NXT Or AEW: Which Should You Choose For Your Wrestling Fix?

There are many promotions to choose from these days, but the main ones are still NXT and AEW. But which matches your viewing preferences the most? If you have limited time to watch wrestling during the week, here is an overview that should help you decide between these promotions.

Shock Factor – AEW

If you are looking for the promotion with the biggest shock factor, AEW may be the recommended choice. To give you an example, the recent AEW pay-per-view included a hardcore match with anything from thumb tacks to papercuts, tables, chairs, and barrels. Such extreme wrestling you will no longer find in NXT, so AEW is the advised choice here.

Production Value – NXT

While the production value at AEW is certainly not bad, NXT scores better if you compare the two. There are still some hiccups with the production value at AEW, something that is to be expected from a new promotion. Nevertheless, the differences between NXT and AEW are minor when it comes to production value. Therefore, you could watch either in theory.

Star Power – AEW

When it comes to star power, AEW beats NXT easily. For their latest pay-per-view, the brand had appearances from Arn Anderson, Bret Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, and many others.

Active wrestlers also add to the star power of AEW of course. You can count on the likes of Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose), Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger), Awesome Kong, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Brandi Rhodes, and many more.

The Best Wrestler – NXT

This was a difficult decision to make. Even though Kenny Omega was named as the best wrestler of the year, I cannot say I agree with that statement completely. Kenny Omega certainly belongs to the top wrestlers in the world, but I personally prefer Johnny Gargano in terms of wrestling acumen. I have never seen a talent with such great ring awareness and an ability to correct botches from other wrestlers. I honestly do not think there is a better wrestler out there, not even Kenny Omega. So, I choose NXT for Johnny Gargano.

Best Technical Wrestling (Least Botches) – NXT

Even if you are not a wrestler yourself, you will start to notice botches when you watched wrestling for a long time. When it comes down to a “clean” product, NXT scores better than AEW at the moment.

Of course, you do need to take my choice with a little grain of salt. AEW has some really talented people and it is a relatively new company; this means it takes a bit more time for talent to gel together and to put on flawless matches. Some people have been in NXT for a long time, so they are familiar with their competitor’s moves, speed, and other variables.

The Best Community – NXT and AEW

This was the only factor I could not decide upon. Both NXT and AEW have great communities. Please note, I am talking about the NXT community alone, not the WWE community as a whole.

The reason why both communities are really decent can be found in the nature of the fans in attendance. Let’s face it. Fans who watch NXT and AEW could be considered as die-hard wrestling fans, which usually have more respect for the businesses and its performers. So, if community is extremely important for you, you can find a home at both promotions.

Superstar Approachability – AEW

While AEW does have a large promotion with lots of veterans and big names, superstars are still more approachable compared to NXT. The promotion also travels at the moment, this compared to the WWE who keep their developmental brand at Full Sail University.

Best Matches – NXT

This was another difficult decision to make, especially if you have seen the match between Kenny Omega and Pac (Neville). Still, to make an objective choice, I had to look at the total of matches.

NXT scores slightly better than AEW where matches are concerned. Both brands have excellent matches, but NXT is a little less prone to botched moves.

Exciting New Talent – AEW

If you want to watch some of the most exciting talent currently coming up, then AEW might be the recommended choice. When I started watching AEW, I did encounter people I was already familiar with such as Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Jimmy Havoc, and The Young Bucks. However, I discovered some new talent as well, which I could have easily missed; this includes Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, and Private Party.

Commentators – NXT

This was extremely difficult for me, as I adore Jim Ross and he currently works for AEW. However, if I am 100% honest with myself about whose commentary I enjoy the most at the moment, I have to choose Mauro Ranallo.

Mauro’s energy is infectious and his commentating style cannot really compare to other commentary teams in professional wrestling. Opposed to most commentating in wrestling, Mauro’s commentating is exciting and funny. So, NXT is the recommended choice for me in this field.

Diversity – AEW

When it comes down to the diversity of talent, AEW scores best. From veterans to younger talent, Japanese to American and Mexican talent, AEW has it all.

With NXT, the focus lies mainly with younger talent. While there is some variety in terms of country of origins, the gimmicks, wrestling backgrounds, and wrestling styles are more diverse at AEW.

Accessibility (Online) – NXT

Do not get me wrong, AEW is easy to access for the home crowd as well as the international fans. However, it is a little more complicated compared to NXT. While there are many channels where you can watch AEW, you have to refer to applications such as Fite.Tv, which also contains other sports such as MMA, kickboxing, and boxing. Evidently, this makes it more difficult to find the things you want to watch.

Another downside to AEW is the price. When you want to watch “Fight for the Fallen” for example, you have to purchase it for the same price as you would pay for the entire WWE Network. So, it could turn out to be a little more expensive, especially for international fans.