Darby Allin

In the second week of AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT airing on separate nights, Dynamite once again beat NXT in the ratings battle. 

According to Showbuzz Daily, Wednesday night's episode of Dynamite averaged 1.104 million viewers on TNT. Meanwhile, NXT garnered 841,000 viewers during its two-hour broadcast Tuesday on USA Network.

The main event of Dynamite was a TNT Championship match between Darby Allin and Jungle Boy, which Allin won to retain. After the match, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page emerged to attack Allin, but they were run off by Lance Archer and Sting.

Another title match occurred earlier in the night with Hikaru Shida putting the AEW Women's Championship on the line against Tay Conti.

Conti pushed Shida to the limit, but the champ was able to win and retain. After the hard-fought bout, Britt Baker showed up on the stage and pointed to the rankings, which showed her as the new No. 1 contender to Shida.

Also on Dynamite, Christian Cage defeated Powerhouse Hobbs; The Pinnacle, The Inner Circle, The Elite and the team of Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston all took part in promo segments; and Adam "Hangman" Page beat Ricky Starks.

NXT focused heavily on Kyle O'Reilly on the heels of his win over Adam Cole in an unsanctioned match at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. O'Reilly opened the show with a promo, only to be interrupted by Cameron Grimes.

That led to a match between O'Reilly and Grimes in the main event of the show, which O'Reilly managed to win.

Additionally, Sarray made her long-awaited in-ring debut for NXT, facing Zoey Stark in an entertaining match. Stark acquitted herself well, but Sarray prevailed as expected.

Elsewhere in the women's division, Franky Monet interrupted a promo segment involving Io Shirai, while Mercedes Martinez continued to call out NXT Women's champion Raquel Gonzalez.

Other moments of note included L.A. Knight beating Dexter Lumis because of accidental interference from Indi Hartwell, and Cruiserweight champion Kushida defeating Oney Lorcan in an open challenge, only for Legado del Fantasma to attack him, followed by MSK running out to make the save.

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Pro wrestling legend Sting paid a huge compliment to Darby Allin, Jungle Boy and AEW following Wednesday's episode of Dynamite. 

Sting addressed the live audience at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, after the show went off the air on the heels of a TNT Championship main event between Allin and Jungle Boy:

The Icon said: "This is the best wrestling I have ever seen, and I mean that. I've seen a lot of years of wrestling."

Sting, 62, broke into pro wrestling in 1985 and went on to become one of the biggest and most recognizable stars in the business.

The Stinger was a eight-time world champion in WCW before winning five world titles in TNA and then having a brief run in WWE that included a match against Triple H at WrestleMania 31.

Sting has seen and done it all in the world of pro wrestling, which is why his opinion carries such weight.

The legendary wrestler has been working with Allin since making his AEW debut in December, and they even tagged together in a victory over Team Taz members Brian Cage and Ricky Starks at Revolution.

On Wednesday, Allin beat Jungle Boy in a tightly contested match to retain the TNT Championship, but Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page did a run-in afterward, attacking Allin.

Lance Archer emerged to make the save but got attacked as well, only for Sting to show up and chase off the heels.

Sting has been a big part of AEW's weekly programming since his debut, but he has largely allowed the younger stars like Allin and Jungle Boy to shine, which is likely the key to AEW's long-term success and sustainability.

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In the first week of WWE NXT airing on Tuesdays while AEW Dynamite remains on Wednesdays, it was Dynamite that prevailed in the television ratings battle.

According to F4WOnline's Bryan Alvarez, Dynamite averaged 1.219 million viewers during its two-hour broadcast on TNT. Meanwhile, NXT brought in 805,000 viewers for its two-hour show on USA Network.

AEW brought boxing legend Mike Tyson back in for Wednesday's show, and he served as a special enforcer for the match between Inner Circle member Chris Jericho and Pinnacle member Dax Harwood.

There was no shortage of chaos outside the ring during the match, including Tyson punching out Dash Wilder that allowed Jericho to win. After the match, Jericho announced that Tyson is officially a member of The Inner Circle.

The main event of Dynamite was a Falls Count Anywhere match for the TNT Championship between Darby Allin and Matt Hardy. The match featured a ton of interference from Private Party, The Butcher, The Blade, Sting, Lance Archer, Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky, but Allin managed to focus enough to win the match and retain the title.

Also on Dynamite, Christian declined an invitation to join Team Taz, which resulted in Powerhouse Hobbs attacking him; The Young Bucks defeated Fenix and Pac to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships; Jade Cargill beat Red Velvet; and Kris Statlander defeated Amber Nova.

