WWE Worlds Collide | |
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![]() NXT Worlds Collide logo used as of 2022 | |
Promotions | WWE |
Brands | NXT (2019–present) Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2025–present) NXT UK (2019–2022) 205 Live (2019) Raw (2019) SmackDown (2019) |
Other names | NXT x AAA Worlds Collide |
First event | 2019 |
WWE Worlds Collide, also known as NXT Worlds Collide, is a professional wrestling event series produced by WWE, an American-based professional wrestling promotion. Established in 2019, the concept is interbrand competition between WWE's various brand divisions. Although the event has been held primarily for WWE's developmental brand, NXT, other brands have also been featured. The event was put on hiatus after the 2020 event but returned in 2022. After another three-year hiatus, the event will return in June 2025 and be held with Mexico's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, which WWE acquired in April 2025.
The first event was held as a tournament in early 2019 and featured wrestlers from NXT, NXT UK, and the now-defunct 205 Live. In April that year, a four-episode streaming television series titled WWE Worlds Collide aired. In addition to the other three brands, this series also featured wrestlers from WWE's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. A second singular event was then held in 2020, but only featured wrestlers from NXT and NXT UK. The 2022 event was again held primarily for NXT and NXT UK, but also with a few wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown taking part; this was also the final WWE event for NXT UK. The 2025 event will be held between NXT and AAA.
History
In early January 2019, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE announced an interbrand tournament to take place during the weekend of that year's Royal Rumble event and it would stream on the WWE Network. The tournament was a two-day event, held on January 26 and 27 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and aired on tape delay as a single broadcast on February 2.[1][2][3] The event hosted a 15-man single-elimination tournament, called the Worlds Collide Tournament, which was evenly divided between the NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brands. The winner of the tournament received a future match for a championship of their choice, with the choices being the NXT Championship, the NXT North American Championship, NXT UK's WWE United Kingdom Championship, and 205 Live's WWE Cruiserweight Championship—the latter only being an option if the winner was within the 205 lb. weight limit.[4]
On March 28, 2019, WWE announced that Worlds Collide would return during April's WrestleMania Axxess festival.[5] In addition to the three brands previously featured at the Worlds Collide special, wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands would also participate in the events.[5] On April 9, WWE announced that these events would air as a four-episode streaming television series on the WWE Network titled WWE Worlds Collide, starting on April 14.[6][7][8]
During WWE's Royal Rumble 2020 weekend announcements, WWE revealed that another Worlds Collide event would be livestreamed on the WWE Network on January 25, 2020, and broadcast from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, though unlike the first event, it would only feature the NXT and NXT UK brands and not also 205 Live (which would cease operations in February 2022). Also unlike the first event, there was not a Worlds Collide Tournament with a future championship opportunity at stake. Instead, the card's matches were interbrand matches pitting wrestlers from NXT against those from NXT UK.[9]
Worlds Collide was then put on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2021, the company revealed their event calendar for 2022, and Worlds Collide was not included.[10][11] Prior to this, NXT underwent a restructuring, being rebranded as "NXT 2.0", reverting to a developmental territory for WWE.[12] However, on August 18, 2022, WWE announced the return of Worlds Collide, scheduled for September 4, and it would primarily feature NXT and NXT UK. The announcement also confirmed that the 2022 Worlds Collide would be the final event for NXT UK; following the event, the brand took a hiatus and will eventually relaunch as NXT Europe. At the 2022 event, all of NXT UK's championships (except the NXT UK Heritage Cup) were unified into their respective NXT championship counterparts. In addition to the WWE Network in international markets, it was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States (as the American WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021).[13][14] The 2022 event was also the final major event for NXT in which the brand was referred to as "NXT 2.0", as shortly after the event, the "2.0" moniker was dropped.[15]
On April 19, 2025, after a three-year hiatus, WWE announced the return of Worlds Collide for NXT, scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2025, at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. The event will be held in collaboration with the Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, which WWE revealed it had acquired shortly after the announcement of the 2025 Worlds Collide. It will be held as part of the 2025 Money in the Bank weekend, held the same day prior to that event, which is taking place at Inglewood's Intuit Dome. This will be the first Worlds Collide to livestream on Netflix in most international markets following the merger of the WWE Network under Netflix in January 2025 in the areas.[16][17]
Events
References
- ^ a b WWE.com staff (January 24, 2019). "WWE Worlds Collide to stream on Saturday, Feb. 2". WWE. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
- ^ WWE.com Staff (January 10, 2019). "NXT, 205 Live and NXT UK Superstars to battle in the first-ever WWE Worlds Collide Tournament at Royal Rumble Axxess". WWE. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
The WWE Worlds Collide Tournament, which will be taped for a WWE Network special, kicks off with a 15-Superstar Battle Royal on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the 8 a.m. session of Axxess.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (January 10, 2019). "WWE Worlds Collide tournament set, will be taped for network special". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on January 10, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ Satin, Ryan (January 10, 2019). "Worlds Collide Tournament To Air On WWE Network". TheSportster. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ a b WWE.com Staff (March 28, 2019). "NXT Superstars vs. NXT Alumni, Cruiserweights Collide and more at WrestleMania Axxess' Worlds Collide events". WWE. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ^ a b WWE.com Staff (April 9, 2019). "When to watch Worlds Collide on WWE Network". WWE. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ^ Currier, Joseph (March 28, 2019). "Worlds Collide specials, NXT UK tapings set for WrestleMania Axxess". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ^ "Full WWE When Worlds Collide Taping Results From Axxess (Spoilers)". 411Mania. April 8, 2019. Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ^ a b "WWE Worlds Collide preview, Jan. 25 2020: NXT and NXT UK clash during Royal Rumble Weekend". WWE. November 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
- ^ Brookouse, Brent (November 5, 2021). "WWE schedule, list of PPVs for 2021: Survivor Series date, location, start time, watch live". CBSSports. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ Lambert, Jeremy (October 25, 2021). "WWE Announces Pay-Per-View Schedule For 2022, WrestleMania 38 Set To Be Two Nights". Fightful. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
- ^ Wrestlenomics Staff (October 4, 2021). "The future of WWE NXT 2.0 on the USA Network". Wrestlenomics. Archived from the original on October 4, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (August 18, 2022). "WWE Announces The Impending Launch Of 'NXT Europe'; Final NXT UK Event To Be 'Worlds Collide' On 9/4". Fightful. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
- ^ Defelice, Robert (March 8, 2021). "Standalone WWE Network App Shutting Down In The US On 4/4, New Details On The Transition To Peacock". Fightful. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ Renner, Ethan (September 13, 2022). "WWE NXT changes logo, returns to black and gold color scheme". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
- ^ a b Lambert, Jeremy (April 19, 2025). "WWE Announces Acquisition Of Lucha Libre AAA, Worlds Collide Event Set For June 7". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 19, 2025. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
- ^ Gibbons, Aidan (January 25, 2024). "WWE Network to be shut down by the end of 2024". Cultaholic. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ "WWE To Launch NXT Europe In 2023". WWE. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
- ^ Moore, John (September 4, 2022). "NXT Worlds Collide results: Moore's live review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a unification match, NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Women's Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a unification match, Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 4, 2022.