | Week 15 (June 1) Round 1 | Week 15 (June 1) Round 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wade Barrett | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| David Mahrt | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd |
| Jeremiah Garcia | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 3rd | |
| Devin Keller | 4th | 4th | 3rd | 4th | ||
| Darren Young | 8th | 5th | 5th | |||
| Skip Sheffield | 6th | 6th | ||||
| Kody Brown | 1st | Eliminated by management | ||||
| Michael Tarver | 7th | Eliminated by management | ||||
| Eliminated | N/A | Tarver, Brown, & Sheffield | Young | Keller | Garcia | Mahrt |
[edit] Career Highlights
- World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - Kody Brown
- IWE United States Championship (1 time) - Kody Brown
- IWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time) - Wade Barrett
- IWE Tag Team Championship (6 times) – Kody Brown (1, current) David Mahrt (2), Devin Keller and Jeremiah Garcia (3)
- Money in the Bank (SmackDown 2011) - Kody Brown
- Slammy Award for the Shocker of the Year (2010) The debut of The Nexus
- Slammy Award for Cole in Your Stocking (2010) – attacking Michael Cole on NXT - Kody Brown
[edit] Season 2
| IWE NXT | ||
| Season 2 | ||
| Broadcast from | June 8 – August 31, 2010 | |
| Host(s) | Matt Striker Ashley Valence (June 22-August 31, 2010) | |
| Broadcaster | SyFy | |
| No. of episodes | 13 | |
| Winner | ||
 Kaval, winner of season 2. | ||
| Name | Kaval | |
| Hometown | Brooklyn, New York | |
| Pro(s) | LehrSon (Victoria & Amanda Johnson) | |
| Runner-up | ||
| Michael McGillicutty | ||
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, 2010. The season was originally planned to last twelve weeks. However, it was later extended to thirteen weeks. In this season, the polls were different as rankings were based half on Pro votes and half on votes from fans via IWE's official website.
The first poll was shown in Week 4. Originally, the polls format was set to match season 1, with a non-elimination poll followed by weekly elimination polls three weeks later. However, the first poll was made a surprise elimination round on the night with a second elimination poll held four weeks later instead. In addition, a double elimination stipulation was added to the fourth NXT poll in Week 11.
The winner of the season was Kaval, who began performing on the SmackDown brand. Along with Kaval, Alex Riley was immediately promoted to a IWE brand, aiding his Pro, The Miz, on Raw. Over a month later at Hell in a Cell, both Michael McGillicutty and Husky Harris made their first appearance since the second season by helping Wade Barrett win his match against Dustin Simpson while disguised as fans. A few weeks later, the two were made members of the Nexus. Kaval invoked his title shot at Survivor Series for the IWE Intercontinental Championship against the reigning champion Dolph Ziggler where he was defeated.
[edit] Contestants
| Rookie | Pro(s) | Wins | Losses | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaval | LehrSon (Victoria & Amanda Johnson) | 3 | 6 | Winner |
| Michael McGillicutty | Jose Serrano | 6 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 13) |
| Alex Riley | The Miz | 5 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 13) |
| Husky Harris | Mark Semmler | 4 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 11) |
| Percy Watson | Mikhail Vontavious Porter (M.V.P.) | 3 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 11) |
| Lucky Cannon | Steven Larson | 3 | 5 | Eliminated (Week 10) |
| Eli Cottonwood | Joe Linderman | 2 | 2 | Eliminated (Week 8) |
| Titus O'Neil | Zack Nuss | 0 | 3 | Eliminated (Week 4) |
[edit] Poll results
- – Winner of competition
- – Safe in competition
- – Eliminated from competition by NXT Poll
- – Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
| Rookie | Week 4 (June 29) | Week 8 (July 27) | Week 10 (August 10) | Week 11 (August 17) | Week 13 (August 31) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaval | 1st | 2nd | 1st | Safe | 1st |
| Michael McGillicutty | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | Safe | 2nd |
