Below are a couple of top WWE news stories of the day, featuring SmackDown and NXT.
• SmackDown will officially become a 3-hour show tonight. So far, WWE has announced the following two matches for this episode:
– United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Andrade in a non-title match
– Nia Jax (c) vs. Naomi for the WWE Women’s Championship
According to WrestleVotes, the main event of tonight’s show is going to be The New Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga) vs. Braun Strowman, Jimmy Uso & Sami Zayn.
WATCH: Candice Michelle Stripped (Part 2):
• WWE has ended NXT Level Up as of late 2024, but a new NXT-related program, NXT Evolve, is in development.
NXT Level Up, which premiered in February 2022 as a replacement for 205 Live, continued airing on Peacock even after most of NXT’s content moved to The CW App. WWE ultimately discontinued the show.
According to the Wrestling Observer, NXT Evolve will be spearheaded by Gabe Sapolsky, co-founder of ROH and creator of EVOLVE Wrestling, who has a long history in talent development:
“Level Up is being replaced by something called NXT Evolve although not at the start of the year. We’ve heard to expect it in a few months. It’s a Gabe Sapolsky project and essentially would be people in developmental but not on NXT television regularly, like Level Up. I think that instead of just matches, to do angles and promos and book it more like a television show. It will be shows taped only for television/streaming.”
Sapolsky, who rejoined WWE in 2022 after a brief hiatus, will oversee the project. EVOLVE Wrestling itself ceased operations in 2020 when WWE acquired its assets.
