AEW and NXT Wednesday Night Wars: 3 winners of night #9

Kenny Omega

No one has represented AEW’s slow and steady approach to weekly television more than Kenny Omega. When the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion left the familiar confines of New Japan Pro Wrestling to join his pals on this uncharted venture, many fans expected “The Best Bout Machine” to sit in the pole position as far as babyfaces are concerned.

While that has, by and large, remained true in the promotion’s first few months of existence, Omega has also taken a backseat to the likes of Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho in terms of prominence.

As I’ve said before regarding Cody and The Young Bucks, AEW had to play it this way to stave off any favoritism criticisms, but there’s no question that a long AEW title run for Omega is in their future plans.

In the short term, AEW seems content using Omega to boost the stock of other ascending stars – even when wins – and that’s what he did in his match with PAC this past Wednesday on Dynamite.

The two outdid their previous effort at last September’s All Out pay-per-view, but this time, Omega cradled the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion to even the head-to-head score between them (kudos to PAC for selling the roll-up as an inescapable pinning combination and to Omega for hooking the leg at the end for extra leverage). The finish gave Omega a needed marquee win while protecting PAC and both wrestlers’ finishers.