Tags
Adam Cole, AEW, AEW Dynamite, AEW Heavyweight Championship, AEW Tag Team Championships, AEW Women's Championship, AJ Styles, Akira Tozawa, Aleister Black, Andrade "Cien" Almas, Angelina Love, Aron Stevens, Auska, Buddy Murphy, Bully Ray, Cameron Grimes, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Colt Cabana, CW Anderson, Damian Priest, Darby Allin, Deonna Purrazzo, Dr. Britt Baker DDS, Dragon Lee, Eddie Valiant's Hot Take, Finn Bálor, Frankie Kazarian, Hangman Page, Humberto Carrillo, Jay Lethal, Johnny Gargano, Jonathan Gresham, Jungle Boy, Kenny Omega, Killian Dane, Kris Statlander, Kushida, Mandy Leon, Maria Manic, Mark Haskins, Matt Hardy, Matt Taven, NWA, NWA Into The Fire, NWA Powerrr, NXT, NXT Championship, NXT Women's Championship, PCO, Pete Dunne, Podcast, R Truth, Randy Orton, Raw, Rey Mysterio, Rhea Ripley, Ricky Starks, Ricochet, Riho, Ring Of Honor, Ring Of Honor Final Battle 2019, Ring Of Honor TV Championship, Ring Of Honor World Championship, ROH, Rush, Sal Rinauro, Scorpio Sky, SCU, Shane Taylor, Shayna Baszler, Smackdown Live, Tasha Steelz, The Briscoes, The Butcher And The Blade, The Dawsons, The Lucha Bros, The New Day, The Revival, The Wildcards, The Young Bucks, Thunder Rosa, TLC, Top Matches Of The Week, Travis Banks, Vincent, Vinny Marseglia, WWE, WWE Raw, WWE TLC, WWE TLC 2019, Zicky Dice
We are back again with another edition of The Top Matches of the week and this was an amazing week of wrestling especially in the WWE. There is so much wrestling at our fingertips that it’s absolutely mind blowing. There is Smackdown On Fox on Friday night, MLW Fusion every Saturday night, Raw on Mondays, Impact on Tuesdays, NXT on USA Network and AEW Dynamite on TNT on Wednesday nights, and Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory on Thursday nights. As you can see, you can occupy your week well if you try to watch all the wrestling promotions in the world right now, but my job is to give you what I thought was the best of every show that I watched during the week. So, get some refreshments, take a seat, and let me be your guide to the wonderful world of professional wrestling. Now the style is going to be a little different in the way that if there is more than one great match then they’ll just be short descriptions, but if not then we’ll go over the match. I also want to remind all of you that can catch my Top 5 of the week on the podcast Eddie Valiant’s Hot Take here. That is where I look at all the matches I have listed here and I pick the five best of all of them.
Ring Of Honor Final Battle 2019 (12/13/2019)
It’s no secret that Ring Of Honor has been struggling since most of all their talent has been poached by the WWE or left to start AEW. Bully Ray took on Mark Haskins in what was a brutal battle as well as Bully Ray being the best heel in the world of wrestling. Unfortunately for him, he took a cheese grader to the nether regions courtesy of Mrs. Haskins and Mark took advantage to get the win. Dragon Lee went to battle with ROH TV Champ Shane Taylor. Taylor dominated most of the match, but those vicious knees from Lee was all it took for him to capture the TV Title. The Briscoes and Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham went to war at the event, but by hook or by crook, Lethal and Gresham were able to steal the tag team titles. I had to include this match in here because a 51 year old man who was blackballed in the industry had a spectacular 2019 and became the new Ring Of Honor World Champion as PCO did the unthinkable and beat Rush after Rush threw everything at him.
NWA Into The Fire (12/14/2019)
It’s NWA’s return to the PPV world and it had a pretty good card. Colt Cabana defended his NWA National Championship against not only Ricky Starks, but Aron Stevens as well. Stevens was almost a non factor and punching bag for the whole match. Thunder Rosa despite not knowing her opponent Tasha Steelz, she showed her true dominance in the match and hit a double stomp to get the win.
