The Wednesday Night War *Spoilers for AEW and NXT*

I thought this might be a good thread for people that want to discuss both shows after they air on Wednesdays (which show you preferred etc). I don't want to post what happens on AEW in the NXT thread for example in case it spoils the AEW show if people haven't watched it yet. Admins feel free to delete though if there is no need for another thread.

J. Marston

It'll be more of a brief skirmish than a war. NXT will wipe the floor with AEW on every level.

J. Marston

J. Marston wrote: »

It'll be more of a brief skirmish than a war. NXT will wipe the floor with AEW on every level.

I think I might have set up a thread for the WWE vs TNA "war" as well tbf

CastorTroy

For me, so far, NXT will take precedence on Thursday. I know we won't factor into any of the "war" anyway

Agent Coulson

NXT next week will be a Takeover level card and no doubt special appearances.

riffmongous

Been away from wrestling long enough that I know nothing about NXT anymore and have no interest in finding out, but AEW I'm willing to give a shot. Especially since the Jericho stuff

johnnyryan89

riffmongous wrote: »

Been away from wrestling long enough that I know nothing about NXT anymore and have no interest in finding out, but AEW I'm willing to give a shot. Especially since the Jericho stuff

Then you are missing out my friend. NXT is nothing like Raw or Smackdown, has that small indie vibe with top class production and talented wrestlers. NXT is kinda like a different promotion even, if there was no mention of WWE on it you'd be surprised to think that WWE are producing it.

Well I can't wait until next week, NXT on the Wednesday night and watch AEW once NXT is over through FITE.

CastorTroy

Yeah I think the NXT title match appeals to me more than the AEW title match.

The White Wolf

NXT is still the one I'm keeping a keen eye on but I'm looking forward to it anyway. Really curious to see that dirty word around here we call RATINGS.

gerrybbadd

I feel with the advent of the internet, streaming and DVR services, there will never be a true "war" such as there was with Raw & Nitro back in the day. You had to watch one or the other back then. These days, you can watch it all at a time that suits you.

You really don't have to pick a side

Blue_Dabadee

I think most people like myself will just watch highlights of both shows after the first couple of weeks of this war.

RollieFingers

Blue_Dabadee wrote: »

I think most people like myself will just watch highlights of both shows after the first couple of weeks of this war.

Same, I'll be watching both, just think that the more options for wrestling fans to watch the better.

Don't see it as a war at all, clearly WWE/NXT could wipe the floor with them financially, and in terms of audience reach, global recognition, production values etc.

dannocasey

I've not watched any modern wrestling, aside from clips here and there, in over a decade. However, through listening to a few podcasts, reading articles and what not, I'm a little bit intrigued about what might happen with AEW so I'm going to watch both full shows the first week they go head to head. I'm unsure if I'll stick wth either product after these viewings but it feels like a historic moment worth checking out.

I wish AEW the best of luck, especially as WWE needs some competition, but I'm not sure how competitve they can be and how much of a 'war' this will be. Hopefully, AEW will be strong and offer another career path for aspiring Irish wrestlers.

LibSuperstar

Blue_Dabadee wrote:

I think most people like myself will just watch highlights of both shows after the first couple of weeks of this war.

Does AEW have a YouTube channel? NXT I can watch on the weekends since I have the Network.

Lithium93_

LibSuperstar wrote: »

Does AEW have a YouTube channel? NXT I can watch on the weekends since I have the Network.

Gotcha covered, and there's links to the Being The Elite YouTube, Cody's Nightmare Family YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFN4JkGP_bVhAdBsoV9xftA

sky88

wont say any spoilers but thought NXT edged it show wise but both very good and AEW defintley looks better production wise and arena wise

even though i think NXT i think AEW will smash them on the ratings with it being first show and it will take a few months to see the real winner be clearer

Agent Coulson

NXT will struggle over the weeks stuck in Full Sail it looks dirt cheap (All that's missing is early '90's WCW spinning ring) and the same fans in the same seats week in week out going through the motions trying to get themselves overs.


AEW looks Main Event with its production.

The White Wolf

Yeah of all things it's the production that was the difference and it was WWE that come off the worse in it.

It's hard to know how it will go down. Purely comparing the upper card I'd give NXT the edge. Plus WWE have the bigger bag of tricks as indicated last night with who showed up.

