Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialWednesday Night War! WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite - Week #22

Wednesday Night War! WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite – Week #22

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Hi there! And welcome back to the Wednesday Night War series. Narrowly missing out last week, AEW Dynamite needs to push on and develop new & exciting rivalries. NXT however, is in a good place to show the world what’s possible at TakeOver: Tampa; if it goes ahead. Here’s the links for all the Wednesday Night War series below.

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Wednesday Night War – Week #22

-AEW Dynamite-

It might take a while for AEW to get back in to the swing of things after building so nicely to Revolution. And then there’s the possibility of having to cancel events due to the coronavirus, so this Wednesday Night War may have to be put on hold soon; or AEW finds a small venue they can produce shows from til it all blows over.

The Good

– The first match kinda happened, and with good reason because it set up the debut of Lance Archer with manager Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. Not only that, tut it was also the prelude to Chris Jericho (pumpkin head dipshits!) & the Inner Circle revealing they had brutally beaten up Nick Jackson. The Inner Circle are really pissed these days and I love it; take notes Undisputed Era.

– Christopher Daniels’ Dark Order parody was hilarious! Dark Order sucks, this we already knew. Apparently there is no exalted one? Let’s find out if Daniels’ claims is true next week.

– Jurassic Express vs. MJF, Butcher & Blade (w/ Bunny) was also awesome! Love how over Luchasaurus is, and especially how Marko Stunt showed a mean streak we haven’t seen before. Bit odd to see MJF in a mid-card match after vowing to go after the World title last week, but at least AEW officials gave him some airtime.

– As expected, there’s some good action between the Death Triangle, Joey Janela and the Private Party. The crowd got behind it, which is the main thing to take away.

– Dustin Rhodes will always be a wizard on the mic, although I’m sure Hangman Page didn’t like his promo as much as the rest of us.

– We’re finally going somewhere with the tag team search for Shawn Spears!? It’s about time, although it’s clear none of these candidates are suitable.

– The main event is reminiscent of the first-ever Dynamite main event, which saw The Inner Circle go up against two members of The Elite. And although Dustin Rhodes and Hangman Page got the win, the true victors are the Inner Circle; as they continue showing their dominance over the AEW roster. This is leading to some big payoff where Chris Jericho gets wrote out of regular programming, I just know it. After Bloog & Guts, Le Champion may never, ever be the same again.

The Bad

– The opening match wasn’t so great from my point of view, as there was so much going on around the ring and I couldn’t feel any heat between Ortiz & Cody.

– And again, the women’s match wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t exactly stand out either. The only noteworthy thing is Bea Priestley loosely challenging Nyla Rose by holding up the title.

– Britt Baker’s promo was even more cringe than usual. At this point I can’t tell if she’s purposely sucking, or if she’s really this terrible. And Big Swole name dropping the ‘bay bay’ thing is more of a joke on her.. at least Adam Cole is NXT Champion and gets airtime; unlike her husband Cedric Alexander.

– I’m all for making Private Party and Joey Janela look good, but on paper.. man, no chance in hell should it take so long for Death Triangle (terrible name) to win. Don’t get me wrong, it was an entertaining match, but if you want to sell them as a legitimate threat they can’t take 15+ minutes. Although, you can say the opposite as Death Triangle are still new to each other and will get better in time.


-WWE NXT

Doing a venue from the Performance Center? I’m all in. They’ve been at Full Sail for an incredibly long time, so it’s a nice change of pace to see them go in a different environment; even if it only houses a little over 100 fans. With this episode, can they claw one back in the Wednesday Night War?

The Good

– Keith Lee vs. Cameron Grimes was everything I thought it would be and more. A solid opener which got the crowd riled up and set the tone for the rest of the night. The icing on the cake was Damien Priest attacking Lee from behind, and the champ mistaking Dominick Dijakovic as the ambusher. Will the Limitless One apologize for it next week? Or are tensions likely to rise?

– Mia Yim vs. Dakota Kai was surprisingly good, and Gonzales added to it as well. A little baffling they won’t have Kai in this #1 contenders match, but they likely have something else planned for the duo.

– The cryptic message screams Killer Kross, it’s very similar to something he did in Impact Wrestling. Tick tock!

– Kushida vs. Raul Mendoza had the potential to be a 5-star match if given the time, but what we got was enough to fill my appetite. They are two of the best workers WWE has on any brand, so I’d love to see them go again down the road.

– Tyler Breeze completely owned Austin Theory! Great stuff, I hope this turns in to a running feud as it would do Theory a lotta’ good.

– Oh! The back-and-forth between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley was just what this feud needed. I could gladly not see either of them til WrestleMania (if it happens) and be happy if this is their last interaction.

– Finn Balor vs. Walter is going to be out of this world. I can’t wait!

– Who are the masked men who stole Raul Mendoza? Killer Kross & Thatcher? The Lucha House Party? Los Conquistadores? Someone tell us dammit! Is it the same men who kidnapped Samoa Joe that one time on TNA Impact?? I love angles like this, so long as the reveal is great and the talents are worthy.

– Broserweights vs. Undisputed Era was great! Even more so when Pete Dunne got Cole & Strong kicked out via Eddie Guerrero-esque tactics *shrugs shoulders*. I think NXT has done a better job with their tag team division lately. Also the setup was perfect, with Velveteen Dream explaining his recent actions as a means to get to Adam Cole’s title, and not because he cares one iota about Roderick Strong and his family.

– The brutal brawl between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano was the one biggest moment of the week which will always be remembered. They completely trashed the Performance Center and ended the show in the best way possible. Somehow this rivalry is fresh once again, simply by having Johnny Gargano unable to let go of the past. He can’t forget what Ciampa did to him.. but can we really blame him?

The Bad

– Am I the only one tired of seeing Deonna Purrazzo lose every single match she has on WWE TV? Aside from this, I can’t think of any other negatives. It was as smooth as can be, and the change in venue freshened it up for those watching from home.


Conclusion

In terms of quality, NXT won this week.. however, there’s a more important point to note. It was another week where both shows lost out in the ratings; with NXT falling under 700k, while Dynamite lost a ton of viewership from the week before. It’s safe to say that neither show are over with the casual audience yet, but it could change in the coming year if WWE keeps alienating ts audience with lackluster PPVs. What these shows need, is at least one of their talents to go super viral. And no.. not in the way some may be thinking.

What these shows need are ‘Stone Cold’ or ‘Goldberg’ equivalents. Not in the way they are presented, but in terms of sheer attractiveness. NXT lacks drawing power despite being a smooth operation, while AEW is getting by off names like Chris Jericho to sell tickets. How they do this remains to be seen, but they have to at least be able to identify who is getting over and really get behind those talents. If they flop? Then they can always relegate them, but it’s important to strike while the iron is hot. With that said, NXT is clawing its way back in to the Wednesday Night War with a score of 9-8-5 in AEW’s favour. Who do you think won this week? Please let me know in the comments. Thank you.

Wednesday Night War – WWE NXT vs AEW Dynamite

Wednesday Night War

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