Shawn Michaels Addresses NXT Battleground Going Head-to-Head With AEW Double or Nothing

By Connor Casey

Shawn Michaels announced during a press conference on Thursday in Los Angeles that NXT's next major event following Saturday's NXT Stand & Deliver pay-per-view will be NXT Battleground, taking place on May 28 in Lowell, Massachusetts. The announcement was followed up with a press release, which quickly raised an alarm among online wrestling fans as it is set to begin at 7:30. This means it will run head-to-head with AEW's annual Memorial Day Weekend pay-per-view, Double or Nothing. 

WWE has tinkered with counterprogramming against AEW in the past, though they'd typically avoided trying to run head-to-head with AEW pay-per-views. The closest WWE came in recent years was last August when Clash at the Castle took place on Sept. 3, followed by NXT vs. NXT UK Worlds Collide event in the afternoon of Sept. 4. AEW's All Out took place that evening. 

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Michaels was asked about the decision in an interview with Ariel Helwani shortly after the press conference. Michaels played off the decision being more about the Memorial Day Weekend rather than confronting AEW.

"No, no (it wasn't picked to compete with AEW). Look, I'll say this, from a holiday standpoint, that's the thing. In the past, we've done well on the holidays. It's my understanding that's why we did that. It's not different than, we used to do stuff back in the day on Christmas and on Thanksgiving. Holidays are always big days. That's what this is for us. We're live on Peacock. Basically, sort of free. From my standpoint, it's just the date was available. The holiday does really well for us," Michaels said (h/t Fightful).

WWE WrestleMania 39 Card Night One

  • WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory vs John Cena
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
  • Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul
  • Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus and Lita vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky
  • Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)

WWE WrestleMania 39 Card Night Two

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre
  • Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
  • Edge vs. Finn Balor (Hell in a Cell)
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Omos 
  • Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baslzer vs. Natalya & Shotzi vs. Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville

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