| Alex Riley | 4th | 3rd | 5th | Safe | 3rd |
| Husky Harris | 7th | 6th | 4th | 4th | |
| Percy Watson | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | 5th | |
| Lucky Cannon | 5th | 5th | 6th | ||
| Eli Cottonwood | 6th | 7th | |||
| Titus O'Neil | 8th | ||||
| Eliminated | O'Neil | Cottonwood | Cannon | Watson & Harris | Riley & McGillicutty |
[edit] Career Highlights
- IWE Tag Team Championship (1 times) – Michael McGillicutty (1)
[edit] Season 3
| IWE NXT | ||
| Season 3 | ||
| Broadcast from | September 7 – November 30, 2010 | |
| Host(s) | Matt Striker | |
| Broadcaster | SyFy | |
| No. of episodes | 13 | |
| Winner | ||
 Kaitlyn, winner of season 3. | ||
| Name | Kaitlyn | |
| Hometown | Houston, Texas | |
| Pro(s) | Lynn Lehr | |
| Runner-up | ||
| Naomi | ||
The third season of NXT started on September 7, 2010 and ended on November 30, 2010. The season is Diva-exclusive and is the second different contest produced by IWE to find a new Diva, the first being the IWE Diva Searches held between 2003 and 2007. The first four episodes of season three were aired on Syfy. Due to the debut of SmackDown on Syfy in October 2010, NXT left the channel and became a webcast at IWE.com for visitors from the United States from the fifth episode 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 3 would not get a shot at a title of her choice (the only title being the IWE Divas Championship) but rather, a IWE 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, 2010. However, before the season's premiere aired, prospective rookie diva Aloisia was dropped from the show. On screen, Aloisia's exit stemmed from an argument between Aloisia and her pro, Lynn Lehr, forcing Lehr to fire her. In real life, it was reported that Aloisia was allegedly dropped from the show after Amazon fetish photos of her were leaked onto the Internet. However in an interview, Aloisia herself is unsure whether this was the reason for her exit or not. Lehr later revealed her new rookie in the season three premiere to be Kaitlyn, who would ultimately win the season and started performing on the SmackDown brand. All of the remaining losing Divas (except for Jamie Keyes, who was shortly released following her elimination) would eventually appear on the main roster. AJ debuted on SmackDown in May 2011 as Kaitlyn's tag team partner. Aksana and Maxine both returned in August 2011, with the former joining the SmackDown roster as Teddy Long's love interest, and the latter returning to NXT as Derrick Bateman's love interest, making one SmackDown appearance with Bateman. Naomi made her debut on Raw in January 2012 as one of Brodus Clay's back-up dancers, but has yet to have a match.
[edit] Contestants
| Rookie Diva | Pro(s) | Wins | Losses | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaitlyn | Lynn Lehr | 3 | 4 | Winner |
| Naomi | Kelly Kelly | 5 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 13) |
| A.J. | Primo | 6 | 2 | Eliminated (Week 12) |
| Aksana | Goldust | 2 | 5 | Eliminated (Week 11) |
| Maxine | Alicia Fox | 1 | 4 | Eliminated (Week 9) |
| Jamie | The Gozelanski Twins (Crystal and Tierney Gozelanski) | 2 | 0 | Eliminated (Week 5) |
[edit] Poll results
- – Winner of competition
- – Safe in competition
- – Eliminated from competition by NXT Poll
- – Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
| Rookie Diva | Week 5 (October 5) | Week 9 (November 2) | Week 11 (November 16) | Week 12 (November 23) | Week 13 (November 30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaitlyn | Immune (3 challenge wins)1 | Safe (2 challenge wins) | Safe (1 challenge win) | Safe | Winner |
| Naomi | Safe (2 challenge wins) | Immune (3 challenge wins) | Safe (1 challenge win) | Safe | Eliminated |
| A.J. | Safe (3 challenge wins) | Safe (2 challenge wins) | Immune (2 challenge wins) | Eliminated | |
| Aksana | Safe (1 challenge win) | Safe (0 challenge wins) | Eliminated (0 challenge wins) | ||
| Maxine | Safe (0 challenge wins) | Eliminated (1 challenge win) | |||
| Jamie | Eliminated (1 challenge win) |
1 As the result of a tie break between A.J. and Kaitlyn before the poll, Kaitlyn won immunity through a crowd reaction vote.
