Hello and welcome back to the Wednesday Night War series! We have made it to the milestone 20th edition. This time, we’re seeing AEW taking it home before their much-anticipated Revolution PPV, and the NXT roster doing everything they can to fight back. Feel free to check out the previous editions of the Wednesday Night War series via the links below.
#1 – #2 – #3 – #4 – #5 – #6 – #7 – #8 – #9 – #10 – #11
#12 – #13 – #14 – #15 – #16 – #17 – #18 – #19
Wednesday Night War – Week #20
-AEW Dynamite-
Dynamite has been impressive the past few weeks, but surely it can’t keep this form going forever? Even so, something tells me they can’t do any wrong with the go-home episode for Revolution. Everything’s in place and raring to go, and all they need to do is finish wrapping up the present by tying a nice, pretty bow on it. They came from behind in the Wednesday Night War, and they are now firmly lodged in the driving seat.
The Good
– We all know AEW needed to get the Omega & Pac match out of the way, seeing as a rematch was promised months ago but never surfaced as Kenny moved on. And finally, we got a PPV quality contest between two of the best workers on the roster. As a Brit, it’s a little disheartening seeing Pac lose like he did after begging Omega for so long, but at least he’ll bounce back by making an example of Orange Cassidy at Revolution.
– Speaking of which, Orange Cassidy is super entertaining. Some fans don’t ‘get it’, but most of the AEW fans do and he’s one of the biggest merchandise sellers. It’s about time we get to see him in a match, and even if he loses it’ll be big for his career. Also, his interactions with Allie and Tony Schiavone were hilarious! More please, this is what wrestling’s been missing out on. Best Friends getting a rare win was pleasing too.
– How good did Jurassic Express look against the Inner Circle!? Impressive from all three men, even Marko Stunt. This team is going places, and I’m not talking the prehistoric era, I’m talking about a bright future. Also, Darby Allin is another mega star in waiting. We know he can talk, but it might actually help if he remains mute for a while (apparently he’s suffering from a throat infection). On the other side, I can’t believe how far Guevara, Ortiz and Santana have come in a year.
– Makes a change to see the girls go on last. There was some good action here, although some of the repeated breakups were badly timed and overdone. Yuka Sakazaki stood out for me, she’s getting there. Hikaru Shida hasn’t been seen for a while, and winning four matches in a row means she must be in line to face Nyla Rose after she inevitably retains at Revolution?
– The World ‘Heavyweight’ Championship weigh in was more entertaining than it had any right of being; large in part to Chris Jericho, Dustin Rhodes and Jake Hager. Moxley’s not quite doing it for me the past few weeks, he’s not getting people on his side like AEW needs. Still, it’s a well-built feud which is deserving of main eventing a PPV. I’m hoping Le Champion retains, as no one’s ready to take it from him yet.
The Bad
– The card felt backwards. Think about it for a second.. take the match order and reverse it. It feels more logical that way. Of course, you want to draw viewers in out of the gate and keep them there, but I feel like the crowd had their fill with Pac vs. Omega. Anything after that (minus the moments) struggled to generate the some kind of buzz.
– A small gripe as it pertains to the ‘Ironman’ match. It was basically a two-out-of-three falls in disguise. And one of those falls was from disqualification, so it isn’t like Omega pinned Pac twice to win this; giving Pac enough reason to ask for another. Still, it’s a great match! However, I think all Ironman’s should be sixty minutes. We’ve seen regular singles/tag team matches go as long, and they usually announce time limits of 30-60 minutes anyways.
– Totally understandable if you didn’t buy in to the ‘weigh in’ segment. Personally, I liked how they made it feel like they were taking it seriously, but it quickly devolved like a typical contract signing. Again, it felt like Jon Moxley’s going through the motions. Why wasn’t he talking a whole heap of trash? His heat on Jericho isn’t as intense as it should be.
-WWE NXT–
After being critical of NXT the past few weeks, I’m really hoping they can bounce back in this Wednesday Night War. With Portland completely out of the way, fresh rivalries can emerge as we head towards TakeOver: Tampa Bay in little over a month’s time on WrestleMania weekend. Let’s take a look.
The Good
– What I particularly enjoyed about the way the opening match was booked, is it keeps Cameron Grimes looking amazing, while also bringing Damien Priest in to the mix. I figured it was too easy for Dijakovic to simply ask and be granted a rematch, when there’s so many hungry guys wanting a shot at the North American title. I’d love to see Priest have a go at Lee over Dijakovic, or make it a three-way feud? Or perhaps a four-way with Killian Dain? Four monsters warring over Lee’s title is what the brand needs right now.
