Dave Meltzer Explains Rationale Behind WWE Making NXT Great American Bash 2 Weeks

"WWE NXT" will be looking to continue a big wave of summer momentum with their next big TV special, The Great American Bash, which has been confirmed to be taking place over two weeks on July 30 and August 6, rather than just the latter of those dates which was originally announced. The event made its return in 2020, and was a staple of "NXT's" summer until 2023 when it became its own Premium Live Event, but this year it will be returning to TV in a move that has a lot more strategy behind it than one may think.

According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the reason why this year's Great American Bash TV special will be taking place over two weeks rather than just the original plan of one week is very simple; ratings. The July 30 and August 6 episodes of "NXT" are currently set to air on SyFy rather than the show's usual home of USA, with the move being made due to USA having consistent coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France at the same time. Meltzer noted that the move to spread the Great American Bash across two weeks was WWE trying to stop ratings from falling too much by loading the show up with marquee matches to entice people to choose "NXT" over the Olympics.

"NXT" won't be the only WWE show affected by the summer games, as "WWE Raw" will also be airing on SyFy during the same period, with the July 29 and August 5 episodes being the shows affected. However, with those two shows being the go-home episode to SummerSlam, and the post-SummerSlam "Raw," it's unclear whether WWE will treat those shows the same way they are treating "NXT."