[edit] Season 4
| IWE NXT | ||
| Season 4 | ||
| Broadcast from | December 7, 2010 – March 1, 2011 | |
| Host(s) | Matt Striker | |
| Broadcaster | SyFy | |
| No. of episodes | 13 | |
| Winner | ||
 Johnny Curtis, winner of season 4. | ||
| Name | Johnny Curtis | |
| Hometown | Westbrook, Maine | |
| Pro(s) | B-Truth | |
| Runner-up | ||
| Brodus Clay | ||
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 4 cast was revealed on the third season finale on November 30, 2010. In a change from the third season, "immunity points" are 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.
During Week 5, it was announced the winner would earn a IWE Tag Team Championship match with their respective Pro as their partner. In the same show, Dolph Ziggler won a battle royal consisting of each of the Pros, and as a result of the win, Ziggler was able to trade off his Rookie Jacob Novak for Byron Saxton, who was originally mentored by James Masters. Similarly during Week 8, 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 (Kyle Johnson and Riley) for Alberto Del Rio, who was originally mentoring Conor O'Brian before O'Brian's elimination on Week 7.
The winner of the season was Johnny Curtis, earning himself and his pro B-Truth a shot at the IWE Tag Team titles. As of April 18, when B-Truth turned heel by attacking Joe Linderman, R-Truth and his rookie Curtis still have not had that shot at the titles. Curtis would eventually debut on SmackDown in June when he stated that he won't be challenging for the Tag Team titles with B-Truth.
[edit] Contestants
| Rookie | Final Pro(s) | Initial Pro(s) | Wins | Losses | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Curtis | 3 | 7 | Winner | ||
| Brodus Clay | Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez | The Million Dollar Couple (Kyle Johnson and Riley Austin) | 7 | 3 | Eliminated (Week 13) |
| Derrick Reich | 3 | 6 | Eliminated (Week 12) | ||
| Byron Saxton | Dolph Ziggler and Lynn Lehr | James Masters | 3 | 6 | Eliminated (Week 10) |
| Conor O'Brian | 3 | 1 | Eliminated (Week 7) | ||
| Jacob Novak | James Masters | Dolph Ziggler and Lynn Lehr | 1 | 2 | Eliminated (Week 5) |
[edit] Poll results
- – Winner of competition
- – Safe in competition
- – Eliminated from competition by NXT Poll
- – Won immunity prior to that particular poll and is ineligible to be eliminated
| Rookie | Week 5 (January 4) | Week 7 (January 18) | Week 10 (February 8) | Week 12 (February 22) | Week 13 (March 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Curtis | Immune (5 immunity points) | Safe (0 immunity points) | Immune (3 immunity points)1 | Safe (3 immunity points) | Winner |
| Brodus Clay | Safe (0 immunity points) | Safe (0 immunity points) | Safe (3 immunity points) | Immune (8 immunity points) | Eliminated |
| Derrick Reich | Safe (3 immunity points) | Immune (8 immunity points) | Safe (2 immunity points) | Eliminated (0 immunity points) | |
| Byron Saxton | Safe (1 immunity point) | Safe (0 immunity points) | Eliminated (2 immunity points) | ||
| Conor O'Brian | Safe (4 immunity points) | Eliminated (0 immunity points) | |||
| Jacob Novak | Eliminated (1 immunity point) |
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.
[edit] NXT Redemption (Season 5)
| IWE NXT | ||
| NXT Redemption | ||
| Broadcast from | March 8, 2011 – June 13, 2012 | |
| Host(s) | Matt Striker | |
| Broadcaster | Maryse Ouellet (March 8 - August 20, 2011) | |
| No. of episodes | 67 | |
NXT Redemption, the fifth season of NXT, started on March 8, 2011. The season consists of six rookies chosen from all previous non-Diva seasons returning to compete for a spot in the sixth season of NXT alongside a IWE Superstar of their choice as their pro for that season. Immunity and the immunity points system have been replaced in this season with a "redemption point" system, where, in the result of a tie at the bottom place between the pros' poll and the fan vote, the person with the most redemption points avoids elimination. On June 25, 2011, Chavo McAlmond was granted a release from the WWE, leaving Darren Young without a pro, unlike Carlito of season one where he was released after his rookie, Michael Tarver, was already eliminated.
