WWE’s recent television rights deals now have NBCUniversal paying them $265 million a year to air Monday Night Raw and Fox paying $205 annually for SmackDown Live. Which begs the question — could WWE‘s third wrestling brand, NXT, ever wind up on television earning the company even more money?
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson asked Triple H, the brand’s founder and senior producer, about the idea in a recent interview. Surprisingly, Hunter didn’t fully dismiss the idea.
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“As far as where NXT ends up, as that brand continues to grow, never say never, I guess,” Triple H said. “For the value of the Network, NXT is a valuable part of the WWE Network. Where it ends up, I don’t know. Obviously, that’s a decision that Vince [McMahon] will make and the team here will make strategically as to where everything sits, just as we do everything else in our ecosystem as far as where we put content. It’s a constantly challenging question for us. Good problem to have, right?”
In 2012 WWE rebranded its Orlando-based developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, into NXT. The brand has only ever aired on the WWE Network (with replays on Hulu), and its NXT TakeOver events became the first live wrestling events to air exclusively on the network.
NXT’s next event, NXT TakeOver: Chicago, will air on June 16 at the Allstate Arena outside of Chicago, Illinois. The four matches officially announced for the card so far include Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan for the NXT Championship, The Undisputed Era vs. Oney Loran and Danny Burch for the NXT Tag Team Championships, Johnny Gargano vs. Tommasso Ciampa in a street fight and Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream. It’s possible they also add an NXT Women’s Championship match between Shayna Baszler and Nikki Cross.
The following night WWE’s main roster will host its own pay-per-view in the same arena, Money in the Bank. The card will see two titular ladder matches with eight men competing in one match and eight women in the other. The contestants for the men’s match include Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Rusev, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, The Miz and a member of The New Day. The women’s match will involve Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Lana, Naomi and Sasha Banks.
Some of the other announced matches include WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing Match, Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey and Seth Rollins vs. Elias.
