Last week was the first battle of the Wednesday Night War in professional wrestling. All Elite Wrestling launched their new weekly television program, Dynamite. While NXT aired the first two-hour episode of their weekly show. So we dive in at three takeaways from the Wednesday Night War. And check out previous battles between AEW & WWE.
CHRIS “THE GOAT” JERICHO
AEW Champion, Chris Jericho, is arguably the greatest of all time in the wrestling business. And seeing the renewed passion in the eyes of the squared-circle veteran is an awesome thing to behold. Jericho has always been able to reinvent himself to stay fresh and relevant with the times. And now joining with All Elite Wrestling is no exception. In the first episode of AEW Dynamite, Jericho would put together a squad to combat “The Elite.” And in doing so, Jericho would reassert himself as the top star and the “G.O.A.T.”
BALOR BACK ON THE BLACK & YELLOW BRAND
With the first head-to-head matchup of Dynamite and the two-hour episode of NXT, there needed to be a big “surprise.” And NXT would deliver that in the form of Finn Balor returning to NXT. Finn Balor is still the longest-running NXT Champion in NXT history. And having Balor return to the place where he was at his creative best under the WWE banner. Bringing Balor back to the Black and Yellow brand lends itself to a plethora of new opportunities. And starting Finn off against current NXT Champion, Adam Cole (Bay Bay) is a prime opportunity to see the long-awaited arrival of the Balor Club finally.
JUST THE BEGINNING
The biggest thing that can be taken away from the first matchup in the Wednesday Night Wars is that this is merely just the beginning. As a life long pro wrestling fan, the best time in the business was the “Attitude Era.” And that wasn’t always because of the content on screen but for the amount of content available. Seeing WWF (at the time) face off against WCW produced a level of creativity that hasn’t been seen since WCW closed its doors in 2001. With the first installment in this battle in the books, we can look forward to this battle for the foreseeable future. And that is exactly what the business needed.
