Tags
"All Ego" Ethan Page, 205 Live, AEW, Ariya Daivari, Bear Country, Beyond Wrestling, Ethan Page, Finn Bálor, G1 Climax 29, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Impact Wrestling, Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship, Impact Wrestling Slammiversary XVII, Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships, Jessicka Havok, Jimmy Lloyd, Josh Briggs, Karl Anderson, Kazuchika Okada, Kenta, Kota Ibushi, KTB, Kyle The Beast, Luke Gallows, Monster's Ball Match, NJPW, NJPW G1 Climax 29, NXT, NXT UK, Oney Lorcan, OVE, Raw, Ricochet, Rosemary, Sami Callihan, Sanada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Slammiversary XVII, Smackdown, Smackdown Live, Su Yung, Taya Valkyrie, Tessa Blanchard, Uncharted Territory, WWE, WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWE Smackdown, Zack Sabre Jr.
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.
Kenta Vs Kota Ibushi (NJPW G1 Climax 29 Opening Night 7/6/2019)
This was going to be one hell of a match and an interesting one because it was the first time since Kenta had left the WWE/NXT and the first time in over a decade I believe that he had fought in a New Japan ring. The other interesting note about this match is that his first opponent back in Kota Ibushi was also a master of striking with a history in Kickboxing. For most of the match, Kenta had slowed down the pace and he was in full control as he showed Ibushi why he was a master of striking himself. It also just seemed that no matter what Ibushi tried to do that Kenta always had an answer for his onslaughts. At one point in the match, Kenta was looking to put away Ibushi with the GTS, but Ibushi was too aware of his attempts and he would have a counter. At one point, both men were so determined that they tested each others fighting spirits by trading forearms and kicks, but Kenta got the best of the exchange with a high kick strike to the head. Kenta then proceeded to hit Ibushi with four straight foot strikes to the head, but that didn’t put away Ibushi. Kenta didn’t lose his composure as he lowered his knee pad, picked up Ibushi in a fireman’s carry position, and nailed the GTS which was the it factor of the match that gave Kenta the win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada (NJPW G1 Climax 29 Opening Night 7/6/2019)
When you think of legendary rivalries in the world of professional wrestling, you think of Ric Flair vs Sting, you think of Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels, and if you’re a fan of NJPW you definitely think of Okada vs Tanahashi. It’s the equivalent of the Lakers vs the Celtics in Japan and it definitely didn’t disappoint in Dallas as both men threw everything they had at each other. For a little while, it looked like Tanahashi was in well control of the match after nailing a dragon screw leg whip that allowed him to have control of most of the match. However, Okada never gave up and he came so close in so many instances to ending the match with the rainmaker, but Tanahashi stayed int he game. Eventually, Okada showed us why he is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion as he was able to nail the tombstone pile driver again and then he followed it up with the rainmaker that led to the 1-2-3 and the first victory of this long tournament.
Taya Valkyrie vs Rosemary vs Su Yung vs Jessicka Havok (Impact Wrestling Slammiversary XVII 7/7/2019)
Before I say anything about the match itself, the women of Impact Wrestling should be proud of themselves for the match that they put on because it was more exciting than a lot of the men’s matches. I mean this was a Monster’s Ball Match and they were getting hardcore with ladders, chairs, tables, thumbtacks, garbage cans, etc. Taya was a little worried heading into the match, but she held her own against some of the deadliest women in Impact Wrestling. Some of my favorite moments in the match were moments like Taya using a staple gun to staple an 8×10 of herself to Su Yung’s head, Jessicka Havok tying up Taya in the tree of woe and then delivering an elbow drop onto a chair, or how about Taya being in the tree of woe with Rosemary and Su Yung above her and she still manages to suplex them into a ladder. After putting Rosemary through a table, Taya waited for Jessicka to hit a super tombstone on Su Yung into thumbtacks for her time to strike. As soon as it happened, she saw Jessicka cover Su Yung for the pin, but Taya struck just in time by throwing a chair at Jessicka’s head to which she proceeded to cover Su for the win as she retained her Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship.
