AEW Takes Several Verbal Shots At WWE In Latest Episode Of Dynamite

The war between WWE and AEW is on, and the latter is pulling no punches. Seemingly sensing blood in the water after a disastrous and poorly received conclusion to Hell in a Cell, and a dismissive episode of Raw on Monday, AEW's talent took several verbal shots at WWE during Wednesday's episode of Dynamite.

It was just the second episode of Dynamite, but there were already notable improvements from the debut. The commercials and picture-in-picture shots were placed more appropriately, and the mic work was miles ahead of where it was in the first episode.

The biggest star of the evening was Chris Jericho. He introduced his new faction, The Inner Circle, and did it with one of the most effective and entertaining promos I've heard in years. How good was it? It'll probably be referred to as "The Inner Circle" promo in the future.

Yes, it deserves a name.

Besides putting over every member of the faction in the most magisterial way, Jericho also used his mic time and the crowd's chants as a way to stick it to his former employer.

At one point, Jericho said, "we aren't next, we're now." This was a clear shot at the NXT brand. WWE's developmental show was moved from the WWE Network to USA during Dynamite's time slot to compete with the new league. Last week's episode of NXT was fantastic, but WWE somewhat fumbled the rest of the key seven-day period, although SmackDown's Fox debut had its moments.

Still, Jericho's willingness to bring it to the WWE's chest drew a huge crowd reaction, and it effectively threw down the gauntlet for the evening. When the AEW Champion made his way around to Jake Hager, the obvious muscle of The Inner Circle, fans started chanting "We the People." It was a callback from his days with the WWE.

Jericho was prepared, and he quickly stuffed the chant by saying, "we the people sucks, and it's dead. It was a stupid idea from bad creative." That was an eyebrow raiser for sure. If there was any doubt how confrontational AEW plans to be with WWE, those questions should have been put to rest.

Jericho wasn't the only one taking shots at WWE. Legendary announcer Jim Ross, who worked much better with Tony Schiavone and Excalibur on Wednesday, also fired his own shots.

During the tag-team match that pitted Dr. Brit Baker and Riho vs. Sakura and Bea Priestly, the former secured the victory with a mandible claw. As Sakura tapped out, Ross said, "a real mandible claw, by a real dentist." This was clearly a poke at the Bray Wyatt "Fiend" character who has been using the move Mick Foley made famous.

The Fiend was a key participant in the HIAC main event that drew tons of criticism.

Lastly, as fans in the Agganis Arena chanted "AEW" to close the show, Ross said, "they're chanting for what they like." Fans at HIAC booed the close of the match loudly on Sunday, and the energy in the building was completely different.

All things considered, AEW couldn't have used its two hours more effectively as their goal was clearly to exacerbate WWE's recent issues. On Friday, it's WWE's turn to respond.