AEW Vs. NXT: Who Won The First Battle?
4. Angles
NXT booked two big angles in its customary way: staged for the social media photo opportunity and the TakeOver video package, with a blocking that always looks remarkably civil if you give it enough thought, the ordinary presentation hardly mattered because NXT reintroduced two legends from the brand's rich history: Finn Bálor and Tommaso Ciampa.
It was the usual stare-down fare, but it sparked the imagination, the sentiment and that endorphin rush shock factor.
AEW in contrast knew that they couldn't tell us Jake Hager was a star, because he isn't. He needed to get physical, and attempt to show it, and his performance in the wild, show-closing angle was enough to just about question that statement. Maybe he is a star, or can become one under the auspices of AEW: his clubbing forearm blow to the back of Dustin Rhodes' head looked brutal, and his athletic Vader Bomb looked as elegant as it did impactful. It was pitched, blocked and executed so well that Goldust Vs. Jack Swagger is something a basketball-sized arena crowd wants to see in 2019.
Another, awesome angle left the Bucks vulnerable to the attack: Jon Moxley, consistent with his Unscripted Violence character, did not show up as scheduled for his interview: instead, he attacked Kenny Omega mid-match in a heated, believable brawl, at the crazed apex of which he smashed him through a glass table with the Paradigm Shift.
Angles breed matches, and Omega Vs. Moxley reheated itself in about five minutes, as AEW delivered the promised wrestling buffet in an inspired match/angle hybrid.
WINNER: AEW
AEW 2 - 2 NXT