AEW Dynamite Continues Ratings Battle Win Streak over WWE NXT

AEW Dynamite continued its winning ways this week, as it topped WWE NXT in the Wednesday night ratings battle once again.

According to Showbuzz Daily, Dynamite averaged 677,000 viewers during its two-hour show on TNT, while NXT on USA Network garnered 673,000 viewers.

For the second consecutive week, Dynamite was headlined by a TNT Championship defense by Cody. This time, he beat Private Party's Marq Quen in a back-and-forth affair, as he forced Quen to tap to an ankle lock submission.

Jake Hager targeted Cody after the match, and a brawl broke out with Cody, Private Party and Matt Hardy battling The Inner Circle. Cody asked Hager if he wanted a shot at the TNT Championship on the upcoming Fyter Fest edition of Dynamite, and Hager accepted.

Dynamite opened with FTR making their in-ring debut against The Butcher and The Blade. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler were victorious in their first AEW match, which led to The Young Bucks coming out to congratulate them and properly introduce themselves.

The moment was interrupted by The Butcher, The Blade, Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc, however. Then, the AEW World Tag Team champions Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page ran down to the ring to scare off the heels.

Another key match and moment included Best Friends and Orange Cassidy beating Hager, Santana and Ortiz, resulting in Chris Jericho beating Cassidy down with a bag of oranges after the match.

Also, Sammy Guevara defeated Colt Cabana, and the team of Nyla Rose and Penelope Ford defeated AEW Women's champion Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander.

On NXT, NXT champion Adam Cole defeated Dexter Lumis in the main event in a non-title match after Undisputed Era members Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish got involved. Velveteen Dream and Lumis fought with Strong and Fish to the back, which left Cole alone in the ring.

Then, the lights went out and Scarlett appeared. She walked to the ring and placed an hourglass inside, signaling Karrion Kross' intention to go after the NXT title.

Earlier in the night, Drake Maverick interrupted a promo by new cruiserweight champion El Hijo del Fantasma and asked for a title shot. Fantasma obliged before two masked men made their way to the ring.

It initially looked like both Maverick and Fantasma were going to fight them off, but Fantasma then sided with the masked men. The masked men revealed themselves to be Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza, and Fantasma then removed his mask and said his name was Santos Escobar.

Also on NXT, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae beat Keith Lee and Mia Yim in a mixed tag team match, and Finn Balor beat Cameron Grimes after which he made it clear he is targeting Lee and the North American title.

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