So let's just get on with the ratings stuff. AEW Dynamite was back on top after two weeks of losing the ratings war to NXT but only by a margin of approximately 6,000 viewers. Dynamite had 851 K viewers while NXT had 845 K. This is still a significant improvement overall for NXT, but an even more significant improvement over the recent ratings dips that Dynamite has had. So it's still good news for both brands...
...But I'm having a problem connecting right now with AEW. And I'm feeling guilty about it.
We can go back to the beginnings of my discussions of these Wednesday Night Wars and how I stated that I was really really torn between which show I would be watching live and which show I would watch on DVR. And now, well, I know which one I'm watching as close to live as possible (remember, I work late, so I can't watch any of these shows live unless I'm home sick or have the day off), and that's NXT. And it's NXT for the simple reason that all the stories they're telling are just way, way more interesting to me right now than anything that AEW is doing.
What's even weirder to me as a fan is that I haven't really been watching Dynamite or AEW Dark until several days after they're broadcast, and again, it all boils down to story.
When AEW came in, it seemed like they were the perfect antidote to WWE as far as the main roster was concerned. They were more interested in putting on matches that told their own stories and their match quality was pretty stunning in almost every episode. But for the last few weeks, particularly after Full Gear, it feels like AEW is sticking to their formula to a fault. There's not much storytelling to be found right now. I don't feel like anyone is really trying to lay a claim to wanting things as much as they should. After all, the most important rivalry in AEW leading up to Full Gear should have been Cody vs Jericho, but it ended up being Moxley vs Omega. And now that rivalry is pretty much finished, I don't know where they seem to want to go from here. Sure the rivalry that now exists between Cody and MJF (which it almost still feels a little early for them to pull the trigger on) is a good one, but with the introduction of Wardlow as MJF's enforcer seems a little on the dull side. And they seem to be planting the seeds of a Jericho vs Moxley match for the title. It's weird to have a Men's division that's so stacked with great talent that they seem to be risking blowing their proverbial load on some dream matches (although we have seen Omega vs Jericho in New Japan and Mox vs Jericho in WWE). Then there's the Tag division which, despite being the focus of where AEW is differing from WWE, we seem to be getting some really good quality matches without there being a solid contender for the belts. I'm not saying that everyone in NXT has a clear pathway to one thing or another, because they're lacking a strong tag division as well, but almost everyone in NXT has a story or something they're building towards. And then there's the Women's division in AEW, which has been an issue since day one. It seems like they're starting to feature more matches and the quality of the matches are getting better, so that's a step in the right direction.
I want to be as big of a fan as possible of AEW, because the stronger they become, the more adjustments WWE main roster shows might have to make, and if nothing else, they're a quality alternative. And it's not that I'm beginning to tune out, per se, but it's either because NXT is so good, or something in AEW is losing its luster, but I just am not as interested as I once was with AEW. Interestingly enough, I can tell you when it started. First off, The Manager has lost almost total interest in AEW, but I honestly think it's because she's such a NXT devotee because it has literally all her favorites on that show, so not watching it together has been something of an issue, but it really started on the AEW Dark episode where the main event was Kenny Omega vs Jack Evans and I just... hated it. It's super fucked up of me to state that I didn't enjoy a match between Omega (who I love) and Evans (who I like a lot), but I thought that match was just such a major nothing. They had zero chemistry in the ring and it just didn't feel like anything was really working. It wouldn't have been a big deal with just one match out of a few that didn't work for me, but when I looked at that entire show, I didn't like a single match on the Dark card for that episode. They all felt rushed and sloppy and maybe, just maybe, I've set my expectations a little too high for everything AEW that when one episode didn't work, it felt like a pall was cast over the entire product.
I've seen episodes of NXT that were not great, but there was usually at least one thing that kept me pretty happy. Again, I'm perfectly willing to admit that my love affair with AEW might be a little on the skids because I think I was giving it too much credit. But in my defense, it's because I want so much from it. I want it to be all the things that WWE isn't, and it's been very solid in delivering on that, but there are definitely things they could be learning from WWE, and one of those things is the lack of promos and proper introductions. On the last episode of Dynamite that I watched, we had the first appearance of The Butcher and the Blade, and I kept expecting for Excalibur to tell me who these guys were, why they came out of the bottom of the ring, and what their gimmick is. But I think AEW might be overestimating their audience. They might be thinking that we're all indie super marks, but we're not. When LAX showed up the first time at All Out or Super Smash Bros showed up at All In or Double or Nothing or whichever show it was, I was asking people on Twitter who they were. I don't ever mind being introduced to talent I've never seen before, but I like to know a little bit about them when they're given that kind of big spot intro. For instance, when Drew McIntyre was attacked by Cole, Fish and O'Reilly the first time at the end of that TakeOver, I wasn't terribly confused because Mauro said that they were multi-time champs and big stars around the world (without naming the promotions, because WWE doesn't like to admit there are other promotions) and that helped me understand that these guys were big deals and they would be very important for the future of NXT.