AEW might have a loyal core of a fan base but they'll have to keep working extremely hard.

Agent Coulson

One thing I will say both shows put on a better show than RAW or Smackdown have over the last while.


How great would it be if both shows started to catch up or even out do RAW and Smackdown in the ratings.

ricero

What was noticeable for me is a real lack of big guys in AEW

ERG89

ricero wrote: »

What was noticeable for me is a real lack of big guys in AEW

That's why they signed Swagger.
If they can they should sign Lance Archer & Brody King. Both are easily talented enough to be put on TV now. They can work with ranges of talents too.

https://www.thewrap.com/all-elite-wrestling-dynamite-ratings-aew-nxt-wwe/amp/

AEW - 1.409 million viewers
NXT - 891,000 viewers

WWE statement
“Congratulations to AEW on a successful premiere. The real winners of last night’s head-to-head telecasts of NXT on USA Network and AEW on TNT are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint.”

sky88

I’m not surprised by the 1.4m Aew did more surprised kept any bit of distance with the 800k

J. Marston

J. Marston wrote: »

It'll be more of a brief skirmish than a war. NXT will wipe the floor with AEW on every level.

May have to eat humble pie. Great start for AEW.

CastorTroy

What were the ratings for the first NXT show on USA? I'm sure a lot of people watch the first episode of many shows to see what they're like. But I do think AEW did enough to keep at least most of the viewers for next week. At the same time, I'm sure we'll have ones going for AEW that chose NXT this week and vice versa.

rizzla

[Deleted User] wrote: »

https://www.thewrap.com/all-elite-wrestling-dynamite-ratings-aew-nxt-wwe/amp/

AEW - 1.409 million viewers
NXT - 891,000 viewers

WWE statement
“Congratulations to AEW on a successful premiere. The real winners of last night’s head-to-head telecasts of NXT on USA Network and AEW on TNT are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint.”

AEW's next PPV after Full Gear. AEW One-Night Sprint!

It's all about watch time, I'm sure there will be some news about the watchtime of NXT soon from the network. They may even do a comparison an say if it was tv with the combined ratings and watchtime this is what it would have gotten.

TimesArrow

Surprisingly classy statement from wwe.. Been watching wrestling since 1990 and this all feels like a great time to be a fan again. I don’t understand or see the tribal stuff- maybe cos I don’t give a fcuk what fans say on Twitter or buy into the whole “you have to pick a side”- I see if with younger people when it comes time movies (DC and Marvel) and just don’t get why people can’t try to enjoy everything

Agent Coulson

Which main roster guy will turn up on NXT next week to spike the ratings?

How long before Vince, Steph, Shane or HHH turn up in character to fight the evil AEW?

Lithium93_

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Which main roster guy will turn up on NXT next week to spike the ratings?

How long before Vince, Steph, Shane or HHH turn up in character to fight the evil AEW?

The Man's Man, I mean Seth Rollins threw some shade at Matt Riddle.....

Agent Coulson

Lithium93_ wrote: »

The Man's Man, I mean Seth Rollins threw some shade at Matt Riddle.....

I wonder is more to do with Riddle getting moved in the draft.

Actually thinking about it they could stack the NXT roster in the draft tomorrow night. Next week.

J. Marston

Lithium93_ wrote: »

The Man's Man, I mean Seth Rollins threw some shade at Matt Riddle.....

Matt Riddle is someone I didn't like at all in the beginning but now I think he is fantastic. Him shítting on legends just heightens his appeal to me.

The White Wolf

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Which main roster guy will turn up on NXT next week to spike the ratings?

How long before Vince, Steph, Shane or HHH turn up in character to fight the evil AEW?

They've the right to do anything they want really, as I said earlier the bag of tricks they have at their disposal is much deeper than AEW's.

All credit to the latter as it sounds like they were really smart in how they made the show available across platforms.

chopperbyrne

From what I've seen from AEW so far, the majority of it has been at the same level of the hardcore garbage served up by ECW back in the day.

Cody deliberately taking a hard chair shot to the head, and a very awkward looking powerbomb on two chairs.

Also Johnny Emo eating thumb tacs.

