WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler took to Twitter to respond to what Cody Rhodes said at AEW Fight For The Fallen about counterprogramming.
For those of you that missed it, click on the video below to hear what Rhodes said on Saturday night:
Here is the tweet from Baszler:
Fights are won by the fighter that is 3 steps ahead.
Related: WWE ppv’s are planned well in ADVANCE of when they are announced.
Also related: definition of “counter” = an action given AFTER one is received
— Shayna Baszler (@QoSBaszler) July 14, 2019
Baszler is obviously referring to the EVOLVE show airing at the same time as AEW Fight For The Fallen.
The fact is that the EVOLVE 10th anniversary show was booked back in March but was it a coincidence that the show aired on the WWE Network for the first time when WWE has had a relationship with EVOLVE for years? Was it a coincidence to see EVOLVE promoted for the first time last week on Monday Night Raw?
It’s worth noting that WWE has a history of doing counterprogramming to hurt their competition.
Vince McMahon created the Survivor Series pay-per-view in 1987 for Thanksgiving week, a spot that was occupied by Starrcade. McMahon told the pay-per-view companies that they were not to carry any other events within 30 days of his so cable companies were forced to choose between Starrcade or Survivor Series and most chose Survivor Series because of the success of WrestleMania III.
The first Royal Rumble event aired live and free on the USA Network in 1988 as counterprogramming for the NWA Bunkhouse Stampede pay-per-view.
It’s also not a secret that many of the wrestlers that have been signed to comprise WWE’s largest roster in history are because they want to keep them from going to AEW, NJPW and elsewhere.
Anyone who says WWE was not counterprogramming on Saturday night has not paid attention to wrestling history.