Tessa Blanchard vs Sami Callihan (Impact Wrestling Slammiversary XVII 7/7/2019)
There was a lot of significance in this match as I believe it was the first intergender match to headline Slammiversary as Tessa Blanchard took on “The Draw” Sami Callihan. The match started out exactly the way you thought it would with Tessa trying her best against Callihan, but he was just way too much at times as it looked like he was enjoying the fact that he was inflicting pain. Anytime that it looked like Tessa may be gaining any advantage, Callihan was quick to end it with just unfiltered brutality and you could hear the effects of the moves in Tessa’s cries, but she never gave up. At one point, it looked like Tessa may have a chance as she nailed Sami with a low blow and then the baseball bat to the stomach. She proceeded to hit Sami with the Magnum, but Sami kicked out and she transitioned it into a crossface, but he was able to escape. Sami would retaliate with a package piledriver, but Tessa kicked out of the ensuing pinfall attempt. Tessa would rise to her feet to give Sami the thumbs down, but he didn’t take it lightly and he hit Tessa with another piledriver, but this one did the job as he got the 1-2-3 for the win.
Josh Briggs v Ethan Page (Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory Ep. 15 7/10/2019)
After having faced Joey Janela the week before, Briggs was back in action this week while on the road to Americanrana 19 where he will John Hennigan (a.k.a. Johnny Impact) one on one, but this week he faces one half of the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Champions in “All Ego” Ethan Page. For the most part of the match, Ethan dominated the match as he targeted the hip, back, and shoulder of Josh Briggs. No matter what Josh tried to do, it always seemed like Ethan would have an answer for him and he almost walked out with a win after hitting the Iconoclasm which he followed up with an elbow, but Briggs kicked out. The t went back an forth for a bit before Briggs was able to counter a powerbomb with a hurricanrana. He saw that the opportunity was there and as soon as Page got up, Briggs once again hit him with a chokeslam and he covered him for the 1-2-3. This matchwas definitely the highlight of the episode for me as Briggs once again prove how awesome he is.
Honorable Mention:
If you want to see a classic wrestling match in it’s purest form then you have to watch Zack Sabre Jr. vs Sanada from the opening night of the G1 Climax 29 in Dallas, TX as these two put on a show. I want to stick the rest of the Slammiversary card from Impact Wrestling here on the honorable mention list because there were a lot of really good matches on the card. Ricochet took on both Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (at separate times) and had a decent match on RAW. It wasn’t quite match of the week material, but it was close as Shinsuke Nakamura earned a huge win over WWE Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor on Smackdown Live. I also wanted to include Oney Lorcan and the brawl that he had with Ariya Daivari on 205 Live cause these guys got mean with each other. One match from Beyond Wrestling’s Uncharted Territory Episode 15 that you should check out is the Hardcore tag team match that saw Bear Country take on Kyle The Beast and Jimmy Lloyd.
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 
One of the most impressive units in all of Ring Of Honor may just be that of Villain Enterprises which is comprised of Marty Scurll, Brody King, and the monster PCO. In all of there defenses of the Ring Of Honor Six Man Tag Team Titles, they have been successful as they are well on their way to breaking The Kingdom’s record, but there is one team that stood in their way and that was 2/3rds of Lifeblood in Tracey Williams and Mark Haskins who teamed with PJ Black. For the most part, the match was pretty even with both teams trying to one up each other in the beginning and then it was all out war as they threw everything but the kitchen sink at each other. I mean even PCO was attempting backflips everywhere he had a chance to which was how crazy the match was. At one point in the match, PJ Black had a chance to put away Marty Scurll, but when he attempted the back flip from the top rope, Marty was waiting with his boots up. Brody King would enter the ring and he would deliver a gonzo bomb to PJ and PCO would finish him off with a back flip from the top rope to secure the 1-2-3.
The match was officially a non sanctioned match which means that AEW was not accepting liability for what was going to happen in this match and it’s a good thing that they didn’t because this match was brutal. These guys used everything that was underneath the ring from steel chairs, steel chairs wrapped in barbwire, tables, boards wrapped in barbwire, a ladder, and even more tables. Both men at one point were just beaten, broken, and bleeding as they endured whatever they through at each other, but at one point, Moxley had had enough of the Bad Boy. He went underneath the ring and he brought a bucket into the ring and inside the bucket was a bag and guess what was inside that bag? If you guessed thumb tacks then you obviously know what a hardcore match is. The only problem is that Moxley proceeded to remove Janela’s shoes and his socks to drive him into the thumb tacks. Janela almost avoided it at one point, but Moxley picked him up like he was going to suplex him into it and just drove his body right into it. Then he picked up Janela and drove his feet into the thumb tacks before delivering a paradigm shift into the thumb tacks to get the 1-2-3.
