AEW and NXT Wednesday Night Wars: 3 winners of night #1

Chris Jerrico puts the Smackdown on CW Punk during the WWE Raw event at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore., Monday February 27th, 2012. (Photo by Chris Ryan/Corbis via Getty Images)
Chris Jerrico puts the Smackdown on CW Punk during the WWE Raw event at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore., Monday February 27th, 2012. (Photo by Chris Ryan/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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Finn Balor

The second Finn Balor’s music blasted out of the Full Sail Arena speakers, he felt like a bigger star than he ever did on the main roster, with few exceptions.

Following Adam Cole’s successful NXT Championship defense against Matt Riddle — a match that you should go out of your way to see — the longest-reigning NXT Champ in history interrupted Cole’s celebration to an uproarious ovation, a reaction that grew even louder when Balor declared himself an NXT roster member.

If NXT hadn’t moved to the USA Network, this would’ve felt like a slight step down for the former Universal Champion.

Instead, Balor comes across as a legitimate big name who will bolster an already loaded NXT roster. Plus, he can more or less pick a NXT wrestler’s name out of a hat, and it would be an exciting dream match.

Here’s the thing: McMahon was probably never going to push Balor as the top guy on the main roster. After all, this is a man who had Balor take beatdown after beatdown in 2018 in an effort to get Kane over as a monster heel. He always seemed to view the Bullet Club founder as a second-tier star who could enhance the acts he really wanted to push. There was always going to be a thick ceiling that Balor would likely never penetrate.

That won’t be an issue in NXT. The creative team down there will make the most of Balor’s talents, and rebuild the aura McMahon stripped away from him with endless feuds and silly storylines.

Based on that alone, Balor comes away as a big winner this week.