Tag: Performance Center

Recent NXT signee confirms her WWE name

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Amidst WWE’s filings for trademarks and new Performance Center recruits, Rayne Leverkusen confirmed her new WWE ring name after signing with the company this year.

On her Instagram account, Leverkusen changed her profile name to ‘Lizzy Rain’. WWE confirmed her signing as a new recruitment at the Performance Center in March. 

She participated in the SummerSlam tryouts last year and was named the MVP of the tryouts. Rain has competed actively in PROGRESS Wrestling, Hustle Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling CHAOS, Revolution Pro Wrestling among a few. She vacated all of the titles last month amid the move to WWE. 

She’s not the only talent newly recruited to the PC this year. She was joined by Ahmed Essam Samy Twfiq, Ellen Akesson and Delia Schweizer who were also announced as new recruits at the PC. 

WWE has been filing for many trademarks of late for new, upcoming NXT talent and stables. NXT prospect Shady Elnahas introduced his new in-ring name, Shido Ash, this week. Eli Knight got a revamped name too as EK Prosper to prevent his name clashing with Raw’s LA Knight.

Meanwhile, WWE is gearing up for WrestleMania 42 this weekend on April 18 and 19 at Allegiant Stadium. 

Report: WWE considering more road dates for NXT TV

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

WWE’s developmental program NXT is based out of Florida, but they look to be spending a lot more time on the road next year. 

According to a report by Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select, NXT is considering increasing their road schedule for TV in 2026. “The emphasis is to get more reps on the road for a lot of their talent on the show,” according to the report. 

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful clarifies that despite the added road dates, the WWE’s Performance Center will still be NXT’s home arena, and there are no plans to abandon the building entirely. 

Our own Bryan Alvarez is reporting that the extended road schedule has been planned for a long time, and in fact is included in NXT’s contract with the CW Network. 

WWE executive Shawn Michaels, who has been in charge of NXT since 2022, talked about the need for house shows a few months ago. 

“We always talk about this: there’s TV, there’s live events, there’s PLEs. They’re all kind of different. And all those performances have to be different,” Michaels said at the time. “And this feel [of the shows is different], and so many things that we say that they haven’t had the opportunity to really experience, because we’re in the Performance Center on a regular basis. And that audience is an audience that is sort of there playing their part on television and doing their role, which they do in a great way more often than not.”

Stubhub currently lists NXT events in Florida, Tennessee, and Washington state over the next few months. However, they are only listing one televised event away from the Performance Center: a February 24 event at Center Stage Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. 

John Cena visits WWE Performance Center

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The WWE Performance Center got a visit today from one of the most popular stars in company history.

John Cena was at the Performance Center on Monday, as seen in pictures posted by Blake Monroe and Izzi Dame on social media. An account for The CW Network shared Monroe’s post and called it “very interesting” that Cena was at the PC — though there is no confirmation if that’s teasing an NXT TV appearance for Cena.

“Always a blessing and such an inspiration getting to sit with John and pick his brain about our business,” Dame wrote in her post. “Grateful for the wisdom and perspective every time!”

Cena — who recently defeated AJ Styles at Crown Jewel: Perth — does not have a WWE appearance announced until the November 10 episode of Raw in Boston. After that, his retirement tour only has three more stops: Raw in New York City (November 17), Survivor Series in San Diego (November 29), and Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C. (December 13).

Tuesday’s NXT episode is taking place at the Performance Center and is the go-home show for Halloween Havoc.

WWE NXT moving TV full-time to PC as Full Sail partnership ends

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE will be spending some time and money in upgrading the Performance Center over the next month as it will be the long-term home of future NXT TV shows, according to Dave Meltzer in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Meltzer also reported that NXT’s relationship with Full Sail University is now over, ending a partnership that began in 2012 and was expanded in 2019. It’s unknown if NXT will still continue to use Full Sail students.

The reason NXT is taping three episodes next week at the Performance Center is due to the upgrades and changes, explained in storyline by Karrion Kross and Samoa Joe’s brawl last Wednesday that destroyed parts of the arena.

Meltzer said the belief is the show looks too dark on TV so the goals are to make the studio brighter with more lights and more color. Additionally, the plexiglass around ringside may be removed as well.

This aligns with changes coming to the brand that Meltzer has reported before — both from a visual and philosophical standpoint.