On June 28, after Conor O'Brian was eliminated, Derrick Reich was brought back. Kody Brown also returned as Reich's pro, but weeks after not appearing with Reich after he turned heel, Brown said he was disowning Reich due to the rookie's actions. On August 5, Vladimir Kozlov was also released from the IWE but, similar to Carlito, his rookie was already eliminated. While no divas from season three were part of the competition, since the end of regular eliminations June 28 both AJ Lee & Maxine have returned as the girlfriends of Hornswoggle and Reich respectively.
In later episodes, NXT Redemption was devoid of the typical challenges and eliminations while pros have feuded with each other, Young (later joined by JTG) with host Matt Striker and announcer William Kapphan, Yoshi Tatsu with Tyson Booth and Reich/Maxine with O'Neil/Hornswoggle/AJ. On September 27, Hornswoggle delivered a letter to AJ and O'Neil claiming he was being anchored to the dead NXT ship and needing to set sail to Smackdown, leaving Titus (the last rookie being mentored) without a pro. On October 5, NXT moved to its new day and time, Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST. NXT Redemption also featured lower card superstars signed to the Raw or SmackDown brands, competing as neither pros nor rookies, like Yoshi Tatsu, Trent Baretta, The Usos, Tyler Rask and Chad Coulter, as well as former NXT contestants Michael McGillicutty (who had previously been on the Raw roster), Percy Watson, Maxine as well as previous winners Kaitlyn and Johnny Curtis.
It was announced on October 6 that Darren Young was suspended by IWE for 30 days for violating of the company's wellness policy. On the October 12 edition of NXT, O'Neil and Bateman were referred to as the final two rookies in the competition with no mention whatsoever of Young, implying that he was eliminated from the competition due to his suspension. However, Young's suspension ended on November 5, and despite speculation that he would he removed from the competition Young returned on the November 16th edition of NXT and was once again referred to as a rookie. The following week, in his return match Young teamed with Tyler Rask to defeat the team of Titus O'Neil and Percy Watson. On January 11, 2012, NXT debuted a new intro which replaced the intro containing only the remaining finalists. The new intro features all the talent that was regularly featured on NXT Redemption, including IWE Superstars from Raw and Smackdown.
In the weeks leading up to the show's 100th episode, stars from Raw and Smackdown who got their start on NXT, including Jeremiah Garcia, Michael McGillicutty, Alex Riley and Devin Keller, made special appearances. NXT celebrated its 100th episode special on January 18 in Las Vegas with O'Neil decisively defeating Young in a No Disqualification Match, before going on an anger-fueled tirade in which he insulted his former pro Hornswoggle and berated the fans in attendance, turning heel in the process. Derrick Reich interrupted the wedding between Maxine and Johnny Curtis with footage of Curtis hacking Reich's iPad to send an email to Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long. The email, sent through Reich's address, contained disparaging remarks about Maxine and ultimately drove her into Curtis' arms. Upon this revelation Maxine slapped Curtis in the face and kissed Reich. The following week O'Neil furthered his heel turn by assaulting his former friend and tag team partner, Percy Watson after O'Neil defeated Watson. On the February 1 edition of NXT, O'Neil even further solidified his transformation by aligning himself with his former rival Darren Young as they competed in a tag team match against Percy Watson and Alex Riley.
On February 29, on the "one year anniversary" of season five (actually over a full week prior to its March 8 anniversary), Matt Striker announced that William Kapphan would take over as the authority figure and match coordinator, with Striker being retained as the show's host. On March 14, William Kapphan put together a special episode featuring "the lost art" of tag teaming, as the Usos defeated Young and O'Neil, Hawkins and Reks defeated Riley and Watson and Reich and Kaitlyn defeated Curtis and Maxine in a mixed tag team match.
On April 18, it was announced that Darren Young and Titus O'Neil would also compete on the SmackDown brand under orders of the show's General Manager, John Laurinaitis. On April 25, it was announced by Matt Striker that new wrestlers will appear on NXT due to Titus O'Neil and Darren Young leaving the show to go compete on SmackDown.
