October 7, 2019 Observer Newsletter: First battle in the Wednesday Night War
The Wednesday night wars began with two very strong but contrasting shows.
Perhaps the surprise, and perhaps not, is that it was the AEW show that felt more like the WWE and it was the NXT show that felt more like a strong territorial show with very good wrestling, a hot crowd, but an overall minor league feel.
If you’re looking for a time, it was 72 minutes before my first text from someone in WWE that, “We’ve got to get out of this building.”
AEW had more emotion and momentum. Going in, you knew that the difference between 14,129 attendance (11,500 paid, and there were empty seats because scalpers bought so many tickets and couldn’t unload them at the end) at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, and 400 equally enthusiastic fans at Full Sail University would give one side the edge. But the production difference was staggering. If you were flipping back-and-forth, one side looked more major league and for the most part, felt like it had bigger stars.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.