– Speaking of which, Killian Dain got back to winning ways with a victory over Bronson Reed. He looked far too weak against Dijakovic a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully this is the start of him beginning to rise again.
– I love everything about Xia Li, she’s got everything it takes to be a superstar. Still unsure about Gonzales, but the NXT Women’s division needs someone like her. Shayna Baszler’s gone for good, so Dakota Kai and Gonzales are having to fill the ‘heel’ void. At least we didn’t get, yet another Kayden Carter or Chelsea Green match. NXT has the better potential women’s division over AEW, but they need to be booked right.
– Finn Balor’s promo was the best I have heard from him in a long time. It felt like old school Finn, the guy who knows when to step up. Balor vs. Walter will be an extremely promising rivalry, because I don’t think he’s the type of guy ‘Prince’ will walk over. Imperium has the NXT UK Champion’s back, so losing to Walter won’t hurt in the long run. What I’m interested to know is, will Balor challenge for the UK Championship, win it, and begin representing NXT UK instead?? Or is this a way to put Walter over, who really.. hasn’t had any serious challengers since Tyler Bate (about six months ago?).
– Two steel cage matches incoming! Could be slightly overkill. Also convenient timing, given Dynamite just had their first-ever steel cage last week. Oh well. The main thing is, we’re likely to have two awesome steel cage matches to look forward too next week, which is what the doctor ordered.
– Putting money on Austin Theory being a big star by giving him the rub on Tommaso Ciampa. It’s funny, I think the commentators try saying his second name too fast sometimes and it sounds like “Fury”. Anyways, it’s refreshing to see Ciampa against someone completely new, and they worked a really good match together.
– The Grizzled Young Veterans, especially Zack Gibson, is so good at getting heat they managed to get the fans to (kinda’) side with The Forgotten Sons. Give that a man a “SOON!”. Or at least have the common courtesy to take your shoes off?
– Some solid work between Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair in the main event. It seems Belair is right at home against Charlotte, and although their chemistry isn’t quite there yet, I’m sure in a few years they’ll be great together. This match also reminded me of how Charlotte used to work before she got to the main roster; where she tends to be methodical and plays more to the crowd. This helps Belair’s career.
The Bad
– Sadly, it seems the NXT Universe aren’t as pumped for these matches as they used to be. There was a time they’d pop for anything, but they’re getting quieter. With that said, I wasn’t in to Gargano’s attack on Ciampa at all. It just wasn’t shocking enough.. they needed to turn this feud up to 11.
– Bronson Reed is such a big guy, but he never wins. Why not feed someone smaller to Dain? There’s a few talents like him in NXT where I sit and wonder if WWE only signs them for the sake of signing them? Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really solid worker, but with zero character a win over him means so very little at the moment. Speaking of which, no one cares enough about The Forgotten sons to make them babyface.
– Rhea Ripley needed to be more animated while getting to the ring to save Belair. She went through her entrance routine and didn’t bother to chase Charlotte after she easily slipped out of the ring. Where’s the heat man!? Someone please think of the heat! What happened to NXT in this regard?
– Hardly any mention of the 10-year anniversary of the brand. They should be proud and flaunt it a little more. Not overkill, but at least do something to pay tribute to all the hard work?
Conclusion
A mixed bag on both sides, but nothing overly negative. AEW had already done much of the work in previous weeks, so this episode (after the Ironman match) didn’t live up to the same quality. They still had some great moments, without a doubt. The ‘weigh in’ is similar to the ‘lashes’ segment from a few weeks back, where it replaced a main event match for the sake of build. Did we need this though? Do you think it added to the feud between Jericho and Moxley? I think it delivered, but I can see how some would’ve preferred something different.
I feel like NXT improved this week, but only because we’re promised new rivalries as we head towards WrestleMania weekend. What else can I say though? They had Finn Balor on. Charlotte Flair worked the main event.. yet they STILL lost viewers. This is a problem with the brand at the moment, is that you can’t bring Raw/SmackDown talents in and expect it to work. It’s lost the ‘underground’ edge, and rarely throwing out the “We Are NXT!” line isn’t solving matters. At least the quality of wrestling was good, which is typical NXT.
A big part of me wants to give this a draw. However, AEW’s done a fantastic job building Revolution, and has kept my attention more than NXT has. Without the Ironman match? This is most definitely a draw.. but because it exists, I have to pull the V-Trigger and tip it in Dynamite’s favor to make the score 9-6-5. Not by much though! Because NXT has turned a corner and looks like it could be really fun next week. Thanks for reading everyone. See you again next week for more action in the Wednesday Night War.
Wednesday Night War – WWE NXT vs AEW Dynamite
