Dave Meltzer Explains Why WWE Decision To Oppose AEW Pay-Per-View Is ‘

The final weekend of June 2026 will be a very busy one as WWE, TNA, AEW, and now “WWE NXT” will be running major shows. It was recently announced that “NXT” will be hosting its next Premium Live Event, The Great American Bash, on June 28 at 7PM ET, with the show airing on The CW for the very first time. This means that “NXT’s” show will go directly against AEW and NJPW’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view, while also taking place immediately after TNA’s Slammiversary pay-per-view that takes place earlier in the day, and the day after WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia.

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer called WWE’s decision to once again try and counterprogram AEW questionable for a variety of reasons. The main one being that WWE attempted this same tactic multiple times in 2025, as well as the odd occasion in the years prior to that, and it simply didn’t work. WWE put both main roster and “NXT” shows against a number of AEW pay-per-views in 2025, only for AEW’s shows to not only perform better than expected, but for the WWE shows to underperform. 

Knowing that it didn’t work the first time, Meltzer questioned why WWE would attempt it again, especially with a brand like “NXT” which is not as hot as it was two years ago. While Meltzer completely understands that, on paper, running a PLE on free TV against a pay-per-view that costs fans $40 or $50 should hurt AEW, but Meltzer noted that not everything goes like what it seems on paper. With AEW having a…