WWE made another round of production related cuts to NXT this week, according to Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net.

NXT is apparently down to “a skeleton crew” as far as production goes as they gear up for a new look, starting this Tuesday. This comes after numerous NXT wrestlers were let go over the past year.

WWE has billed it as “NXT 2.0” while the company moves away from the darker look at the Capitol Wrestling Center. There have been plenty of backstage changes for NXT (full report here) with Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and other higher-ups getting more involved in the big picture NXT items.

It’s currently unknown who will be running the NXT shows with WWE Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development Triple H being sidelined while he recovers from his recent heart surgery. Previously, it was said day-to-day operations would still be handled by Triple H, Shawn Michaels, William Regal, and Matt Bloom.

Last month it was reported WWE was changing up what it’s looking for in development as a focus on younger, bigger talent would be the direction going forward. Although they wouldn’t be ignored completely, indie wrestlers weren’t necessarily going to brought in as frequently.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be another taped show, the final before next week’s live show that is set to be a reset for the brand.

• MSK offers a title opportunity to the dangerous Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch 
• Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter to challenge Io Shirai & Zoey Stark
• Ember Moon will attempt to shut down Kay Lee Ray
• Carmelo Hayes to go head-to-head with Santos Escobar
• Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell’s bachelor and bachelorette parties to air this Tuesday
• The Diamond Mine’s Brutus Creed and Julius Creed will officially debut
• Tian Sha’s Mei Ying will make her official single debut

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be a taped show, filmed last week from the Capitol Wrestling Center at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

• Johnny Gargano and LA Knight to collide on NXT
• Tommaso Ciampa looks to get even with Ridge Holland
• Kyle O’Reilly looks to humble Duke Hudson in the ring
• NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov rolls back into NXT
• Ikemen Jiro accepts Roderick Strong’s open challenge

WWE has unveiled its most recent batch of Performance Center recruits — including Rikishi’s son Joseph Fatu!

WWE has officially revealed its six most recent developmental recruits, and it’s certainly an interesting bunch of prospects!

Here’s who’s been signed, and what you need to know about them

• Joseph Fatu is the son of WWE Hall Of Fame Rikishi, his brothers are current WWE Superstars Jimmy and Jey Uso
• Ben Buchanan is a former amateur wrestler whose father Bull Buchanon is a former WWE Tag Team Champion
• Bobby Steveson is a former University Of Minnesota wrestler whose brother Gable just won an Olympic gold medal
• Brady Booker is a 21-year-old former college linebacker
• Joshua Dawkins is a 23-year-old hopeful who was trained by WWE Hall Of Famer D-Von Dudley
• Jessica Woynilko is a 21-year-old gymnast/bodybuilder/CrossFit queen who was trained by the legendary Greg Gagne

This is the first batch of recruits to be signed since it was revealed that WWE was changing its recruitment strategy by hiring younger, physically imposing hopefuls and fewer experienced independent wrestlers.

As we previously reported, WWE’s president Nick Khan recently confirmed that revamp of WWE’s developmental system was imminent.

“We’re doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H, who is really one of the architects of the original NXT,” Khan said during a recent interview with BT Sport’s Ariel Helwani. “In terms of an NXT rebrand, look for it. In the next couple of weeks, it’s going to have a whole new look, a whole new feel, and we believe because a lot of the ‘Indie wrestlers,’ if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and Raw, we don’t want to just keep doing that same thing,” he continued. “We want to look elsewhere for great young talent.”

Most of the new recruits have very little — if any — experience on the independent scene, and they’re all impressive physical specimens, which lends credence to recent reports that the company is no longer interested in shorter talent. By signing youngsters with little-to-no experience, WWE will be able to claim full credit for the end results.

Source: The Sportster

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will feature fallout from Sunday’s Takeover 36 event. The episode was taped on Monday night from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando.

• Hit Row and Legado del Fantasma prepare for Six-Man Tag Team clash
• Carmelo Hayes and Odyssey Jones meet in NXT Breakout Tournament Final
• Ridge Holland set to throw down with Timothy Thatcher
• Ridge Holland vs. Timothy Thatcher
• Kay Lee Ray vs. Valentina Feroz
• Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne
• Appearances by new NXT Champion Samoa Joe, Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis, Johnny Gargano, The Diamond Mine, NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez, Franky Monet, LA Knight, Tommaso Ciampa, NXT General Manager William Regal, and others

WWE President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan says NXT is undergoing a revamp with production changes expected in the coming weeks.

Khan spoke with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport about the new vision for NXT as they want to change how talent will be developed.

“We are doing a complete revamp on NXT, led by Triple H, who is really one of the architects of the original NXT,” Khan revealed. “What we found — it’s part of why we did the tryout yesterday — what we want to make sure is easy for folks who want to be WWE Superstars, is figuring out how to become WWE Superstars.”

“In terms of an NXT re-brand, look for it in the next couple of weeks. It’s going to have a whole new look, it’s going to have a whole new feel — and we believe — because of a lot of the indie wrestlers, if you will, have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and RAW now. We don’t want to just keep doing that same thing, we want to look elsewhere for great, young talent.”

Khan was then asked what he meant by a new look and feel for NXT.

“The look of the show, the production of the show, everything is going to change in the next few weeks,” Khan confirmed.

In this interview, Khan also clarified his “We’re open for business” comment about the possibility of WWE being sold, and also this year’s WWE releases. You can check out the full interview in the video below.

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to BT Sport