How NXT Has Already Won The Wednesday Night War

MJF Full Gear
AEW

This has effected the metrics that matter.

WWE's petulant - pathetic - "It's a marathon, not a sprint" press release also feels like a phrase coined and meme'd a lifetime ago. In the wake of Survivor Series, NXT no longer feels like the unfashionable brand it did at the start of this "War". In the battle of perception, it has reclaimed its status as the one good WWE show. AEW's (TV) attendances have settled at around the 4,000 range. This remains very impressive for a start-up, and is an expected decline consistent with WWE's main roster gates, but it feeds into the narrative, nonetheless.

Insidiously, by stunningly crafty design, AEW Dynamite now feels established, with all of the attendant positive and pejorative connotations.

AEW are not blameless in all of this. This isn't a cut-and-dry story. The giant didn't (just) spitefully smite the utopia. The transition from Full Gear into the next phase of storytelling wasn't entirely elegant. MJF Vs. Cody felt unfocused for too long; Brandi's Nightmare Collective feels like it belongs to the worst depths of Impact Wrestling; the necessary drive to promote new acts feels like the experimental, iffy Dark bleeding into and infecting the flagship.

But is this a pyrrhic victory?

CONT'D...(4 of 5)

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!