Triple H and WWE Botched Their Attempt to Overshadow AEW All In

This weekend, WWE will produce three live events that are anything but premium, thanks to a lack of time, creative efforts, attention and care behind them.

There is an inconsequential NXT Great American Bash show kicking off the festivities at 3 p.m. ET. After that is an edition of Saturday Night's Main Event with a card of solid matchups that would be right at home on Raw or SmackDown, with the exception of one.

More on that in a bit.

The weekend concludes with Evolution, an all-women's event eight years in the making yet two weeks in the planning based on the card.

What do all three events have in common? They are the result of a botched attempt by WWE to overshadow AEW All In, the biggest show of the year from the industry's No. 2 promotion, and a disservice to several key figures involved.

First is the NXT brand, which has the unenviable task of directly opposing All In. Not only is it a losing proposition based on the star names on the two shows, but also the overall quality of the cards. One is the culmination of top feuds, the other is a mishmash of matches aimed at progressing stories and rivalries, like a typical Tuesday night.

The lack of a big match to promote the show around, and relatively low stakes due to no predicted title changes, set up Saturday's show for failure for no other reason than an unnecessary decision by WWE to stick it to a promotion it claims not to view as competition.

Second is Bill Goldberg, a legendary star of the Monday Night Wars and a 2018 WWE Hall of Famer. A former champion and star for WWE and WCW, he will wrestle what is being billed as his retirement match in his hometown of Atlanta.

Instead of a grand storyline and a build that hypes the historic nature of the encounter against Gunther, thus making the NBC broadcast special must-see TV, the journey to Saturday Night's Main Event has consisted of two in-arena appearances from the veteran, a verbal exchange with The Ring General, and a brief physical encounter on Monday's Raw.

Born of a single cheap-heat promo from Gunther at last October's Bad Blood, the feud has been a lackluster program to bring Goldberg's unforgettable career to a close.

There is no denying how enormous a star Goldberg was at his peak and how significant a presence he is in the industry, making the lead-in to the match and its placement that much more confusing., especially with a two-night SummerSlam right around the corner.

Instead of bolstering that card with a properly built bout, WWE rushed things and the final match of a genuine icon's career is now scheduled for a weekend designed to toy with another company rather than pay respect to one of the icons of the Monday Night Wars.

Speaking of a lack of respect, that brings us to Evolution.

The first event took place in 2018, following Ronda Rousey's debut and subsequent rise to the top of WWE. That show lacked build, but it had a red-hot Becky Lynch and her feud with Charlotte Flair, novelty value as a first-time show and returning legends to boost it.

This year's offering feels like a complete afterthought, a show that exists solely because it was announced.

Lyra Valkyria and Bayley challenge Becky Lynch for the Women's Intercontinental Championship in what is the best-booked contest, while the top two matches on the card, the WWE Women's Championship bout between Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton and the Women's World Championship match between Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley, will take to the squared circle on less than two weeks of build.

What should be a celebration of a women's division that has been an integral part of the company has, instead, been presented in a way that makes it skippable.

None of the matches have been presented as must-see, despite likely being excellent, and the show has featured less creative focus than Saturday Night's Main Event. It is just another wrestling show to watch on a weekend full of them, presented at a time when fans are likely to be burned out.

None of the talent involved, from headliners like Ripley and Stratton to legends Stratus and Nikki Bella, deserve that.

Professional pettiness has put WWE in a position where its stars of the future in NXT are about to be overshadowed, Goldberg's career limps to a conclusion rather than going out in a hot story at a PLE and the women's division is again disrespected with a show almost seemingly set up to underperform.

In a year when his creative team has not performed at the high level fans have come to expect, the reasoning for the weekend shows' existence and the execution of their build serve as one of the biggest black marks on Triple H's regime.