They might have one or two good wrestling matches on each show, but it's not enough to sway me.

sky88

the main thing thatll hurt NXT is the fact its available the next day on the network

leggo

Loved the first week. Quality-wise, I thought NXT absolutely destroyed AEW in the first hour. Riddle/Cole with Balor's appearance afterwards vs Cody in a long, not particularly great match giving himself a dramatic entrance told a story to me. Some of the AEW stuff was cringe like the forced Kevin Smith cameo. It felt like they were trying to prove they could run a WWE show rather than do their own thing: even the layout of the set etc was similar and it felt like the achievement was just having a TV show on TNT that looked professional, rather than pushing any boundaries with content.

Having said that, the second hour of AEW blew the second hour of NXT away for me. The women's match was fascinating and the 6-man was mental. I find it gas that people (not necessarily here mind) are going mad for Swagger now as if he's the saviour of pro-wrestling when they didn't give a rats when he was in Lucha Underground (and he was used really well there too). Opinions just flip-flop depending on what's 'cool'. Balor is cool until he's used as a chip against AEW, then the narrative switches to "Oooh he's been demoted!" Jack Swagger is used as a punchline to show how far Lucha Underground had fallen until he goes against WWE, then he's amazing and going to personally be responsible for the death of Vince McMahon. It's gas.

The fact that AEW won the ratings battle convincingly is the best outcome for all of us. I was convinced WWE would blow them away, just by sheer reach alone rather than any quality etc, and I still think they will in the long run but it's awesome to get a bit of competition and be able to have these chats. Really exciting time to be a fan.

leggo

sky88 wrote: »

the main thing thatll hurt NXT is the fact its available the next day on the network

That's actually a massive plus for me, as well as YouTube highlights. I don't have two free hours to watch AEW every week so most weeks I'll be relying on highlight shows I can watch in my own time and then I'll watch the full show odd weeks. Being inaccessible, while I understand it as you have to watch it there and then or miss out, will only mean I'll almost definitely pay little/no attention to their TV after a few weeks. NXT moving back to proper YouTube highlights means I'll constantly be paying attention to them now and will watch when there's a big week.

sky88

leggo wrote: »

That's actually a massive plus for me, as well as YouTube highlights. I don't have two free hours to watch AEW every week so most weeks I'll be relying on highlight shows I can watch in my own time and then I'll watch the full show odd weeks. Being inaccessible, while I understand it as you have to watch it there and then or miss out, will only mean I'll almost definitely pay little/no attention to their TV after a few weeks. NXT moving back to proper YouTube highlights means I'll constantly be paying attention to them now and will watch when there's a big week.

was talking more about in america for ratings, for us its great as its easier for me to access as i dont have ITV and would have to look a nefarious ways to get it

leggo

Oh yeah it makes total sense like, especially considering their challenge is trying to convert YouTube followers into both TV viewers and ticket buyers. There's just a trade-off and, for me, it may be enough to ensure I'm a casual fan at best.

ERG89

sky88 wrote: »

the main thing thatll hurt NXT is the fact its available the next day on the network

You can DVR any show on TV now or watch it online minutes after it ends. If people really want to see a show they'll watch it live. Doesn't matter if its a TV series or sport.

RollieFingers

What time does NXT appear on the network now? Was looking around 10 last night and couldn't see it uploaded. Had to stream, which isn't ideal considering we pay for the network.

Pentecost

RollieFingers wrote: »

What time does NXT appear on the network now? Was looking around 10 last night and couldn't see it uploaded. Had to stream, which isn't ideal considering we pay for the network.

I'd assume it has to be at least 24 hours after it airs in the US so 1.00am Friday our time?

The White Feather

I just watched AEW dynamite from start to finish then I put on NXT from start to finish.

I haven't watched NXT in ages so I felt like a blank canvas although I am familiar with NXT guys.

Enjoyed both shows a lot so its great to have competition.

The crowd for AEW really raised things up from what it was. Enjoyed the opening vignettes from Cody and Geuvara as I don't know him at all. Then Cody gets a cool entrance while Sammy just walks out. Outcome obvious at that point. My wife called Cody "the facebag guy" which was an old WWE ref. She still remembers and loves that gimmick!

Enjoyed the rest of the matches a lot except the awful womens match.They need to do better. Rest of the show was very enjoyable. Straight away the biggest problem is that all the ex WWE guys were made to look great. They need to promote their own stars more. The opening vignette for Guevara was very good but then he doesn't get a cool entrance like cody.

