Hi folks! Yesterday we saw another great night of wrestling in the 3rd week of the Wednesday Night War. Having watched AEW Dynamite live, I found a way to see WWE NXT not so long after. This time I went into both shows blind, as I did not look at any of the cards or write up a preview. Apologies if you were looking forward to a preview, but I’ve decided to axe those for now.
Wednesday Night War – Week #3
AEW Dynamite
After delivering the goods the past couple weeks, many fans tuned in to see if AEW could keep the momentum flowing. And they’ve got no excuses from this episode onward, as they’ve had time to settle in to the way they produce shows.
The Good
- Scorpio Sky losing his shoes and having one thrown back at him was hilarious.
- Building Santana & Ortiz up to be a threat, while not putting them over easily on an established team.
- Pentagon Jr going full heel mode (Babysaurus!) on the mic. Loved it, although we really wanted to see Luchasaurus, but what can you do about injury?
- Moxley & Pac vs. Omega & Page was PPV quality. Easily the best tag match of the night on either show. This is where AEW excels.
- The main event was unique and didn’t make Darby Allin look weak in defeat. The skateboard is over and should be named.
- No worries about commentary or production; they’ve nailed it in a short time. Even Jim Ross has improved.
- The “bubbly” ending was kinda refreshing. When was the last time we saw wrestlers celebrating with a real drink in the ring?
The Bad
- The opening contest was OK, but it certainly didn’t match the previous episodes openers. Sky losing his shoes saved it from being entirely forgettable.
- Speaking of which, Ortiz & Santana’s match was a formality, and Chris Jericho tried to put them over afterwards. The sound crew didn’t turn the volume up .. so you had to really pay attention and hope you could hear him over Ortiz.
- The women’s match was weak, and so many fans are saying Britt Baker needs to improve considerably. I have yet to see a good singles match from her, she only seems to do well in multi-women matches. There could also be communication issues between her and Riho.
- I know Jericho is a heel champion, but does he need Jake Hager to interfere on his behalf while Darby is handcuffed? Obviously they’re fishing for heat and want to feature Hager where they can, but is this all we’re getting for the next month? All the main events ending with interference?
WWE NXT
After losing to AEW last week (imo), can NXT redeem itself? Are they feeling the pressure of the Wednesday Night War, or was last week just one of those things?
The Good
- Great to see the return of Tommaso Ciampa, and he made Angel Garza look good too. Why did he attack the flag? I don’t know, but it leaves us guessing what kind of Ciampa we’re going to see in the coming weeks. Can he make a face turn work with this image?
- While I kinda tuned out of the match between Imperium and Lorcan/Burch, you have to admire how much WWE is building this stable up. Even without Walter they look like a threat. Fabian Aichner stands out the most to me, he could be a huge superstar one day.
- I love everything about Io Shirai, and I kinda want to see her move up to the main roster and lead Asuka & Kairi Sane as part of dark, heel stable. Let them all dress in black and do evil things. Rhea Ripley’s momentum is hard to match anywhere at the moment, she’s rising to stardom exceptionally quick.
- Great way to get heat on Undisputed Era by showing them taking out Velveteen Dream (he’s dealing with an injury). Handing commentary a “USB” was something I’ve never seen before, and I like it.
- Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic is always good, no matter what show they are on.
- Seriously impressed with Bronson Reed in his match with Matt Riddle, bro.
- Damian Priest vs. Pete Dunne should have been on PPV. I feel like we were robbing WWE a little here, because their first encounter could easily have been a draw for NXT TakeOver. Instead we saw an epic main event, and as a British fan I’m obviously rooting for The Bruiserweight; but he could afford the loss. I just want to know how long Damian Priest will continue with this undefeated streak. He’s got everything it takes to be a major player, and NXT continues the trend of producing the best main events.
The Bad
- The trope of the heel champion interfering with a #1 contenders match and NOT expecting it to become a triple threat .. is played out and needs to burn in a fire. I’m talking about the interference in the Lee/Dijakovic match.
- Completely zoned out of Tegan Nox vs. Taynara, and it’s pretty embarrassing when Tegan’s all like “I WANTS TITLE SHOT NOW!” .. and Shayna Baszler’s like, “Who the hell are you? And you ain’t done a single thing to earn it anyways”. Feels like they are pushing Tegan way too hard, way too soon since returning from major injury.
- I couldn’t care less about Killian Dain vs. Boa. What the hell are they doing with Dain anyways? At least put him up against someone who could beat him.
The Winner
There was a clear lack of promo time and other segments this week. Tons of wrestling on both shows, and that’s what we want right? For them to tell stories in the ring instead of standing around with a microphone for half an hour? Every week feels like two PPVs going head-to-head, so I find myself smiling and reacting. NXT and AEW are making me feel like I used to feel about wrestling twenty years ago.
This Wednesday Night War is what I’m looking forward to every week now, much more than other. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying WWE’s main roster (when there’s no draft!), Impact Wrestling and even NWA Powerrr .. but NXT vs. AEW is where all the excitement’s at. They are literally giving us mini PPVs every week, and we know at the real PPVs they will turn it up to eleven.
I see some criticism here and there in regards to how the site covers AEW and NXT. Some claim we are being “biased” towards AEW, but that is simply not the case. How someone reports the results is up to them, and if one happens to have more detail than the other? It’s nothing to do with bias (the staff are not robots and are not forced to work the same way). As far as I know, no one on the team favours one show over the other. And this is where I prove it, at least on my behalf. I’m not afraid to say when something isn’t as good as the other.
NXT was the better show this week. There’s no doubting that AEW put on a good show .. but I think NXT should be praised for their response. Of course, it’s still very, very close between them, but I still think NXT were victorious. You may be a diehard AEW fan who wants my head for saying this, but they can’t win all the time. And I ain’t just saying NXT won for the sake of it .. that’s how I actually feel. NXT is expected to do well with the amount of stars they have built up, and AEW has a long way to go in that regard. Let’s put it this way .. without the tag match, Dynamite would’ve been average at best. I found less negatives with NXT, therefore it has the edge. So the current score after week 3 is as follows: 1-1-1 (AEW/NXT/Draw)
What do you think of this week’s episodes? Who do you think won the third week of the Wednesday Night War? As AEW Dynamite vs. WWE NXT rages on, (I know it’s become an annoying cliche) the fans are the true winners. We can have our opinions and argue over which was better til the sun sets, but the fact of the matter is .. we’re more spoiled than ever before. There’s so much wrestling out there now! I think we should be grateful to be experiencing history being made. As always, it’s been a pleasure sharing my thoughts with you, and I thank you very much for reading! See you again next week.