One of the most intriguing matches of the Southern Showdown card was the one between Bullet Club member Robbie Eagles and IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. The two had met on three previous occasions with Robbie having the advantage with two wins over Ospreay with the last one being a controversial win thanks in large part to El Phantasmo. The match was everything that it was cracked up to be with both men just throwing everything at each other, but the complexion of the match changed when Robbie took advantage of a knee injury Ospreay suffered during the encounter. Robbie did his best to take advantage of it, but Ospreay wouldn’t go down and it worried El Phantasmo to the point that he got involved in the match, but Eagles wasn’t going to allow Phantasmo to make a difference and it cost him. Ospreay eventually after not putting away Eagles with a shooting star press, resorted to hitting the blade and then finished off the match with the stormbreaker that got him the 1-2-3. I don’t know what Robbie’s future is in the Bullet Club, but I’m sure El Phantasmo will have something to say.
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 
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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 
Now that TJ Perkins is free from the WWE, he can go and roam and be where ever he wants to be which includes coming home to PCW ULTRA for their event Mind Crawler. In his return match, TJ Perkins was taking on Adam Brooks for a shot at being the number one contender for the PCW ULTRAlight Championship. The match started off with each man showing each other up, but things quickly got serious. Ity looked as if Adam Brooks was going to be in control of the match as the huge blockbuster he nailed took a little bit out of TJP. Unfortunately for Brooks, that didn’t stop TJP from mounting a comeback with his high flying style of wrestling. At one point, it looked like TJP was going to put it away early, but while on the wrong side of the ropes, Brooks was able to climb up and nail a meteora on the ring apron. Due to this, Brooks injured his knee in the process and it slowed him down because when it came time for the swonton dive from the top, he gave TJP enough time to recover and he placed his knees up as Brooks came down and TJP finished it with the disaster kick to get the win.
You can always count on Ring of Honor to bring you some of the most exciting matches around and they did just that this week on their TV tapings with a four corner survival match that featured the number one contender to Matt Taven’s ROH World Championship in Jeff Cobb taking on Rush, former ROH Champion Jay Lethal, and the freak known as PCO. This was a wild and crazy match where each wrestler sort of had their spot and PCO deserves a lot of credit being able to hang with the young guys as he begged them to do a suicide dive through the ropes at him. There was a lot of action in the match, but at one point, PCO was able to hit a pop up powerbomb to Jay, but Cobb was able to break up the pin count. Cobb follows that with delivering a brainbuster and then a standing moonsault on to PCO, but Rush was able to stop the pin count. Rush superkicked Cobb and delivers an overhead belly to belly suplex into the corner, but Jay Lethal is able to intercept. Eventually after PCO missed a moonsault from the top rope onto the ring apron, Lethal was able to get to Cobb, but Kenny King came down and distracted him allowing Cobb to hit the tour of the islands for the big win.
There is not a lot to be excited for when it comes to the WWE and I am not 100% sure that I wanted to include this match, but for a main event for Raw I’ll take it. The match originally saw Seth try to nail a second suicide dive through the second rope, but Erick Rowan caught him and slammed him ending the match. All hell broke loose with the Revival, The Usos, The New Day, and more showing up forcing the referee to ban everyone from ringside and to restart the match. The match was actually a decent one when it returned from commercial break as Seth was ion control for most of the match. Daniel had his chances as well, but the brilliance of Bryan was his ability to counter Seth and he did it a couple of times as he countered a step up enziguri into the LeBell lock and later on doing the same thing, but this time countering a five star frog splash into the LeBell lock. Unfortunately in the end, Seth was able to hit the step up enziguri and he followed it with a curb stomp that was all it took to put away Bryan. 
As is tradition in Lucha Libre, the matches are all best two out of three falls matches and usually each of the competitors seems to take one a piece before the definitive third fall. In an episode of CMLL from Puebla, Mexico, Ultimo Guerrero was taking on Terrible and he got his ass kicked for most of the 1ST fall before he was able to steal the fall with an interesting submission hold that I don’t know what to call. Terrible dominated the second fall before taking it to tie it up at one a piece and that is where the real action happened. Ultimo Guerrero had a lot to lose in this match especially when it seemed that the ref was pulling for Terrible. The last fall all came down to who was going to outsmart the referee as well and Ultimo did just that as he held on to the ropes for more added pressure to make sure Terrible did not kick out of that pinfall attempt as he succeeded in fooling the referee.
