WWE: NXT VS AEW is not a war among fans, so just enjoy the wrestling

The WWE NXT vs AEW head to head battles on Wednesday are in line to be the most exciting two hours of wrestling television we have seen in 20 years.

This is the final week of wrestling before AEW debuts its Wednesday night show on TNT. AEW Dynamite will reside from Washington D.C. next week. Meanwhile, WWE NXT has already made its debut on the USA network and received solid reviews in the process.

The impending NXT vs AEW head to head battles on Wednesday are in line to be the most exciting two hours spent channel hopping back and forth we’ve seen as wrestling fans since 1999.

This time it’s a little different. This should not be viewed as a war among us fans, just sit back and enjoy the wrestling.

The entire “war” between AEW and NXT is and should be between the companies themselves and them alone. They are competing for your eyes, attention and dollars. They are in the wrestling business; the key word being business.

All of the ads paid for by AEW and NXT on cable are there to stir up your emotions to get you excited about their brand of wrestling. What it shouldn’t do is feed you a disillusioned prophecy that their promotions are the only form of professional wrestling you should watch.

Which brings me to the amazing parallels between the two companies. AEW was born this year and has stamped themselves as a wrestling alternative for everyone. In the 9 months that All Elite Wrestling has been open for business, they’ve been seen in the eyes of pundits as a breath of fresh air to the WWE norm.

Fresh, creative ideas by their executives who have their pulse on the business. This is a promotion being booked by the wrestlers themselves. While they are attempting to distinguish themselves as an alternative from the WWE main roster, the third brand in World Wrestling Entertainment has already busted through the glass ceiling of what has been the mainstream norm for the last 2 decades.

NXT has been seen as the development system for the WWE main roster. The promotion has been spearheaded by Triple H, a former hall of fame wrestler himself. He brings with him a pedigree (pun intended) of creativity, wrestling intellect and is seen as a mastermind who has his pulse on the wrestling industry. Something that the RAW and Smackdown sometimes fail to address on a weekly basis. The parallels don’t end there.

Some of the names at the top of the AEW card are as follows: Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and Adam Page. These five men are examples of talent who made their names on the independent scene first before exploding onto the rosters of Ring of Honor. At the height of ROH’s working relationship with New Japan, these five men just  so happened to be apart of the Bullet Club. Apart from Page, they all have also spent time in and excelled in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, based out of California.

Names near or at top of the NXT food chain include The Undisputed Era, Johnny Gargano, Matt Riddle and Keith Lee. Triple H signed all of these men away from their respective independent promotions and placed them in NXT.

The entire Undisputed Era – Adam Cole, Kyle O’ Reilly, Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong – were signed away from where? You guessed it: Ring Of Honor. The four men all feuded with one another there, Cole was a member of The Bullet Club with Omega, The Bucks and Adam Page in New Japan. Gargano, Riddle and Keith Lee made their presences known in? Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. They often shared and headlined cards with the aforementioned AEW talent. Do we see a pattern yet?

An abundance of talent in their respective women’s divisions? Check. Underutilized talents on WWE programming being used in story-lines of meaning on NXT and AEW programming? Check. While AEW has the decisive tag team wrestling edge at the moment, NXT may soon have a resurgence of dynamic duos. Teams coming from NXT UK and 205 Live are being brought in to replenish the depleted tag team void left behind by the departures of Heavy Machinery, The Viking Raiders and The Authors Of Pain to the WWE main roster.

Kenny Omega broke the internet wrestling community with his comments last week. While staying in character, Omega referenced “going to war with people he calls his friends.” Omega later stirred the proverbial pot. He referred to these same friends he was going to war against, currently in NXT as “guys who would be in the dark or opening match of a card that he would be in the main event of.” All of this was done in good, competitive fun. Something that can easily be misconstrued as him being a conceded jerk who was bashing his newfound “rival.”

Dominik Dijakovic from the NXT roster followed in tune with his own retort. He took a stand, in character no less, defending his fellow NXT cohorts. Both of these comments were examples of individuals who kept their comments “kayfabe”.

They were perceived by some wrestling fans and members of the media as bashing the other promotion’s workers, when all Omega and Dijakovic did was get us talking about the “impending war” between NXT and AEW; really following through in these initial stages before they go head to head on prime-time network television.

What I thought they were trying to convey to us was this: any form of bulletin board material is free press and we are going to stir up a metaphorical war. One in which you, the consumer, has to pick a side. When the reality is this you can and should watch both NXT and AEW.

If there is one you should have learned by watching the CM Punk panel at Starrcast, it’s simply that we as wrestling fans make our own decisions on what we watch. If the product is fantastic and appeals to our liking, we should watch that program. We should not be irrational about which brand is better or who has the most exciting characters in a promotion.

If AEW and NXT both resonate with you as a viewer and draw you in with their form of entertainment, then go right ahead and watch both. You don’t have to take a stand by one or the other. Sit back and enjoy the incredible action on Wednesday nights beginning Oct. 2.

Both promotions are going to wow you with “did you see what just happened” moments. The ultimate decision here (I will be doing this every Wednesday) is to flip back and forth between 2 of the most innovative and exciting brands of wrestling we have ever seen.