WWE NXT Wins Head to Head Battle with AEW Dynamite

WWE's stacked episode of NXT takes the win in head to head with AEW Dynamite's Title Tuesday

By Matthew Aguilar

It's been quite some time since the wrestling world saw WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite go head-to-head, which is partly why last night's showdown was so noteworthy. It was also noteworthy because both WWE and AEW stacked the deck with anticipated cards and appearances, and now the numbers for the night are officially in. Wrestlenomics is reporting that NXT emerged as the victor in viewership and the P18-49 demo with 921,000 viewers and a 0.30 rating in the demo against AEW's 609,000 viewers and 0.26 rating. You can view all the numbers and stats below for the night.

Dynamite dropped from last week's 800,000 viewers and also saw a slight drop in the demo from 0.28. NXT saw a move up from last week's 857,000 viewers and saw a sizable jump in the demo from last week's rating of 0.22.  Both shows ended up having portions that were commercial-free, and both included Title matches amongst their cards.

Dynamite's card included a Number One Contender's Match for the TNT Championship between Bryan Danielson and Swerve Strickland, as well as a match for the AEW International Championship between Rey Fenix and Orange Cassidy (who was stepping in for Jon Moxley). The Women's World Championship was also up for grabs in a match between Saraya and Hikaru Shida, and few expected two new Champions to emerge from the episode.

That's exactly what happened though, as Cassidy reclaimed the AEW International Championship, while Shida also reclaimed the Women's World Championship from Saraya. Meanwhile, in NXT, there was only one Title match, which was revealed by guest GM Cody Rhodes. The match would be for the NXT Championship and would be between Ilja Dragunov and Dominik Mysterio, but Rhodes didn't want another Judgement Day interference win, so he brought in LA Knight to serve as special referee.

Judgement Day did indeed try to turn things their way, with Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor trying to get involved, but Knight kept them at bay, allowing Dragunov to take down Mysterio and retain his NXT Championship. In addition to Rhodes and Knight, NXT included appearances from Asuka, Jade Cargill, Solo Sikoa, John Cena, Paul Heyman, Tegan Nox, and The Undertaker throughout the night.

It also included some intriguing setups and threads for down the line, but that's another article for another time. As it stands, Tuesday was a fun night of wrestling across the board, whether you're a fan of NXT or AEW. That said, this doesn't look to become a regular thing, though with Raw and NXT still up for grabs as far as TV deals, perhaps we could see more face-offs down the line if NXT ever changes nights again.

What did you think of last night's NXT and Dynamite? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!

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