Psyko’s review of the Tuesday night war between WWE NXT and AEW

Yesterday, NXT and AEW renewed their rivalry for one night, and I thought it would be interesting to see if either show would step up its game or if we’d just get the same usual content from both. It also gave me an excuse to watch Dynamite for the first time since December and see if the show had really changed, as some fans told me it had.

First, before I start my review, I applaud WWE for calling an audible last month and switching the venue for NXT in St. Louis. The smaller venue made the show feel bigger.

Now on to the review. I’ll go through both shows, segment by segment, and decide which one had the better segment.

NXT kicked off with Trick Williams’ championship celebration. The segment was decent and helped plant seeds for future contenders for Trick’s title. Having Jey Uso come out to celebrate with Trick gave him an instant rub, creating the impression that Trick is the man.

Meanwhile, AEW Dynamite started with a Jon Moxley promo hyping his match against Bryan Danielson at WrestleDream, and boy, was that a chore to get through. It perfectly illustrated how AEW sometimes loves to mimic WWE from 2019 because this felt like a segment Vince McMahon would’ve booked.

Segment 1 goes to NXT.

NXT followed with a six-woman tag match. It was fine for what it was, but it helped elevate everyone involved because they got to hang with main roster stars like Bianca Belair and Jade.

Meanwhile, on Dynamite, we got another promo war, this time between Darby Allin and Brody King. Nothing much to see here. For those who say AEW is more about wrestling than WWE, two segments in, I still don’t see it. We also got a meaningless backstage segment with Jake Roberts and Don Callis, where Jake and Lance Archer decided to join Callis’ group.

Segment 2 goes to NXT.

Next, NXT had an in-ring promo with Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade, followed by Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer confronting them and starting a brawl. This was a really weak segment in my opinion. Nothing against the four women, but I expected more. Roxanne was solid as always, but Cora was cringeworthy. I still want to know why Giulia and Stephanie are such a threat to Roxanne, because beyond calling themselves international sensations, I’m not getting much reason to care.

Meanwhile, on Dynamite, we finally got a match between Komander and Hologram. It was a nice little lucha match, with Hologram winning, and it was a nice touch to have Jake come out afterward. However, Jericho’s backstage promo was terrible and felt like bad WWE material.

Despite Jericho’s bad promo, I give this segment to AEW for the match.

NXT’s fourth and fifth segments were dedicated to the North American Championship match between Oba Femi and Tony D’Angelo, which was easily the match of the night across both shows. It was booked perfectly, and the right guy won.

On Dynamite, the promos kept coming with Daniel Garcia in the ring, talking about his future and stating that he’s staying with AEW. This was followed by a Swerve Strickland update and an interview with Mercedes Moné. More talking, and by this point, I was just bored, wondering if Tony Khan had given up.

So, both segments go to NXT.

Segment 6 on NXT was the NXT Tag Title match between A-Town Down Under and Axiom & Nathan Frazer. It was a really strong tag match, showcasing how underrated both teams are.

Meanwhile, Dynamite gave us a fatal four-way for a women’s title shot at WrestleDream. It was a good match, but I was too bored by the show’s earlier promos to get fully invested. The predictability of the winner didn’t help, but credit to the women for their effort.

This segment is a tie for me, as both matches delivered.

Segment 7 on NXT was a Sexy Red concert, which was interrupted by Ethan Page and Je’Von Evans. This was awful, even with Page’s promo and Je’Von taking out Ethan.

Meanwhile, Dynamite had a Jericho backstage segment that went nowhere, followed by a squash match between Jay White and Colin Chhun, and then a promo and backstage segment with HOOK trying to confront the person who attacked his dad. A lot happened in this segment, but at least it tried to advance several stories. So, while I didn’t love most of it, it was still better than what NXT gave us.

So AEW wins this segment.

The final segment on NXT was Randy Orton vs. Je’Von Evans, followed by a backstage announcement of a triple threat match to determine who will face Trick Williams for the title at Halloween Havoc. The match was your typical teacher vs. student type, with Orton dominating but Evans getting a few hope spots. I liked this match because it did what it was supposed to—make Evans look good without putting him on Orton’s level. The only downside was the botched Flying RKO, which would have been spectacular if timed right. Fortunately, Orton’s experience allowed him to readjust and hit another RKO for the win. Great match overall and a strong way to end NXT this week.

Meanwhile, Dynamite gave us another boring Mercedes Moné match, which I skipped, followed by a backstage segment with Private Party. Once again, a bunch of promos and a match that went nowhere.

So, the final segment goes to NXT.

Then, AEW’s overrun gave us yet another in-ring promo, this time by Will Ospreay, who called out Don Callis, leading to a WWE-style brawl with Takeshita and a staredown between the two. Afterward, we went backstage for another promo with Top Flight. By this point, I was questioning why I was even watching the show, as it was just like a bad 2019 WWE episode.

Dynamite’s main event was Danielson and Yuta vs. PAC and Castagnoli. For a show that had dragged on, the main event was strong, and the right team won. Unfortunately, they fell back into WWE-copy mode with a post-match brawl between Moxley and Danielson, but this was the closest they came to not looking like a WWE clone.

In conclusion, NXT won this showdown hands down. They had far more wrestling in their two hours than AEW had in two-plus hours, and Dynamite didn’t make me want to rewatch AEW anytime soon. This show didn’t change my opinion of AEW, nor did it make me see how it’s an alternative to WWE. It felt like everyone gave up and let Vince McMahon book it.