On May 17, NXT began taping episodes from its new home, Full Sail University in Florida. Four episodes of NXT were taped on this night. The new direction of NXT is intended to grant national exposure to stars from IWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, as a way to refine their skills on a grander stage, while being provided the opportunity to compete against or alongside current IWE Superstars before being called up to the main roster. The episodes taped on May 17 are part of a new season with the air date or networks uncertain. Despite the May 17 tapings NXT Redemption continued to be taped on Tuesdays, along with SmackDown for another four weeks. The final episode of NXT Redemption streamed on June 13, where it was announced that the new season would begin airing the following week, but, according to sources, IWE has removed all of the NXT material from their website and it looks as though Season 6 will not be available on the site.
NXT Redemption ran for over a year and 67 episodes were produced, exceeding the total number of episodes for all previous seasons combined. As of December 2012, the first season was a distant second at 15 episodes.
[edit] Contestants
| Rookie | Pro | Past season | Wins | Losses | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derrick Reich | Kody Brown | Season 4 | 12 | 14 | Never eliminated |
| Darren Young | Chavo McAlmond | Season 1 | 18 | 21 | Never eliminated; moved to SmackDown |
| Titus O'Neil | Hornswoggle | Season 2 | 25 | 18 | Never eliminated; moved to SmackDown |
| Conor O'Brian | Vladimir Kozlov | Season 4 | 6 | 6 | Eliminated (Week 17) |
| Lucky Cannon | Tyson Booth | Season 2 | 6 | 6 | Eliminated (Week 15) |
| Byron Saxton | Yoshi Tatsu | Season 4 | 2 | 8 | Eliminated (Week 13) |
| Jacob Novak | JTG | Season 4 | 2 | 5 | Eliminated (Week 11) |
[edit] Poll results
- –
- – Safe in competition
- – Eliminated from competition by NXT Poll
| Rookie | Week 11 (May 16) | Week 13 (May 31) | Week 15 (June 14) | Week 17 (June 28) | Week 29 (October 5) | Week 35 (November 16) | Week 59 (April 18) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derrick Reich | Joined | Safe (0 points) | Safe (0 points) | Never eliminated (0 points) | |||
| Titus O'Neil | Safe (19 points) | Safe (19 points) | Safe (22 points) | Safe (22 points) | Safe (30 points) | Safe (45 points) | Never eliminated; moved to SmackDown (45 points) |
| Darren Young | Safe (7 points) | Safe (7 points) | Safe (7 points) | Safe (7 points) | Suspended (7 points) | Returned from suspension (7 points) | Never eliminated; moved to SmackDown (7 points) |
| Conor O'Brian | Safe (0 points) | Safe (3 points) | Safe (3 points) | Eliminated (3 points) | |||
| Lucky Cannon | Safe (0 points) | Safe (0 points) | Eliminated (0 points) | ||||
| Byron Saxton | Safe (4 points) | Eliminated (4 points) | |||||
| Jacob Novak | Eliminated (6 points) |
[edit] NXT Wrestling
- Main article: NXT Wrestling
After Season 5 ended, WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, changed its name to NXT Wrestling, and its various championships were replaced by the NXT Championship. NXT thus ceased to become a seasonal competition between Rookies and instead became a developmental territory.
[edit] On-air personalities
[edit] Champions
| WWE NXT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Date won | Days Held | Notes | |
| NXT Championship | Seth Rollins | July 26, 2012 | 129+ | Defeated Jinder Mahal to become the first ever NXT Champion | |
[edit] Authority Figures
| Authority Figure | Dates | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Striker | February 23, 2010–June 13, 2012 | Host |
| Ashley Valence | June 22–August 31, 2010 | Co-Host |
| Riley* | March 8–October 28, 2011 | Co-Host |
| William Kapphan | February 29–June 13, 2012 | Match Coordinator |
| Dusty Semmler | June 20, 2012–present | Commissioner** |
(*) On August 24, Riley underwent surgery for an abdominal hernia and was on medical leave from IWE, therefore Riley's role as co-host ended. She would later be released from IWE on October 28, 2011 and would not return to NXT. As of November 2011, there is no official co-host.
