The Wednesday Night Wars continue with two big shows this week. NXT has a Women’s Battle Royale as well as the Gauntlet Eliminator match. While AEW is headlined by Jon Moxley, Will Hobbs, and Darby Allin taking on Lance Archer, Brian Cage, and Ricky Starks.
AEW will also feature a big match between Brodie Lee and Orange Cassidy for the TNT Championship match. This is a weird one as this is two of the bigger stars in AEW, but the match was announced with no story behind it or any promos building it up. Very strange and unlike how AEW normally does things.
The gauntlet eliminator match is a new concept to NXT where two men will start in the ring and then a new competitor will join every four minutes. You can only be eliminated by pin or submission, and the last man standing will face Finn Balor at NXT TakeOver. The match will feature Bronson Reed, Kushida, Kyle O’Reilly, Cameron Grimes and Timothy Thatcher.
The winner of the Women’s Battle Royale on NXT will face Io Shirai at NXT TakeOver for the NXT Women’s Championship.
Complete odds for AEW, NXT, and the TV ratings for both shows are below.
AEW Dynamite Betting Odds:
- Jon Moxley, Will Hobbs, and Darby Allin (-177) vs. Lance Archer, Brian Cage, and Ricky Starks (+125)
- Brodie Lee (-1000) vs. Orange Cassidy (+500)
- Hikaru Shida & Thunder Rosa (-625) vs. Ivelisse & Diamante (+350)
The best bet of the night looks to be the team of Lance Archer, Brian Cage, and Ricky Starks. This is the first time this heel group is working together and it could be the start of some domination by them. The match between Moxley and Archer would be built up a lot more as well with a big Archer win here. Darby can take a pin and not lose much while nobody would be surprised to see Hobbs take a pin in his first high profile match.
The Brodie Lee/Orange Cassidy match came out of nowhere and it just feels like Brodie is going to retain because of the absolute lack of build-up for this one. Lee dominated Cody and you have to expect he is going to continue his reign of terror until Cody comes back. It’s still very weird that he is facing Orange here with no promotion after Orange Cassidy just beat Chris Jericho. Some thing is up here, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Bet Orange Cassidy if you feel like buying a lottery ticket. Just don’t be mad when it doesn’t come in.
Ivelisse is coming off an ugly match against Rosa that saw her act rather unprofessionally and it would be surprising if this isn’t her AEW farewell match. These odds are right on.
WWE NXT Betting Odds:
- Number 1 Contender Women’s Battle Royal:
Rhea Ripley (-278) vs. The Field (+190)
- Rhea Ripley -278
- Candice LeRae +200
- Raquel González +200
- Xia Li +500
- Shotzi Blackheart +700
- Dakota Kai +800
- Tegan Nox +1000
- Kacy Catanzaro +3300
- Kayden Carter +3300
- Aliyah +4000
- Indi Hartwell +5000
- Gauntlet Eliminator match: Bronson Reed (+150) vs. Kyle O’Reilly (+175) vs. Kushida (+350) s. Cameron Grimes (+475) vs. Timothy Thatcher (+475)
Thus far we only have odds on this women’s battle royale on the books for NXT. It definitely feels like NXT is trying to re-heat Rhea Ripley after they blew it with her and her feud with Charlotte Flair. At last year’s Survivor Series she looked like the next big star in the women’s division and she’s fallen so far in that time with no fault of her own.
We are getting to the point where Io Shirai is going to lose her title and this is as good of a match as any to get us to the person who is going to do that. Rhea Ripley definitely feels like the winner.
Similar to the Orange Cassidy match, there are plenty of lottery tickets in here if you want them. Dakota Kai is always treated well in NXT, Xia Li is ready for a bigger role in NXT, and Kacy Cantanzaro is always featured above her level. Nothing would shock me, but this definitely feels like Rhea’s match to lose.
The Gauntlet Eliminator match brings some much needed fresh blood to the title scene. Bronson Reed is the presumptive favorite here, but I have a hard time seeing that. I think the best bets are Kyle O’Reilly who is beyond due for his ascension into the singles ranks and Kushida who would be guaranteed to have a great match with Finn at TakeOver.
Wrestling TV Ratings War:
- Over/Under – AEW (TNT – 9/23): 0.85 million or more – Yes (-112) / No (-125)
- Over/Under – NXT (USA Network): 0.7 million or more – Yes (+100) / No (-139)
- Spread – AEW (TNT): 0.175 million more than NXT (USA Network) – Yes (-125) / No (-112)
Last week saw AEW finish with 886,000 viewers and NXT finished with 689,000 viewers. The total on AEW was 0.85 million so that was an over. The total on NXT last week was 0.65 million so that was also an over. AEW did not beat NXT by 0.225 million though.
The shows are likely to get some competition from the NBA in the form of the Celtics/Heat series as well as NHL and MLB. That competition makes it somewhat surprising that the NXT number is higher than last week and the AEW number is the same.
AEW and NXT could both see their numbers down a bit this week with the NHL and NBA playoffs against them.
Upcoming Events:
| Event: | Date: | Where to Bet: |
|---|---|---|
| WWE Royal Rumble 2022 | January 29 | BetOnline.Ag. |
| AEW Revolution | March 6 | BetOnline.Ag. |
| WWE WrestleMania | April 3 | BetOnline.Ag. |
