WWE NXT’s creative process just got pulled back a bit — and it’s a full week grind.
Colby Applegate, who was recently promoted to the NXT writing team, broke down exactly how the schedule works behind the scenes — and it’s more structured than most would expect. He explained that everything starts mid-week, with long creative sessions to map out the next episode.
“(The writers) come in on Wednesday and that is our primary creative day where we just go through all our stories and start putting the script together for the following week… We usually spend eight to nine hours doing that.”
That work continues into Thursday, where the team locks things in and starts thinking ahead. By Friday, it’s all about tightening things up and getting specific with segments.
“Then we come in on Thursday… finish the script, start looking at future stories, and start planning for the next week.”
“We write our segments and stuff on Fridays…”
Then comes Monday, which serves as a final run-through before anything hits cameras. After that, it’s go time. And then it resets.
“Monday we come in and it’s kind of our pre-production day… it’s like a table read. Then we make sure we record everything, make any last-minute changes.”
“Tuesday is show day where we just spend all day filming our backstage segments… then the show goes live at 8 PM Eastern on the CW.”
“…and we do it all over again the next week.”
Applegate also made it clear that writing for WWE isn’t about ego — it’s about adapting.
“Living with the idea that your writing will get changed… it’s a team effort… you can’t be egotistical about it.”
Between long hours, constant rewrites, and collaboration with talent, the process is nonstop — and not everything makes it to air the way it’s first written. It’s a behind-the-scenes look that shows just how much work goes into every episode of NXT before fans ever see it.
Do you think knowing how much gets changed behind the scenes makes the shows more interesting, or does it take away from the final product? Let us know your thoughts.