"We were rooting for AEW to kick a**" - Kyle O'Reilly's surprising take on the what Wednesday night wars felt like in WWE NXT
The Wednesday Night Wars were a ratings competition between WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite. This was a war between two shows that were similar in style and similar in performers, which is why Kyle O'Reilly was one of a number of NXT Superstars who wanted AEW to do well.
WWE announced in August 2019 that NXT would be expanding to a two hour show and would be moving to the USA Network, the same channel as Monday Night RAW. The show would air on Wednesday nights at the exact same time as Dynamite, which eventually debuted on October 2nd 2019.
NXT changed it up in April 2021, moving to Tuesday nights on the USA Network after Dynamite defeated the show 74 times out of 75 in the key 18-49 demographic.
Speaking with former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho on the "Talk is Jericho" podcast, Kyle O'Reilly gave insight into what it was like to be in the trenches on the black and gold side of the battlefield.
“It was so cool that it was back to two shows going head-to-head. It felt like being a fan in ’98 when it was the Monday Night wars and now we’re part of it on Wednesday,'' said O'Reilly. ''On the other channel is guys who we came up with in this business that we’re rooting for, we were rooting for AEW to kick a** because that elevated our game.''
O'Reilly went on to say that the true winners of the Wednesday Night Wars were the fans because of both sides elevating their game.
''I know our game being elevated would elevate your guys’ [Jericho] game you know. It was a back scratching scenario of just trying to put out the best shows we possibly could, and I think the winners were the fans.” continued O'Reilly.
“Their show went head-to-head against me for over a year, before they had to move it,
That’s just the truth. That’s a black and white statistic”
- Tony Khan on the ‘Wednesday Night Wars’ https://t.co/Z9Nx1hKfsE
Kyle O'Reilly is enjoying his time on Wednesday nights with AEW
Kyle O'Reilly has now jumped to the alternate option to WWE as he recently made his debut in Tony Khan's promotion.
He made his first appearance to a huge reception on the "Holiday Bash" edition of Dynamite. O'Reilly attacked fan favorite Orange Cassidy before aligning himself with former Undisputed Era stablemates Adam Cole and Bobby Fish.
When 2021 started, the idea of the Undisputed Era in AEW...no way. There's no way I'd ever believe that.
The sight of three men who were once seen as the enemy standing in the middle of an AEW ring had fans salivating. This also leaves the question as to whether the fourth Undisputed Era member Roderick Strong would one day make the same jump.
Please credit Talk is Jericho and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use the quotes from this article.