Tags
"Filthy" Tom Lawlor, 205 Live, Aerostar, AJ Styles, Americanrana 19, Angel Garza, Ángel De Oro, Bestia Del Ring, Beyond Wrestling, Big E, Candice LaRae, Chris Dickinson, CMLL, Contra Unit, Daga, Daisuke Sekimoto, Gran Final De La Copa Dinastias 2019, Impact Wrestling, Io Shirai, Jacob Fatu, Jake Crist, Jessamyn Duke, Joaquin Wilde, Josef Samael, Karl Anderson, Kevin Owens, Lowrider, Luke Gallows, Marina Shafir, Marshal Von Erich, Matthew Justice, MLW, MLW Fusion, Niebla Roja, NXT, NXT Breakout Tournament, NXT UK, NXT Women's Championship, OVE, Raw, Ricochet, Ross Von Erich, Rush, Sami Callahan, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, Shayna Baszler, Simon Gotch, Smackdown Live, Teddy Hart, Tessa Blanchard, The New Day, Uncharted Territory, WrestleCircus, WrestleCircus Big Top Revival, WWE, WWE Stomping Grounds, WWE United States Championship, Xavier Woods
As I have said many many times and I’ll say it again there is an abundance of wrestling at our disposal that it’s almost a dream come true because I remember being a teenager and wanting more wrestling than just the WWE and WCW because they were only on certain nights of the week. Now, we live in a world where you are getting WWE’s programming (RAW, Smackdown Live, 205 Live, NXT, NXT UK plus PPV’s when applicable), Impact Wrestling (free on Twitch), and so much independent wrestling whether it be Ring Of Honor TV on Fite, or all the various independent promotions that are on Independent Wrestling TV like Beyond Wrestling and ICW New York to name a few. Now, we are in the midst of a revolution in wrestling especially since AEW debuted with Double Or Nothing and with the fact that they have a weekly show coming in September. So with all this wrestling going on, I am once again here to present to you guys what I consider to be the top matches of the week from all the promotions that I have watched. If there is any match I may have missed and you think I should check it out then tweet me @EddieValiant82 on Twitter. Here are the matches that I believe you should check out, but to hear what my match of the week was, you’ll have to tune into my podcast Five Star Wrestling Podcast to find out when we read our five star moments/match of the week.
Tessa Blanchard vs Jake Crist (Impact Wrestling 6/21/2019)
Much like the WWE, it’s hard to find anything to be happy about when it comes to Impact Wrestling, but despite all of the hiccups the product seems to be getting better. One of the things the company does right usually is their Impact Knockouts division and one of my favorites is Tessa Blanchard who took on Jake Crist of OVE in a rare intergender match. Jake was instructed by Sami Callahan to get a victory over Tessa who interjected herself into their business the week before, but Tessa came out of the gates hot hitting Jake with some vicious forearms before launching herself not once, not twice, but three successful suicide dives. Unfortunately her advantage didn’t last long as Jake Crist was just vicious in the ring with her especially when he was raking her face with his forearm. Eventually, she would fight back and she got her opportunity when she climbed the ropes and she nailed Crist with the magnum. That was all it took as she covered him for the 1-2-3 and believe me Sami Callahan was not happy.
Rush & Bestia Del Ring vs Ángel De Oro & Niebla Roja (CMLL LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 6/21/2019)
As you all know in CMLL, every match is fought in a best two out of three falls match and the first few falls are usually very short in time frame. Ring Of Honor sensation Rush and his partner Bestia Del Ring took on the brothers Ángel De Oro (Miguel Chavez) and Niebla Roja (Sergio Chavez) in the Gran Final De La Copa Dinastias 2019. The first fall was very quick in where Rush started the match early by attacking the others and got the first fall after hitting a missile dropkick in the corner to Niebla Roja with Bestial hitting a senton bomb against Ángel De Oro. The second fall saw them take them to the outside where they each fought their opponents in the stands. They continued to beat on them when they returned on to the ring, but soon paid when they were distracted allowing Ángel and Niebla to get back in the match with three straight suicide dives through the middle rope. Rush and Bestia would eventually drop the second fall when Rush was disqualified for using the camera wires. The two teams would go back and forth for the third fall trading advantages, but it was a powerbomb from the middle rope that Bestia delivered to Niebla that eliminated him from the match. They would try the same thing to Ángel, but he would reverse it into a huricanrana to eliminate Bestia. After going back and forth, a controversial finish would win the match for Ángel and Niebla. Ángel would deliver a low blow and turn it right into a roll up for the 1-2-3.