“From a creative standpoint, the show is supposed to give the wrestling students and prospects more television time and less time to the experienced veterans and strong workers, which is a seismic shift in the goal of attempting to present the best wrestling show possible to being a developmental television show. That is the doctrine, but how it plays out remains to be seen, but they do want the concept to be closer to the 2015 version of NXT,” he wrote.

WWE to resume filming at the Performance Center this Friday

Posted on by Josh Nason

This story was updated at 2 PM Eastern.

Days after their first empty arena WrestleMania, WWE has told talent that filming for upcoming editions of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT will resume this Friday.

The news was first reported by Fightful Select and later confirmed by our Dave Meltzer.

The closed set tapings will run for a week at the Orlando, Florida-based Performance Center and will include three episodes each of Raw and SmackDown. Meltzer said it’s believed that several episodes of NXT will be filmed at Full Sail University.

That raises a question of how WWE is maneuvering around the Florida stay in place order that allows only essential businesses to remain open, an order that can be enforced by state or local law enforcement. The state said they are following federal guidelines for what is essential and non-essential.

The company wrapped up taping episodes of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT just before the stay in place order took effect Friday, April 3rd and runs through April 30th.

WWE moves next SmackDown and Raw to Performance Center

Posted on by Josh Nason

In what was an inevitability given the current situation with the coronavirus, WWE has moved this Friday’s SmackDown and next Monday’s Raw to their Orlando, FL-based Performance Center to continue their recent closed set run.

Friday’s SmackDown was scheduled for the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA, but the arena has suspended all events through April 13th due to the state not allowing shows with 50 people or more.

Similarly, Monday’s Raw will also be at the Performance Center, originally scheduled for Fort Worth, Texas, at the Dickies Arena. They posted that the event is postponed to a SmackDown on Friday, July 31st instead.

WWE has yet to formally announce the news the changes as of this writing, but it has been confirmed by our Dave Meltzer.

Starting Wednesday, the company has nine events this week including house shows. It’s expected all the WWE and NXT house shows will be postponed with the biggest one — Madison Square Garden featuring the return of DX — already being announced.

WWE announced Monday that this year’s WrestleMania will also be at the Performance Center with limited personnel in attendance.

This week’s NXT episode officially moved to WWE Performance Center

Posted on by Joseph Currier

As expected, this week’s episode of NXT will take place at the WWE Performance Center.

In a statement that was issued today, WWE confirmed that Wednesday’s NXT is being moved from Full Sail Live to the Performance Center.

“This Wednesday night, NXT will air live as regularly scheduled and emanate from WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance,” the statement said. “The event was originally scheduled at Full Sail Live. Refunds are available at point of purchase.”

Full Sail University announced last Friday that group events on campus are being suspended through the end of April.

Dave Meltzer reported last Friday that — while Full Sail is suspending events — he’s been told WWE is “going with the idea that the Performance Center will be the site of NXT every Wednesday with no fans allowed for at least the next month.”

Last Wednesday’s NXT was also held at the Performance Center, but that wasn’t due to the coronavirus outbreak and the show had fans in attendance. Full Sail Live was unavailable because of Full Sail’s annual Hall of Fame week.

Last Friday’s SmackDown and tonight’s Raw have also officially been moved to the Performance Center with only essential personnel allowed to attend.

WWE has announced that Adam Cole will celebrate becoming the longest-reigning NXT Champion in history on Wednesday’s show. Candice LeRae vs. Mercedes Martinez has also been announced, with the winner qualifying for the number one contender’s ladder match that’s scheduled for TakeOver: Tampa.

NXT to air from WWE Performance Center on March 11

Posted on by F4W Staff

WWE has revealed where the March 11 episode of NXT will be taking place.

Two weeks from tonight, a fan appreciation edition of NXT will take place live at the WWE Performance Center. It was known that Full Sail Live wouldn’t be hosting NXT that night due to the venue having a conflict. Full Sail’s annual Hall of Fame Week is from March 8-13 this year.

The announcement of the episode taking place at the Performance Center was made by Triple H when he appeared in front of the crowd after tonight’s NXT went off the air. Free tickets were made available and went quickly.

WWE’s Halftime Heat match in February 2019 also took place at the Performance Center. Ricochet, Aleister Black & Velveteen Dream defeated Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano in that match.

