Former NXT Tag Team Champion Danny Burch has revealed that WWE NXT closely monitored AEW Dynamite in real time during the Wednesday Night Wars, even making last-minute changes to their own broadcast in response.
Speaking on Cafe De Rene, Burch, also known as Martin Stone, described the backstage setup during the head-to-head battle between NXT and All Elite Wrestling. “We would have two TVs in Gorilla, and they would be watching AEW, and then they would be trying to change the show to compete with what they were doing,” Burch said.
He recalled a specific situation involving himself and tag team partner Oney Lorcan, where their planned main event was significantly altered. “We were scheduled to have a 30-minute main event, and I was really excited about it. We had three segments. We’re the Tag Champs, we were gonna get to go out there and really kill it.”
Those plans changed abruptly due to what was happening on Dynamite. “Because they were watching AEW Dynamite and heard that there was a women’s match on first, they cut us to 10 minutes with entrances and said, you guys are gonna go on first so we can steal the opening,” Burch explained.
Burch also addressed WWE’s long-standing stance that WWE NXT was not in direct competition with AEW. He pointed to comments from Shawn Michaels as an example of that messaging. “Shawn used to say, oh well, you’re just working guys that we didn’t want, blah blah,” Burch said, before adding his own perspective. “And I’m sitting there in the back thinking, well, actually, no. Technically, we’re going up against the likes of Chris Jericho and people like that.”
Burch was blunt about what he sees as a contradiction between WWE’s public stance and internal reality. “When they turned around and said we were never in competition, you’re full of it. Yes, you were.”
The Wednesday Night Wars began when AEW Dynamite launched in October 2019, shortly after NXT moved to the USA Network. The two shows aired head-to-head until April 2021, when NXT shifted to Tuesday nights—a move widely viewed as the end of the rivalry period.
Burch’s comments provide a behind-the-scenes look at how intense the competition was, with real-time adjustments highlighting just how closely both sides tracked each other during that era.
Danny Burch Says NXT Changed Shows Mid-Broadcast To Counter AEW Dynamite
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