Speaking of NXT, god damn, there is no division right now in all of pro wrestling right now that is more solid and has me more invested than the Women's division there. You have everybody jockeying for position in the ranks; you have Dakota Kai turning on her former best fried Tegan Nox at War Games, and then two weeks ago, she gets herself DQ'ed in her match against Candice because she smacked her with Tegan's fucking leg brace which Kai kept as a trophy which is so fucking awesome. Last week, we thought we were going to get the captain of Team Kick vs Rhea Ripley, but instead we got Mia Yim chasing her out of the building because it was revealed that Kai was the one who assaulted Yim just prior to the War Games match. Then my Brutality Goddess gets absolutely wrecked by Shayna and her horsey women, and I don't know if it was something about the color on my TV, or if Ripley was wearing an odd shade of lipstick, or if indeed that attack did really hurt her because it looked like her lips were a little blue, which is either a great way of selling that she lost oxygen or a pretty dangerous way if she really did get a little choked by Baszler and her acolytes. Don't do that to Ripley, especially since not a single soul in all of pro wrestling has had a bigger star turn in the last few weeks than Ripley has...
...except for maybe Keith Lee.
Last week's main event was just a magical bit of storytelling because you had Cole and O'Reilly and Strong facing off against Ciampa, Dijakovic and Lee in a bit of a War Games rematch, but Finn Fucking Balor came in like a shot and shotgun dropkicked Cole into everyone causing a ref bump. And he Bloody Sunday'd Ciampa and was about to give another shotgun dropkick, but up pops Keith Lee like he's an unkillable horror movie villain and gives Finn a mighty Spirit Bomb, but it seemed like Cole was about to get the better of Lee when he superkicked him in the back of the head, and he dropped, and Cole was coming in for the Last Shot, but Lee ducked and countered with a Jackhammer and pinned the NXT champ clean...ish.
So Mr. Regal comes out and he's made up his mind; the only way that this can be settled is a triple-threat match next episode to determine the #1 Contender that will have a match against Cole for the title on the last show before Christmas, and it'll be Tommaso Ciampa vs Finn Balor vs Keith Lee. This is great because all of these competitors make sense. Ciampa never lost the title, Lee pinned the champ, and Balor, despite not fighting the champ yet, is the longest-reigning NXT champ. However, the one winner I see in this match is going to be Lee because it makes sense to ride this wave of momentum he has, and Lee is a legit star right now and hopefully will continue to be for a long time to come. But Lee isn't the guy to run the division right now, so whatever happens between Lee and Cole (I'm predictive booking, I know) will likely end in a schmozz since Cole isn't going to lose on TV.
And the same thing is going to happen between Ripley and Baszler because I don't see any possible way that Shayna, the most dominant NXT Women's champ since Asuka, losing at anything other than a TakeOver. When either Cole or Baszler loses, it's going to be on the biggest stage they can possibly set. So I'm going to call it now; Cole retains clean over Lee and then Lee goes after either the North American title or actually does form a tag team with Dijakovic to go after the tag titles. And Ripley loses dirty and gets a rematch at the next TakeOver. It's so hard to book these things right now because Lee and Ripley are absolutely rocket-strapped right now, but they're also going against people who have had big wins against "legitimate" stars on the main roster.
As far as the rest of things were concerned, I'm really glad that KUSHIDA is back and in action and he had a really fun match against Grimey Grimes, and while Xia Li came up short against Shayna, the one thing that Shayna has had going for her in most of her matches in her tenure as Women's champ is that she's cool with putting people over in defeat. I still think that her title reign has been a little long, and I think that to put the strap on someone else at the next TakeOver is the right call instead of waiting all the way until Mania weekend or even another big weekend, because I'd like to see her in the Rumble as one of the final three or two and maybe become the next Ronda, but the good version of Ronda since Shayna can, y'know, cut a promo. The Forgotten Sons are not yet forgotten, and while some think they're maybe becoming more interesting, I still think they're boring as all hell, and I can't see a NXT where they're anything more than the occasional annoyance as opposed to getting any really serious rub to make them look like contenders.
So I'm going to go watch AEW Dynamite from last week and I'm sure I'll enjoy it because it has a promo from Jericho which I heard part of and it was fantastic, and there's Jurassic Express with Luchasaurus and more than one women's match! Dammit, I don't want to feel guilty about not liking AEW as much as NXT, but I do.