As I said for the match from RAW, it’s been very hard these days finding a good match to come out of RAW and Smackdown, but I had a feeling that Dolph Ziggler and Xavier Woods were going to bring it and they needed to after a sub-par promo session that happened before. The match started off with both men showing their amazing backgrounds in amateur wrestling as they jockeyed for an advantage. They would go back and forth in the match throwing everything they could at each other like an honor roll from Xavier or the zig zag from Dolph. At one point, I thought the match was done when Xavier lifted Dolph with a gorilla press, but chose to throw him down into a gutbuster. Unfortunately, he couldn’t put him away and Dolph ended up on the apron and that is when Xavier’s luck changed. Dolph proceeded to slam Xavier against the steel; post and followed it up with a superkick that connected. He throws him back in the ring where he hits Xavier with a zig zag, but he doesn’t cover him. He puts Xavier against the ropes where he tries to tie him up and then connects with a devastating superkick that was all he needed to get the 1-2-3.
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 
This was a much anticipated match between the IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi against the man he beat for the title at the G1 Supercard Tetsuya Naito. Tetsuya seemed to dominate the match for the most part while Ibushi was able to get some good shots in, but Naito consistently worked on Ibushi’s neck throughout the match. Then it happened around the 10 minute mark of the match when Naito dumped Ibushi right on his neck on the ring apron and it looked ugly. You were left saying that there was no way that Ibushi was going to get up from that, there was no possible way, but as Red Shoes count got closer to 20, Ibushi somehow willed himself back into the ring. There was no quit in Ibushi who immediately took a reverse huricanarana from the top rope and he still kicked out. Naito had a great game plan as no matter how many times Ibushi countered or kicked out of, he continuously worked on the neck and it eventually paid off when Naito was finally able to hit the destino to take the win and avenge his loss. How Ibushi was able to walk away from this match I will never know, but that landing did look very ugly.
This was a match on the card that I was really looking forward to as per tradition the winner of the Best Of Super Junior Tournament usually challenges the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion which was the case as Will Ospreay fresh off his tournament win challenged his longtime friend and champion Dragon Lee. The match was as advertised with so many high flying high risk maneuvers that even air traffic control had a hard time keeping up. The amazing thing about the match is how well these two knew each other so it was hard for one of them to take full advantage. At one point, after failing to hit Dragon Lee with an aerial move, Dragon set him up on top of the barricade then proceeded to enter the ring and launch himself at full speed with a suicide spear that connected landing both men over that security barricade. At times, I couldn’t understand how Will was staying in the match whether it was taking double knees to the chest as he hung up side down against the steal post or having his tiger bomb reversed into an Canadian destroyer which was followed by a knee to the face. Despite all of this, he persevered being able to avoid Lee’s finisher by hitting the hidden blade, following it up with an Os Cutter, and ending it with the stone breaker for the 1-2-3.
There hasn’t been a lot to be excited for when it comes to the product that the WWE has been dishing out for a little while, but this is one match we can all agree on that needed to happen. I honestly do not remember the last time that Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins had defended the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship titles, but they were on this week’s episode of Raw against The Usos and The Revival in a triple threat match. It was a pretty even match with each team getting a shot in the ring, but the Revival were impressive as they picked and chose their spots and it definitely paid off. Jey Uso was in the ring riding the wave of momentum as he literally superkicked everyone from Zack Ryder to Curt Hawkins, but right as he climbed the top rope to do the signature splash, Dawson tagged Jey and as soon as Jey hit it, Dawson through him out of the ring and he covered Zack Ryder for the 1-2-3. It obviously wasn’t the best match of the week, but hopefully it’s a step in the right direction.
Someone in the WWE must have been listening to the podcast that I am on because we have been saying since episode 1 that the best move for Chad Gable was to be on 205 Live. Last night for the opening match, Jack Gallagher was waiting patiently in the ring to see who his opponent was when the music hit to reveal the former Olympian in what was truly a technical battle between the Olympian Greco-Roma style versus the catch style grappling that Gallagher performs. The match did not disappoint as both men tried to show each other up in a battle of wits. Gallagher would catch a break during the match when he sent Gable against the steel steps giving him an opportunity to take the advantage. At one point, it looked like Gable was going to slap the ankle lock, but Gallagher rolled through and sent him face first into the turnbuckle. He followed it up by throwing Gable into the ropes and follows it up with Lariat, but he couldn’t secure the pinfall. Both men eventually ended up on the outside of the ring where Gable would deliver a overhead German suplex that put Gallagher down. Unfortunately, Gallagher couldn’t make it back into the ring by the referee’s count of 10 making Gable the winner by count out.
