Hello and welcome back to the Wednesday Night War series! This week’s episodes differed to last week as both AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT aired live. Who came out on top? And did they get worse regardless of the drop in ratings? Apologies for the lateness, but it’s been a hectic few days. For anyone who would like to check out previous installments of the Wednesday Night War? Here’s all the links:
#1 – #2 – #3 – #4 – #5 – #6 – #7 – #8
#9 – #10 – #11 – #12 – #13 – #14 – #15
Wednesday Night War – Week #16
AEW Dynamite
There’s still a lot of work to do this with brand, and last week’s episode fell under expectations despite airing from a cruise ship. What can we take away from this episode?
The Good
– One of the louder segments of the night happened in the opening segment with Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle. Although it was really overkill to get another five guys (no idea who they are) just for one man, the excitement was there and it keeps this feud going. ‘Le Champion’ got the crowd to turn against him after they sang his entrance theme, which he needs to do more if they want fans to side with Moxley.
– Hangman Page has had more character development in the past month than 90% of the roster. It’s pretty incredible how he’s gone from being a generic cowboy type, to a tweener who continues to call out The Elite on their spotlight hogging BS. ‘Hold My Beer’, is something Page should do as a trademark. Don’t overkill it though, do it when the time is right and it could stick well.
– MJF working the crowd during the break is what I love. I think Jim Ross is purposely forgetting MJF’s name at this point; either that, or he did genuinely forget last week and it’s become a running joke. Britt Baker made light of him saying ‘AWE’, so at least they’re aware of JR’s mistakes and are turning them in to a positive.
– In a somewhat odd turn of events, the Cody vs. Kip Sabian match became more about Arn Anderson, Penelope Ford and Joey Janela than it did the guys working the match. Probably a positive though, because I don’t think anyone ever woke up after dreaming of this encounter.
– Britt Baker made up for her previous promo and called Jim Ross out on all his BS, although I wish she went the extra mile and ripped the audience for their poor dental hygiene. Be one of those really annoying dentists who say things like “Stop smoking! Floss after every meal! Brush twice a day! Don’t eat chocolate! Visit the dentist every chance you get!”. Get super annoying about it and she’ll do well. Also, Tony Schiavone is doing a magnificent job.
– SCU with the Kobe Bryant tribute was a nice thing to do, especially for Scorpio Sky as it hit him hard.
– Darby Allin is a freakin’ star. There’s literally no one on the roster who isn’t a former WWE guy who gets these reactions. The fans have taken to him and AEW would have to do something disastrous to damage his rise. Not quite sure it’s fair to pit him and Private Party against the whole Inner Circle though.
The Bad
– This was by far the quietest crowd I have ever heard for Dynamite. Not sure if it were sound issues, the venue, a lack of excitement, or all combined. The crowd did pop for some (Jericho, Cody, Darby etc.), but were super quiet for everything else. It felt like one of those dull episodes of SmackDown when nothing significant happens.
– Still waiting for a stellar women’s match on Dynamite. They’re really struggling to get the crowd in to it, and I’m beginning to miss the likes of Riho, Hikaru Shida, Emi Sakura, Bea Priestley and Shanna mixing it up. There’s no continuity and it feels like they randomly slot whoever in so they all get a turn. The match between Nyla and Swole wasn’t bad, but no one seems to care for either of ’em yet.
– And again with the tag team division, AEW has so many teams, yet hardly any time to showcase them all. This is an issue because the Hybrid 2 are a team you’d like to feature regularly, but I can’t remember the last time we saw them on Dynamite. I’m not watching AEW Dark so they’re probably on there a ton; but Dynamite is the main show and they’re struggling to gain momentum. It’s the same for Lucha Brothers, Private Party, Dark Order and others. Unless you’re part of The Elite, Inner Circle or SCU? You ain’t getting regular airtime.
– I know The Young Bucks have a way of doing things and it got them to this point, but I can’t be the only one who is tired of seeing all these spots they feel compelled to slot in between their billion superkicks? Also, the Meltzer Driver seems pointless and annoying to set up. They hardly ever sell and it makes everyone’s offense pointless. I’m not usually critical of them because I know what they are capable of, but they only seem worth it on PPV when longer matches play to their strengths. Am I the only one who would love to see a Young Bucks match not contain a single super kick for a change? I feel like ‘Super Kick Party’ has been done to death.
WWE NXT
After a great showing from some of the NXT talent at the Royal Rumble (except Riddle), can they keep the momentum going? We already know the ratings didn’t rise, which goes to show the Royal Rumble did not help to spike viewership for the Wednesday Night War. Nevertheless, could it at least be a fun show?