WWE TLC 2019 (12/15/2019)
Humberto Carrillo and Andrade kicked off the action on the pre-show and they tore the house down as they went counter for counter with each others moves and Andrade even saw some blood. Carrillo in the end was as impressive as ever as he hit a poisonrana and followed it up with a moonsault for the win. The New Day defended their tag team titles against The Revival in a ladder match and I would give these guys a week off especially The Revival who saw Wilder take a big ending from Big E off the ladder and then Dawson landed head first into a ladder after Kofi used the hanging titles as a weapon before he grabbed them for the win. Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy went to war and Murphy may have damaged Black’s Jaw with all the superkicks and knees to the face that he took, but it was a surprise Black Mass that put Murphy away.
WWE RAW (12/16/2019)
This was a decent episode, but kind of a let down from the action of the night before. The match that kind of saved the night was the Gauntlet match to determine the number one contender for Rey Mysterio’s United States Championship. The match started with R-Truth and Akira Tozawa, but the real action didn’t really get good until Tozawa took on Ricochet. From that point on, Ricochet stole the show with great matches against Tozawa, Matt Hardy, and Humberto Carrillo (which was the best one). The other match that was really good was the match between AJ Styles and Randy Orton who were finally meeting after weeks of getting in each other’s business. Surprisingly, AJ was in control of most of the match after locking in the calf crusher that took its toll against Randy, but like a Viper he finds a way to way. After faking Randy out the first time, he attempts another Phenomenal forearm, but he gets caught with an RKO and Randy takes the win.
NXT On USA (12/18/2019)
It’s hard to pick just one or two matches from the whole entire show because almost all of the matches were great. The night opened up with the NXT Championship match that saw Adam Cole defend the title against Finn Balor in what was a great match where both men showcased their athleticism. After a distraction from Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole was able to retain the title. Killian Dane and Damian Priest went to war, but unfortunately for Priest he had a constant target in his hurt ribs and Dane took advantage of it. Don’t count him out though because when things looked bleak, Priest pulled off the win after getting his knees up during an attempted Vader Bomb to which he finishes with The Reckoning. Cameron Grimes vs Kushida was an all out battle as well, but a vicious double stomp from Grimes was all it took for him to win. Last week, Travis Banks was successful against Jaxson Ryker, but this week he took on the Bruiserweight Pete Dunne in what was an all out battle. Dunne would get the win after a huge superplex that he was able to hit to which he followed up with a kick and the bitter end to seal the victory. In the final match, Rhea Ripley was willing to put it all on the line as she took on NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler. They threw everything at eahc other throughout the match, but we all know how dangerous Shayna is especially with the Kirifuda Clutch to which she locked in for several minutes. Rhea never gave up as she is able to get out of it. Baszler continues to work on her, but she makes the mistake of allowing the crowd to distract her. She sets Rhea up on the top turnbuckle, but when the crowd chants Rheas name, Baszler gets distracted and Rhea takes advantage by hitting a super riptide from the top which was all she needed to seal the victory and become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
AEW Dynamite (12/18/2019)
Not the best episode they have put out all year, but a decent show. The night opened with The Lucha Brothers taking on Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, but this week they continued to struggle after Hangman makes the mistake of hitting his own partner which allowed Pentagon Jr. to hit the double stomp for the win. Kris Statlander was fantastic once again on AEW Dynamite as she grabbed a huge win over Dr. Britt Baker DDS earning her a shot at the AEW Women’s Champion Riho on New Years Day. Jungle Boy had to prove that he could wrestle and last ten minutes with the AEW Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho to which he did after spending the last 90 seconds of the ten minutes in the walls of Jericho. The Young Bucks and SCU did battle for the AEW Tag Team Championships, but SCU was just too good tonight after Kazarian was able to pin Matt Jackson after the SCU Later.