As I have said the last couple of weeks, 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 
The first match between the two very best wrestlers in NXT today was one of the best matches of the year as Johnny Gargano won the best two out of three falls match. So, the question then became how were these two men going to top what they did a couple of months back? It didn’t look like they were worried at all as both men went into the match ready for a battle. At first, it seemed that no matter what Adam Cole tried to do wasn’t good enough because Gargano had him well scouted. The only problem for Gargano was the fact that while there were times that he was able to lock in the Gargano escape, Adam Cole had an answer for that. There was so much energy in the arena and so much emotion as we hung in by the edge of our seat every time one of them came close to a three count, but after 32 long grueling minutes, a winner was finally decided and after failing to hit the panama sunrise, Cole got right back up and hit Gargano with another one ands topped it off with the last shot that put him away for good. It is the match of the year and might be one of the greatest wrestling moments I have ever been apart of.
It was Jon Moxley’s much anticipated debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling and his first actual match since his departure from the WWE. The match was not pretty or technical by any means, it was brutal and it was just the way fans would want it from them. The action started in the ring, but it quickly went to the outside as Jon was just teeing off on Juice, but Juice was a different man in this match with the haircut to match, he gave it right back even climbing to the top of the platform where the video screens are just to sacrifice himself in hopes of punishing Moxley. After going back and forth in the ring, the action ended up back outside where Moxley just began punishing Juice by suplexing him through a table and then punishing his knee against the steel post. These guys threw everything at each other through out this 20 plus minute match. Moxley put Juice through a table, well no problem because Juice puts Moxley through a table. Juice puts Moxley into a modified Boston crab, well no problem because Moxley put Juice into a Texas cloverleaf. In the end, it was two dirty deeds that would eventually put Juice away with the second one given a little extra emphasis to make sure that he didn’t kick out again. Jon Moxley is your new IWGP United States Champion.
This was a match that all fans of great wrestling were looking forward to as the winner of Block A “The Dragon” Shingo Takagi took on Block B winner Will Ospreay who was also the Best Of The Super Juniors 2016 champion. The two competitors roads to the finals were different as Shingo finished undefeated in his block while Ospreay had lost to El Phantasmo and Robbie Eagles. The match between the two was unbelievable as the high flying style of Ospreay met the power and agility of Shingo in what Dave Meltzer gave 5.75 stars for a rating. There was so much action in this fight as both men went back and forth just trying to jockey for an advantage that could lead them to the promise land. At one point Ospreay turned a vertical suplex into a cutter that helped him buy some time. At another point, Ospreay tried for a top rope huricanrana, but Shingo saw it coming and turned it into a death valley driver, but it wasn’t enough to put Ospreay away. After going back and forth trading finishing moves, Ospreay emerged with a hidden blade to the back of Shingo’s head, he followed that up with an Os Cutter, and finished him off with a stone breaker to get the 1-2-3 ending Shingo’s 97 match win streak.
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. So with all this wrestling going on, I am going to try my best 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 
I have to go back to the start of my wrestling binge watching with this amazing show from this past Saturday night that featured a lot of amazing matches. One match in particular stood out for me and that was the mirror match between Independent Wrestling Champion Orange Cassidy and the “Bad Boy” Joey Janela. The best part of Indy wrestling is the spectacle that comes with it and these two definitely provided it as they both came dressed exactly the same way to the ring complete with matching sunglasses that even the referee wore. Despite all of the amazing abilities that Cassidy possesses, he was taking to the limit by Janela. I thought Janela was going to take the match when he hit Cassidy with the trapper keeper bomb, but it just wasn’t enough. The ending of the match was the best as Cassidy used his brains to beat the bad boy after both men sprayed orange juice into each others eyes. Janela still blinded by the citric acid thought he had Cassidy rolled up, but it ended up being the referee. When he thought he won the match, Cassidy then rolled him up for the 1-2-3.