The Good
– Do you enjoy Finn Balor winning again, and again, and again? Then this has been a great month for you, as he got a victory over Trent Seven (but that’s not exactly difficult, he always loses!)
– Bro, if you’d have told me a year ago that Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne have amazing chemistry? I would’ve shrugged like the Bruiserweight. This is doing wonders for them, and while Riddle apparently has ‘major heat’, I’m not seeing any of that. Someone with major heat does NOT get in to the Royal Rumble match; and he was one of only two guys from NXT who did. He’s controversial, and that’s half the battle in getting over in this business.
– Keith Lee has the audience in the palm of his hand. Honestly, he could be NXT Champion and it would make sense. Love the way he casually got out of the ring when Priest and Dijakovic started going at it, and the following match was pretty sweet too. Lee vs. Dijakovic for the title is totally the right call, these guys have amazing chemistry.
– Tommaso Ciampa is so cool. Sadly, his persona would never translate to Raw or SmackDown. Oh well, so long as he’s on the NXT brand he’s one of the best characters WWE has. And while Adam Cole botched the mic spot and cut Ciampa’s head wide open, it made the segment more badass. That image of his blood trickling down his face on to ‘Goldie’ is one I won’t forget any time soon.
– Pretty cool to see The Broserweights achieve together. I’m a huge Pete Dunne fan, so any time he wins is good in my book. Riddle’s got so much ‘heat’ they give him a trophy. My only gripe with the Dusty Tag Team Classic is they almost always give it to a randomly thrown together team. Regardless, it was a solid main event and the fans were into it. Kudos to Grizzled Young Veterans for representing NXT UK so well.
The Bad
– We all know Shotzi Blackheart’s entrance is a rip of Sammy Guevara’s ‘invasion’ at the Royal Rumble (since writing this I had no idea she’d done it previously on the indie scene, although the timing is still a little coincidental). His was funny though, because it was ripping on D-Generation X in a one-time stunt; but it seems Shotzi will be stuck with this toy tank gimmick for a while. Kids will love it, but she’ll want to get rid of it eventually if she wants to be taken seriously. Also the match with Deonna Purrazzo? Ehh.
– Undisputed Era seem to have lost the ability to take people out. First, they struggle to handle Keith Lee on his own. Second, they can’t put Imperium away at Worlds Collide despite being a man up for much of the match. And third, it’s Tomasso Ciampa taking them all out by himself. What’s the point in having the numbers game if it’s never an advantage?
– All the build towards Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai was seriously well done, but it flopped quite hard here. Why get Candice LeRae involved? Can’t Tegan handle herself? I don’t know, it felt like a ton of build for little reward. Hopefully they’ll figure this out and give us a satisfying reward at the next PPV
– Kayden Carter defeats Chelsea Green? What the hell? She didn’t even get a spot in the Rumble, has no manager selling her, yet she gets the win? It’s all very confusing and I hope it leads somewhere, but it’s hard to guess what that is.
Conclusion
Again, I gotta’ apologize for the super late post, as other things took precedence and today was the only time I was available for it. You know what though? I was disappointed by these shows. There were some high points, but also too many segments you could easily lose focus with. This is not what they need, especially NXT after a Royal Rumble which should’ve got more eyes on the product.. not less. And the same goes for AEW, who should have benefited greatly from the cruise ship episode. This is not healthy for the Wednesday Night War.
I don’t really know what else to say, other than these shows were watchable.. but they both lost. The ratings are in a downward spiral and that spells trouble. Perhaps it’s just fans being killed off with five shows over four days? (NWA Hard Times/SmackDown/Worlds Collide/Royal Rumble/Raw) Or maybe there’s a lack of interest in this so-called ‘war’ after both have settled and it’s not as exciting as many hoped back in September? Four months on and the hype is long gone it seems. Next week, the ratings will show if it was the continued run of shows which resulted in the loss, or not.
I guess if I absolutely had to pick one? I’d say NXT because of the main event and AEW’s dead crowd. Yet, AEW continues to win in ratings and feels like a bigger show. While I was going to rule this a ‘No Contest’, I’m deciding to go with yet another draw. So it remains 6-5-5 in NXT’s favor, and you can go ahead and say one was better than the other and you’d be right, but I’m more concerned with the general lack of interest. Hopefully they can bring the excitement back as we head closer to the next TakeOver and Revolution. See you next week guys, thanks for reading.
Wednesday Night War – WWE NXT vs AEW Dynamite