Honorable Mention:
While I thought it was a good match up, Matt Taven vs Vincent didn’t quite live up to the hype that I thought it would be. Still both of these men did their best and Taven sold it well at Final Battle. Maria Manic came out, she destroyed Angelina Love and Mandy Leon establishing that she is the dominant female, but Angelina did not get one ounce of offense in the whole match at Final Battle. On NWA Powerrr, Zicky Dice won his qualifying match to compete for the TV Title against CW Anderson and Sal Rinauro. I love the new rule that you have to win a match in 6:05 to be TV Champ. In relatively short fashion, The Wildcards disposed of The Dawsons in a decent tag team match on NWA Powerrr. I am a huge fan of Deonna Purrazzo and was so proud to see her debut against Auska on RAW, but do you really think they’d make Auska look weak? The Butcher and The Blade vs Cody Rhodes & Darby Allin on AEW Dynamite was good, but not enough to earn it’s way to the top matches.
We are back again with another edition of The Top Matches of the week and this was an amazing week of wrestling especially in the WWE. There is so much wrestling at our fingertips that it’s absolutely mind blowing. There is Smackdown On Fox on Friday night, MLW Fusion every Saturday night, Raw on Mondays, Impact on Tuesdays, NXT on USA Network and AEW Dynamite on TNT on Wednesday nights, and Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory on Thursday nights. As you can see, you can occupy your week well if you try to watch all the wrestling promotions in the world right now, but my job is to give you what I thought was the best of every show that I watched during the week. So, get some refreshments, take a seat, and let me be your guide to the wonderful world of professional wrestling. Now the style is going to be a little different in the way that if there is more than one great match then they’ll just be short descriptions, but if not then we’ll go over the match.
We are back again with another edition of The Top Matches of the week and this was an amazing week of wrestling especially in the WWE. There is so much wrestling at our fingertips that it’s absolutely mind blowing. There is Smackdown On Fox on Friday night, MLW Fusion every Saturday night, Raw on Mondays, Impact on Tuesdays, NXT on USA Network and AEW Dynamite on TNT on Wednesday nights, and Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory on Thursday nights. As you can see, you can occupy your week well if you try to watch all the wrestling promotions in the world right now, but my job is to give you what I thought was the best of every show that I watched during the week. So, get some refreshments, take a seat, and let me be your guide to the wonderful world of professional wrestling. Now the style is going to be a little different in the way that if there is more than one great match then they’ll just be short descriptions, but if not then we’ll go over the match.
Surprisingly, the very first match of the night between Roman Reigns and Robert Roode was actually really good. The match featured plenty of action including some shady business from Dolph Ziggler and King Corbin, but a spear would ultimately put away Roode. While I thought the ending of the match was OK, The New Day (Kofi and Big E) defended their WWE Smackdown Live tag team titles against the team of Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura. The match was competitive and it was nice to see Cesaro back in action especially on a night when Sheamus returned with a promo and Elias returned with a backstage promo.
I never thought that I would ever write this, but the very first match on 205 Live between Ariya Daivari and Raul Mendoza was a great way to open the show, but too bad the crowd was lame. Ariya ended the three year anniversary episode on the winning side of things. Jack Gallagher has appeared on more episodes of 205 Live than anyone and it’s for good reason because he can wrestle anyone and he proved again tonight against Angel Garza in a hard fought fight that saw Garza end it with the wing clipper. Angel Garza is going to be a champion in the company because he has the it factor.
The fatal four way tag team match that started the broadcast was pretty cool and is showing that Ring Of Honor is not dead yet. The match saw Silas Young and Josh Woods survive quite a hectic match against SOS, Coast To Coast, and The Bouncers. The finish of the match came when as Silas set up LSG by launching him into a running knee from Woods proving that Silas might be a tag team guru. The other match that was pretty excitng was another fatal four way match, but this time it was singles action as Kenny King took on PJ Black, Ultimo Guerrero, and Eli Isom. While the match was exciting, it was really a showcase for Eli Isom who proved that even though he lost, he has a future in the business. After hitting a facelock DDT, Black would climb the ropes to hit Isom with a moonsault double stomp for the win.
Some of the best matches on the card were probably not meant to be anything but squash matches. Aleister Black took on the Premiere Athlete Tony Nese in one heck of a match where Tony did his best to match Black, but ultimately that big knee to the face and the Black Mass was all it took for Black to win. In the very next match, Andrade took on Eric Young who we haven’t seen in singles action in a very long time and while at moments he looked a little slow at times, Young kept up with Andrade. That angered Andrade and one mistake was all it took for Andrade to retake control and a hammerlock ddt was all she wrote for EY for the night. The last match to check out is a six man tag match that saw Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, and Humberto Carrillo take on The OC. At times, it looked like The OC would fall, but the veteran AJ Styles got the best of Ricochet as he delivered a styles clash from the middle rope that ensured Ricochet was not getting up from that.