There haven’t been any matches announced for the March 11 episode of NXT yet, though qualifying matches for the women’s number one contender’s ladder match at TakeOver: Tampa will be held over the next several weeks.

WWE announces list of Performance Center tryout attendees

Posted on by F4W Staff

WWE has announced the list of attendees from their latest Performance Center tryout.

The tryout took place this week and was the last one of 2019. Mixed martial arts fighter Will Brooks, who has fought for Bellator and UFC and is a former Bellator lightweight champion, was among the names in attendance.

Other notable attendees include The Tate Twins (Brandon & Brent) and Anthony Henry. The Tate Twins are a tag team of identical twin brothers who played Dalton Castle’s Boys in ROH, while Henry wrestles for EVOLVE and is a former Tag Team Champion for the promotion.

Here’s the full list of attendees from WWE.com:

  • Pierre Bouquiaux, a 6-foot-8, 265-pounder from Belgium with experience as an IFBB bodybuilder and boxing instructor.
  • Will Brooks, a former Bellator MMA lightweight champion with UFC experience, who currently competes in the Professional Fighters League.
  • Jessie Bush, a referee with seven years of in-ring experience from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  • Zack Carpinello, a.ka. Zack Clayton, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound wrestler from New Jersey, who’s appeared on MTV’s Jersey Shore as “24.”
  • Anthony Catena of Florida, who trained at the New England Pro Wrestling Academy and has competed for independent promotions like Chaotic Wrestling and Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling.
  • 6-foot-5, 295-pound Nigel Cawthon, a four-year starter as a defensive lineman for Hampton University with experience as a decorated high school wrestler in his home state of Virginia.
  • Michael Crandle, a former defensive end for Robert Morris University. The Pittsburgh native competes on the independent scene as Duke Davis.
  • Michael Evans, a 26-year-old athlete from Massachusetts who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 247 pounds. He competed on season 1 of NBC’s “Titan Games.”
  • Steven Felger, a referee from Florida who works for the World Wrestling Network family of promotions.
  • Stevan and Tome Filiposki, a tag team of brothers from Australia who trained at the PCW Academy and have competed around the world as “The Natural Classics.”
  • 24-year-old Stephen Gerard of Illinois, who wrestles under the name Stephen Wolf for promotions like EVOLVE Wrestling.
  • Clifford Fortune, a 270-pound powerlifter who played Division I football at Norfolk State University.
  • Khambrell Gomez, a former football player for Adams State University who also holds the shot put and discus records for the country of Belize.
  • Miles Grooms, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound former college football player at Hampton University with Canadian Football League experience.
  • Nicholas Harmon, a.k.a. “The Dark Horse” Nick Cutler, an 11-year veteran of the squared circle.
  • Anthony Henry, a wrestler with 13 years of experience. Henry competed against NXT Superstar Arturo Ruas on WWE Network during EVOLVE Wrestling’s 10th Anniversary Celebration this past summer.
  • Christopher Heyward III, a 6-foot-2, 354-pound wrestler who competes under the name Calvin Tankman.
  • 30-year-old Gary Jones of Pennsylvania, who has semi-pro football experience and wrestles as Ganon Jones Jr., on the independent circuit.
  • Lauren David Jones of Flint, Michigan, who trained at the House of Truth and competes as Palmer Cruise. He once faced The Brian Kendrick on WWE 205 Live.
  • Matthew Knotts, a 300-pound Florida native who trained for the squared circle with WWE Hall of Famers The Dudley Boyz and Billy Gunn.
  • Ariel Levy, a pro wrestler with three years of experience on the independent scene in his home country of Chile.
  • Khashayar Mirzaei, a.k.a. King Khash, a five-year veteran of the ring with overseas experience in Japan’s Pro Wrestling Zero1.
  • Pingi Moli, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound Utah native who played college football at UNLV and has spent four years as a Hollywood stuntman.
  • Olumide Ogunnaike, a 250-pound bodybuilder and powerlifter from Cleveland.
  • Roman Rozell, a 35-year-old retired Green Beret who walked onto the wrestling team at Arizona State University.
  • Brandon and Brent Tate, 27-year-old identical twins from Tennessee. The two have been wrestling for 10 years, most notably for Ring of Honor, where they were known as “The Boys.”
  • Isaiah Williams, a New Jersey native who was a three-year starter as a wide receiver for the University of Maryland. He also has experience with six NFL teams.
  • Victoria Andreola, a graduate of the Create a Pro wrestling school in New Jersey.
  • Jennifer Michell Cantu Iglesias, a 23-year-old champion powerlifter from Mexico.
  • Chanice Chase, a seven-time All-American athlete at LSU, where she holds the second fastest time in school history in the 400-meter hurdles. She also represented Canada in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
  • 21-year-old Lauren Dodds of London, a competitive bodybuilder with experience in powerlifting.
  • Christine Hartmann, an Orlando native who was a three-year starter in volleyball at the University of Kentucky.
  • Anriel Howard, a 22-year-old Mississippi native who played basketball and ran track for Texas A&M and Mississippi, and was chosen in this year’s WNBA Draft.
  • Irena Janjic, a former trainee of Lance Storm who has been wrestling in Japan for the past seven years, competing for promotions like Sendai Girls and STARDOM.
  • Rebeca Janjigian, an independent wrestler from Texas who competes under the name Christi Jaynes throughout the United States and Mexico.
  • Kara Lazauskas, an amateur MMA fighter who has also competed on NBC’s “Titan Games.”
  • Alexandra Mozeleski, a 25-year-old bodybuilder who has traveled the United States to hone her craft in the squared circle. She competes under the name Alyx $ky.
  • Lainey Nations, an MMA fighter with experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and catch wrestling.
  • Rachael O’Leary, a black belt in taekwondo with experience in kickboxing and Muay Thai.
  • Ebony Payne, a Georgia native who is currently a firefighter.
  • Jessica Roden, a 27-year-old athlete from California who started training for the ring earlier this year.
  • Arissa LeBrock, the daughter of actors Kelly LeBrock and Steven Seagal, a professional model from California with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training.
  • Elaine Simon, an Orlando native with seven years of experience in the squared circle.
  • Aja Smith, a 25-year-old who has been competing on the indies for six years under the name Aja Perera.

