5 Things AEW Does Better Than NXT (And 5 NXT Does Better Than AEW)

4. Being The Alternative

NXT has always been presented as a workrate-centric alternative to WWE's main roster. Indeed, when AEW Dynamite was announced and it became clear the two shows would go head-to-head, Triple H and co.'s message was essentially "you don't need to look elsewhere for an alternative: you've got one right here."

While the NXT product is unquestionably looser and more visceral than what Raw and SmackDown offer, the framework is similar. Disqualifications, distractions and other screwy finishes are commonplace, promos are scripted, and booking patterns yo-yo back and forth because yes, 50/50 is a thing at Full Sail University as well. NXT is the same mannequin dressed in flashier clothes.

AEW is different. Tropes worn out through twenty years of rank overuse are employed only sparingly (to date there has been only one DQ in this promotion), characters are given free rein to express themselves, nothing feels overproduced, and personalities shine brighter because they're player extensions of themselves, not a scriptwriter's idea of who they should be. Jon Moxley, Cody, Brodie Lee and co. are familiar names, but they're playing a different kind of game now.

A game that feels more like '80s pro-wrestling than any Sports Entertainment product.