NXT featured fallout from the NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver event, including an eight-person tag team main event with Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell and Austin Theory of The Way facing Bronson Reed, Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon and Dexter Lumis.

At one point, Hartwell feigned being knocked out so that Lumis would carry her away. Then, Theory ate an Eclipse from Moon and a big splash off the ropes from Reed as the babyface team prevailed.

NXT also saw an unexpected title change take place. After Santos Escobar beat Jordan Devlin in a ladder match at TakeOver to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion, he laid down an open challenge on NXT.

Kushida answered the challenge and shockingly defeated Escobar with a unique pinning combination to become the new champ.

Also, Franky Monet made her NXT debut by interrupting a promo from new NXT women's champion Raquel Gonzalez. After that, new Raw women's champion Rhea Ripley and new SmackDown women's champion Bianca Belair showed up and embraced Gonzalez, showcasing the future of women's wrestling in WWE.

Other key moments on NXT included MSK beating Killian Dain and Drake Maverick to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship, Mercedes Martinez defeating Jessi Kamea, and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott beating Leon Ruff.

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AEW Dynamite prevailed again this week in the Wednesday night wrestling war, scoring a ratings victory over WWE NXT.

According to Showbuzz Daily, Dynamite averaged 757,000 viewers during its two-hour broadcast on TNT, while NXT brought in 678,000 viewers during its two-hour show on USA Network.

The main event of Dynamite saw Darby Allin retain the TNT Championship over Dark Order member John Silver in a hard-fought battle. Matt Hardy and his group attacked both combatants after the match, but Sting ran down and made the save.

All Elite Wrestling world champion Kenny Omega beat Matt Sydal in the opening match of the night and made his presence felt later after The Lucha Brothers and Laredo Kid beat The Young Bucks and Brandon Cutler in a six-man tag team match.

Omega attacked The Lucha Bros and Laredo Kid, and then he told off The Young Bucks, but after Matt and Nick Jackson walked away, Omega ate superkicks from Penta and Fenix.

Some other key moments included Christian Cage agreeing to a match against Frankie Kazarian next week and Tay Conti beating Nyla Rose in upset fashion.

The main event segment of NXT was a contract signing between Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly for a match at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver. NXT general manager William Regal noted that since O'Reilly isn't medically cleared, NXT would be absolved of any blame if they signed the contract.

Cole and O'Reilly cut passionate promos on each other before signing the contract and having to be held back from brawling with each other.

Also, after Karrion Kross beat Oney Lorcan in a match, he had a heated confrontation with NXT champion Finn Balor ahead of their match at TakeOver.

Another key moment saw cruiserweight champion Jordan Devlin beat Kushida before coming face to face with Santos Escobar, who is also a cruiserweight champion. WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels then came to the ring and placed a ladder in front of them, confirming that their unification bout at TakeOver will be a ladder match.

It was also made official that WALTER will defend the NXT UK Championship against Tommaso Ciampa at TakeOver, while the vacant NXT Tag Team Championship will be on the line in a Triple Threat tag team match between MSK, Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado del Fantasma.

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Sting and Darby Allin were all set to take part in an interview with Tony Schiavone on top of the entrance ramp during AEW Dynamite on Wednesday, but they were rudely interrupted yet again.  

The first instance occurred after Allin challenged anyone in the Dark Order to take a shot at his TNT title in honor of ex-TNT champ Brodie Lee, who passed away last October.

However, Lance Archer rudely inserted himself into the conversation and challenged the TNT champion for his belt, undoubtedly setting up a feud between those two.

The second occurred when Team Tazz showed up and started talking trash. There is certainly bad blood between the two sides after their numerous fights of late, including a Street Fight at the March 7 Revolution pay-per-view. Sting and Darby Allin won that one over Brian Cage and Ricky Starks.

Tazz seemed ready to continue the frostiness between the two sides, but Cage was having none of it. He clearly stated that Tazz would not speak for him before getting in Sting's face and expressing the immense respect he had for him after that recent brawl.

Cage even publicly disagreed with Starks, noting that the wrestling legend was still The Icon with or without his signature bat.

Cage then walked backstage alone after being confronted by the rest of an irate Team Tazz before the segment ended.

The iciness between Cage and Tazz could certainly be the beginning of the end between The Machine and that stable. As for Sting, he earned some big-time respect from one of the most powerful wrestlers in AEW, even if he was robbed of a chance to speak freely once more.