Maria Manic’s ROH contract expires, receives WWE tryout

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Maria Manic, who was most recently a part of Ring of Honor, is at the WWE Performance Center this week for a tryout.

Fightful was the first to report the news. According to a report from PWInsider, she signed a six-month contract with ROH earlier this year that had recently expired. As recently as two weeks ago, there had been pitches for her to become involved in a storyline that would eventually lead to an intergender bout. 

Manic made her debut for Ring of Honor back in June at Best in the World, attacking a number of people, including male security guards. She was booked as a powerhouse, taking out anyone and everyone, but never wrestled. Her most recent appearance was at Death Before Dishonor, taking out both Angelina Love and Mandy Leon.

Before signing with ROH, Manic wrestled for a number of promotions on the independent scene, most notably Combat Zone Wrestling and Women Superstars Uncensored.

WWE announces newest class of Performance Center signees

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The latest WWE Performance Center class contains a number of independent talents and athletes.

The biggest name out of this class is current EVOLVE and WWN champion Austin Theory, real name Austin White. He was most recently shown on-camera at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, sitting in the crowd.

Santana Garrett, who has had runs in WOW and Impact Wrestling, has also signed with WWE. She has previously worked NXT dates for a number of years as an enhancement talent and was also part of the 2017 Mae Young Classic, where she was eliminated in the first round by Piper Niven.

Kendo Kashin has also signed with WWE as a trainer. He’s had runs in both New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling, having won both of their junior heavyweight titles. He’s mostly worked for independent promotions in recent years.

The rest of the class includes:

  • Tehuti Miles, who previously attended tryouts in 2017 and 2018. Has wrestled previously in the Maryland independent scene.
  • EJ Ndunka, who has played in the CFL, IFL and AFL and has also become a champion bodybuilder. He previously attended tryouts in December 2018 and an earlier tryout in April of this year.
  • Aleksandar Jaksic, who has trained under Santino Marella and Alex Wright. He has been wrestling in Germany under the name LX Ken.
  • Briana Brandy, a hip-hop artist who has toured with Soulja Boy and Jadakiss in the past and is also a boxing trainer. She previously attended a tryout in June of 2017.
  • Rita Reis, a Ju-Jitsu world champion, winning gold in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2017. She has also won medals in judo.
  • Marcos Gomes, a Brazilian who has also trained in Jiu-jJtsu but also instructs Muay Thai.
  • Catalina Garcia, a Chilean who has wrestled under the name Jessy in the independent scene for promotions such as Revolucion Lucha Libre and Caldenstino.