Now if I can just get The Manager to stop hate-watching Smackdown and Raw...
...But I'm having a problem connecting right now with AEW. And I'm feeling guilty about it.
We can go back to the beginnings of my discussions of these Wednesday Night Wars and how I stated that I was really really torn between which show I would be watching live and which show I would watch on DVR. And now, well, I know which one I'm watching as close to live as possible (remember, I work late, so I can't watch any of these shows live unless I'm home sick or have the day off), and that's NXT. And it's NXT for the simple reason that all the stories they're telling are just way, way more interesting to me right now than anything that AEW is doing.
What's even weirder to me as a fan is that I haven't really been watching Dynamite or AEW Dark until several days after they're broadcast, and again, it all boils down to story.
When AEW came in, it seemed like they were the perfect antidote to WWE as far as the main roster was concerned. They were more interested in putting on matches that told their own stories and their match quality was pretty stunning in almost every episode. But for the last few weeks, particularly after Full Gear, it feels like AEW is sticking to their formula to a fault. There's not much storytelling to be found right now. I don't feel like anyone is really trying to lay a claim to wanting things as much as they should. After all, the most important rivalry in AEW leading up to Full Gear should have been Cody vs Jericho, but it ended up being Moxley vs Omega. And now that rivalry is pretty much finished, I don't know where they seem to want to go from here. Sure the rivalry that now exists between Cody and MJF (which it almost still feels a little early for them to pull the trigger on) is a good one, but with the introduction of Wardlow as MJF's enforcer seems a little on the dull side. And they seem to be planting the seeds of a Jericho vs Moxley match for the title. It's weird to have a Men's division that's so stacked with great talent that they seem to be risking blowing their proverbial load on some dream matches (although we have seen Omega vs Jericho in New Japan and Mox vs Jericho in WWE). Then there's the Tag division which, despite being the focus of where AEW is differing from WWE, we seem to be getting some really good quality matches without there being a solid contender for the belts. I'm not saying that everyone in NXT has a clear pathway to one thing or another, because they're lacking a strong tag division as well, but almost everyone in NXT has a story or something they're building towards. And then there's the Women's division in AEW, which has been an issue since day one. It seems like they're starting to feature more matches and the quality of the matches are getting better, so that's a step in the right direction.
I want to be as big of a fan as possible of AEW, because the stronger they become, the more adjustments WWE main roster shows might have to make, and if nothing else, they're a quality alternative. And it's not that I'm beginning to tune out, per se, but it's either because NXT is so good, or something in AEW is losing its luster, but I just am not as interested as I once was with AEW. Interestingly enough, I can tell you when it started. First off, The Manager has lost almost total interest in AEW, but I honestly think it's because she's such a NXT devotee because it has literally all her favorites on that show, so not watching it together has been something of an issue, but it really started on the AEW Dark episode where the main event was Kenny Omega vs Jack Evans and I just... hated it. It's super fucked up of me to state that I didn't enjoy a match between Omega (who I love) and Evans (who I like a lot), but I thought that match was just such a major nothing. They had zero chemistry in the ring and it just didn't feel like anything was really working. It wouldn't have been a big deal with just one match out of a few that didn't work for me, but when I looked at that entire show, I didn't like a single match on the Dark card for that episode. They all felt rushed and sloppy and maybe, just maybe, I've set my expectations a little too high for everything AEW that when one episode didn't work, it felt like a pall was cast over the entire product.
I've seen episodes of NXT that were not great, but there was usually at least one thing that kept me pretty happy. Again, I'm perfectly willing to admit that my love affair with AEW might be a little on the skids because I think I was giving it too much credit. But in my defense, it's because I want so much from it. I want it to be all the things that WWE isn't, and it's been very solid in delivering on that, but there are definitely things they could be learning from WWE, and one of those things is the lack of promos and proper introductions. On the last episode of Dynamite that I watched, we had the first appearance of The Butcher and the Blade, and I kept expecting for Excalibur to tell me who these guys were, why they came out of the bottom of the ring, and what their gimmick is. But I think AEW might be overestimating their audience. They might be thinking that we're all indie super marks, but we're not. When LAX showed up the first time at All Out or Super Smash Bros showed up at All In or Double or Nothing or whichever show it was, I was asking people on Twitter who they were. I don't ever mind being introduced to talent I've never seen before, but I like to know a little bit about them when they're given that kind of big spot intro. For instance, when Drew McIntyre was attacked by Cole, Fish and O'Reilly the first time at the end of that TakeOver, I wasn't terribly confused because Mauro said that they were multi-time champs and big stars around the world (without naming the promotions, because WWE doesn't like to admit there are other promotions) and that helped me understand that these guys were big deals and they would be very important for the future of NXT.
