Select Answers: NXT Tickets, TV, House Shows, NWA

Welcome to Select Answers, a short feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers.

I live in Florida and noticed that NXT has significantly cut back on their Coconut Loop/house shows, with only a couple of shows scheduled the rest of the year. Have you heard anything about these being axed by TKO (since it’s doubtful they make any money from them)? Personally, I feel it would be a shame if they are done, since they give a lot of the newer NXT talent a chance to hone their skills in front of a live crowd without the pressure of TV.

TKO has scaled back live events as a whole, and is looking to scale them back next year as well. This was something WWE looked to do just before the pandemic, and was a positive perk for many that had re-signed with the company in 2019. I wouldn't expect them to be completely eliminated, but certainly ones that aren't money makers, or aren't worth the margins the see are the next cost cutting measure.

When promotions change venues like WWE just did in St Louis due to low ticket sales, do they have to pay a cancellation fee to the original venue they were gonna use?

I can't speak to that situation specifically, but it depends on the agreement. If a company foresees something like this happening, there's the possibility that they work that into the agreement. Each one is unique. I know this isn't a definitive answer, but there isn't much of a definitive answer. In some cases yes, in other cases no.

With NXT and the NWA being in the same network being NWA is only on the streaming service could you see NXT and the NWA having a partnership?

WWE has been quick to note they don't have "partnerships" with anyone else, they have talent exchanges. I would be very surprised if WWE did that with NWA. Many of the talent NWA use are effectively free agents, but some have contracts that limit where they can appear. NWA has also been pretty good about just letting talent out of deals or letting deals expire if they don't have anything for the talent. Interestingly enough, two talent that they recently let go -- Joe Alonzo and Missa Kate, are two I think would fit well on NXT.