Frozen wings vs fresh wings in the air fryer, and I picked the frozen ones

My roommate bet me $20 that fresh wings would beat frozen ones in the air fryer, so I ran both batches on a Tuesday night, 12 wings each, same 400 degrees. The fresh ones came out better on the skin, no question, but the frozen ones hit 90 percent of the way there with zero prep and I had them in the basket in 30 seconds. I did frozen at 400 for 22 minutes, shook them at the 12 minute mark, and they came out crispy enough that nobody at the table could tell which was which until I said it. For a random weeknight I'll take that trade every time. Anyone got a trick for getting fresh wings closer to that no effort level, or is a dry brine the move?