There has been a lot of talk and speculation that NXT will be moving to FS1 in the near future, keeping their WWE Network time slot of Wednesday nights at 8PM which would put them into a direct collision course with All Elite Wrestling and their new weekly live show on TNT.
While an official decision has not been made public, many are working under the assumption that this will be announced soon. In a conference call with reporters this week, Triple H said that WWE is always actively looking for properties where their content goes but stopped short of even acknowledging that there are plans to move NXT from the Network to FS1.
Putting NXT on FS1 against AEW would also force WWE to go live with the broadcast which will present another slew of logistical issues. WWE would not risk putting a month-old taping against a new, live show in this day and age since they would treat this as the new “war” with their competition. NXT is taped at Full Sail University and on-the-road shows are held in smaller buildings too. WWE could use the old Impact Wrestling method of filming every week in the same location but even that has its own risks.
Taking NXT on the road every week is also another option, although not the preferred one especially at the moment since WWE has a hard time filling arenas with their main roster, so let alone with their third brand. Apart from that, taking everyone on the road is also another cost that they currently do not have with tapings at Full Sail University.
If NXT does eventually move to FS1, the show will obviously not air on the WWE Network as well and will have a similar schedule like Raw and Smackdown, where both those shows are uploaded on the Network around a month after they air due to content agreement with the networks. NXT has been airing on the Network weekly ever since the streaming service went live in early 2014.
On the upside, if NXT does start airing on FS1, WWE will be getting millions more on top of their current agreement as their five-year, one billion dollar deal is only for Smackdown.
