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AEW and NXT Wednesday Night Wars: 3 winners of night #8

By Christopher Jeter

TOKYO,JAPAN - JANUARY 4: "The young bucks" Nick Jackson (L) and Matt Jackson look on during the Wrestle Kingdom 13 at Tokyo Dome on January 04, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images)
TOKYO,JAPAN - JANUARY 4: "The young bucks" Nick Jackson (L) and Matt Jackson look on during the Wrestle Kingdom 13 at Tokyo Dome on January 04, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masashi Hara/Getty Images) /
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2. Darby Allin

Early in AEW’s run, The Elite members have shown thus far that the promotion won’t operate as a vehicle for them to push themselves to the moon at the expense of everyone else.

From an optics perspective, this was a route they sort of had to travel down, but it also speaks to their commitment to getting the younger talent over while preserving their marquee matches.

Of everyone on the midcard, Darby Allin Allin has benefitted the most from this strategy. Starting with that time-limit draw against Cody at Fyter Fest, the former Evolve standout has slowly cultivated a following that’s grown attached to his unique look and devil-may-care ring style.

Following that broadway with “The American Nightmare” and a strong showing against AEW World Champion Chris Jericho, Allin knocked another high-profile opportunity out of the park, this time against John Moxley.

The two put forth a great main event and even in defeat — the bookers are clearly priming Moxley for a title shot in the near future — Allin was elevated by hanging with and nearly beating the hot commodity that is Moxley.

This outing should have convinced anyone who was hesitant to jump on the Allin bandwagon that he is someone that AEW plans to build around for the future.

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