NXT Vs. AEW: Head To Head

7. Promo Ability

Cody HHH
AEW

The freedom is telling.

Jon Moxley’s thematic assault on Kenny Omega, on the Road To All Out, was superb. He weaponised his love of video games against him to put himself over as an impossible final boss. “This isn’t a video game. You only get one life,” he said, and it was poetry. He just about threatened to kill him, only without resorting to unoriginal, OTT aggression. This one minute promo was magnificent in itself. Moxley re-contextualised his NJPW run as a means of unlocking the secret to beating his ‘Rembrandt’ of an opponent. He was the cheat code.

Cody is articulate, smooth, witty and serious—an eclectic promo who can play every version of a babyface without undermining any of them. Kenny Omega’s style is divisive, but everybody has an opinion on it.

MJF is the best promo in all of wrestling. If anything, he has to be the worst person alive just to stop himself from being the funniest. Chris Jericho is an all-time great.

Is there one, standout, world class talker in NXT?

Adam Cole is a great promo, and Shayna Baszler compensates for a tone that isn’t intimidating with a delivery that is. But elsewhere…confidence and poised is absorbed through the Performance Center, but the match quality talks the crowd into TakeOver events.

It’s no coincidence that the weekly show generates nowhere near as much buzz in comparison.

NXT 1 - 3 AEW

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!