Dave Meltzer Questions WWE NXT Great American Bash Going Head-to-Head With AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

As previously reported, WWE and Shawn Michaels announced that this year’s NXT Great American Bash will air live on The CW Network on Sunday, June 28. It will be the first NXT PLE show to air on The CW. The date and broadcast time of 7:00 pm ET will also put the show head-to-head with AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, which is scheduled for the same date.’

Dave Meltzer addressed the announcement on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, questioning why WWE made this decision and saying it wasn’t a coincidence. Meltzer stated, “Why are they doing this? I mean, we know why they’re doing it. We also know that in a couple of days, they’ll claim, ‘Oh, no, no, no. It was just a coincidence, and it’s never a coincidence.”

He continued, “But I mean, this is like — they were doing this last year, and it’s like, don’t you learn? I mean, last year, they were trying to hurt AEW’s numbers. They put show after show up against AEW pay-per-views. It never worked.”

He added, “And in the case that’s identical to this one, I believe was July 11 last year or 12th, whatever the day was where they just steamrolled Atlanta. They did the NXT show in the afternoon, the Bill Goldberg retirement in the evening, then they did the women’s Evolution show the next day. And AEW did All In Texas, which was the biggest show of the year. So the idea was they put the Goldberg match head-to-head. Tony [Khan] moves the show to the afternoon. Then, they put the NXT show in the afternoon because, ‘We really got ’em! We got ’em boxed in! This big stadium show.’ Well, the dust settled. Forget about the quality of the shows, I mean, which obviously, the AEW had a phenomenal show.”

Meltzer questioned why WWE wants to put an NXT show head-to-head with an AEW PPV. He stated, “Do you really want to put an NXT PLE on the same day, head-to-head, with an AEW pay-per-view because all it does is invite comparisons, and I mean like, the level of the shows that AEW is doing now, you don’t want to be compared to that. And you don’t want your main roster compared to that, but you sure as hell don’t want NXT compared to that.”

Dave Meltzer Believes WWE NXT Great American Bash Going Head to Head With Forbidden Door Will Hurt TNA Slammiversary

Additionally, Meltzer pointed out that Saturday Night’s Main Event had the lowest global number for all the SNME shows, with 100,000 global views on Netflix. Meanwhile, AEW All In Texas drew its fourth biggest pay-per-view number in the company’s history and its biggest pay-per-view buyrate of the year.

Meltzer speculated that WWE officials think if they continue attacking AEW, “Eventually, we’re gonna do damage.” Also, Meltzer predicted that TNA Slammiversary, which is scheduled for earlier in the day on June 28, will be “screwed” the most by happening on the same date as NXT Great American Bash and Forbidden Door, despite TNA being NXT’s promotional partner.

On June 28, TNA Slammiversary has a 3:00 pm ET start time. Meanwhile, AEW and NXT are advertising 7:00 pm start times for their respective events.

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.