WWE, who had a few weeks' head start with NXT on TV, did their very best to counter-program AEW's debut - giving viewers three title matches and the big return of Finn Balor (and with him, the confirmation that NXT is its own brand and not as much of a developmental league), but the buzz was undoubtedly surrounding AEW. This fledgling promotion, filled with some truly talented performers, is untested and unformed as an episodic series. What would it borrow from? What new things would it bring to the table?We've seen the handful of larger PPV events that AEW has run - starting way back with 2018's (technically) non-AEW show All In, but how would they go about filling their first two hours on TNT? How would they serve their fervent fanbase? How would they introduce themselves to new eyes, unfamiliar with the product? The results, aside from a few stumbles, were pretty great.
It certainly helps that AEW is anchored by the likes of Cody Rhodes, John Moxley, and Chris Jericho, all famous WWE ex-pats who are scheduled to appear in big ways at the next AEW PPV. And it also probably helps that the end of the episode, following a chaotic main event (that did have a finish, yes), included all of these guys, plus Dustin Rhodes and the surprise appearance of Jake Hager (formerly WWE's Jack Swagger). I'll throw some of the same criticism AEW's way that I volleyed at NXT which is that massive brawls don't usually make for good TV.
For NXT though, I was able to write that "It didn't feel like NXT." Because it didn't. That brand doesn't usually empty its locker room. And the NXT chaos actually ruined a good match. Here, the waters are a little muddier because AEW doesn't have a blueprint. We were all tuning in to see what the show would be. So ending things with Moxley attacking Kenny Omega (with a Death Rider through a glass table!) and then a big Hager beat down on the Rhodes brothers - well - was what it was. It wasn't spitting in the face of any precedent. It wasn't trying too hard. Okay, maybe it was a little, because it's rare to see a wrestling premiere that doesn't have a full scale melee. It's kind of a one-size-fits, turnkey way of blasting fans with confusion and calamity.
But again, AEW's donnybrook wasn't exactly the same as NXT's. It was more one-sided, for sure, with the villains (Jericho, Hager, Santana, and Ortiz) delivering an aggro ass-whooping to the babyfaces. Naturally too, with Tony Schiavone on hand to call the action alongside Jim Ross, it harmlessly harkened back to some of the NWO's notorious show closers. It also more firmly established what everyone's role was on the roster instead of smushing them all up in a giant porridge of punching.The rest of the show went down a lot more smoothly. The presentation was clean, the crowd was electric, and most of the matches were thrilling - especially Riho vs. Nyla Rose! Look, do some of the screws need to be tightened? Of course. But I'd also insist that fans are rabidly into AEW because it's not as tight a game as WWE. Because it feels looser. We didn't get a ton of "story" here, but that didn't matter. The "story" was AEW. It was a new promotion making its first big splash. Also, it's 2019 so Maxwell Jacob Friedman berating Brandon Cutler for being an avid tabletop gamer is way more everyone's speed than the cheating spouse bulls*** that we saw at the end of RAW this week.
Though, to be fair, if this storyline somehow winds up, a year from now, with MJF being the biggest D&D fan ever, playing with a Level 20 Wood Elf Moon Druid, then it just might be the best angle in wrestling history.
The sidebars used to hype the upcoming tag team tournament, which featured an SCU/Lucha Brothers brawl on the ramp and Private Party coming to the rescue of Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes felt off. Mostly because square-pegging promotion for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot felt like too much for a premiere episode, and then Smith's kind words about Jericho blurred the kayfabe lines a little bit on an episode where Jericho was being a sinister son of a bitch. So AEW still needs to work on its shorter non-match bits, but fortunately the bulk of the show focused on the promotions' bread and butter, which were matches that captivated the crowd.AEW has been gifted with an avalanche of goodwill. Simply put, there is an electricity, an energy, surrounding this company that crackles through when you hear the live crowds. The fans on hand were loud and into everything. Every move in every match was met with an "Oooh" and "Aaaah." And the three-man announce team were all babyface. It's a something I've come to appreciate more, for sure, as I've grown weary of distracting non-stop arguing while matches are happening. I guess, if I had to tweak things, we don't need three faces, just two, but everything on the commentary side still felt supportive, informative, engaged, and dialed in.
Riho's victory over Nyla Rose, to become the first-ever AEW Women's Champion, was the premiere's shining moment. It was the only match on the show with true stakes and the you could feel it in the crowd pop as the ref's hand hit the mat for the three. Cody vs. Sammy Guevara, as the premiere's opening bout, was the next most-crucial contest, as pressure mounted for Guevara to show the world why he was given, and heavily-hyped, as part of the first TV match in AEW history. Both men delivered though, and then Jericho swooped in for a post-match attack on Cody. Pro-wrestling was alive and well and in good hands.