Why Vince McMahon Has Failed To Kill AEW

To borrow an analogy from another pop cultural war of which viewers of NXT and Dynamite will be familiar, NXT is the Sega Mega Drive, and Dynamite is the SNES. NXT is Sonic The Hedgehog 2, a scintillating sprint powered by so-called "blast processing". It's a sensory overload of adrenaline and advanced visuals. AEW Dynamite is Super Mario World; it boasts the same exhilaration but a deeper sense of exploration, minutiae, charm and multiple secrets that reveal themselves on revisit. Both are exceptional games; one is programmed to immerse the player for longer.

Consider the two major programmes simmering across each show.

NXT is intense, and based on competition and proving oneself. That one dimension is exhilarating, but it's still only one dimension. Most every performer on the roster is an incredible athlete at their physical peak with something adjacent to a real name. Few of the characters are fun, there is little to separate them in age, style and motivation, and the manner in which they are programmed together is based on fairly routine physical interaction. Distractions, post-match beatdowns, retaliation, posed stand-offs, hat-theft: none of this A-B plotting is elevated by witty, improvised verbal spiels. The promos are stilted and driven by marketing word play.

Tommaso Ciampa Vs. Adam Cole is NXT's top long-term programme, and it's lukewarm. Ciampa never lost 'Goldie'. He wants Goldie back, and while the diversions have proven fairly organic and satisfying - Keith Lee's emergence as a player is welcome, and the Finn Bálor Vs. Johnny Gargano programme dovetailed eloquently enough - the thrust of the story itself hasn't been advanced. The plot is effectively what it was months ago. NXT isn't building this story, they are prolonging it, and it isn't hot as a result.

Meanwhile, over on Dynamite, MJF and Cody are at war.

CONT'D...(3 of 5)