The night started out with Killian Dane issuing an open challenge since Damian Priest was not cleared to wrestle and Pete Dunne answered the call for what was another classic match in their rivalry. The ending was a little weird as Dunne was choking out Dane on the top of the ropes and when Dane fell backwards on to him, it knocked him out and Dane was in perfect positioning for the referee to do the 3 count. Kushida made his long awaited return to NXT with an impressive win over Cameron Grimes who attacked Kushida’s original opponent before the match started. Kushida may have won by roll, but the contrast in styles made for an excellent story that was told well. The last match that was great from the night was the six man tag match that saw Keith Lee once again shine as he teamed with Tommaso Ciampa and Dominik Dijakovic to take on The Undisputed Era’s Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly. Finn Balor tried to get involved in the match, but it didn’t matter as Keith Lee just trucked through everyone.
They started the night with a bang as Santana and Ortiz teamed up with Sammy Guevara to take on The Young Bucks and Dustin Rhodes. The match featured all the spots you would want from Dustin and his powerslams that included a funny timeout, a 630 senton from Guevara that was awesome, and a double Meltzer driver from the Bucks and Rhodes that sealed the deal for the team. The next great match was a singles match between Rey Fenix and Trent Baretta. The match was physical and featured all the acrobatics you would expect from Fenix, but despite losing Trent kept up with Fenix for most of the match. In a match that I did not expect to put up shocked a lot of people as Kris Statlander took on the number one contender Hikaru Shida in what was a classic. Statlander went blow for blow with Shida and shocked the world when she hit the big bang theory driver which was all it took to get the win. Joey Janela tried his bets against Jon Moxley, but Moxley proved why he is the IT factor in AEW right now.
The night started out with a great match between Jay Freddie and Brandon Thurston as these two were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at each other. Unfortunately, the match was called off after Freddie took a nasty spill to the outside from the top turnbuckle. CJ Cruz shocked the world in a terrific first round win in his match in the Pride Of New England Tournament For Tomorrow match against Anthony Greene. The main event of the night featured one of Beyond Wrestling’s aces in John Silver who took on Jake Atlas who was making his debut and farewell match all in one night as he heads to Orlando. There was a lot riding on the line for Silver who in this whole second season only suffered one loss to Orange Cassidy which had to be playing in his mind. The two went at it giving it everything they had and in the end Silver came out victorious after hitting the punt on Atlas’s head.
We are back again with another edition of The Top Matches of the week and this was a good week. There is so much wrestling at our fingertips that it’s absolutely mind blowing. There is Smackdown On Fox on Friday night, MLW Fusion every Saturday night, Raw on Mondays, Impact on Tuesdays, NXT on USA Network and AEW Dynamite on TNT on Wednesday nights, and Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory on Thursday nights. As you can see, you can occupy your week well if you try to watch all the wrestling promotions in the world right now, but my job is to give you what I thought was the best of every show that I watched during the week. So, get some refreshments, take a seat, and let me be your guide to the wonderful world of professional wrestling. Now the style is going to be a little different in the way that if there is more than one great match then they’ll just be short descriptions, but if not then we’ll go over the match.
One of the brightest young stars in the cruiserweight or as MLW puts it, the middleweight division in Ace Austin took on legendary competitor Austin Aries in a match. Aries was looking to use Ace Austin as a stepping stone to get closer to current Middleweight champion Teddy Hart while Ace was trying to prove that it was time to make way for the new. The match seemed pretty even for the most part as both men were throwing everything at each other, but at one point it looked like Ace had it in the bag. After getting too cocky, he gave Aries time to recover while in the tree of woe and Aries took advantage by hitting a jawbreaker. While recovering from the move, Ace panicked and pulled out his metal wand and it did it’s job as the referee Kevin Quinn, turned his back giving Ace enough time to hit a low blow, but unfortunately for him he couldn’t get the pinfall. Ace then tried charging at Aries, but he was met with a vicious forearm to which Aries followed up with his patent brainbuster which was all she wrote for Ace as Aries got the 1-2-3.
