AEW Dynamite preview (Oct. 10, 2023): AEW and WWE are both desperate to win the Tuesday night war

Dynamite airs tonight (Oct. 10) with a live show from Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri. This is the second episode of Dynamite during the seven week build towards Full Gear, which takes place on November 18.

Tony Khan tries to beat WWE by adding one more title match to the Tuesday night war

AEW Dynamite is bumped to Tuesday night this week due to Major League Baseball playoffs. As a result, there is a wrestling war happening tonight when Dynamite goes head-to-head against WWE NXT.

Both companies are desperate to win the battle for ratings. WWE’s show is loaded up with the big guns like John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Asuka, and Paul Heyman. They are even teasing that The Undertaker will make an appearance tonight. To really keep viewers locked in and minimize channel-changing, WWE is running the first 30 minutes of NXT commercial-free.

AEW is responding in kind, loading up this special “Title Tuesday” episode of Dynamite with top stars Adam “Edge” Copeland, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, MJF, Saraya, Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, and Hangman Page. It sounds like the plan will also be for Dynamite to run commercial free for the first half hour, and to include a 10-minute overrun at the end of the night.

But that’s not all! Late last night, AEW President Tony Khan announced a new title match for the Tuesday night war. It will be Eddie Kingston vs. Minoru Suzuki on a free Buy-In show that begins at 7:30 pm ET, leading right into the official start of Dynamite at the top of the hour. Kingston’s ROH world championship and NJPW Strong Openweight title will both be on the line:

Now let’s take a closer look at the full card for Dynamite, following the Buy-In show:

• “The Rated R Superstar” Adam Copeland has his debut match in AEW against Luchasaurus. TNT Champion Christian Cage will also be on hand to answers Copeland’s questions about his recent actions.
• AEW Women’s World Champion Saraya puts the gold on the line against Hikaru Shida. Things on the surface look good for the challenger now that Ruby Soho is banned from ringside, but will Britt Baker show up to screw over Shida?
• Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland is booked for tonight, with the winner earning a TNT title match against Christian.
• Jon Moxley returns to the ring for the first time since suffering a “mild concussion” a few weeks ago. He challenges Rey Fenix for the AEW International Championship. Fenix is very banged up, and it feels like a title change is probably happening here.
• Hangman Page goes one-on-one with Bullet Club Gold leader Jay White. White is the likely winner because he’s the next challenger for AEW World Champion MJF. Page did just lose to Swerve Strickland at WrestleDream, for what it’s worth.
• Chris Jericho takes on Powerhouse Hobbs in a singles match. Jericho is looking for revenge after Hobbs joined the Don Callis Family last week and put a beating on both Jericho and Kenny Omega.
• “Timeless” Toni Storm is “ready for her close-up”, whatever that means.
• MJF is advertised for an appearance on this show, because it would be strange for the world champ to miss out on what Tony Khan has hyped up as the Best Dynamite Ever.

Is this actually the best Dynamite card ever? No, it’s not. In order to meet that level of hype, Copeland would be wrestling someone that is above mid-card status, MJF’s world title would need to be on the line in a main event level title match, there would be hotter angles leading into the matches of Danielson vs. Strickland and White vs. Page, and AEW wouldn’t have botched Power House Hobbs’ push this year, ahead of what’s supposed to be a big match for him with Jericho.

So, it’s not the best Dynamite card ever. But is it good enough to beat WWE NXT in the key demo rating? WWE is probably considered the favorite given the star power of Cena, Rhodes, Lynch, etc. combined with Dynamite being moved out of its normal time slot for the week. But AEW has a history of mopping the floor with NXT in the ratings, so their chances of victory tonight shouldn’t be completely dismissed.

Do you plan to check out Dynamite or NXT live tonight? Let us know in the comments below, Cagesiders.