Hi guys, we’re back again for the Combat Sports style scoring of the Wednesday night wars. Again apologies for a slightly late recap, but we are indebted to our guest reviewer, my very good friend from Dallas, Texas - Sal Villarreal. Sal was attending World Collide and the Royal Rumble this weekend so he has an excuse for the late reviews, he is however an unashamed Elite fanboy, so should bring some AEW positivity to the scorecards. Thanks for filling in Sal, joining the old reliables myself and Brum.
RD1: Page/Omega vs SCU. Vs GYV/Undisputed Era
JCH: The GYV run continues and I’m really enjoying seeing the success of Drake and Gibson, however the stupid ‘distracted by music’ finish held the match back. I said last week I hoped that AEW gave the titles to Page/Omega and continued their story with a run as champs.
They did exactly that and Page winning it himself before crowdsurfing off into the crowd meant the tension continued to build. Top job.
AEW 10-9 NXT
Brum: GYV IN THE FINALS OF THE DUSTY!!!! Last week, I gave GYV WedH2H’s first 10-7 round. Now they have only bloody gone and beat ReDragon to get into the finals of the Dusty. The match was good too – the only downside was the finish as slow distractions (especially for a cerebral faction like UE) come off as a bit hackneyed.
Gibson & Drake won’t be getting a 10-7 this week though as AEW had a banging opener with a tag title change! It also had 2 extra benefits in that it got the belts off the stale SCU & advanced the Page/Elite storyline even further. Page is really nailing his role in all this and Omega & The Bucks as supporting acts are delivering too.
From a neutral perspective, AEW was the better segment, but wrestling is about love & I love GYV so I’m going to sit on the fence for this round.
10-10.
Sal: Going into the GYV vs UE match, Cole says he knows Imperium is here so that for me lingers over knowing we are getting shenanigans. Th opening had strikes and counters galore. I feel the great NXT crowd doesn’t know who to boo more here while also showing their wrestling appreciation. Imperium are in the fancy balcony which is the most distracting thing in the world and gets ya two tickets to mayhem. GYV get the win and my favorite thing is Nigel yelling “USA in your face!”
AEW are wrestling on a boat and I’m already being wooed. Plus, Jesus is ringside. Back and forth slow start and a class on head locking but it gets going quickly after. Page buck shot clotheslines Sky sending him out then another back in hits Frankie for the win. Page then drinks and is crowd surfed away from Kenny and the Bucks.
When you factor in one is a title match, the visual of being on a ship, crowd surfing, Jesus Christ and the character developing of Page it’s easy to pick. NXT match was really great action but Mauro and Beth bullying Nigel for backing his countrymen was too much to overcome.
AEW 10-9 NXT
Rd2: Kelly/Baker (plus promo) vs Storm/Shirai. (Plus aftermath)
JCH: This was a mismatch on paper and it played out that way. Despite the lack of a finish due to the Belair interference NXT successfully built to two future Rhea Ripley matches, also Io Shirai was in the match. Britt Baker and Priscilla Kelly was alright, the post match promo cemented Baker’s heel turn and was a bit weird going in on Schiavone. Comfortable 10-9 for NXT
NXT 10-9 AEW. 19-19
Brum: Solid match from Io & Toni in NXT. Shirai is maybe the best female wrestler in the world. Toni, on the other hand, feels like she’s treading water a bit. She has a biggish match Rhea this weekend (though that will probably be in the past when this is released) but as Rhea is definitely winning it’s not exactly momentous; & I liked hints of character development after the TakeOver triple threat. With that said, I feel like she’s cooled down a lot since the second Mae Young Classic.
The AEW women’s match was less solid. I liked the strapline on Baker’s infographic, giving casual viewers an idea of her plight & I also love her finisher. The positives end there. The match was plodding, sloppy, & boring. The post-match promo was utterly bizarre. Was it intentionally bad? Either way, I’m not a fan.
10-9 NXT. 20-19 NXT so far.
