"WWE NXT" will return to Full Sail University for the first time since 2020 on September 16, with a special "Homecoming" episode announced during the Heatwave event on Sunday.
WWE started filming "NXT" episodes at the Winter Park, Florida school in 2012, having initially held a "NXT Full Sail Ahead" show in December 2011, and in 2015 "WWE Tough Enough" was also filmed there, with students given the opportunity to aid in the production of tapings, and merchandise and ticket sales contributed to a scholarship fund for the university.
It was announced in January 2018 that the partnership had resulted in $385,000 in scholarships, and in September 2019 the partnership was expanded. However, the partnership was ended amicably in 2020 owing to a litany of reasons, and the last show was taped there on September 23 that year. The card for that show featured future WWE World Champions Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley, "WWE Raw" stars Bronson Reed and Raquel Rodriguez, "WWE SmackDown star Candice Lerae, as well as eventual AEW stars Marina Shafir, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O'Reilly.
Full Sail will play host to WWE for the first time since then, almost exactly five years on for the "Homecoming" special of "NXT."
