Triple H recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to talk about a wide range of topics involving WWE NXT, which he oversees.
During the interview, he was asked about the decision to counter-program AEW Fyter Fest with NXT: Great American Bash. Of course, AEW had previously announced and built towards the special that was to span over two weeks on TNT.
Then, WWE announced shortly before AEW’s special episodes of Dynamite were slated to air that they would air their own special episodes of the weekly NXT television show on the USA Network.
Triple H acknowledged the move and also brought up past situations where a wrestling promotion would counter another rival promotion.
“It absolutely is part of healthy of competition. Anyone that thinks it isn’t, to a degree, is being naive to the situation. You saw that back in the day when Clash of Champions was counter-programming [to WWE’s WrestleMania IV in 1988]. At the same point, it can’t drive your booking decisions.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that WWE has decided to counter AEW as the most notable decision came when AEW got a TV deal with TNT so WWE got a TV deal with the USA Network to air NXT on the same night and timeslot.
“Obviously there are counter-programming decisions, but I can tell you exactly how this came about. Almost all of these storylines were headed where they are now. There was a gap, timing wise, between In Your House and what will become the SummerSlam TakeOver, and you need a halfway point and a build. This is that halfway point. So it doesn’t change our decision-making process. I don’t counter-book, I book what’s right for NXT.”
Triple H also talked about Keith Lee, Adam Cole, and more. Check out the full interview here.
