Jason Burgos
The name for an upcoming edition of WWE NXT has received strong pushback this week from Israel’s biggest news company.
WWE’s NXT brand is as hot as it’s been in years. There are many reasons for the improved interest in the black and gold brand, including an impressive women’s division and bringing in several former AEW stars to improve the roster. However, a key element has been the brand’s working relationship with TNA Wrestling.
TNA has an official working relationship with WWE for talent sharing. However, the crossover is almost completely with NXT, not with the main roster brands, SmackDown and Raw. That talent sharing is a part of a major ongoing storyline that seems headed to a major co-promoted event between the brands.
This week, WWE revealed that the Oct. 7 edition of NXT will be titled, Invasion. With the expectation that the issues between NXT and TNA talent will reach a peak moment. However, using that name — which was previously used for a main roster premium live event — and on that date has enraged some WWE fans and onlookers in Israel.
WWE execs anger Israelis with name and date for Oct. NXT event
On October 7, Israeli’s around the world will be memorializing the attacks by the terrorist organization Hamas on that date two years ago. The use of an event dubbed Invasion on that day was the focus of an article from Israeli news outlet Israel Hayom, which questioned WWE’s management for such a decision.
“The term Invasion, on such a sensitive date, which directly recalls the infiltration of Hamas terrorists into the southern communities and the mass killings of Israelis and Americans, raises questions about who in the organization is responsible for this preposterous decision,” the opinion piece stated.
While Israel is not a top destination for overseas WWE events, it still has a fan base. And there are many influential Israeli’s and Jews around the world who may also be just as upset about the event’s date. It will be interesting to see if the article reaches WWE executives and if it leads to dropping the name or changing the date.
The first WWE Invasion event took place in 2001 during the early stages of the angle where WCW talent “invaded” after the rival company was purchased by WWE founder Vince McMahon.
