The War Report: March 10, 2021 - Bálor vs. Cole, Christian Cage Meets Kenny Omega
NXT vs. AEW: Dynamite - which was the better show this week?
Storyline Development
With NXT announcing TakeOver: Stand & Deliver (insert Adam Ant impersonation here) in less than a month, this week served to both; A. end current feuds to start new ones, and B. continue simmering feuds as we head to the two-night TakeOver.
After Io defeated Toni Storm, she went up to Raquel Gonzalez backstage and said I want you next. Why? I don’t know. Surely as the champ she should wait for contenders, not just cherry pick members of losing tag teams? WWE clearly have high hopes for Raquel, but I don’t think she’s right to end Io’s reign. Not yet anyway.
Kyle O’Reilly beat seven shades out of Adam Cole after Cole lost the NXT Title match. I’m loving KOR’s generic GTA trailer trash look of Metallica tee, battle vest and mullet. A timeless look. No sign of Roddy this week, wonder if he’ll get involved soon? Talking of which, Cole didn't say Undisputed Era was dead, just that he cut the dead weight…
Xia Li vs. her former mates continued, with Kacy Catanzaro giving her a DQ win after smacking Li about with a crutch. I’m smelling either Li and Boa vs. The KCs, or Li and Mei Ying vs. The KCs.
MSK got revenge on Grizzled Young Veterans, Breezango got revenge on Legado del Fantasma, and Lorcan and Burch... didn’t have a match. Think that's one bout in five weeks for the champs unless I'm mistaken? Let’s hope the NXT Women’s Tag Titles are booked better than the Men’s titles currently are.
And we finally have it confirmed that Karrion Kross wants his NXT Title back. Finn’s “what took you so long?” Was pretty neat I will admit.
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AEW were no slouches this week either. We had the aforementioned development of the Mox/Kingston vs. Omega and pals story, with Christian Cage throwing his peep-hat into the mix, attempting The Impaler/Unprettier/Killswitch on Omega, before setting his sights on the AEW title.
Rhodes vs. Penta will be a good rivalry too, I just hope the old arm-breaking Penta of Lucha Underground emerges, so we can write Cody off for a few months so he can go home and be a family man.
Exciting news for the women’s division as Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa are set to headline Dynamite next week with an unsanctioned Lights Out match. I hope this doesn’t end this feud, keep it going and going please.
The same can’t be said for Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor against Kip Sabian and Miro. But it looks like the end is nigh, as Chuck asked for one more match, and said if they lose Chuck’ll return to being Charles the Butler.
QT Marshall’s disillusionment with The Nightmare Family continued, as he watched on as Ethan Page battered Big Shotty Lee. Big Money Matt vs. The Dark Order looks set to continue, and Scorpio Sky is now a dick. Great stuff.
As for the Inner Circle War Council? More on that in a minute, I told you that already.
Winner: NXT. Could have gone either way this one. While yes, NXT’s quick turnarounds of feuds feels disjointed, we do have several programmes lined up for TakeOver. After all, it is a two-night show, so they’re going to need to absolutely stack the card. AEW kept things ticking over too, and with a St. Patrick’s Day Special next week, I’m expecting more fireworks. Planned ones though, not a Kenny Omega timebomb.