This was a very interesting match that was on the card because this was a New York City street fight that pitted two member’s of Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado as Jimmy Havoc took on “The Chairman” LA Park. From watching this match, you would never be able to tell that these two guys were teammates as they hit each other with everything from chairs to garbage cans. At one point, Jimmy Havoc was lying in the corner and LA Park set up the door in front of him to which he then proceeded to hit the door with a missile drop kick. Jimmy then did what Jimmy always does and he gets dark and he breaks out the staple gun to which he starts hitting LA Park with staples. After face planting LA Park against some steel chairs that were set up, Jimmy looked to be in full control and as he charged at Park, Park used all of his momentum and overhead tossed him right into the chairs. Park the sized him up and took his chance and nailed a giant spear right back into the chairs which was all Park needed to get the 1-2-3.
Let me start off by saying that there were a lot of decent to good matches on this week’s episode of RAW, but the thing I was excited for is the King Of The Ring tournament. The WWE brought it back and it kicked off this week and the first match saw the “Swiss Cyborg” Cesaro take on the always deadly Samoa Joe. Cesaro literally came out swinging right from the start of the bell as he came flying in with a huge European Uppercut that stunned Samoa Joe, but Joe was able to kick out of the ensuing pinfall attempt. He managed to keep himself in the match despite all of Cesaro’s European Uppercuts and even his submission attempts. Finally at one point, Cesaro was frustrated as he couldn’t figure out how to put away Joe so he tried for the neutralizer, but Joe was able to counter and he then placed Cesaro right in the Coquina Clutch and that was all she wrote as Cesaro tapped out securing Samoa Joe a place in the very next round.
As the fans are desperately clamoring to figure out just in the hell has been responsible for what has happened to Roman Reigns, the situation has gotten a little out of control as Buddy Murphy has pointed fingers towards Rowan which has incensed Daniel Bryan and all of that has led to this week’s edition of WWE Smackdown Live as Bryan and Murphy locked up for the first time in what could be considered a dream match. While Murphy was holding his own in the match with Bryan, you had to wonder what kind of a factor was Rowan going to platy through out the match as Rowan did have a reason to be pissed. Nonetheless, there were times when you thought the veteran in Bryan was surely going to put away Murphy especially when he had locked in the Labell lock. As Murphy was desperately trying to make it to the ropes, Bryan was able to convert it into the rings of Saturn, but he would quickly lose momentum as he tried grabbing for the leg as well allowing Murphy to finally make it. Then finally on schedule, Rowan would get involved and he would prove to be a distraction for Bryan as he ate a superkick from Murphy and with his back turned, Bryan tried to roll him up for a pin, but Buddy kicks out. As soon as they rise to their feet, Daniel charges, but Murphy avoids it and hits with a high knee right to the chin and then Buddy does the impossible as he hits Daniel with the Murphy’s Law for the win.
You may be wondering what the Captain’s Challenge is and it was basically 205 Live’s version of a Survivor Series match where Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak and the number one contender Oney Lorcan were able to pick up to four teammates to do battle. Drew Gulak chose Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, Angel Garza, and Mike Kanellis while Oney Lorcan chose Humberto Carrillo, Akira Tozawa, Jack Gallagher, and Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. The match for a little while featured no eliminations until an accident allowed Mike Kanellis to score a pinfall over Akira Tozawa, but Jack Gallagher was able to get the rebound for his team as he knocked out Kanellis with a headbutt to even the odds. Tony Nese would then gain the advantage for his team when he was able to hit Gallagher with the Jig ‘n Tonic. We would see Oney Lorcan even the odds again by eliminating Tony Nese. Then it would be a while again before we saw another elimination as Team Gulak worked on Isaiah until Gulak was able to finally eliminate him with the cyclone crash. In pure frustration, Gulak would get himself eliminated after using a steel chair on Lorcan, but Lorcan would recover as he eliminates Daivari. Then an excellent matchup between cousins Carrillo and Garza would ensue as the two went back and forth, but Carrillo was the better man as he nailed Garza with a twisting splash for the win.