AEW Dynamite vs. WWE NXT: Who Won the Jan.8 Battle of the Wednesday Night War?

Last week, All Elite Wrestling propelled the sport into 2020 with a great show in Jacksonville, Florida. Unfortunately, for our purposes at least, NXT only managed a clip show, making this the first official front in the Wednesday Night Wars this year.

For those new to the column, every week the top two wrestling promotions in North America square up on Wednesday nights in a head-to-head battle of brands and vision. Nothing short of the future of wrestling as an art form is at stake.

That's why, every week, we'll be here taking a deeper look at both promotions, declaring what worked, what missed the mark and picking a winner. Last year, caught up in the excitement of this new breed of wrestling show, we tossed out A's like it was a millennial high school class. This year, that grade inflation is over. An average show is a C, a good show is a B and only a great show rates an A.

If you have some thoughts of your own, we'd love to hear them on the app. (Editor's note: Bleacher Report's corporate partners at Turner Media broadcast AEW Dynamite on TNT).

AEW Dynamite

Where: South Haven, Mississippi

Main Event: Jurassic Express vs. Best Friends

Match of the Night: Kenny Omega/Adam Page vs. Private Party

Moment We'll Remember: Jon Moxley, after proclaiming himself the latest member of The Inner Circle, winks to the camera while continuing to lead Chris Jericho on. When he eventually whacked Jericho with a suspiciously disappearing bottle, he cemented himself as a man of the people and the next big thing in professional wrestling.

What Worked

—Kenny Omega and Adam Page are two of the best wrestlers not just in AEW, but also on the world scene. Both possess the rare combination of speed, strength and ferocity, honed to perfection in promotions all over the planet. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite teams, though Page's storyline struggles with alcohol and his confidence may make this team little more than a fleeting flight of fancy.

—Even at 50, Dustin Rhodes remains one of the best professional wrestlers on the roster. His mind for the business has been sharpened to a razor's edge after decades in the sport. He's always in the right place at the right time, bringing order to chaos.

That's something the amazing Lucha Bros. often need—left to their own devices they often tend to fly a little too close to the sun. Here, Dustin helped corral them and then Cody made an incredible hot tag. A good sprint and the kind of television match AEW promised and delivers almost every week.

—As 1990s stalwart "Diamond" Dallas Page cut what seemed like an endless, meandering promo in the center of the ring, MJF was all of us. The sport's best young heel, bad look permanently etched on his face, leaned on the ropes and pulled out his phone. It was, perhaps, an early candidate for tweet of the year—delivered live on national television.

—The crowd loves Orange Cassidy. Now the challenge is figuring out a way to help him walk the fine line between novelty act and potential superstar. This is a complicated process. AEW should be devoting the mental power devoted to some of their struggling acts to this conundrum. They almost have something special here. I'm excited to see what they can do with it.

Missed the Mark

—Kris Statlander and Riho were well on their way to the best match in the short history of the AEW women's division. Statlander, less than three years into her wrestling career, is a prodigious talent. This is the kind of match that might have become part of her legend.

Likewise, Riho could have continued to win over American fans with her brave performance against a larger, more formidable opponent.

Instead, the match was lost in a fugue of storyline nonsense. The Nightmare Collective interfered with the match over and over again, first with Brandi Rhodes' distracting performance on commentary, followed by interference from Awesome Kong, Mel and a debuting Dr. Luther. 

I have no problem with the brewing feud between Statlander and Rhodes, but I'd prefer the angles either be in service to the match itself or be limited to the finish. Destroying a budding classic doesn't help anyone. Statlander and Riho deserved better.

—It's not especially clear how AEW decides which talents to highlight and which to leave on the back burner.  For example, the company seems keen on Kip Sabian, a video game create-a-wrestler in human form. While he hasn't shown me anything special in the ring, despite getting a lot of time to work with both Page and Omega, Penelope Ford might end up being his saving grace. 

Whatever "it" is, she has a double dose. That might be enough to help Sabian find his footing.

—The commentary team got off to a rough start, struggling to integrate former Memphis announcer Dave Brown into the opening match. They never quite found their footing, squabbling and botching things throughout. Brandi joining the team to run everyone down certainly didn't help, especially considering the rough night.

I'm normally a big supporter of this team. But this wasn't their night.

—AEW is coming dangerously close to letting personal relationships dictate the direction of its television. Considering the amazing talent that is left off the card every week, it seems a bit self-indulgent to push Dallas Page, QT Marshall and even SCU beyond what the audience response seems to dictate. 

Grade: C

WWE NXT

Where: Winter Park, Florida

Main Event: Keith Lee vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Damian Priest (No. 1 Contender match)

Match of the Night: Main event

Moment We'll Remember: I smiled as six amazing women filled the ring to open the program. The long-time champion, Shayna Baszler, is taking a step backward for the moment. But the NXT women's division is as alive as ever.

What Worked

—The NXT women's division remains the best on the American scene. And don't get me wrong: This isn't just the best women's division, it's the best division, period.

The six top performers in the company (Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Toni Storm and Kay Lee Ray) were quickly placed onto two teams and proceeded to deliver a heck of a match, equal parts storytelling and stellar wrestling.

Here, the match was in service of the story, not trying desperately to occupy the same space and making a complete mess of it. They worked hand-in-hand to create drama in the future and deliver something in the now to entertain fans. 

This is what wrestling is supposed to feel like. If that sounds like a shot at the competition up the dial at TNT, that's because it is.

—I hope you love something, anything, as much as Tomasso Ciampi loves the NXT Championship and the promotion it represents. His interview segment was powerful and concise.

He believes Adam Cole has walked in and stolen a life that is supposed to be his. He wants it back. And I'm here for every second of this.

—If anyone can match Ciampa's pure passion for NXT, it's his former tag team partner, Johnny Gargano. Here, he delivered a shot across Finn Balor's bow, an old-school "shoot interview" where he mixed real life and storyline critiques expertly. 

"I got that same phone call in August, Finn," Gargano said of the offer to join WWE's main roster. "The big difference between me and you? I stayed here. Because when I say I love this place, I actually mean it."

—After last week's, um, strong performance against Roderick Strong, Austin Theory was back in a short squash match. He has serious potential and natural heel energy. Here's hoping they don't miscast him as a babyface, because he could become a presence very quickly.

—Alex Shelley will join Kushida in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which is big news for fans of Japanese wrestling. The tournament kicked off with two solid matches and looks to continue its momentum next week with an appearance by both the Time Splitters and the hilarious BroserWeights (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne).

It's nice to see WWE continue to pay tribute to The American Dream, even as his sons compete head-to-head on the other channel. Dusty meant a lot to this industry and it's important to acknowledge where we came from even as we stare at the future of wrestling.

—The main event managed the tricky feat of making all four competitors look strong while also clearly establishing Lee as the top contender for the North American title.

Lee is a future champion in NXT and his rise has been fun to watch. It's easy to fall into critique mode when watching wrestling—with Lee, it's even easier to simply bask in his glory.

Missed the Mark

—Nothing on this show was actively bad. It wasn't always spectacular, but it delivered a solid night of wrestling and kept it moving for two hours. That's about all you can ask of your popcorn entertainment. 

Grade: B

Overall: Both shows had their moments. But NXT never made me groan and AEW did—several times. Dynamite was an uneven show, while NXT delivered from opening to close. In the first head-to-head week of 2020, WWE takes an early lead as the war enters its second year.

Winner: NXT

Overall: AEW (1), NXT (1)