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  • WWE NXT vs AEW Dynamite: Who won the Wednesday Night Wars? (6th December 2019)

WWE NXT vs AEW Dynamite: Who won the Wednesday Night Wars? (6th December 2019)

By Gary Cassidy
Modified Dec 07, 2019 01:44 IST
It's the Wednesday Night Wars!
It's the Wednesday Night Wars!

In terms of viewership figures, this week's episodes of WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite were closer than ever.

This week's 'Wednesday Night Wars' saw an incredibly close battle for midweek dominance, with Dynamite drawing a total of 851,000 viewers and NXT being hot on their heels on 845,000 viewers - but which show was actually the better show?

Last week, I gave NXT the edge following an incredibly impressive, non-stop show - but who wins the week this week? Let's take a look back at both shows before I deliver my verdict.

WWE NXT

Keith Lee had another breakout performance
Keith Lee had another breakout performance

This week's NXT would start off differently than advertised, with Killian Dain's scheduled opponent Damian Priest not medically cleared to compete. Priest's replacement would be former WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne, with the pair putting on a spectacular match that would end very creatively, with the Bruiserweight knocking out Dain with a sleeper hold on the turnbuckle, with Dain falling off and crushing Dunne to pick up the win - despite not knowing too much about it.

NXT Champion Shayna Baszler would also defeat Xia Li after an incredibly physical contest, while Forgotten Sons defeated Alanis & Ruff. However, a rough night for Ruff wouldn't stop there, as Jaxson Ryker spiked him on the apron in arguably the most insane spot of the night.

Another advertised match wouldn't go ahead, with Rhea Ripley vs Dakota Kai ending in chaos before it even began with Mia Yim rushing the ring to attack Kai, and Ripley being ambushed by Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke with an NXT Women's Championship Match set for December 18th.

Kassius Ohno would return to NXT and issue an open challenge, to be defeated by a man who's no stranger to beating him - Matt Riddle. Another, more impressive, return would see Kushida return to face Cameron Grimes after the latter took out Raul Mendoza. Kushida emerged victorious.

The main event of the night saw The Undisputed Era - minus Bobby Fish - take on Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. Now, there's not much I can say here aside from, with all those ingredients, this was always going to be great. Lee, Dijakovic, and Ciampa picked up the win after a hectic contest which would see Finn Balor rush the ring. Lee would get his retribution and create yet another classic GIF in the process.

Now, arguably the best thing about NXT right now is how WWE are utilising the NXT Championship as being a much-sought-after prize with EVERYONE chasing it. The show would end with the culmination of this as William Regal revealed that Adam Cole will defend his title against either Finn Balor, Tommaso Ciampa, or Keith Lee, with those three men facing off against each other next week in a Triple Threat Match for the right to challenge Cole on December 18th.

Cody Rhodes would make a statement on AEW
Cody Rhodes would make a statement on AEW

AEW Dynamite

Much like NXT, AEW Dynamite started off with an absolute barnstormer of a match. Our most recent guest on Dropkick DiSKussions, Dustin Rhodes, would team up with the Young Bucks to take on Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz after the trio attacked the veteran last week.

This match was excellent, arguably one of the better Six-Man Tag Team Matches I've ever watched with Rhodes and the Bucks picking up the win.

Rey Fenix would take on Trent in a match that seemed firmly built to try get the audience to boo Fenix, but everyone seems to love the Lucha Bros - so it didn't quite land. The match itself was very entertaining, though, with some afters hinting that this rivalry is not over.

Now, where do we start with Cody Rhodes. Yet again, Rhodes showed shades of Dusty by delivering an absolutely outstanding promo. I'm running out of superlatives to describe how good Cody is on the mic, and he would offer up the keys to his own car, a watch, his shoes and $50,000 in cold, hard cash to get MJF to fight him.

"Name your price! Let's do this!"

Nyla Rose would then face off against The Librarian Leva Bates. The match was nothing to write home about, but what happened afterwards most definitely has been with the wrestling world being whipped into a frenzy. Rose would demolish Bates, putting her through a table, before turning her attention to the referee.

Nyla Rose would be suspended without pay for her actions, but the big news was a crowd shot, with AEW taking a very clear shot at WWE by showing a shocked Britt Baker in the front row, calling her "Adam Cole's girlfriend" in a parody of NXT TakeOver: WarGames.

Now, much like Cody Rhodes, one man who's always guaranteed to keep an audience captive when he has a microphone in his hand is Chris Jericho.

The current AEW World Champion would yet again become one of the undoubted highlights of the show, revealing the Lexicon of Le Champion where Jericho would rhyme off everyone that he would not compete against from a very familiar clipboard.

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Jericho would repeat Moxley's name in between current AEW star Kenny Omega, Kenny Ortega, Kenny Shields and Kenny from South Park, as well as Adam Page, Diamond Dallas Page and Paige, before ending on simply Marty - which may just be foreshadowing a new signing.

Jurassic Express interrupted Jericho with Luchasaurus getting an incredible ovation as he hit back at Le Champion, and a match was made between Jungle Boy and Jericho for December 18th.

AEW would put a lot of stock into building their women's division this week, with Kris Statlander taking on Hikaru Shida. The Galaxy's Favorite Alien would dominate and win the match in an amazing showing, before Brandi Rhodes and Awesome Kong interrupted, and would cut an audience member's hair before recruiting them to their faction.

One match that didn't really live up to expectations would be Christopher Daniels vs Pentagon Jr. The latter would win via low blow and package piledriver after a pretty disappointing encounter - but maybe that speaks volumes for the talent as to how highly both men are rated to create such high expectations.

The main event of AEW Dynamite saw Jon Moxley take on Joey Janela. Yet again, this wasn't a classic and the pacing seemed off. All would be forgotten as the show ended, though, with Le Champion emerging from the crowd, where Mox normally enters from, and staring down his prospective top contender, to tease a match against the man he refuses to defend his gold against.

Dustin Rhodes recently told me how he loves being part of AEW right now, and how he believes they're putting out incredibly compelling television. After this great show, it's hard to argue. You can read my entire interview with Dustin Rhodes here or watch it below.

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So, which show was better?
So, which show was better?

Verdict

Well, the ratings would suggest a close contest, and it most definitely was with both NXT and AEW delivering really enjoyable shows that would progress storylines and confirm future matches.

This week, though, there could only be one winner for me. While NXT was a great show from start to finish again, AEW Dynamite just had more memorable segments with two outstanding promo segments from Rhodes and Jericho propelling the show into top tier territory.

Oddly, this week would be the week where AEW was more of an "entertainment" based programme, with NXT being the better show for wrestling purists.

Both shows are definitely worth going back to watch, and both AEW and WWE have made life very difficult for neutral fans as far as deciding what to watch next week and, particularly, on December 18th - but I have to say, despite two below par matches and some unnecessary shots at their rival, AEW takes the win due to the matches that were good being great, and some amazing storyline development.

Who do you think won the week? Do you agree? Let us know via the poll below.

What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.