Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Greg Coleman, Dallas Allsopp, and Robert DeFelice will be giving their thoughts on the upcoming Wednesday Night War: AEW on TNT vs. NXT on USA!


ALLSOPP: Genuine fear. The product as it stands is perfect, as 1 hour is easy to digest, and the time between seeing your favorite prospects keeps you excited. Overexposure is sure to happen when the show is 2 hours long as this happens on both Raw and SmackDown. However, with Triple H at the helm, I am hopeful he can continue to produce the best-written show in WWE and evolve with the additional hour.

COLEMAN: The NXT I know and love is dead. People can say whatever they want about Vince McMahon ultimately being involved in everything under the WWE umbrella but it’s crystal clear that HHH is the controlling force in NXT. Takeovers are consistently better than main roster pay per views and to me, this signals the difference in approach between HHH and Vince McMahon. With NXT going to 2-hour and being on USA, I can’t help but believe Vince McMahon will become more involved and change things for the worst. However, with NXT expanding to 2-hours I would hope this leads to more of NXT’s roster being featured more often on weekly TV.

DeFELICE: Initially, when the rumors began to percolate, I was under the impression that they would never try head-to-head competition again. However, I am clearly wrong and here we sit at the cusp of the Wednesday Night War. Two brands that are dedicated to presenting the best in-ring athleticism are going head to head on a Wednesday night. To me, this puts Wednesday night at the top of the list in the wrestling week.


DeFELICE: I'll be doing a lot more work now that there are two major shows happening every Wednesday night, but as a wrestling fan, this is what you dream of. All the years of people asking 'why do you still bother to watch?' It all feels like it was leading up to this time in the industry and being able to enjoy this boom having watched everything that led up to it.

COLEMAN: I’m looking forward to it as a wrestling fan. I can’t wait to see what AEW does with their weekly show and the roster. With NXT going to 2-hours I believe we will get a chance to see better feuds as more talent can be utilized per show.

ALLSOPP: I am very excited as this feels like a mini-war. AEW has the potential to rival WWE if they can produce a quality product with wrestlers that fans can invest in, therefore direct competition with some aspect of WWE allows them to see how well or how poorly they are performing. NXT is the closest style of show to AEW’s current product, therefore the hardcore fans that watch one will invariably have interest in the other, which results in a mini-war as fans will have to choose which show they will support by watching live. Wednesday nights will soon be known as the night of pure wrestling.


DeFELICE: I think odds are high that we get a TakeOver-like card for that first head-to-head show. We already know what AEW is bringing to the table and they have a major couple of bouts, including mystery partners and an inaugural Women's Champion being crowned. I would suggest that this may be a night that Adam Cole could defend his championship against somebody like Velveteen Dream or even one last match against Johnny Gargano.

COLEMAN: I don’t believe we will get a Takeover style show per se but I do believe they will use that show to build towards their next Takeover which is War Games. That show will be star-studded and will more than likely feature several debuts from new NXT talent as well as returns for former NXT wrestlers who they’ve done nothing with on the main roster. I would love Asuka to come back and beat Baszler for the NXT Women's Championship on this show. Offering a TakeOver style show on October 2 would signal genuine panic on the WWE’s end and for a company that has said they don’t view AEW as competition, that would clearly show they are more than concerned about losing Wednesday night.

ALLSOPP: I feel a TakeOver style show could be held on the October 2 show in order to divert viewers away from AEW, however, it would need to be logically built towards. Having a special show for the sake of it takes away from the product. I feel NXT has a potential ace up their sleeve as Tommaso Ciampa is reportedly cleared to wrestle, so he could be advertised in advance to secure the viewership. NXT is in the driving seat with the extra preparation time they have, but the storylines need to be booked smartly for fans to care enough. The odds of hosting this show are high, especially as it will deliver a strong message to AEW.