Hi folks! Yesterday, we saw yet another great night of wrestling in the milestone 5th week of the Wednesday Night War. What am I enjoying about this so far? Is there’s really not much to criticize. I’m enjoying bringing these comparison articles for you every week, and I hope you appreciate them too. Also, Happy Halloween everyone!
Wednesday Night War – Week #5
AEW Dynamite
On this episode we’re getting the final of the tag team tournament, along with a crap ton of Rick & Morty plugging. Awww Jeez!
The Good
- Damn man, Sammy Guevara is a star! The crowd HATES him! And you know what? Hangman Page’s stock rose considerably all because of two words .. “Cowboy Shit”. Stick that on a t-shirt and it’s already doing him wonders. A short opener, but the crowd were in to every millisecond.
- While the women’s match started out scarily quiet, they ended up working the best singles match for the women’s division on Dynamite so far. Shanna gives me “Taylor Wilde” vibes (TNA fans will understand this reference), while Hikaru Shida is one of the best workers and isn’t afraid to express herself. There’s still a ton of work to do to build this division from the ground up, but at least the match wasn’t sloppy and the crowd got into it eventually.
- Rock N’ Roll Express are STILL getting tag teams over. And what a spot by Ricky Morton .. that’s how you bring in legends and use them right. Ortiz & Santana needed this to establish how ruthless they can be.
- While one part of the six-man tag irked me some, it turned in to a fun match in the end. Orange Cassidy is a freaking star and I know some can’t stand his gimmick, but the crowd love it and pop for every ‘superkick’ and hands-in-pockets suicide dive. Best part of this for me? Was when Jim Ross reluctantly said “Wubba Lubba Dub Dub”; I almost died. I wonder how many will dress up as Orange Cassidy tonight?
- The whole part in the limo with Cody and Tony Schiavone showed a mutual love of wrestling and respect for each other. There was no flash, and it proves you can do segments like these and enjoy quiet, intimate moments in the middle of a crazy show. Heartwarming stuff.
- Jericho and Cody didn’t do the typical contract signing shtick .. you know, where you flip a table or put someone through it. Instead, Jericho did the more despicable thing of having his buddies take out Cody’s brother Dustin in the parking lot. Nice touch to have Hager low blow him several times .. just like his recent MMA fight.
- The match between The Elite vs. Hybrid 2 and Kip Sabian caught me by my surprise, because I never would’ve thought of booking it. In other companies (not just WWE), The Elite would have destroyed this team in five minutes or less. But that wasn’t the case, and instead we got a PPV quality six-man tag with everyone going over in the process.
- Jon Moxley needed to destroy someone and Peter Avalon was the right choice. The proceeding promo was probably the best of the night on either show, and it definitely had “Stone Cold” vibes to it. It was intense, to the point, and promises some repercussions for AEW down the line.
- The tag team main event finish was unexpected. I’m betting most were expecting Lucha Brothers to win, but it looks like they will have to earn a reign through more hard work. It’s redemption for SCU after losing Daniels so early in the tournament. SCU!
The Bad
- I’m a big fan of Rick & Morty and am eagerly awaiting the next season, but I can see how overplugging it could turn some away. It’s not everyone’s cuppa’ tea, evident by some being disgusted over the green turnbuckle posts. The wigs kept falling off in the Best Friends & Orange Cassidy match, so that could’ve been done better. Slightly overkill Rick? Aw jeez.
- I think they essentially wasted too much time in the contract signing and the six-man tag, which meant the main event had little over ten minutes to prove it was a tournament final. SCU and Lucha Brothers did what they could in that time, but it made Lucha Bros look a bit weak to be rolled up so easily. At least the main event didn’t end in drama like every other episode of Dynamite.
WWE NXT
After beating AEW for the second week in a row in the Wednesday Night War (imo), did NXT continue its momentum in to this show? Can the Kabuki Warriors elevate the women’s division even more?
The Good
- Just to put this all in one place, literally both women’s matches and the WARGAMES announcement absolutely stole the show. It proves NXT has one of the best built women’s divisions in the world, and Shayna Baszler is there for the young stud Rhea Ripley to knock her off the perch. Kabuki Warriors vs. Team Kick was a lot better than expected, and I’m seriously digging the new swagger of Asuka and Kairi Sane.
