Shawn Michaels Teases Two More WWE NXT Brands For 2023
It looks like more than just NXT Europe could be on the way next year...
With NXT Europe to launch next year, Shawn Michaels has teased that a further two arms of the NXT brand could arrive in 2023.
According to the Heartbreak Kid - who nowadays serves as WWE's SVP of Talent Development Creative - announcements of NXT Japan and NXT Mexico could well be on the way next year.
As Michaels detailed on the media call for last night's Halloween Havoc (as per Wrestling Inc.):
"I know there's been talks of NXT Japan and NXT Mexico. Those are obviously probably father down the road, but it's my understanding those are some announcements that could be coming not too far down the road in 2023."
Of course, the aforementioned NXT Europe is due to launch early next year, with the arrival of that brand coming in the wake of the demise of NXT UK - which formally closed its doors at Worlds Collide last month. There, Worlds Collide saw the NXT UK Title, NXT UK Women's Title, and NXT UK Tag Team Titles unified with their respective NXT equivalents.
Through Triple H, WWE had previously discussed plans to venture into Japan with its developmental arm, but those plans seem to have been scrapped last year. With the Game now steering the WWE ship, it looks as if there's now once again plans afoot to expand to Japan.
Likewise, Paul Levesque has also made prior comments about wanting to do a World Cup-style event featuring different NXT brands squaring off. If we do indeed get to a point where there's NXT, NXT Europe, NXT Japan and NXT Mexico, such an idea could well become a reality.