All Elite Wrestling's special edition of Dynamite on Wednesday, Bash at the Beach, promised some big matches and even bigger repercussions. Bathed in Miami vibes, the event was a resounding success in many ways...
AEW Dynamite vs. WWE NXT: Who Won the Jan.15 Battle of the Wednesday Night War?
Jan 16, 2020
It was a night of fantastic wrestling action, all contested in the shadow of news so big it overwhelmed the entire industry. The All Elite Wrestling revolution will continue to be televised—the new organization extended its deal through 2023 and added a new TV show on TNT to boot.
Business, as they say, just picked up.
If WWE thought it would deliver a knockout blow to its competition by putting NXT opposite the newcomers, it was a swing and a miss. This is a battle we now know will rage for years, not just weeks. And that's good news for all of us.
Every week we'll watch both shows, break them down, and declare a winner. After all, this is sports entertainment—it's not good enough to be, well, good. The goal is greatness. And each week there can be only one.
AEW Dynamite
Where:Miami, Florida
Main Event: Darby Allin vs. Pac
Match of the Night: Omega/Page vs. PNP vs. Young Bucks vs. Best Friends
Moment We'll Remember: Jon Moxley, his damaged eye covered to prevent further harm, ignores the advice of medical professionals to confront Pac in the ring. They'll meet next week to decide the No. 1 contender to Chris Jericho's championship.
—The show opened with four of the best tag teams in the world already in the ring, ready to compete for a shot at the tag team belts. They proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes wowing everyone with a pulse with spot after incredible spot.
Everyone had a chance to look like an absolute wrestling god—and to a man they delivered. Somehow, amid all this action, they continued to tell the story of poor Adam Page's descent and the tension within The Elite. This was just fun to watch. As good a television opener as you could possibly imagine to get the crowd's collective heart beating.
—Cody Rhodes remains the best promo in all of wrestling. We all knew he'd step up to MJF's challenge, no matter how unfair it is. That's what heroes do. And Cody is the last white hat left in a sport gone grey.
—Darby Allin was a relative unknown when he debuted with AEW, an indie favorite with tons of potential and a lot to prove. In a few short months he's become an institution, a wrestler fans know they can count on to sacrifice everything for their entertainment.
As usual, he fell short in the main event, in typical self-destructive fashion. But his fighting spirit and unique ring presence means it won't hurt him much. He's interesting because of how he puts himself out there: fear, if it exists, hidden behind the face paint and chutzpah.
Eventually success will have to follow if fans are going to fully invest their hearts in him. For now, though, his mere existence is enough.
Missed the Mark
—Jon Moxley is AEW's "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the tough-guy loner who's not safe to be around whether you're a babyface or a heel. But times have changed and the business that built Stone Cold doesn't exist anymore.
Austin rarely looked weak, except against overwhelming odds or the very best in the business. Moxley, by contrast, spent most of his match against Sammy Guevara getting his butt handed to him. Austin would have never given that much to an undercard opponent. Whether that change is good or bad is in the eye of the beholder. It worked for the match but may have harmed Moxley's aura in the process.
—The match between the Nightmare Collective and Kris Statlander/Hikaru Shida was thrown a curveball when it was determined late that Awesome Kong wasn't medically able to compete. No doubt this meant the entire segment had to be rebuilt from the ground up. And while it didn't go perfectly, kudos to all involved for giving it their best effort.
—I understand that MJF isn't supposed to be the ultimate tough guy. He's the classic chickens--t heel who uses his mind more than his muscle to win matches. But there's a level beneath which he probably shouldn't slink if he's meant to be serious competition for the sport's top performers.
I'd humbly suggest that being physically dominated by Cody's older brother, a 63-year-old mentor and a personal assistant may be a bit too much. This match was surprisingly fun, but MJF has to remain formidable to work. This walked the line and may have teetered over.
Grade: A
WWE NXT
Where:Winter Park, Florida
Main Event: NXT Women's Championship No. 1 Contender's Battle Royal
Match of the Night:Isaiah Scott vs. Lio Rush vs. Tyler Breeze (No. 1 Contender match)
Moment We'll Remember: Just as the DIY reunion appeared to be taking a turn towards the tragic, Keith Lee emerged to rescue the reunited pair. His pure physicality can be frightening.
What Worked
—Flash MorganWebster and Mark Andrews, days removed from a brutal ladder match at NXT Takeover UK, came up big in the long opening tag match.
Not, of course, big enough to win. But they looked good against two of NXT's best in Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle. I'm bullish on their future, though I was tempted to dock points for Riddle's new creeper mustache.
—There's nothing particularly dynamic about Tomasso Ciampa's interviews. He isn't a smooth talker or particularly dynamic on the stick.