- Finn Balor’s promo had some good points, like the way he’s keeping it more real (his dig at WWE booking), but there’s more I need to say about it below.
- Cameron Grimes and Tyler Bate are two of the hardest workers in the business, so it was a pleasure to see them lock up .. even if it didn’t end clean.
- Bronson Reed and Shane Thorne was good filler, and I really enjoy Reed’s power.
- The main event was alright, but not as exciting and must-see as previous weeks. Keith Lee looks like he could take out Undisputed Era on his own.
The Bad
- I’m so confused by the whole Wargames timing .. because for weeks it looked like we would see Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler for the title. With this announcement, we’re not going to see it for a long while yet. Don’t get me wrong, the first women’s Wargames is gonna’ be awesome, but Shayna’s been on top for an incredibly long time and Ripley’s her first decent challenger in months. When’s the next time they could do it on PPV? Or is it gonna’ end up being shoehorned in to a regular episode?
- Anyone else tired of Killian Dain attacking people at random? Let me get this straight .. he attacked Pete Dunne, but The Bruiserweight doesn’t care because he’s focusing more on Damian Priest. So instead, Dain goes after Tyler Bate as he’s not doing much. Is this meant to provoke Dunne? Or did Dain notice his attack was for nothing so he switched targets? I’ve got no idea what’s going on. If anything, it looks like he’s got some kind of relationship with Cameron Grimes as it always seems to be during his matches.
- Tommaso Ciampa coming after Goldie isn’t much different to what we’ve seen in previous weeks. I can’t buy him as a face though .. I really want to hate this man. Feels like this feud between him and Adam Cole is an afterthought in the scheme of things.
Finn Balor’s promo was wrong to me in several ways. Firstly, if he’s gonna’ be a heel in the feud with Johnny Gargano .. he needs to get the fans to turn on him. Instead, he garnered sympathy by sharing his frustration in losing to Bray Wyatt. He also came across as a pompous parrot mimicking the ideals of guys like Triple H and Kevin Nash (wrestlers shouldn’t be fans apparently); rather than having his own voice. Also, the fans were so wanting to cheer Finn that they booed any mention of Johnny Gargano.
Isn’t Johnny meant to be the heart of NXT? Why are they getting the fans to boo him and cheer Finn? Again, the ‘cool heel’ thing isn’t working. It’s like .. Becky Lynch was great because she didn’t care in the slightest as a heel, but now she’s a face her character isn’t as effective. Balor needed to show he doesn’t care and rile the fans up with insults so they can support Gargano. So while it was a good change of pace for Finn .. it came across all wrong in the end. Hopefully this can be corrected in the coming weeks.
The Winner
While the past two weeks have been really tough to decide (with NXT coming out on top, but only just), this one is a no-brainer for me. AEW Dynamite was hands down better this week, as they head in to Full Gear with a solid looking card with plenty of build. The NXT Women’s Division is still a country mile ahead of what AEW can muster, but the rest of NXT had too much filler. Moxley’s promo was more exciting than Balor’s .. so again it shows that an unscripted AEW segment can do wonders over something more controlled. Not saying Balor’s promo was terrible .. but it sure had me asking a lot of questions in the wrong way.
I would go as far to say this was probably NXT’s worst show (outside the women’s matches) since they went head-to-head with AEW. The only bad thing about Dynamite was the Rick & Morty overselling and not giving the main event enough time. Also, NXT seriously needs to get out of Full Sail as it comes across as second rate; although the loyal crowd do make it more intimate. Not to say NXT was a bad show, but it sure didn’t grab my attention like the last two weeks. I’m hoping they can bounce back with more urgency. This makes the score 2-2-1 thus far .. and no I’m not playing the fence! I’m calling it as I see it and am not trying to be the nice guy who plays both sides.
Also yes, I know there’s no “Wednesday Night War” and we shouldn’t give a crap who wins or whatever; I still find it interesting to watch ’em and come to a conclusion anyways. Which show do you think won this week? Or if you don’t care who did .. what was your #1 moment of the week? I’d like to hear your thoughts on this milestone 5th week. Thanks for reading guys! See you next time.
Wednesday Night War – WWE NXT vs AEW Dynamite