Sal: Back and forth then Toni tries to help Io up but she refuses the hand booooo. Io gets out of a go behind waist lock by jumping throwing the ropes to the outside. Clever girl. Io goes for a dive but is cut off by Belair. Takes out Io and hits the finish on Toni. Rhea out. We get a tease of the two before Io hits a springboard drop kick and Asai moonsault on both. Toni tope to Io. Toni stands tall with the belt to a chorus of boos.
Kelly vs Baker was one of the better women’s division matches in AEW. Nice tv style match Baker eventually locks in her finisher for the win but the story here is Baker goes full heel on Tony Schiavone and his fun vacation shirt. She said AEW got him away from his shitty barista job and I’m dying. In defending Tony the camera pans to someone who has Tony’s autograph as a tattoo. I now for the first time ever, see what Adam Cole sees in her.
*despite my new eyes for Baker I cannot give the win to AEW for making me care about their former biggest female babyface. The ending although a Dairy Queen finish was very exciting with Io, Belair, Toni and Rhea.
10-9 NXT. 19-19
Rd 3: Jurassic Express/Inner Circle vs Shotzi/Shayna (plus Balor/Wylde)
JCH: Balor with a squash to keep him ticking over ahead of Gargano, Shotzi and Shayna was a nice match. Shayna keeping herself relevant with the win, but giving Shotzi enough by having to work harder than she thought she would at the beginning. The Jericho cruise singing his them song was fun. Similar to NXT, Jericho gives Stunt and Jungle Boy enough to continue to build them, especially Jungle. Luchasaurus and Hager look set to face off somewhere down the road. Is Hager actually allowed to wrestle or does his MMA contract not allow it? I think the cruise and the fact that Marko Stunt wore a life jacket gets AEW the win here.
AEW 10-9 NXT. 29-28 AEW
Brum: Tough round to grade here. I liked Baszler Shotzi. Shayna looked a beast which is always nice. I guess she’s the favourite for the Rumble? Ronda would be the swerve choice but Shayna seems the safest bet. With that said, Dom Van Dam did give me 40/1 today that either Shirai or Kairi would win & face Asuka at Mania so I know who I will be cheering. All I have to say about the Finn match is that DJZ looks even more of a muppet now than he did in TNA.
Bags of fun over in AEW with the 6 man. Marko Stunt is becoming a star. The highlight maybe Jericho walking out on his own cruise, with his world title, with his own rock band’s music playing, and all the crowd singing along to it. The lad is 50 years old this year & he is absolutely loving life. AEW edges this one.
10-9 AEW. 29-29 so far.
Sal: Shotzi promo is perfect for explaining who she is. She takes care of business and has balls. Shayna says she’s going nowhere and wants to be 3 time champ. I like her line about Rhea saying all nightmares have to answer to reality. Shayna beats her down most of the match but we get to see how tough Shotzi is. Shotzi misses a back senton and gets put in Shaynas choke out and as she taps Shanya doesn’t release the hold and puts her to sleep.
Z has a new look and music and Balor couldn't care less. He heels it up in his offence and beats Z like he is a rookie. At one point Balor stomps Z like a flaming bang of poop on a door step over and over and over again. 1916 and the win. You come at Balor you better not miss
The crowd sings Judas and for a moment it warms Jericho’s black heart. This action is hot throughout. There is one sport where Jungle boy pops up Mario to Luchasaurus into a wheel barrel onto Santana who catches him then Jungle boy pushes Markos legs into a satellite ddt on Santana. That is too many parts and I love it. The end has Marko getting a near fall in Jericho after a 450. Then we get a Judas effect on Marko for the win and Chris drinks bubbly.
Both NXT matches were needed to show progress story on Balor becoming more evil and Shayna's claim of being here to stay. However, the action of the 6-Man tag was so fun to watch plus the entrance for Jericho being they sang his song he made for his theme on a show he is champion of on the cruise that he made. GOAT
10-9 AEW. AEW 29-28
RD 4: MJF/Janela plus MJF/CODY vs Imperium/Broserweights (plus
Gibson/Riddle/Dunne promo)
JCH: Up there with the music distraction is the ex kissing new flame on the stage distraction. Sort it out Janela. Cody and MJF’s post match however lifted this segment up and seeing MJF thrown into the pool was great. Cody enlisting the help of his friends to give MJF some comeuppance at last was good to see. Over on NXT, whilst not quite reaching the heights of their First Round Matchup the Broserweights had another strong outing against the polished Imperium. The post match Gibson involvement secured the win for NXT. Calling them Joint Manipulation was fantastic.