What he does have is the kind of intensity you can't fake. It's either there or it's not. And, when he says Adam Cole's is the only name on his list, I believe him. And making someone believe is the greatest trick any wrestler can pull off.
—The cruiserweight bout was an incredible spectacle, unlike anything else on either show. No one else in all of professional wrestling moves like Lio Rush. He does things with his body that should be impossible, making what would be groan-inducing and hokey spots in any other hands look absolutely amazing.
But this was no one-man show. Swerve has serious upside as well and the returning Tyler Breeze did so many little things to hold the entire thing together. I loved this.
—Is it any wonder AEW has struggled out of the gates with its women's division? Most of the promising talent on the independent scene just a couple of years ago now plies its trade in NXT. And, as the main event Battle Royal showed, it's almost an embarrassment of riches.
Will this finally be Bianca Belair's time? My instinct says no, but she's also the kind of athlete who could believably beat anyone in the world. And that makes her a great choice to challenge Rhea Ripley in Portland.
Missed the Mark
—I hate to sound like the world's biggest mark, but it hurts my heart to see The Time Splitters lose. The match with The Grizzled Young Veterans was very good, but Kushida and Alex Shelley didn't find a way to get their hands raised.
Yes, I am that petty.
Grade: A
Overall: Last week, I promised a harsher curve, and I'll be true to my word. But these shows were both so much fun to watch that I couldn't, in good conscience, give them anything but sterling marks.
The difference was NXT's consistency. AEW reached the higher highs, but there are some things that just aren't working.
Right now, NXT is putting out a flawless show. When the margins are this slim, that's enough to decide who wins and who loses.
There is no doubt in-ring performances can make a match live forever, but the ability to sell a storyline on the microphone is an art that can get wrestling fans as invested in a bout as the moves inside the ropes...
For the first time since the demise of WCW in 2001, Bash at the Beach returned to the wrestling calendar with the January 15 episode of All Elite Wrestling 's Dynamite...
All Elite Wrestling's Dynamite didn't hold much back on Wednesday's edition, a week removed from the new year celebration. With a women's title match standing in a prominent slot, AEW used the two hours wisely in a multitude of ways...
All Elite Wrestling 's first year in business has been a wild ride with plenty of ups and downs along the way. There were major successes, like getting off the ground to begin with, having a few events and making it to television...
All Elite Wrestling promised fans quite a bit heading into Wednesday's edition of Dynamite. Once again, it largely delivered. The slow burn for the inevitable encounters between Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho and MJF and Cody saw some big developments...
With a cliffhanger the week prior suggesting Jon Moxley was going on the hunt for Chris Jericho and All Elite Wrestling 's top title, Wednesday's Dynamite broadcast carried heavy expectations...
A Thanksgiving episode of Dynamite always seemed destined to be a hit for All Elite Wrestling . And by and large, it was, with Chris Jericho getting some mic time and a main event...
AEW Dynamite vs. WWE NXT: Who Won the Nov. 13 Battle of the Wednesday Night War?
Nov 14, 2019
Keith Lee tosses Roderick Strong
All Elite Wrestling has staked its claim as a WWE competitor based mainly on two things: cutting-edge wrestling matches and state-of-the-art storytelling. And it has delivered exactly as promised, each week doing something to make its universe a little more vivid and fun.
WWE's response has been interesting. Rather than retreat to its own areas of traditional strength, it has elected to meet AEW on the new promotion's chosen battleground. NXT is doing what AEW does—and sometimes doing it better.
While neither show can match the larger overall audiences of the famous Monday Night War of the 1990s (or even the contemporary ratings of Raw or SmackDown), the result has been an aesthetic revolution, the future of wrestling being presented in real time to a devoted following of hardcore fans.
Every week, Bleacher Report analyzes both shows to see what worked and what missed the mark. And because everything is more interesting when there are stakes, we choose a winner. Who won the week of November 13, 2019? Let's explore both programs to see.
AEW Dynamite
Where:Nashville, Tennessee
Main Event: Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara vs. SCU (Tag Team Championship)
Moment We'll Remember:MJF and Chris Jericho sharing the spotlight and delivering an electrifying promo as they bonded over a mutual disdain for Cody Rhodes. When an injured Rhodes made his awkward way to the ring, business really picked up as we saw the debut of Wardlow—bedecked in a suit and Burberry tie to make his allegiance to MJF crystal clear.
Analysis: We are still very much in the honeymoon period with AEW. Every week seems to bring a new "first."
Nashville was no exception.
For the first time, fans got a taste of how the promotion would follow up a pay-per-view. The answer, like just about everything else the promotion has done do, is "very well, thank you." There was a nice mix of reliving the glorious moments from Full Gear while also maintaining a focus on the future.
This episode was about transitioning into the next set of feuds and programs. It left us with as many questions as answers—and that's a good thing as AEW moves into its second act.
