Winners, News And Notes On The Tuesday Night War

WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite went head-to-head on Tuesday for a one-off that will forever be known as the Tuesday Night Wars. AEW has gotten the better of WWE in head-to-head competition. The upstart company dominated the Wednesday Night Wars from October 19, 2019 to April 7, 2021. During that span, AEW Dynamite bested WWE NXT in 63 head-to-head showdowns compared to just 10 wins for NXT. The two brands tied twice.

Though he was at the helm during the bitter loss, which resulted in a revamp of the once piping-hot NXT brand, Triple H was dismissive of the Wednesday Night Wars.

“People put so much pressure on this competitive war. It never was that,” Triple H told Ariel Helwani of BT Sport (h/t Wrestling Inc). “First of all, they beat our developmental system. Good for them.”

Even as the favorite to come away with another head-to-head victory, Tony Khan sang a different tone. Following AEW’s triumphs in the Wednesday Night Wars, and even the Friday Night War, The AEW President and CEO will be gunning for AEW to add another notch on its belt.

“It’s ‘Title Tuesday,’ only the second time in ‘Dynamite’ history we’ll have four title matches on the same show,” Khan told Sports Illustrated (h/t Wrestling Inc).

“It’s important for us to be the most-watched wrestling show,” added Khan. “We want to maintain the great audience we consistently have on Wednesdays and bring it to this one-time-only Tuesday special. We want to be the number-one wrestling show this week on Tuesday.”

WWE NXT Results | October 18, 2022

• Rhea Ripley def. Roxanne Perez
• Shinsuke Nakamura def. Stacks
• Alba Fyre def. Sonya Deville
• Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams def. Oro Mensah and Wes Lee
• Cameron Grimes and The O.C. def. Schism
• Quincy Elliot def. Xyon Quinn
• Raquel Rodriguez def. Cora Jade

AEW Dynamite Results | October 18, 2022

• Death Triangle def. Orange Cassidy and Best Friends | Trios Championship
• Toni Storm def. Hikaru Shida | AEW Women’s Interim World Championship
• Chris Jericho def. Dalton Castle | ROH World Championship
• Jon Moxley def. Hangman Adam Page | AEW World Championship

• AEW Dynamite Venue: Heritage Bank Center (Cincinnati, OH)
• AEW Tickets Distributed: 4,282
• AEW Tickets Available: 1,591

WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite Winners and Highlights

Rhea Ripley def. Roxanne Perez

The Judgment Day has been a focal point on WWE Raw, so this faction kicking off WWE NXT, not to mention former NXT megastar Rhea Ripley, means WWE is putting its best foot forward.

Fans chanted “Judgment Day” and “Rhea” as poor Roxanne Perez seemed destined for the “uncool babyface” role against a main roster star.

Rhea Ripley’s ring gear become more like Demolition with every passing week.

Dominik Mysterio interfered and he was booed about as much as a main roster star can get booed an NXT crowd.

Death Triangle def. Orange Cassidy and Best Friends

Penta El Zero M is coming fresh off of an emotional victory over Villano IV, but didn’t seem any worse for wear.

This was a styles clash in the opening matches as AEW went with high-flying trios match compared to NXT’s more traditional “David vs. Goliath” matchup between Rhea Ripley and Roxanne Perez.

WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite went to their first commercial break at basically the same time, so at one point it was Picture-in-Picture battle of “Dish” vs. Downey.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Stacks

Tony D’Angelo expertly trolled the audience by going to commercial break right before unveiling Stacks’ opponent. This happened during the same time as a backstage promo with Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter.

Backstage, Grayson Waller was interrupted by Chucky, who received a nice pop.

Shinsuke Nakamura received one of the biggest pops he’s ever had since being in the old NXT.

On one hand, WWE is loading up NXT with main roster stars in an attempt to beat AEW in the Tuesday Night Wars. On the other hand, it could hurt the NXT brand if all the main roster stars—who are already more popular—prevail.

Toni Storm def. Hikaru Shida

Between the curiosity surrounding Stacks’ opponent, and AEW women’s segments traditionally underperforming, I expect WWE NXT to win this quarter-hour—especially with AEW in commercial for much of the early goings of this match.

Between the crowd reactions for this match and Shinsuke-Stacks, you would think there were 4,000 fans in the CWC.

This match also featured the return of another Japanese star as Riho made the save for Storm and Shida against Britt Baker and Co.

Alba Fyre def. Sonya Deville

Judging by the staggering one-piece from Mandy Rose, I’m guessing not a lot of people were changing the channel during her promo.

This was a much-needed win for Team NXT as Alba Fyre looked good against Deville.

Alba Fyre had a sloppy comeback against the heels before confronting Mandy Rose with the baseball bat. Mandy Rose has had the WWE NXT Women’s Championship forever, but Alba just doesn’t feel like she’s the person to beat Mandy. At least, not yet.

MJF Confronts William Regal

This was the only point of the night where I didn’t even think about changing the channel. Both were that good.

