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Randy Orton heaps praise on AEW's Dynamite premiere
The Wednesday Night Wars officially kicked off this week with both NXT and All Elite Wrestling Dynamite airing head-to-head from 8 pm - 10 pm EST.
Viewership numbers for both shows are in, and it looks like Dynamite won the night by a large margin, taking in roughly 1.4 million viewers, compared to WWE NXT, which took in about 891,000 viewers.
Following the Wednesday night win for AEW, WWE actually issued the following statement, congratulating AEW for their premiere episode, but reminding fans that the Wednesday Night Wars are not a sprint, but rather a marathon.
“Congratulations to AEW on a successful premiere. The real winners of last night’s head-to-head telecasts of NXT on USA Network and AEW on TNT are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint.”
While online reaction to both NXT and AEW this week has been overwhelmingly positive, WWE star Randy Orton appeared on a Brad Radke gaming stream and added his thoughts on the AEW premiere, praising both Sammy Guevara, who competed in Dynamite's opening match.
"The AEW looked [expletive] cool, huh?", asked Orton. "Did you watch that show last night?"
"Oh my God. I'll tell you what. It's that big match feel, the big show feel. Cody and Sammy Guevara - that kid can do some [expletive]."
Orton appears to be the first WWE star to comment publicly on the AEW premiere, and the timing of the comments are interesting given WWE's statement congratulating Dynamite, but at the same time pointing out the projected longevity of the Wednesday Night Wars.
Do you agree with Randy Orton's AEW assessment? Let us know in the comment section and be sure to follow SK on Twitter and Facebook!