(**) Dusty Semmler was named Interim General Manager of NXT on June 20, 2012, which coincided with the rebranding of NXT into a full scale developmental promotion. On the August 29, 2012 episode (taped July 29, 2012) of NXT, Semmler was noted as the NXT Commissioner.
[edit] Commentators
| Commentators | Dates |
|---|---|
| Michael Cole and Josh Mathews | February 23–September 14, 2010 September 28–November 30, 2010 January 18, 2012 |
| Michael Cole, Josh Mathews and CM Punk | September 21, 2010 |
| Todd Grisham and Josh Mathews | December 7, 2010–March 1, 2011 |
| Todd Grisham and William Kapphan | March 8–April 12, 2011 April 26, 2011 May 17––May 24, 2011 June 7–August 23, 2011 |
| Josh Mathews and William Kapphan | April 19, 2011, November 16, 2011 January 25, 2012 – June 13, 2012 |
| Todd Grisham and Matt Striker** | May 3, 2011, May 10, 2011 |
| Todd Grisham and Michael Cole*** | May 31, 2011 |
| Jack Korpela and Michael Cole*** | September 13, 2011 |
| Jack Korpela and William Kapphan | September 6–November 2, 2011 |
| Josh Mathews and Matt Striker**** | November 9–December 28, 2011 |
| Matt Striker and William Kapphan***** | November 23, 2011 January 4–January 11, 2012 |
| Matt Striker and Guest Commentators****** | April 25, 2012 |
| Jim Ross, William Regal, Byron Saxton and Chris Russo******* | June 20, 2012–present |
(*) – Friday Night SmackDown play-by-play commentator and former NXT color commentator, Josh Mathews, was substituting for an absent Todd Grisham. This repeated on the November 16, 2011 edition of NXT, but this time, he was substituting for an absent Jack Korpela, who would later be released from his IWE contract.
(**) – Matt Striker became the alternate color commentator on NXT beginning May 3, 2011 due to Kapphan's increased in-ring schedule (Kapphan would continue as commentator when he wasn't wrestling). This ended on the May 17, 2011 edition of NXT when Kapphan would return to the announce table as normal.
(***) – Michael Cole served as special guest color commentator on NXT for the May 31, 2011 broadcast substituting for an absent William Kapphan. Cole would also substitute for Kapphan again on commentary on the September 13, 2011 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 broadcast substituting for the absent William Kapphan and Jack Korpela. Striker and Mathews returned to commentary the following 2 weeks because Jack Korpela's contract with the IWE had expired and he opted not to renew.
(*****) – Matt Striker and William Kapphan commentated the November 23, 2011 edition of NXT, due to Mathews being absent.
(******) - Josh Matthews was absent from NXT after being attacked by Rob Lesnar on the April 23, 2012 episode of Raw.
(*******) - Byron Saxton sometimes substitutes for William Kapphan and Chris Russo substitutes for Byron Saxton.
[edit] Ring announcers
| Ring announcer | Dates |
|---|---|
| Savannah | February 23–June 1, 2010 |
| Jamie Keyes | June 8–August 24, 2010 |
| Justin Roberts | December 7, 2010 March 8, 2011 September 13, 2011 |
| Tony Chimel* | August 31–November 30, 2010 December 14, 2010–March 1, 2011 March 15–November 30, 2011 December 28, 2011–January 11, 2012 January 26–June 13, 2012 |
| Eden Stiles | July 12, 2011 November 9, 2011 December 7–December 21, 2011 |
| Lilian Garcia | January 18, 2012 |
| Caylee Turner, Summer Rae, Chris Russo | June 20, 2012–present |
| Howard Finkel | Main Event, July 29, 2012 (aired August 29, 2012) |
(*) If Chimel was absent from the NXT/Smackdown tapings, he would have been substituted as ring announcer by RAW's Justin Roberts or IWE 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 to be uploaded on IWE.com, Stiles would announce that she asked for her release from IWE a day after her final Superstars and NXT appearances have been recorded.
[edit] Production
[edit] International broadcasters
[edit] See also
- NXT Wrestling, the promotion formerly known as Florida Championship Wrestling that now showcases its talent on IWE NXT