Aerostar Vs Teddy Hart vs Lowrider vs Daga (WrestleCircus Big Top Revival 6/23/2019)
When it’s a lucha libre rules match and you see that Daga is on the card then you know you are going to get one heck of a match. Add the veterans Aerostar and Teddy Hart and mix them in with a fresh face like Lowrider and this is a contest. The action was heavy and it was fast as these guys threw every thing they had at each other and one of my favorite spots was the multiple tope suicidas and back flips off the ropes and to the outside from each of the participants in the match. After surviving one heck of a Canadian Destroyer from Teddy Hart, Daga was able to get back into the match thanks to Lowrider hitting Teddy with a springboard cutter. Daga eventually began to duke it out with Lowrider eventually nailing him with an scoop slam piledriver before executing an underhook into a codebreaker of sorts that was enough to pick up the win and he got the three right before Teddy Hart was able to stop it. All the men in the match deserved a round of applause including Aerostar who was returning from a a bad injury just the week before.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs The New Day (WWE Stomping Grounds 6/23/2019)
I went into this PPV with absolutely no expectations whatsoever and out of all the matches on the card, this one came out of nowhere. The tag team match saw Kevin Owens and his best friend Sami Zayn take on The New Day’s Big E and Xavier Woods ina grudge match of sorts. The match started and it almost looked as if KO and Zayn were going to take it early as KO eliminated Big E out of the picture temporarily with a superkick. He followed it up with three straight superkicks to Xavier and followed it with a senton from the top, but Xavier kicked out. Zayn tried a blue thunder bomb, but Xavier kicked out so he tagged KO back in. Kevin then tried to hit a frog splash, but Xavier kicked out and Big E finally made his way back onto the apron. The duo began working on Woods for most of the match before he was able to tag Big E into the ring. There was a lot of action as they never led off of the pedal. Eventually after several tags, Xavier was in the ring with Kevin and he tried climbing the ropes for a high risk maneuver, but Kevin was quick to knock him off it and when he got up, Kevin hit him with the stunner to get the 1-2-3. If you watch any match from that night make sure this is one of them.
Ricochet Vs AJ Styles (WWE RAW 6/24/2019)
Just from the two names that you see this match already should have been a match of the week contender, but the WWE always finds ways to screw things up and they almost did. Ricochet had won the US title from Samoa Joe the night before and now 24 hours later was in a match with AJ Styles who was returning from injury. When the match first started, it was actually fun to watch as each competitor was trying to one up each other, but then all of a sudden here comes Gallows and Anderson to screw up a perfectly good match. AJ then kicks out the duo after they tried tripping up Ricochet and when the match returns from commercial break, it has been restarted. Most of the match, it just seemed that AJ was always a step ahead of Ricochet and that is just the veteran in him, but it got serious as Ricochet was matching him move for move. At one point, Ricochet was able to hit a springboard moonsault, but he failed to get the 1-2-3 as AJ kicked out. At that point that is when he set himself up for a 630, but AJ was quick to get out of the way eventually nailing him with a forearm and then he topped it off with a phenomenal forearm to get the 1-2-3. I look forward to whatever lies in the future for these two.
Io Shirai Vs Shayna Baszler (NXT 513 6/26/2019)
One of the best rivalries going in NXT has to be the one between NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler and Io Shirai. For Io Shirai, it all came down to this steel cage match which happened to be the first in NXT history for women and that is because out of two chances at the championship, Shirai has already failed twice. Shayna at first in the match was the smarter competitor as she targeted the body parts she needed in case of submission and she used the steel cage as a weapon while Io was always trying her high flying techniques. Io finally came to her senses eventually in the match and started using the cage as well and boy did she use it. At one point, Shayna delivered her patented Kirifuda Clutch submission to get Io away from the cage, but as Shayna climbed Io quickly got back up and did a German suplex from almost the top of the cage. That put Baszler out for a bit and that is when Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir came to ringside to guard the door preventing her from escaping. So, she climbed the cage and that is when Shafir followed, but Candice LaRae came to the rescue and eliminated the horsewomen while Io delivered a Moonsault from the very top of the cage that connected with Baszler. Unfortunately as she tried to crawl her way out, she was met with another Kirifuda Clutch, but as she used the cage door to get Baszler off of her, it only knocked Baszler to the ring floor helping her retain her championship.