Had no idea of the 2 guys that were with Jericho. The young bucks are guys I kinda know of from reading about them but they look like 12 year olds. They were okay though. Omega I know of too from reading about him. I'm interested to see his feud with Moxley!
I liked the ending a lot though!

NXT was enjoyable too and was put together better but they have been doing it for a while so you would expect that. Great matches all around.

So both shows were very good. Hope AEW keep improving but that was a great start. I will just watch both shows but AEW showed a ton of potential. Just need to promote the new guys a bit more. Very hard to do on the first show though as they needed eyeballs which they got!

The White Wolf

leggo wrote: »

Loved the first week. Quality-wise, I thought NXT absolutely destroyed AEW in the first hour. Riddle/Cole with Balor's appearance afterwards vs Cody in a long, not particularly great match giving himself a dramatic entrance told a story to me. Some of the AEW stuff was cringe like the forced Kevin Smith cameo. It felt like they were trying to prove they could run a WWE show rather than do their own thing: even the layout of the set etc was similar and it felt like the achievement was just having a TV show on TNT that looked professional, rather than pushing any boundaries with content.

Having said that, the second hour of AEW blew the second hour of NXT away for me. The women's match was fascinating and the 6-man was mental. I find it gas that people (not necessarily here mind) are going mad for Swagger now as if he's the saviour of pro-wrestling when they didn't give a rats when he was in Lucha Underground (and he was used really well there too). Opinions just flip-flop depending on what's 'cool'. Balor is cool until he's used as a chip against AEW, then the narrative switches to "Oooh he's been demoted!" Jack Swagger is used as a punchline to show how far Lucha Underground had fallen until he goes against WWE, then he's amazing and going to personally be responsible for the death of Vince McMahon. It's gas.

The fact that AEW won the ratings battle convincingly is the best outcome for all of us. I was convinced WWE would blow them away, just by sheer reach alone rather than any quality etc, and I still think they will in the long run but it's awesome to get a bit of competition and be able to have these chats. Really exciting time to be a fan.

Well for once I can't disagree with you.

I think the E long term will win this unless Cody, Omega and the Bucks prove to be creative geniuses. Jericho presence helps but they don't have the well Trips has.

sky88

The White Wolf wrote: »

Well for once I can't disagree with you.

I think the E long term will win this unless Cody, Omega and the Bucks prove to be creative geniuses. Jericho presence helps but they don't have the well Trips has.

A bad injury spell from some of the elite,& Moxley would be tough to get by. Add in I think Jericho is touring soon they need to make the rest of the roster stars soon

Itssoeasy

RollieFingers wrote: »

What time does NXT appear on the network now? Was looking around 10 last night and couldn't see it uploaded. Had to stream, which isn't ideal considering we pay for the network.

It airs "live" on the network Friday morning Irish time. I think it's 1/2am or there abouts.

Lithium93_

AEW holding strong against NXT, despite a drop in ratings for both shows.

https://twitter.com/PWTorch/status/1182387488901521409

WEDNESDAY RATINGS: AEW down to 1.018 million from 1.409 million last week. NXT down to 790,000 from 845,000 last week.

J. Marston

Big drop was to be expected for AEW but is that too big a drop for week 2?

sky88

interesting numbers wasn’t expecting the drop for aew to be that big

Lithium93_

Lithium93_ wrote: »

AEW holding strong against NXT, despite a drop in ratings for both shows.

https://twitter.com/PWTorch/status/1182387488901521409

A further 122,000 watched live on TruTV as well. There was a chance a baseball game would overrun or something so that's why it was simulcast live on 2 channels.

So I presume it should be 1,140,000 all together (added to the 1,018,000)

Either way still AEW 2 - 0 NXT

The White Wolf

That's an interesting drop alright for AEW. Not worried about it but it does make the likes of Meltzer look like a fool.

Lithium93_

https://twitter.com/iamjohnpollock/status/1184927712709955584

This week's viewership:

AEW: 1,014,000 w/ a 0.44 in P18-49 (1,018,000 and 0.46 last week)

NXT: 714,000 and 0.20 in P18-49 (790,000 and 0,22 last week)