NXT 10-9 AEW 38-38.
Brum: R4: Riddle, Dunne, Imperium. Sign me up. This was guaranteed to be a good match and it was. It didn’t reach the dizzying heights it could have, and certainly didn’t touch Broserweights vs Welsh Flippy Lads in the QFs, but still good nonetheless.
And it was better than MJF Janela over on AEW. However, the post-match shenanigans were a blast. MJF & Cody on great form and of course someone had to go in the pool. MJF selling being thrown in it was a lovely salute to this silly trope.
10-10. 39-39 so far.
Sal: Going into the NXT match I assume we were getting the Exodus verse eye for eye booking and have UE interference. Drake Younger looks like he has shoe polish on his face. Anywho solid match where Dunne sells a leg injury quite well. Imperium hits a solid wheelbarrow assisted DDT off the second rope on the man they call Bro.
The ending goes back and forth until bro’s get the advantage and hit the bro to sleep kick combo for the clean win. GYV come out for a few words and calls the crowd full sail neckbeards and I feel attacked. Dunne uses marijuana puns and I laugh like because I want White Castle.
MJF comes out and let’s Lady Pentagon and Raph the ninja turtle kiss his ring. Raph has a
seizure. We get a nice back drop into the ring on MJF as he ran the length of the ramp in Janela. I am a huge mark for ramp spots. MJF uses Aubrey as a shield because of equality. Kip and Penelope come out to show everyone what kissing is. This distracts Janela because he knows the implications of being on the high seas(see sunny in philly) and MJF spikes Joey for the duke.
MJF cuts a promo which brings out Cody and MJF bullies Cody by dropping the mic then kicking it away from him. I love this. YBs sneak out and throw a super kick boat party. They throw MJF in the pool and if would have been funnier if MJF screamed how he couldn’t swim.
The back and forth with Cody and MJF and the story with Janela and Penelope all has me interested. NXT had a really great match, but you kind of saw it coming.
AEW 10-9 NXT. 39-37 AEW
Rd 5: Moxley/Pac vs Strong/Lee (plus aftermath)
JCH: NXT pulled the trigger on Keith Lee at the height of his popularity. They could have had the Era find a way to stop him, but I think this was the right decision and not surprisingly with the people involved was a strong match. Over on AEW there was another good match, but it was a little bit of a let down for me. I hold Pac in such high regard that I thought he would get a little more out of MOX. Just as the title change was a factor in AEW winning the first segment, it pushes NXT over the top here.
NXT 10-9 AEW. 48-47 NXT.
Brum: NXT pulled the trigger on the Keith NA title win at the right time. He has looked like a megastar of late so giving him the strap now was the right idea. It was also a fantastic match. Roddy is great at making his opponents look even better than they are. Post-match was fun too but it was all about the match & the title change here.
Good match from Mox & PAC over on AEW. It was slightly hampered by the inevitability of the Mox win but was still enjoyable & the crowd were into it. Now it’s booked, I’m looking forward to the build of Mox/Jericho. This should be a wild ride. Overall though, definite win for NXT.
10-9 NXT. 49-48 NXT.
Sal: Hot crowd for Lee lots of chants and as Punk said on WWE backstage it’s his time. Lee with strikes and power dominates the match until Strong retreats to the outside and UE distract. Lee pounces Roddy to the outside. It’s goes from Lee giving a big inside out clothesline to Roddy to a missed missed moonsault to Roddy having a grapevine ankle rock on Lee. UE distraction leading to a Roddy high knee and compliments to the chef nice looking sick kick. I feel, and full sail senses, this is the end but Lee kicks out!!! Lee catches Roddy in the Big Bang catastrophe to become the champion of America. Bask. UE Imperium brawl to end the show.
