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AEW Dynamite Continues Ratings Battle Winning Streak over WWE NXT
May 14, 2020
This week's edition of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite continue its winning streak in the viewership battle against WWE NXT.
Dynamite averaged 654,000 viewers during its two-hour broadcast on TNT, while NXT on USA Network finished with an average of 604,000, per Mitch Metcalf of Showbuzz Daily.
All Elite Wrestling continued the build toward Double or Nothing on May 23 with a brawl between Cody and Lance Archer to start the show. It was also announced that former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson will present the TNT Championship at the conclusion of their match at an undisclosed location.
Dynamite ended with Brodie Lee defeating Christopher Daniels in a singles match and then escaping with the AEW World Championship in tow after stealing it from Jon Moxley last week. Moxley cut a promo to close the show and made it clear that he intended to make Lee pay.
Hikaru Shida won a Fatal 4-Way match that also included Britt Baker, Kris Statlander and Penelope Ford, meaning she will face Nyla Rose for the AEW Women's Championship at Double or Nothing.
Also, after Chris Jericho beat Pineapple Pete in quick fashion, he challenged Matt Hardy and The Elite to a Stadium Stampede match against The Inner Circle at Double or Nothing that The Elite accepted.
Other key moments included Best Friends beating Jurassic Express because of interference from MJF, who later won a squash match, plus Hardy and Kenny Omega defeating Santana and Ortiz.
NXT opened with a shocking title change, as Timothy Thatcher walked out on Matt Riddle, resulting in Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner of Imperium winning the NXT Tag Team Championship. Riddle got his wish of a match against Thatcher later in the night and came out on the winning end, but Thatcher brutally attacked him to end the show.
Another big moment saw Cameron Grimes pull off a shocking upset over Finn Balor after Damian Priest interfered by taking out Balor's leg. Priest attacked Balor some more after the match and revealed that he was Balor's mystery attacker from a few weeks ago.
WWE Hall of Famers Triple H and Shawn Michaels appeared on NXT to make a huge announcement in the form of NXT TakeOver: In Your House, which will air June 7 on WWE Network.
The tournament to crown an interim cruiserweight champion continued, with Jake Atlas staying alive thanks to a win over Tony Nese and then Jack Gallagher eliminating Isaiah "Swerve" Scott from contention due in part to interference from Nese.
Next week, Hardy will have his first AEW singles match when he faces Sammy Guevara, while NXT will feature a huge women's match between Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai.
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