While it's not entirely clear who to credit, creatively AEW continues to have the Midas touch. Sometimes the wrestling business is about delivering surprises. Fans love the shock of a new athlete making their debut or a wrestler turning unexpectedly to the dark side after always treading the straight and narrow path.
But more often, fans just want the wrestling equivalent of comfort food. The best moments tend to be the ones that everyone sees coming—because they are the things that make sense from an intuitive and storyline perspective.
The example here is the booking of Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley for next week's Dynamite. When Moxley challenged the locker room, looking for someone with the spirit and moxie to face him in the ring, I immediately thought of Allin. When he accepted Moxley's offer later that night, it just felt right.
It seems simple, but we've spent a decade watching promotions fail to do the obvious again and again, ignoring both logic and fan demand. AEW is a breath of fresh air.
What Worked: There were very few misses on this show. Even the Dark Order, an act that normally leaves me cold, delivered a solid match with Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt. They made Stunt, a Riho-sized man, look strong and capable, then made themselves small in support of a returning Luchasaurus. As a group, they made him look like, well, a prehistoric monster.
There was a lot going on in the main event. Scorpio Sky pinned the world champion, something that should be a fairly big deal in a promotion built on wins and losses. That followed a disjointed match for Jericho and Guevara, who never quite seemed to be on the same page. Guevara perhaps took too much onto his own narrow shoulders, leaving Jericho to pay the price in the end.
I can't imagine this will go unremarked by Le Champion.
The bout of the night was the rubber match between Page and PAC. Cut down for television, it was like their previous matches with all the slow parts eliminated. That made it a ton of fun while it lasted.
As good as Page vs. PAC was, it's hard to match the action that occurred backstage between the Young Bucks and Santana and Ortiz. While SCU holds the straps, the Bucks are able to command a championship-level respect by virtue of their crowd-pleasing virtuoso performances.
Missed the Mark: AEW has one glaring weak point: the women's division. While Riho has established an immediate rapport with fans, challengers for her title haven't clearly come into focus.
That appears to be changing.
Brandi Rhodes and Awesome Kong bring a unique energy to the women's division, a mix of black magic and even darker intentions. It's a desperately needed narrative injection into a division that has mostly been left behind in the storytelling aspects the promotion has otherwise excelled at.
Moment We'll Remember: Mia Yim, plummeting off one ladder and crashing through another at ringside. It was the culmination of a brutal ladder match that saw Team Baszler earn the advantage in the first Women's War Games coming up at NXT Takeover.
Analysis: In the early battles of the Wednesday night wars, AEW had a distinct advantage by simply presenting a coherent vision. NXT's show feltdisjointed. The pieces were there for something truly great, but the creative team couldn't seem to figure out who they wanted front and center.
The result was a bit of a mishmash that never really gathered momentum or steam.
With TakeOver: War Games on November 23 and and Survivor Series the following day, that's no longer a problem. WWE has programs to move forward and a plan of attack. The result is a show that moves at a great clip and has a clear direction.
It's been amazing the past two weeks, especially the women's division, which continues to shine as the best in the entire sport. Finn Balor's presence provides some big-show polish, and he makes the others in the title scene look more important by simply interacting with them as peers.
This mix of storytelling, competitive squashes and indie-style work-rate bouts is NXT at its best. Hopefully it'll maintain this focused approach as it moves forward.
What Worked: The show opened with an absolute barnburner between Angel Garza and Lio Rush for the cruiserweight title. It's great to see these talents and this belt in front of an interested, engaged audience, instead of burned out, WWE main-roster casuals.
They delivered a really strong match and got the reaction they deserved instead of polite silence. It's a good fit.
This show also marked Keith Lee's arrival as a possible main event player. His previous matches with Dominik Dijakovic have been good, but he showed big league presence here, delivering a confident challenge to Undisputed Era with a star's unshakeable aura of excellence. His potential is limitless.
Missed the Mark: I didn't like the way they stopped the Mia Yim match after Io Shirai accidentally busted her open with a ladder. Female wrestlers aren't delicate china dolls and don't require special consideration that makes them appear less rugged and tough than their male counterparts.
Blood, delivered the hard way, is part of the sport. When used right, it's an absolute show-stopper, creating moments fans never forget. Look no further than Becky Lynch to see how the right visual can change an entire career's trajectory.
But instead of letting Yim finish a classic bout with blood pouring, the medical staff intruded on the match. It forced a delay and made Shirai, just on the offensive, pretend she suddenly couldn't set up and climb a ladder for what felt like forever.
Let them fight.
Grade: A
Overall: AEW delivered a really strong show, mixing promos, backstage segments and hot matches flawlessly. It's just that NXT did the same, and its was a little more polished with matches that hit a little bit harder.
A fierce battle, but there can be only one winner.