Mox comes out looking like a pirate who has a first aid kit. Right away hoping PAC targets the eye and he doesn’t disappoint. Also in the match Pac missed a couple of red arrows and you don’t see that too often. Very competitive match and Pac does eventually rip the eyepatch off and tries to punch his eye out of his head but Mox gets a surprise small package then double arm DDT and paradigm shift giving him the shot at Le champion at Revolution.
This one is easy for me because we are in the age of basking glory and the title win feels like only the beginning.
NXT 10-9 AEW. 48-47 AEW
Rd 6: The Rest
Young Bucks/Page and Omega Interview, Pac promo Vs. Shotzi vid, Dragunov vid, Nox/Kai, Garza promo
JCH: Lots of good stuff here this week. Nice intro vid for Shotzi, a Dragunov feature (that sadly did not help him with the crowd on Saturday,) A really nice video on PAC that I thought was great. For the second week in a row though it’s backstage Hangman Page who scores the decisive point. His change of demeanour when the Young Bucks arrived was great and he continues to impress with his character
AEW 10-9 NXT
Brum: : The bonus round is tough to grade this week. The best segment was the Page/Elite promo. As mentioned above, everyone is delivering here & this could be the most intriguing story in the company. NXT had some good bits too with the Ilja promo & Kai/Nox being the standouts. Mmm… slight edge probably goes to AEW. Don’t ask me again as I may change my mind.
10-9 AEW.
Sal: I keep this one simple, on Nxt you have the promos for Shotzi taking care of business and you get a good feel for her balls out character. I am invested in the playing out of Dakota and Tegan and even though I cried during all the things that happened to Nox a part of me wants Kai to hurt her more. I dunno her new attitude and look make me feel like a high school kid smoking in the bathroom cool. Angel Garza is going to be at in your house or in a house or something.
Page and Kenny get interviewed about their victory Adam alcohol Page is drinking, I like it. They really show the difference well when he’s sober then drinking as he takes a dig at the bucks and we are slowly seeing the distance growing between Page and the elite. The eventual breakup and however the long term telling of of the reconciliation will be great I’m hoping. Also during the main event the fans chanting your ship sucks at bother passing ship is fantastic.
AEW 10-9 NXT
Overall
JCH: It’s a draw this week as both shows had nice title changes in a decent week of television.
AEW 57-57 NXT
Brum: Tight one this week. The highest high was the Keith Lee title win. The lowest low was Baker/Kelly. This indicates NXT was stronger but overall, I thought AEW was the most fun show. In conclusion, it’s no surprise that the judging came out honours even. PS Doff of the cap to NXT who have pretty seamlessly built to When World’s Collide; TakeOver: Portland; the Dusty Classic; & future TV shows, all at the same time. Top plate spinning.
AEW 58-58. NXT
Sal: I could recap the points (which are 58/56 AEW) or quote Jerry Maguire “You had me at ship.” That plus Jesus showed up to Dynamite.
AEW 58-56 NXT
Winner - Majority Draw
We get our third majority draw as Brum and I couldn’t split the shows. Sal’s Elite fandom shines through as the Cody and Bucks segment was the deciding factor for him. 2 weeks unbeaten for AEW as they begin to claw back the early NXT lead.
OVERALL SCORECARDS
NXT - 7 (by split decision - 3, by majority decision - 2, by unanimous decision - 2)
Draw -4 (3 majority draws, 1 split draw)
AEW - 3 (by majority decision - 1, by unanimous decision -1, by split decision - 1)
INDIVIDUAL SCORECARDS:
JCH: NXT - 8; Draw - 3 AEW - 3
Brum: NXT - 5; Draw - 5; AEW - 4
Matt C: NXT - 4; Draw - 1; AEW – 4
Ross : NXT - 3; Draw - 0; AEW - 0
DVD: NXT -0; Draw - 0; AEW - 1
Sal: NXT - 0; Draw - 0; AEW - 1
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