NXT bringing live events back to Fla.
For the first time in more than two years, NXT is going back on the road with non-televised events next month, WWE officials announced Tuesday, with the first show scheduled for June 10 in Tampa.
Since the COVID-19 shutdown began, the WWE’s Orlando-based brand has been largely limited to its weekly USA Network TV tapings at the WWE Performance Center each Tuesday.
The last two NXT non-televised events were March 7, 2020, in Detroit and at Orlando Live Events in Fern Park.
Tickets for the first eight events of NXT 2.0 went on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at wwe.com/nxttix, with more dates to be announced. The schedule so far:
Friday, June 10: UACDC
Complex in Tampa
Saturday, July 11: Largo Event Center in Largo
Friday, June 24: Jacksonville Armory in Jacksonville
Saturday, June 25: Venice Community Center in Venice
Friday, July 8: Citrus Springs Community Center in Dunnellon
Saturday, July 9: Engelwood Neighborhood Center in Orlando
Friday, July 22: Melbourne Auditorium in Melbourne
Saturday, July 23: Cocoa Armory in Cocoa
NXT house shows, sometimes dubbed the “Coconut Loop,” were once an integral part of developing new talent and building the brand locally, giving the newest trainees a chance to wrestle in front of a handful of fans away from the bright lights of USA Network.
Over the years, as NXT grew from an online-only developmental product into a national brand, some tours would leave Florida for venues across the country, but the Sunshine State shows remained a tradition.
NXT was rebranded as “NXT 2.0 eight months ago, with a renewed emphasis on younger talent, but its stars haven’t had the chance to work many house shows. Of the promotion’s current title holders, NXT champion Bron Breakker, tag-team champions Pretty Deadly and women’s tag-team champions Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne haven’t wrestled any non-televised events for NXT.
The main events of the last NXT house shows, some 26 months ago, were Tommaso Ciampa vs. Damian Priest (Detroit) and Kushida vs. Bobby Fish (Orlando).