WWE NXT will be graduating to its own tapings, combined with WWE developmental Florida Championship Wrestling starting on Thursday 5/17 at 7 PM.
The tapings will be held at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL (near Orlando) at the Full Sail Live gym. Tickets for the tapings will be free to FSU staff and students with ID as long as they reserve the tickets in advance. No word yet as to how the general public can attend. (Tickets for the first show are now sold out)
I am told one of the reasons the tapings, which will be branded as "WWE Superstar Showdown", are being moved are to make it easier to integrate WWE developmental talent into the mix for NXT. The hope is that the University feel will give the show a chance for better crowd reactions as well as help upgrade FCW TV to a "grander" look than the FCW Arena in Tampa can provide. The plan is to upgrade NXT and give it more attention as opposed to it being a secondary show on the Smackdown tapings.
HHH is behind the moves and will be very involved with the tapings. He was said to be a big fan of the facility when he and other company executives, including Kevin Dunn and Stephanie McMahon scouted last year.
This past December, WWE filmed several potential pilots at the facility and signed an exclusivity deal with the University to prevent any other wrestling-related events from being held there. Full Sail is an entertainment media university with state of the art production facilities.
Triple H is advertised for the initial taping, which will also feature Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio and R-Truth & Kofi Kingston vs. Epico & Primo.
Currently scheduled tapings:
May 17, 2012
June 14, 2012
July 5, 2012
July 19, 2012
August 9, 2012
August 23, 2012
September 6, 2012
September 20, 2012