Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Wednesday Night War from Smark Out Moment, where we compare this week's episodes of AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT and determine which one of the two was the better show.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT WAR:

AEW DYNAMITE vs. NXT

FACTOR 1: MATCHES

AEW = Dynamite featured multiple entertaining matches, but the clear highlight of the night was the fatal four way match to determine the number one contender to Nyla Rose’s AEW Women’s Championship. Hikaru Shida was victorious, and this was a much deserved victory as she has been one of the cornerstones of AEW so far. The action was fun, frenetic and most importantly, compelling.

MJF returned to Dynamite to convincingly defeat Lee Johnson in no time at all, which is exactly what he needed. AEW seems to hold better squash matches than NXT, and this falls down to the quality of the wrestlers utilising them. This was fun, which is the whole point of MJF’s character.

NXT = The match quality on NXT was better than recent weeks, with the NXT Tag Team Championship match coming off really well. Imperium defeated Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher in a quality match, with Riddle and Thatcher later putting on an excellent bout of their own as they played out their issues in the main event.

Unfortunately, the offerings from NXT’s women’s division were poor, with Aliyah once again taking up time that could have been better utilised elsewhere. The cruiserweight matches felt rushed this week, which means the show would have benefitted from Aliyah’s match time being given to the cruiserweights.

WINNER: AEW

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

AEW = Chris Jericho continues to delight on the microphone, and once again he called out The Elite to run them down. This brought out Vanguard 1, which was destroyed by a bat. This was as entertaining as it was silly, but Jericho still retained the same level of dickish behaviour that he is known for.

NXT = Dakota Kai released a passionate promo with Raquel Gonzalez as part of a video vignette, with the promo hitting all of the right notes. Kai was undeniably justified in her heel turn, which this promo clearly underlined. This was a quality promo which proved Kai is a better talker than fans give her credit for.

WINNER: NXT

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

AEW = Storylines were advanced on Dynamite in a strong manner this week, with Inner Circle vs The Elite highlighted well. However, it was more important to AEW that Jon Moxley vs Brodie Lee was set up as an important feud. This was achieved well, and it looks like their eventual encounter will be a hard hitting and savage match.

NXT = NXT’s focus on storylines this week was much improved, with Damien Priest revealed as Finn Balor’s attacker. This was a great way to push Priest, but this also felt satisfying as a reveal.

The breakup of Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher was entertaining, however it should have been stretched over a couple of shows rather than be shoehorned into a single episode of NXT.

WINNER: NXT

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

AEW = Dynamite was a quality show to watch, which has been the case for nearly every single one of their episodes during the COVID-19 outbreak. A great mix of matches and promos were shown, with no clear aspect of the show disappointing.

NXT = NXT was an entertaining show this week, but it was let down by the quality of the women’s matches, in addition to the awful promo at the house of the Gargano’s.

WINNER: AEW

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

AEW gains points for the destruction of Vanguard 1. It was silly, but oh so funny.

AEW also gains points for making MJF’s in ring return feel important.

AEW loses points for protecting Britt Baker. She can afford to lose matches as her character is so embedded within AEW, but for some reason she never seems to lose to further her heel character.

NXT gains points for giving Imperium the NXT Tag Team Championship, as they have worked hard in NXT UK. Given a real opportunity in NXT, they could rule the NXT tag team division with ease.

NXT loses points for the terrible at home with the Gargano’s promo. It was truly awful, and once again Johnny Gargano looked like an utter fool.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: AEW (+2 / -1) / NXT (+1 / -1)


With a score of 3 to 2, AEW wins this week’s Wednesday Night War. Both shows were good, however Dynamite was just that little better. NXT needs to seriously evaluate the quality of their women’s matches, as wrestlers such as Aliyah are bringing the product down.