Chris Dickinson vs Matthew Justice (Uncharted Territory Ep. 13 6/26/2019)
“Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson should have his own column here on Top Matches because the man brings it week in and week out with amazing matches. As he gears up for his big match against Daisuke Sekimoto at Americanrana 19, he has asked for the best talent around and Matthew Justice, a journeyman of indy wrestling answered the call. It looked like another easy match for the dirty daddy until Justice introduced some chairs and things went hardcore in this no DQ match. Justice would get a window of opportunity as Dickinson was trying to perform the Memphis piledriver on the apron, Justice reversed it with a back body drop and in turn Dickinson hurts his elbow on the way down. Then the holy shit moment happened because Justice got too cocky. Both men were on the outside of the ring and Justice looked to be in full control as he took a door from underneath the ring and set it up at the ring bell table. As they made their way to the stage at The White Eagle in Worcester, Dickinson was able to reverse it and he delivered a Pazuzu bomb (Razor’s Edge) on to the door. Despite this, Justice would kick out of the ensuing pin attempt to stay in the match and he would kick out again after a death valley driver onto a chair. Dickinson then traveled to the outside and he pulled out a door from underneath the ring, but this time Justice delivers a death valley driver onto the door, but Dickinson kicked out. As Justice climbed the ropes, Dickinson quickly rose up and met him at the top to deliver a power bomb of sorts which was the final nail in the coffin as Dickinson was able to get the 1-2-3.
Honorable Mentions:
One of the matches that is worth a mention was the first round match of the NXT Breakout tournament match between Angel Garza and Joaquin Wilde. The match showed what both men could do and what lies ahead for the future of NXT which is promising. The next match on the list would be the WWE United States Championship match at WWE Stomping Grounds between Ricochet and the champ at the time Samoa Joe. It was a match that featured contrasting styles, but in the end it was pretty entertaining. At WrestleCircus Big Top Revival, the match between Tessa Blanchard and Scorpio Sky may not have gone the way I wanted it to, but Tessa Blanchard is awesome and deserves a watch. The last match on the honorable mention list is from episode 63 of MLW Fusion that saw the debut of the Von Erich brothers (Marshall and Ross) as they teamed with Filthy Tom Lawlor to take on Contra Unit (Jacob Fatu, Simon Gotch, and Josef Samael) in what was an all out war.
Things were rocking in Houston, Texas last night for WWE NXT TakeOver: WarGames and things are about to get better tonight for WWE Survivor Series. Survivor Series is one of the original Big Four Pay Per Views (alongside Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and SummerSlam) that the WWE debuted back in 1987. It’s the second longest running pay per view the company has and one of the best for it’s unique match that it was built around which was a five on five single elimination match (dubbed the Survivor Series match). This year things got a little more exciting especially with the competition between Raw and Smackdown as we now have champion vs champion matches. We have WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (Raw) taking on WWE Champion AJ Styles (SD Live) in what should one interesting match. We are also getting WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz (Raw) taking on WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin (SD Live). We also have WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss taking on WWE Smackdown Live Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair in a sort of dream match hence the reason Charlotte won the title.
Then there are the traditional Survivor Series matches and things have been heating up with all of the changes in whose in and who is not. The original RAW men’s team consisted of Kurt Angle (Captain), Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, and Jason Jordan taking on Smackdown Live’s team made up of Shane McMahon (Captain), Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, and John Cena. That was the original match and a lot of us were stunned at the fact that Jordan had been picked for the team considering Smackdown told the world that Cena was the last member chosen. Stephanie McMahon agreed with me and Bray Wyatt helped the situation by injuring Jordan last week on RAW. When it came time to announce the replacement, Jordan made the situation difficult and Triple H remedied it by announcing that it was him and he put the exclamation point on it by delivering a pedigree to Jordan. Now the match is interesting and one I can not wait to see because imagine the situations you’ll get in this match. Finn and Shinsuke in the ring at the same time or even Triple H and Bobby Roode and so many more.
The other traditional Survivor Series match is between the Women this time around as RAW’s Alicia Fox (Captain), Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks, and Bayley take on Smackdown Live’s Becky Lynch (Captain), Carmella, Naomi, Tamina, and Natalya. The thing that I would love to see happen tonight with that match is that instead of Natalya being in the match, Paige makes her triumphant return to a WWE ring as a member of Team Smackdown Live. I doubt it will happen because I believe that she is being punished for a picture she took last Monday. We’ll see if anything happens tonight, but there’s more matches for tonight. In their first PPV match since reuniting The Shield (Dean, Seth, and Roman) take on The New Day in a six man elimination falls count anywhere match. RAW tag team champions The Bar (Cesaro & Sheamus) take on The Usos to finish out the RAW vs Smackdown Live matches. The Pre-show features some surprise matches like Breezango taking on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Enzo defends his cruiserweight title against Kalisto and Matt Hardy takes on Elias Sampson. Again, they have set this PPV up to be a very good one, but it remains to be seen if it ends up going that way for them. I’ll be tuning into it and hopefully you are if you’re a fan. Check out my predictions below:
We are continuing to pay tribute here at Mr. X’s Punch Out to all the amazing African Americans that have stepped foot into the squared circle for Black History Month. The man we are checking out today is none other than The New Day’s Big E Langston as we are covering every member of The New Day separately. We are rewinding to March 25, 2014 when Big E was the WWE Intercontinental Champion and he had to defend the championship against Dolph Ziggler at that edition of Main Event in Boston, MA. Earlier in the night, Dolph had earned the right to face Big E after he won a triple threat match against Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. You had to figure that Dolph wasn’t going to be 100% entering the match against the massive Big E, but we all know that Dolph never quits that easily. It was going to be a match of speed vs power and if Dolph wanted to win, he had to keep the match going in a fast pace environment while avoiding the brute power of Big E.
