Wednesday Night War Week 9 Review
Welcome to the Wednesday Night War Review. I’ve been out of commission for a few weeks but I am back and ready to decide on the winner for week nine of the war. For this week, I’ve decided to do some different categories. I’m going to judge each show based off of opening segments, matches, promos, storytelling/impact, and closing segments. Before we get started, here are your match results for this week.
AEW Results
- Best Friends def. Lucha Bros via pinfall
- Bea Priestly and Emi Sakura def. Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida via pinfall
- Cody def. Matt Knicks via submission
- Kenny Omega def. PAC via pinfall
- MJF def. Hangman via pinfall
- Chris Jericho(c) def. Scorpio Sky via submission to retain the AEW World Championship
NXT Results
- Kyle O’Reilly(c) and Roderick Strong(replaced Bobby Fish mid-match due to injury) def. Keith Lee and Dijakovic via pinfall to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships
- Mansoor def. Shane Thorne via pinfall
- Candice LeRae def. Dakota Kai via DQ
- Lio Rush(c) def. Akira Tozawa via pinfall to retain the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
- Xia Li def. Vanessa Borne via pinfall
- Finn Balor def. Tommaso Ciampa via pinfall
Opening Segments
I missed the opening segments on both shows so I had to go back and watch them later. These were very similar ideas for how to start a show. Over on Dynamite, Jericho was having a Thanksgiving celebration in Sears Center, the same arena he won his championship back in late August. Down at Full Sail Live, NXT were celebrating their Survivor Series victory. Both segments were interrupted by opponents. Jericho’s had SCU and NXT’s had the Undisputed Era. These were both very solid beginnings to episodes, but I gotta give the edge to AEW. This segment was absolutely hilarious.
Winner: AEW
Matches
Most of the time, AEW puts on show-stealing matches. They are almost never bad. The same, however, can be said for NXT. All matches on the shows tonight were really good, but there’s one thing that stood out to me. NXT had storyline matches and were booked very well. The more Dynamite goes on, the more their booking is going to bite them in the butt. Last night we saw Lucha Bros defeated by Best Friends. I love Trent and Chuck but they should not be winning against arguably the best tag team in the world. Then on NXT we have this good heel showcase for Dakota Kai vs Candice LaRae that ends in DQ. That is exactly what should happen when neither of those talents can lose right now but you have a storyline you’re trying to continue. It’s the simple things.
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Winner: NXT
Promos
We saw a few promos tonight on both brands but I’m gonna make this category short and simple. AEW wins again because of that opening. Chris JeriGOAT baybay.
Winner: AEW
Storytelling/impact
AEW had the advantage this week having not to deal with the implications of not one but TWO PPV’s from the last weekend. However, the only impact for me was the ending of the show. Nothing felt important to me. Now with NXT. I thought it was alright but it did more for me than AEW. There was a solid story between Balor and Ciampa building all night, the impact of Kai’s heel turn at Wargames, and the effects of Wargames and Survivor Series.
Winner: NXT
Ending segments
This is a very easy answer for me. Anyone that knows me knows how big of a Moxley mark I am. The ending with Moxley confronting Jericho was fantastic. The other good thing is that I popped when I heard his music. This may not seem like much, but ,many AEW songs I don’t recognize when they first start playing. The only ones I do are the standouts like Cody’s, Jericho’s, and Darbys along with a few more guys. This was the first pop for Moxley’s theme I have had, so props to them on getting the music over. Back to the endings, I loved the NXT ending as well. Seeing Cole help Balor only for him to say “screw you” and attack him. Great stuff. However, Moxley man.
Winner: AEW
