As noted, NXT is set to move away from Full Sail University to the WWE Performance Center, beginning with Sunday’s “Takeover: 31” event.
The weekly NXT TV show will be filmed from the Performance Center, which recently underwent renovations. It was also reported that the WWE 205 Live show will begin airing from the Performance Center starting next Friday night. 205 Live has been filmed from the Amway Center in Orlando as of late.
In an update, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that NXT and 205 Live will be taped together each week, instead of 205 Live airing live after SmackDown on Friday nights. 205 Live will still air in the same timeslot, just on a tape delay.
It was noted that the change is a precautionary measure related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea of taping RAW separate from SmackDown and separate from NXT was that if there was a coronavirus problem, it wouldn’t spread to the different brands because they were kept apart. There was at least a belief that some of the recent main roster spread of the virus came from NXT talents that worked 205 Live tapings at the Amway Center, or at least the potential was there.
Regarding the rumors of Takeover possibly being held at The ThunderDome in the Amway Center, the Observer adds that there was still talk of that happening as recent as most of this week.
The Observer also reported that there was talk of going back to live weekly NXT shows at the Performance Center, instead of live shows every other Wednesday. PWInsider then reported today that this is a done deal, and that NXT will be going live each Wednesday on the USA Network as of this Wednesday with the post-Takeover episode. This will be the new norm moving forward.
NXT did air from the Performance Center earlier this year, but most of the pandemic era episodes have been held at the NXT Arena on the campus of Full Sail. There’s no word yet on what this mans for the relationship between WWE and the school, which began in 2012.
Stay tuned for updates on WWE tapings returning to the Performance Center, and be sure to join us for live Takeover coverage at 6:30pm ET on Sunday, beginning with the Pre-show.
