WWE Battleground, known asNXT Battleground for 2023 and 2024, is aprofessional wrestling event produced byWWE, a Connecticut-basedpromotion. The event was established in 2013 and was held annually until 2017 for WWE's main roster. It was then revived in 2023 as an annual event for the company'sdevelopmental brand,NXT.
From 2013 to 2017, the event was broadcast on traditionalpay-per-view (PPV) and beginning in 2014, it began to simultaneously belivestreamed on theWWE Network, which was extended toPeacock beginning in 2023. The inaugural2013 event was held in October and replacedOver the Limit. In 2014, Battleground moved up to the July slot, becoming the promotion's annual July PPV. To coincide with thebrand extension that was reintroduced in July 2016, the2017 event was held exclusively for wrestlers from theSmackDown brand. The event was then discontinued as WWE reduced the amount of yearly PPVs produced after brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued followingWrestleMania 34 in April 2018. After five years, the event was revived in 2023 as an annual event for NXT; it was held in May but was pushed back to June in 2024 and then returned to May in 2025.
On the July 29, 2013, episode ofRaw, the Americanprofessional wrestling promotionWWE announced a newpay-per-view (PPV) titledBattleground to be held on October 6 that year at theFirst Niagara Center inBuffalo, New York. It replacedOver the Limit, which had been held annually in May from 2010 to 2012, but was going to be held in October 2013 before WWE decided to discontinue Over the Limit.[1] The event returned in 2014, but was moved up to July, thus establishing the event as WWE's annual July PPV. In addition to PPV, the2014 event was the first Battleground to air on WWE'slivestreaming service, theWWE Network, which launched earlier that year in February.[2]
The2016 event was regarded as the last PPV event featuring wrestlers from both theRaw andSmackDown brands, before the newly reinstatedbrand extension went into full effect; afterSummerSlam that year, monthly PPVs became brand-exclusive, excluding the "Big Four" (Royal Rumble,WrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series).[3] The2017 event was in turn a SmackDown-exclusive event.[4] Battleground was expected to return in 2018 for the Raw brand; however, the event was taken off WWE's PPV lineup as afterWrestleMania 34 that year, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, resulting in WWE reducing the amount of yearly PPVs produced.[5]
On March 30, 2023, WWE announced that Battleground would be revived for itsdevelopmental territory,NXT, scheduled for May 28, 2023.[6] In addition to the WWE Network, the event was livestreamed for the first time onPeacock in the United States due to the American version of the WWE Network merging under Peacock in March 2021[7]—unlike previous Battlegrounds, it did not air on PPV as beginning with the 2022 calendar year, NXT's major events are only available via WWE's livestreaming platforms.[6] NXT Battleground also went head-to-head withDouble or Nothing, a PPV event produced byAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), which is AEW's flagship event, marking the first time since 1989 that two major promotions produced major events head-to-head, after WWE'sWrestleMania V andWorld Championship Wrestling'sClash of the Champions VI.[8] Asecond NXT Battleground was scheduled for 2024, thus establishing Battleground as an annual livestreaming event for NXT; it was originally scheduled for May 26 but was pushed back to June 9.[9]
