Shawn Michaels Discusses NXT Battleground Going Up Against AEW Double Or Nothing

"WWE NXT" is slowly beginning to expand outside of the Performance Center again, but this time, they'll go head to head with WWE's biggest competitor — AEW. As announced by Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels, "NXT" will hold its next premium live event, Battleground, in Lowell, Massachusetts on Sunday, May 28. That means the show will run directly against AEW's Double or Nothing pay-per-view, which airs the same day. Despite the notion WWE might've purposely scheduled Battleground to counter AEW, Michaels claims that wasn't their intention.

"No, no. Look, I'll say this, from a holiday standpoint, that's the thing. In the past, we've done well on the holidays. So it's my understanding that's why we did that," Michaels told BT Sport. "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. I'll say this, we're live on Peacock, basically, sort of free. So from my standpoint, it's just the date that was available. The holiday does really well for us."

Memorial Day weekend has been the traditional placement for AEW Double or Nothing, but this year, WWE has reserved two events during that time period as well. In addition to "NXT" Battleground, WWE will present their King and Queen of the Ring PLE from Saudi Arabia on Saturday, May 27.  Before "NXT" enters into battle with AEW though, they must gear up for their biggest event of the year, Stand and Deliver, which takes place tomorrow, and features a huge title match between Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes.