WWE NXT Europe appears to be dead in the water.
WWE announced in August 2022 that NXT UK would be on hiatus until 2023, when the NXT Europe brand will be launched. Following the brand’s hiatus, the company laid off a significant number of employees.
NXT Europe has yet to launch. Despite the initial belief that WWE would proceed with the plans, there has been no movement. The brand was put on hold while the company waited to be purchased by the Endeavor Group and merged with the UFC to form a new entity.
The TKO name has been applied, but no progress has been made. Dave Meltzer, speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, mentioned that there is less talk about the brand than ever.
Meltzer said, “I just keep thinking….remember when they closed NXT UK? This is a couple of years ago now, and it was like they were immediately going to reopen NXT Europe. And then they fired almost everyone, except for, like, you know, certain guys, like Oral Mensa and The Gallus Boys and Blair Davenport, Lyra Valkyria. They brought in some of the top people they brought in, but most of the people that were working next to the UK were fired. And I thought, like, ‘If you’re really going to do NXT Europe, like you say, why are you firing people?’ Because these people were not under, you know, it’s like they were under, like, $25,000 a year contracts. It’s not like they’re paying giant money to these people. I mean, the cost savings was negligible, and so and then other people were telling me they’re never going to do this Europe thing. They say it because it’s like they didn’t want to admit to shutting down the UK thing because the UK thing was their original idea was there to offset that ITV show, you know, the one that Grado was like a big star in, and Davey Boy Smith Jr. was a big star in that failed. And that thing had died. So they didn’t really have a reason, and they weren’t really doing any shows or anything like that there. So they shut down the UK thing. We’re still waiting. I always hear, ‘We’re doing the European thing.’ But it’s been years now, and I’m hearing less now than I heard years ago that they are. So who knows when, like, it’s again. I mean, I remember WWE NXT Europe doing the idea, and it’s a loose, real idea. They were going to do it, you know, have a European outpost. NXT, Europe, Europe. NXT, Middle East. NXT, Japan, NXT Mexico, or Latin America. I mean, his vision was NXT outposts, you know, regional stuff all over the world to develop young talent, and the best talent from all these places would end up on the main roster at some point. But that idea is years and years and years old, and the original thing is that it was slowed down due to COVID. Well, we’re years out of COVID and [heard] never nothing about it. Maybe someday we’ll hear about it. Now, there’s new ownership. Maybe they are not down with that. I don’t know so. But the new ownership, I mean, like they got the Vegas thing, they’ve got that building that they own that’s a good size for television, for weekly television tapings. I can see this [airing NXT TV in Las Vegas] happening as far as when it’s going to happen. Time will tell.”
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
