Ranking every premiere week wrestling show; the best and worst of AEW and WWE

This week in pro wrestling has certainly been a wild and entertaining ride, as WWE dubbed its programming "premiere week", and All Elite Wrestling launched its Dynamite show on TNT, effectively starting the Wednesday Night Wars with WWE's NXT brand.

The saying "it's a great time to be a wrestling fan" was certainly proved this week, with WWE offering three great shows in Raw, NXT and Friday Night SmackDown, and AEW hitting a big home run with the premiere of Dynamite on TNT.

Each show had its distinct look and feel, offered its unique presentation of pro wrestling, and scored big with surprises and great matches to entertain virtually every type of wrestling fan.

Given the above, let's rank all four new pro wrestling "premieres" this week, and see how each show fared in its respective night.

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#4. WWE RAW

Seth Rollins and The Fiend.

Over the past several months, rumors have indicated that WWE intends to present Raw and Friday Night SmackDown as two very distinct and different shows, and those rumors appear to be very true given this week's season premiere of Raw and the premiere of SmackDown on FOX.

Premiere week kicked off with Monday Night Raw, and the show featured another bizarre Firefly Funhouse segment, an appearance from The Fiend, and a climax featuring Bobby Lashley and Lana returning to WWE TV and revealing they are now an on-screen "couple."

The main thing WWE Raw proved this week is that the once-dubbed "flagship" show in WWE will be the "sports entertainment" product, leaving the more in-ring and sports-oriented products to NXT and SmackDown.

If you are a fan of "sports entertainment", then Raw is the show for you, as it had a great balance of good in-ring wrestling and some of the more over-the-top storytelling that both WWE and Paul Heyman are great at.

#3. Friday Night SmackDown

Becky Lynch and Bayley

In what was likely one of the most highly-anticipated premieres in WWE history, SmackDown Live made the move to FOX Sports and has become Friday Night SmackDown airing as part of FOX's weekend sports programming package.

To say SmackDown included tremendous hype heading into the premiere is an understatement, as FOX went all out with the promotion of the show, and even included a half-hour kickoff "blue carpet" special show featuring all the stars of WWE, including Hall of Famers and legends such as Goldberg and Ric Flair.

As for SmackDown itself, the premiere episode was designed to showcase all of WWE's top stars and to introduce them to potential new viewers of the blue brand.

What the show lacked in actual in-ring wrestling it made up for by the huge surprise appearances from the likes of Cain Velasquez and Tyson Fury. The show also featured Kevin Owens defeating Shane McMahon in a thrilling ladder match, and the crowning of a new WWE Champion in Brock Lesnar.

With WWE utilizing SmackDown this week to introduce itself to FOX viewers, the show felt rushed at times to fit all of the advertised segments into a two-hour broadcast, but following the roster draft beginning on next week's show, SmackDown should slowly begin to take more concrete and succinct shape.

#2. All Elite Wrestling Dynamite

AEW Dynamite

Another highly anticipated premiere this week was All Elite Wrestling's Dynamite show, which will air live every Wednesday night from 8 pm - 10 pm EST on TNT. The show will run head-to-head against NXT, creating what fans are now referring to as the Wednesday Night Wars.

AEW's Dynamite was an excellent show from top to bottom, offering the fans a look into what the show will be offering in terms of its stars and the in-ring wrestling presentation.

The premiere episode of Dynamite featured several great matches in the form of Cody vs. Sammy Guevara, PAC vs. Hangman Page, and the main event match which paired Chris Jericho and Santana and Ortiz against Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.

AEW offered a major surprise on Dynamite in the form of the debut of Jake Hager, fka Jack Swagger in WWE, and he has aligned himself with Chris Jericho's budding heel stable.

While the storytelling in the overall show and specifically the main event was fast-paced and well done, the reveal of Jake Hager as the show's big surprise fell somewhat flat. In the past, companies like Impact Wrestling have made the mistake of presenting mid-card WWE talents as major stars, and it would be unwise for AEW to do the same.

#1. WWE NXT

Adam Cole, Finn Balor and Tommaso Ciampa on WWE NXT this week

While this week's episode of WWE NXT was not a "premiere" broadcast, it was the first two-hour broadcast of the show on USA Network, making it feel like a premiere along with Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

NXT was the best pro wrestling show of the much-hyped week that featured several major highlights.

The show kicked off with the best match of the week and an instant classic when Adam Cole successfully defended his title against Matt Riddle. Riddle offered a near career-best performance in the bout against the NXT Champ, and while he was unsuccessful in the winning the NXT title, he proved he is a major star on the rise in WWE.

NXT also featured two very impactful surprises, as Finn Balor made his return to WWE TV and rejoined the NXT brand, and former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa made his return to TV, following an injury and surgery which left his pro wrestling future very much in question.

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