Why AEW Should Be Worried About The New WWE

Triple H's NXT lost the Wednesday Night Wars decisively.

In the end, it wasn't even close. The vaunted black and gold brand outranked AEW Dynamite (by P18-49, the primary metric used to rank, rate, and measure television shows' value within that industry) only once on head-to-head nights before shifting to Tuesdays. A clear, routine victory for Tony Khan's nascent promotion, whose 18 December 2019 slip-up was quickly rebounded from upon returning from a Christmas break.

NXT's failure to stymie AEW's growth was a reported reason behind Triple H's quiet WWE demotion in 2021. Months later, black and gold became 2.0, eschewing dark rooms and indie "workrate" aesthetics for bright colours, inexperienced athletes with perceived crossover appeal, and gimmicks plucked straight from a New Generation bargain bin. Having once been pinpointed as a potential Vince successor, it appeared Triple H's blueprint for WWE's future had been erased.

But here we are.

Triple H will not be in direct competition with AEW programming. He now pens shows commanding audiences that dwarf Dynamite and (especially) Rampage. Nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see what he learned from colliding with Khan - and how his Mondays and Fridays differ from his failed approach on Wednesdays.

Either way, even with AEW and WWE programming long removed from head-to-head competition, the sport changed immeasurably this week. For what WWE has lost in the recent upheaval as much as it has gained, AEW now finds itself in a new, challenging position.

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