WWE NXT

WWE NXT is a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) which debuted on Syfy on February 23, 2010. Described as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show follows select talent contracted to WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in a competition to become a contracted member of the Raw roster with the help of mentors from WWE's Raw and SmackDown brands.

Format
WWE NXT pairs up eight wrestlers from WWE's existing Raw and SmackDown brands (dubbed "Pros") with talent from WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (dubbed "Rookies"). Each episode feature the Rookies being mentored by the Pros as they develop their characters, as well as their microphone and performance skills in front of a live audience. The pairings also enable the show to crossover into WWE's Raw and SmackDown programs. At the end of the season, the success of each Rookie is determined by votes from all of the Pros. However, no Pro can vote for or against their own Rookie. The ultimate prize for one of the Rookies is a contract to perform on the Raw brand.

Due to WWE's nature of airing weekly shows without hiatus, the current plan for NXT will be to split the year's set of episodes into two or three seasons. NXT is the second reality series produced by WWE, the first being WWE Tough Enough which aired between 2001 to 2004.

Cast
Sheffield's Pro was originally announced to be Montel Vontavious Porter, but was replaced by William Regal before the show's premiere.

Show history
On February 2, 2010, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced that a new weekly program 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." On the February 4, 2010 episode of WWE Superstars, the new show's name was announced as WWE NXT. 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.

The name was later discovered to be trademarked already in the United Kingdom by National Wrestling Alliance 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.

International broadcasters
In addition to being broadcast on Syfy in the United States, NXT will be broadcast on a number of channels in many different countries.