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WWE Will Go Head-to-Head With AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Head of NXT creative Shawn Michaels has announced the return of The Great American Bash, and it's going to counterprogram AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door later this month.
Rick Ucchino|
Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels | The CW Network

An already busy weekend for professional wrestling just got even bigger with an announcement from the head of NXT creative, Shawn Michaels, on Tuesday afternoon.

The WWE Hall of Famer took to social media to share that The Great American Bash will return on Saturday, June 28, which will be the first NXT Premium Live Event to air on The CW Network.

WWE announced back in April that the company would be shifting its NXT PLE's off Peacock and extending the media rights agreement with The CW Network. It was said at the time that The Great American Bash would be the first PLE to be broadcast on the network, but a date had not yet been determined.

Well, it has now and it's a bold choice.

WWE and AEW will go head-to-head later this month

A host city, venue and ticket information for The Great American Bash have yet to be announced, but the event will go live starting at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT), which means that it will be going head-to-head with AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

The fifth annual All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view, which regularly features stars from NJPW, CMLL and Stardom as well, has been on the schedule for Sunday, June 28 since mid-April. The show will go live at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) from the SAP Center in San Jose, California.

As of right now, the only two matches that have been announced for the show are the finals of the Men's and Women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournaments. The winners of which will move on to challenge for their respective world titles at All In: London at the end of August.

As if that day wasn't jam-packed already, TNA will be hosting its Slammiversary pay-per-view on Sunday, June 28. That event will have a much earlier start time of 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT) and the broadcast should be over before either The Great American Bash or Forbidden Door goes live on the air.

The WWE main roster will also be performing that weekend as Night Champions will be taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 27. Several major championships are expected to be on the line that night, but as of now, the only matches that have been announced are the finals of The King and Queen of the Ring Tournaments.

The winners of those tournaments will earn an opportunity to challenge the world champion of their choosing at SummerSlam this August.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com