by Chad Cooper
Twitter @thechadcooper
Week 8 of the Wednesday Night Wars was very intense. It was the “go home” show for NXT as they have “Takeover” and Survivor Series this weekend while AEW countered with Nick Jackson-Fenix and Moxley-Darby Allin.
Head to head TV ratings:
Week 7: AEW (957K), NXT (750K)
Week 6: AEW (822K), NXT (813K)
Week 5: AEW (759K), NXT (580K)
Week 4: AEW (963K), NXT (698K)
Week 3: AEW (1.014 million), NXT (712K)
Week 2: AEW (1.018 million), NXT (790K)
Week 1: AEW (1.409 million), NXT (891K)
AEW Dynamite
1st match: Nick Jackson v. Fenix
Another great match, but I’m a little worn out of Bucks-Lucha Bros. IDK what I’ve seen more of – Bucks-Lucha, Roman-Corbin or Heather Monroe-Miranda Alize? Match of the night for AEW. Fenix with a fantastic finish, which includes a superkick, spinning heel kick & muscle buster.
2nd match: Britt Baker v. Hikaru Shida
Probably Britt’s best match in AEW. She got a bloody nose and lost, but still quality TV for the women’s division. Better than an Awesome Kong squash.
*Vignette for Dark Order. And actually good.
3rd match: Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal. Orange Cassidy and Billy Gunn had a great faceoff, until MJF eliminates OC (good heel move). SOUND THE ALARM…A PENELOPE FORD SIGHTING. Jungle Boy eliminates Kip Sabian with an impressive hurricanrana. MJF and Hangman Page are the final 2 participants & will have a match next week where the winner wins a ring.
*Chris Jericho & Jake Hager in ring. Another great promo. SCU is out and we will have Jericho v Scorpio Sky next week for the AEW world title. Good stuff.
4th match: Luchasaurus v. Peter Avalon w/Leva Bates
Squash match, but I love Luchasaurus and Peter Avalon.
5th match: Private Party v. Santana & Ortiz
So disappointed here. Sloppy. Private Party with the win. Post match sees Dustin Rhodes and Nick Jackson run off Sammy Guevara, Ortiz & Santana.
*Kenny Omega vignette. He’s working out. Omega can do no wrong in my book.
6th match: Jon Moxley v. Darby Allin
Solid move set by both, felt like a car crash. Darby is a damn star. Moxley with a crazy-ass Paradigm Shift off the second rope for the victory.
Final thoughts… Could barely hear the announcers, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because I’m not Excalibur fan, but it was annoying to hear crowd and faintly here the play-by-play. Also, IDGAF about “Rankings.” It’s stupid. Look at the UFC’s attempt. People laugh at it. WWE even tried it. No room for it. Another entertaining effort from the boys.
Grade: B
AEW Dark match results: Trent def. Pentagon Jr; Awesome Kong def. Leva Bates; Shanna def. Big Swole; Kenny Omega def. Jack Evans
Announced for next week: MJF v. Hangman; Kenny Omega v. PAC; Chris Jericho v. Scorpio Sky; & the return of Cody.
NXT
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch is back in the NXT ring and cuts a good promo on Bayley and Shayna. Becky wants a fight and she will get one from Rhea Ripley.
1st match: Rhea Ripley v. Becky Lynch
Surreal moment if you are a women’s wrestling fan. A lot of dueling chants. With both women down, out comes Shayna Baszler & the MMA Horsewomen. DQ.
*The Revival are here.
2nd match: Kona Reeves v. Matt Riddle
OMG…Before Kona can get into the ring, Ricochet with a suicide dive so we will get Ricochet v. Riddle… Several big moments and fans with a “HOLY SHIT” chant. But, here is Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura. Now Roderick Strong…NOW FINN BALOR.
3rd match: The Revival v. Undisputed Era.
Match of the Year candidate. I mean holy balls. I marked out several times. Fantastic false finishes. Dawson gets hit with the “Total Elimination” and UE get the win. That is wrasslin’.
4th match: Kay Lee Ray v. Dakota Kai
Meh…Ok. Lukewarm. The NXT UK women’s champ KLR wins. Carmella, Dana Brooke, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville with the beatdown. Tegan Nox enters as does, WHOA, Sarah Logan. Kairi Sane with a an InSane elbow. Nikki Cross runs ‘em all off and stands tall.
5th match: The Viking Raiders v. The Forgotten Sons
Good physical match that received TV time. “War” chants. Vikings with the win.
*My fav, Charly Caruso, speaks about Pete Dunne v. Damian Priest v. Killian Dain at Takeover. Winner gets a NXT title shot against Adam Cole at Survivor Series.
6th match: Adam Cole v. Dominic Dijakovic
Ladder match with the winner giving his team an advantage at War Games on Saturday at Takeover. Solid. Cole is so over and Dijakovic seems like a totally different wrestling since leaving ROH. Postmatch brawl. Dolph, Roode, Street Profits and even Zack Ryder are here. Drew McIntyre cleans house and is now face to face with big Keith Lee. Cole is left standing after they all beat the hell out of each other. BURN IT DOWN….Seth Rollins with a superkick on Cole, BUT DADDY’S HOME…Tommaso Ciampo and Rollins go at it as the show ends.
Final thoughts… About as good as you can get. RAW/Smackdown/NXT all on one show? Two hours was not long enough. Takeover and Survivor Series will be hot this weekend.
Grade: A
Ranking the AEW/NXT matches:
1-NXT: Undisputed Era v. The Revival
2-AEW: Nick Jackson v. Fenix
3-NXT: Ricochet v. Matt Riddle
4-AEW: Darby Allin v. Jon Moxley
5-NXT: Dominic Dijakovic v. Adam Cole
6-AEW: DZN Battle Royal
7-NXT: Becky Lynch v. Rhea Ripley
8-AEW: Britt Baker v. Hikaru Shida
9-NXT: The Viking Raiders v. The Forgotten Sons
10-AEW: Luchasaurus v. Peter Avalon
11-AEW: Private Party v. Santana & Oritz
12-NXT: Kay Lee Ray v. Dakota Kai