NXT To Undergo Major Shake-Up? (WWE News)

Could NXT be taking up a residency at the UFC Apex?

Jun 29, 2025 June 29th, 2025

Could WWE's NXT brand be about to undergo a significant change in the future? Possibly...

Writing in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer notes that there have been talks of NXT taking up a residency at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

This report states that such a residency would result in major NXT events running more regularly from the UFC Apex, following in the footsteps of NXT Battleground running from the venue last year.

One major benefit of such a move would be the cost implications. Rather than paying to use other buildings for certain NXT specials, it would obviously be far less expensive to simply use the UFC Apex that TKO already owns. This could also lead to WWE opening up a second training site in Las Vegas, which is something that's been rumoured for several months by this point in time.

The UFC Apex has a maximum capacity of approximately 1,000 people, which can at times lead to a somewhat flat atmosphere for the UFC events that emanate from the building. For NXT Battleground 2024, the attendance was 679. By comparison to recent NXT specials, this year's Vengeance Day got 3,849 at Washington's CareFirst Arena, and Battleground 2025 got 7,481 at Tampa's Yuengling Center.

Now, just because WWE takes up an NXT residency to run specials from the UFC Apex, that doesn't mean the company is restricted to only using the Apex, of course. There is still always the option to run other venues as and when the organisation sees fit.

Either way, at this point, it's far from official that NXT will be making regular trips to the UFC Apex, and this is one of those stories to keep an eye on to see if anything further does eventually develop down the line.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

See more from Andrew