In the beginning of the match, Big E used his power to get the best of Dolph as he used all 300 lbs to keep Dolph isolated on the mat. Despite a nice dropkick from Ziggler, Big E was able to keep his advantage with a huge clubbing clothesline that sent Ziggler to the outside to regroup. When we came back from commercial break, it looked like Big E was still in control until he went shoulder first into the steel ring post and then Dolph began his flurry of fists and stinger like splashes. Despite the effort, Big E would make a comeback, but the two for the rest of the match would be trading advantages with Dolph hitting a big time DDT, but Big E hung in there. After Ziggler tried to hit the zig zag, Big E would brush him off and hit him with another clubbing clothesline, but Dolph would kick out on the pin attempt. After the straps came off, Big E would try for the big ending, but Dolph would hit the famouser, but Big E kicks out. Dolph would then try to hit a Superkick, but Big turned into a Big Ending and that was all she wrote. Even though I love The New Day, I would love to see Big E get a big push in the WWE.
One of the greatest pay per views that the WWE has besides WrestleMania has always been the Royal Rumble just because of the 30 Man Royal Rumble match. It is a match that is considered the first stop on the road to WrestleMania and with good reason as many have cashed in on the opportunity it gives you when you main event the biggest show on Earth. The question going into this year’s Royal Rumble from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas was who was going to win a match that was completely stacked with some giant names like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, The Undertaker, Braun Strowman, The Big Show, etc. The only thing is that the Rumble had to follow what I am calling a potential match of the year candidate in AJ Styles Vs John Cena. When it came time for the Rumble match, we were all wondering who was going to draw number one? Was it a current superstar? Or was it a potential debut? Instead, we informed by Enzo as if we couldn’t tell that it was Big Cass that drew number one. After a good five minute rant, we found out that Chris Jericho was going to start the match at number two. After Kalisto and Mojo Rawley drew three and four respectively, we were treated to our first surprise entrant in Gentleman Jack Gallagher who brought his umbrella in the ring and did some damage with it including to Chris Jericho’s undercarriage.
It wouldn’t be long before he was tossed out by the sixth entrant in the rumble match in “The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry. Business picked up as soon as the massive Braun Strowman entered the rumble. Braun would show his dominant side for about 13 minutes. Braun with his size and power would eliminate seven wrestlers from the rumble that included (in order of elimination) Mojo Rawley, Big Cass, Kalisto, Mark Henry, The Big Show, James Ellsworth (who was tricked by Dean Ambrose to enter the ring), and Tye Dillinger before he was eliminated by Baron Corbin. The amount of wrestlers in the ring would build up for a while until Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and The Undertaker showed up to take out the trash. Brock would eliminate Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, and Enzo Amore before he was taken out in the same fashion as the Survivor Series by Goldberg who handled him like a rag doll. Goldberg would snag a couple more eliminations before the deadman sent him packing from the Rumble match.
Then it happened, the one moment that disappointed WWE fans all over the world when they found out that Roman Reigns had drawn the number 30 spot. We couldn’t believe that at this point in the match, there were absolutely no debuts from NXT in the rumble besides Tye Dillinger coming out at 10 and no debuts from anyone outside the company. To make matters worse, Roman Reigns eliminated The Undertaker leaving the final four being Chris Jericho (who broke the record for the longest collective time spent in the Royal Rumble matches), Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and Roman Reigns. Then just like that, Chris Jericho climbs the ropes, gets hit with a superman punch and is eliminated by Reigns. Then Reigns realized that he was outnumbered by Orton and Bray Wyatt as they gang attacked him in the ring. As Bray set up Reigns for the Sister Abigail into the RKO, Reigns countered with a superman punch for each of them and using Bray’s own momentum, he eliminated him. Reigns then set up for the spear, but got an RKO outta nowhere for it and then was clotheslined over the top rope making Randy the winner of the match. It was an Ok rumble match with things that obviously could have been improved, but that’s the breaks.