Speaking of NXT, god damn, there is no division right now in all of pro wrestling right now that is more solid and has me more invested than the Women's division there. You have everybody jockeying for position in the ranks; you have Dakota Kai turning on her former best fried Tegan Nox at War Games, and then two weeks ago, she gets herself DQ'ed in her match against Candice because she smacked her with Tegan's fucking leg brace which Kai kept as a trophy which is so fucking awesome. Last week, we thought we were going to get the captain of Team Kick vs Rhea Ripley, but instead we got Mia Yim chasing her out of the building because it was revealed that Kai was the one who assaulted Yim just prior to the War Games match. Then my Brutality Goddess gets absolutely wrecked by Shayna and her horsey women, and I don't know if it was something about the color on my TV, or if Ripley was wearing an odd shade of lipstick, or if indeed that attack did really hurt her because it looked like her lips were a little blue, which is either a great way of selling that she lost oxygen or a pretty dangerous way if she really did get a little choked by Baszler and her acolytes. Don't do that to Ripley, especially since not a single soul in all of pro wrestling has had a bigger star turn in the last few weeks than Ripley has...
...except for maybe Keith Lee.
Last week's main event was just a magical bit of storytelling because you had Cole and O'Reilly and Strong facing off against Ciampa, Dijakovic and Lee in a bit of a War Games rematch, but Finn Fucking Balor came in like a shot and shotgun dropkicked Cole into everyone causing a ref bump. And he Bloody Sunday'd Ciampa and was about to give another shotgun dropkick, but up pops Keith Lee like he's an unkillable horror movie villain and gives Finn a mighty Spirit Bomb, but it seemed like Cole was about to get the better of Lee when he superkicked him in the back of the head, and he dropped, and Cole was coming in for the Last Shot, but Lee ducked and countered with a Jackhammer and pinned the NXT champ clean...ish.
So Mr. Regal comes out and he's made up his mind; the only way that this can be settled is a triple-threat match next episode to determine the #1 Contender that will have a match against Cole for the title on the last show before Christmas, and it'll be Tommaso Ciampa vs Finn Balor vs Keith Lee. This is great because all of these competitors make sense. Ciampa never lost the title, Lee pinned the champ, and Balor, despite not fighting the champ yet, is the longest-reigning NXT champ. However, the one winner I see in this match is going to be Lee because it makes sense to ride this wave of momentum he has, and Lee is a legit star right now and hopefully will continue to be for a long time to come. But Lee isn't the guy to run the division right now, so whatever happens between Lee and Cole (I'm predictive booking, I know) will likely end in a schmozz since Cole isn't going to lose on TV.
And the same thing is going to happen between Ripley and Baszler because I don't see any possible way that Shayna, the most dominant NXT Women's champ since Asuka, losing at anything other than a TakeOver. When either Cole or Baszler loses, it's going to be on the biggest stage they can possibly set. So I'm going to call it now; Cole retains clean over Lee and then Lee goes after either the North American title or actually does form a tag team with Dijakovic to go after the tag titles. And Ripley loses dirty and gets a rematch at the next TakeOver. It's so hard to book these things right now because Lee and Ripley are absolutely rocket-strapped right now, but they're also going against people who have had big wins against "legitimate" stars on the main roster.
As far as the rest of things were concerned, I'm really glad that KUSHIDA is back and in action and he had a really fun match against Grimey Grimes, and while Xia Li came up short against Shayna, the one thing that Shayna has had going for her in most of her matches in her tenure as Women's champ is that she's cool with putting people over in defeat. I still think that her title reign has been a little long, and I think that to put the strap on someone else at the next TakeOver is the right call instead of waiting all the way until Mania weekend or even another big weekend, because I'd like to see her in the Rumble as one of the final three or two and maybe become the next Ronda, but the good version of Ronda since Shayna can, y'know, cut a promo. The Forgotten Sons are not yet forgotten, and while some think they're maybe becoming more interesting, I still think they're boring as all hell, and I can't see a NXT where they're anything more than the occasional annoyance as opposed to getting any really serious rub to make them look like contenders.
So I'm going to go watch AEW Dynamite from last week and I'm sure I'll enjoy it because it has a promo from Jericho which I heard part of and it was fantastic, and there's Jurassic Express with Luchasaurus and more than one women's match! Dammit, I don't want to feel guilty about not liking AEW as much as NXT, but I do.
Now if I can just get The Manager to stop hate-watching Smackdown and Raw...
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