Shane Strickland, Garza Jr. join WWE Performance Center

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Shane Strickland and Garza Jr. are officially WWE bound.

An article on WWE’s website confirmed that Stephon (Shane) Strickland and Humberto Garza (Jr.) are the latest recruits to the Performance Center. Kushida, whose signing was revealed during NXT TakeOver: New York, has also started training at the Performance Center.

Strickland has been an indy standout for some time, most recently working under the WWN umbrella including recent EVOLVE events. In the past, he’s also worked for DEFY, CZW and MLW. He had recently declared himself a free agent after leaving the latter.

Garza Jr. is the nephew of lucha libre and WCW star Hector Garza and the cousin of 205 Live’s Humberto Carrillo. In recent years he has been best known for his run in The Crash, but has also wrestled for AAA, MLW, Pro Wrestling NOAH and the Mexican independent scene.

Kushida is a former NJPW Jr. champion and at one time was considered the ace of the division, winning the championship six times. He left the promotion in January after a losing effort to Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Chelsea Green among newest group of WWE signees

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Chelsea Green signing with WWE was officially confirmed as the company unveiled the newest group of wrestlers to join the Performance Center.

Green has been training at the Performance Center and, though she wasn’t on the show, attended last night’s NXT television tapings. Green is a former Knockouts Champion for Impact Wrestling, wrestled at All In last month, is on this season of Lucha Underground, and was featured on the last season of WWE Tough Enough in 2015.

Matt Riddle, Mia Yim, Punishment Martinez (announced as his real name Luis Martinez), Humberto Carrillo (wrestled as Ultimo Ninja before signing with WWE), Daniel Vidot (a former rugby player from Australia), and Jordan Omogbehin (a 7-foot-3, 370-pound former college basketball player from Nigeria who played for Morgan State University and the University of South Florida) were also introduced as part of this Performance Center class.

Riddle made his NXT TV debut and Yim wrestled in her first NXT TV match since signing with the company at last night’s tapings. Carrillo also teamed with Raul Mendoza against Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.

Mahabali Shera signs with WWE, joins Performance Center

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Another former member of the Impact Wrestling roster has signed with WWE.

WWE announced yesterday that Amanpreet Singh, who previously wrestled for Impact as Mahabali Shera, has reported to the Performance Center after signing with the company. The WWE.com article on Singh joining the Performance Center didn’t mention Impact or his previous persona by name, but it noted that he’s wrestled in his home country of India, as well as in the United States and United Kingdom.

“I came to the U.S. with the dream that someday, I am going to make my country proud,” Singh told WWE.com. “I would consider myself fortunate if I am able to become a positive role model for the youngsters of my country and impact lives. I don’t think I can find a better platform than WWE to empower myself to empower others, especially those back at home.”

Singh began his pro wrestling career in 2011, joined Impact in 2014, and departed the promotion last year. He was prominently featured on Impact’s television tapings in India in 2017, winning a Sony Six Invitational Gauntlet.

Io Shirai trying out at the WWE Performance Center

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Io Shirai, the current World of Stardom Champion, is the top name at this week’s WWE tryouts at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

WWE.com posted an article about Shirai trying out that has since been taken down.

It has been known for a while that Shirai, one of the top wrestlers in the Stardom promotion in Japan, was on WWE’s radar. Dave Meltzer reported in the October 31st, 2016 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that both she and fellow Stardom star Kairi Hojo had been offered deals to start with WWE in 2017.

It was later reported that both had decided to stay. However, in last week’s Observer, Meltzer wrote that Hojo had signed a three-year contract with WWE, telling Stardom she was leaving in April. He also noted that Shirai was reconsidering coming in as well.

Other names at this week’s tryouts are:

  • Ingrid “Kira” Hogtun and Kamilla “Natasja” Tjöstland (independent wrestlers from Norway)
  • Delilah Doom (Texas-based independent wrestler)
  • Chik Tormenta (independent wrestler from Mexico)
  • Katsiaryna Kavaleva (championship kickboxer/MMA fighter from Belarus)
  • Jaime Espinal (Dominican-born Olympic freestyle wrestler that represented Puerto Rico in 2012)
  • Wes Brisco (former FCW developmental talent, son of Gerald Brisco and nephew of Jack Brisco)