Triple H likens NXT's expansion plans to the World Cup.
The popularity of the NXT brand has expanded rapidly since its birth in 2012. Alongside NXT UK, which was introduced in 2018, there have long been plans for a global expansion of the brand, although the pandemic has slowed those advances in recent years.
With the recent news that NXT UK is going to be transformed into NXT Europe in 2023, there are many questions around the long-standing plans of NXT in other countries such as Mexico, Japan, and India. In a new interview with LAD Bible TV, Triple H reiterated that those plans are still intact and likened the future of NXT to a World Cup type scenario.
"For the last ten years or so, we’ve created that recruiting effort and started a brand called NXT. NXT for us is that academy model. So if RAW and SmackDown are the NFL for Football, NXT is collegiate athletics. We had a small brand here called NXT UK, we were headed down this road prior to the pandemic, which put a halt on it but we just shot that brand down because we’re gonna relaunch it in 2023 as NXT Europe and try to blow it up bigger. The intent will be to take NXT Europe and bring that around the world. So, NXT Europe, NXT Australia, NXT South Africa, South America, Mexico, [we will] eventually build that into a global system that will lead to almost a World Cup scenario. The World Cup finals for NXT will one year be in London, the next year maybe Mexico City, the year after that maybe…and all the while really what you’re doing is building this, you’re building a fanbase for college football while you’re building stars for the major leagues which is Raw, SmackDown, WrestleMania, right. In India right now, we are the second biggest sport in India outside of Cricket which is a religious thing. It’s massive already but imagine that scale when we have a brand on the ground of native Indian people having their own brand. [Let’s say] one of them branches out and goes to Raw or goes to SmackDown, headlines WrestleMania, it’s game-changing.”
Recently, WWE had massive success in the United Kingdom with their Clash At The Castle show, which stands as the most-viewed international premium live event ever. To learn more about the success of that event, click here.
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