MJF once again leaned on WWE references, and even expressed disdain for Regal because he didn’t recommend a young MJF to be signed to the company. MJF is the last person in AEW who should come off like somebody who showed up in Jacksonville because WWE didn’t want him. He’s a homegrown talent, arguably the biggest star in the company and, in real life, WWE would bend over backwards to get him.

William Regal hung in there with MJF, who received babyface reactions. Despite being booed at the beginning of his promo, Regal really turned the crowd around to his line of thinking. By the end of these promos, fans didn’t know who to cheer.

Backstage, Wheeler Yuta cut a whiny heel promo on Bryan Danielson because Danielson trusted Daniel Garcia. I don’t know if Wheeler Yuta can pull off being a heel, but it couldn’t hurt his development as a performer.

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams def. Oro Mensah and Wes Lee

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams continue to shine as an act, and it just feels like a matter of time before they’re on the main roster.

Williams looks like he’s been putting on more muscle of late, which will help him in any era of WWE. More in-ring experience is a must, though.

There were a series of great high spots from the combatants in this Saturday’s ladder match, and if tonight was any indication, that match is going to be wild.

Chris Jericho def. Dalton Castle

Dalton Castle received a lot of pageantry for his entrance.

Castle refused to shake Chris Jericho’s hand before this match. Instead, he dug in his tights and pulled out a middle finger. So much for the Code of Honor.

The Boys and Jake Hager interfered liberally throughout this match, and per usual, poor Aubrey Edwards was helpless to stop it. Thankfully, she later got her heat back by standing up to Chris Jericho as the two came chest-to-chest.

Not only did Jericho not cheat to win this time around, he didn’t even get all of the Judas Effect on Dalton Castle.

Jericho and the JAS attacked Ian Ricaboni after the match and even tombstoned Jerry Lynn to be sure.

Cameron Grimes and The Good Brothers def. Schism

Of course, The Good Brothers were over like rover, but this was also a good showcase for Cameron Grimes.

Remember all those rumors about Joe Gacy joining the Wyattverse? Is that not a thing anymore?

Following this match, WWE teased another surprise as they asked “who’s going to host Halloween Havoc?” After their first surprise paid off well with Shinsuke Nakamura, this was a worthwhile tease. The bad news? It was to go head-to-head with the Demo God.

Backstage, there was a very realistic promo exchange between Damon Kemp and Julius Creed. Both of these guys have a bright future in WWE and people need to stop sleeping on Kemp. WWE finally acknowledged Kemp’s relationship to Gabe Steveson by telling Kemp “you’re not even the best athlete in your own family.”

Shotzi Returns, Quincy Elliot def. Xyon Quinn

Shotzi will host Halloween Havoc (again) as the NXT Alumni parade continued. Xyon Quinn offered to be her co-host. Quincy Elliot interrupted and asked the same question, and fans were much more into it.

Quincy Elliot donned fantastic ring gear that can only be described as “Glam Glam Bigelow.”

Shotzi got to say, maybe, five words while on commentary during this short match.

I was dying to see how Booker T would take to Quincy Elliot, and he did not disappoint as he compared Elliot to his former tag team partner Goldust.

There was a historical segment of Chase U as he educated his students about Halloween Havoc. That’s exactly what Chase U should be. Like, they could even sell tuitions doing this. This segment was also interrupted by Chucky.

Jon Moxley def. Hangman Adam Page

Hangman Adam Page attacked Jon Moxley in the crowd during his entrance, sealing his inevitable role as the heel for tonight.

To the surprise of nobody, Jon Moxley bled minutes into this match.

A shot of MJF’s suite was empty, suggesting MJF might cash in tonight.

The ringside physician stopped this match which meant there were two non-finishes in the same segment between WWE and NXT.

Between MJF’s empty suite and William Regal coming to ringside, there were all the symptoms of an MJF cash-in and a William Regal heel-turn. Turns out, the Hangman injury seemed to be legit as AEW scrambled to promote Rampage and Jon Moxley was forced to ad-lib in a profanity laced promo.

MJF answered Moxley’s promo by bringing out a referee and teasing a cash-in. MJF gave Regal the chip and agreed to cash in the chip at Full Gear with Moxley at 100%. It was great storytelling given Regal’s promo earlier about how MJF shouldn’t take shortcuts.

Cora Jade def. Raquel Rodriguez by DQ

It would have been bad booking to have both Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez lose en route to Saturday. Instead, Jade picked up a DQ victory after Raquel Rodriguez destroyed her with a kendo stick.

The KO Show with Breakker, Dragunov and McDonagh

The KO Show segment just made me want to see a Fatal 4-Way in the NXT TakeOver main event. Owens is literally everything that is missing from this feud.

Austin Theory came out with the Money in the Bank briefcase and received a massive reaction. If I were Austin Theory, given his current losing streak on the main roster, I’d consider cashing in on the NXT champion too.

AEW finally made it off the air at 7:00 p.m. PST, but WWE NXT benefited from an overrun. It’ll be interesting to see who wins. Watch the Pro Wrestling Bits video above for my official prediction!