I totally did not expect this match to be ass amazing as it was because I was very unfamiliar with Minoru Tanaka, a Japanese legend of the ring, but these two definitely brought the goods as the match went back and forth. While Daga was physical and hitting Tanaka with some high flying maneuvers, Tanaka was being smart with the submission game at certain points of the match as he worked on Daga’s knee. The match was a great contrast of styles as we were observing the Mexican Lucha style vs the Japanese style that mixes Martial arts with wrestling. Daga tried his best, but with every move, Tanaka had an answer for it and in the end it looked like Tanaka was going for the cross arm breaker, but he transitioned it into a pin and the win. It wasn’t a very long match, but they did so much in a decent amount of time.
What is there to say about this match that hasn’t already been said by everyone in the world? This might have been the greatest Money In The Bank ladder match of all time and these guys certainly left their all in that ring and to be honest I don’t know how some of them are still walking around with their health. Poor Ricochet at one point was put through a ladder while Andrade delivered a sunset power bomb off a ladder and into another ladder that catapulted Finn Balor like he was on a trampoline. The match at one point looked like the scene of a seven car pile up, but it was the ending of the match that bothered me a lot. Ali was climbing the ladder as Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Finn Balor, Andrade, Ricochet, and Randy Orton were all laid out on the outside of the ring. Then all of a sudden the music hits and here comes Brock Lesnar to ruin the ending of a great match as he got rid of Ali and snatched the suitcase. I just want to take the time to thank them for giving it their all for our entertainment.
This was everything that you thought it was going to be. It was two of the best wrestlers in the world being allowed to do what they do best and that is put on a five star match that is worthy of being a WrestleMania main event. It was absolute poetry in motion and all of the other cliches that describe how awesome this back and forth, refuse to die match really was. Some of the amazing action included an inverted superplex into a variation of the falcon arrow by Seth, a flip off the turnbuckle into a reverse DDT that almost won it for AJ, Rollins went for a curb stomp, but AJ was able to reverse it into the styles clash, but in the end it was Rollins hitting the curb stomp that sealed the deal. AJ tried for the phenomnal forearm, but Rollins intercepted him, hitting him with the ripcord knee which was followed by a superkick, and a curb stomp to seal the deal. I definitely want to see these two in the ring one more time.
One thing that has always been true about life is that there are absolutely no guarantees in life. The same can be said about professional wrestling whether it be the WWE or the indies like Rhode Islands own XWA (Xtreme Wrestle Alliance) who held their annual event Xtreme Rumble 19 from the XWA Event Center in West Warwick, RI last night which was also visible on the app FITE. It was promising to be a great night with matches like rising superstars Danny Limelight vs Ace Austin while rising star Trigga The OG was set to take on Indy wrestling legend Colt Cabana, but like I said nothing is guaranteed and unfortunately the weather conditions (which also moved the event from an 8PM to a 7PM start time) stranded Colt at the airport in Chicago. Nonetheless, the event took off without a hitch and the XWA started us out with what I believed to be the match of the night as Danny Limelight and Ace Austin tore the roof off the place. One thing is for sure and that is even though Danny lost the match, he has nothing to be ashamed about and I would love to see him return. The next match featured one of the most unlikely duo of Bones and Steel (Joey Bones & Jon Steele) as they defended their newly won XWA Tag Team Championships against Bear Country who were a more established team. Despite the adversity stacked against them, Bones and Steele were somehow still able to pull off a victory which upset their opponents who had now failed twice to capture the gold.
It was then revealed at our next match that Colt Cabana couldn’t make it to the rumble to face Trigga The OG, but they had a replacement for him and it was the young upstart from Toronto, Canada Kobe Durst who had made quite the impression the last time he was at the XWA Event Center as fans begged for him to come back. They had a decent match, but having Rich Bass in your corner proved to be fruitful for Trigga The OG as he pulled off the win. The next match featured a man who could be considered the heart and soul of the XWA Universe as XWA Firebrand Champion Kellan “Riot” Thomas defended the belt against Impact Wrestling rising talent “All Ego” Ethan Page. The match was a decent one, but as Matt Striker had said throughout the match that Thomas was lucky he won due to the lazy pinfall covers that prevented Page from winning the belt. The last match featured XWA Champion JT Dunn defending his title against rising star Sammy Guevara in a rematch of their WrestleCircus encounter. The match was an exciting one as they gave it their all, but JT Dunn survived the match due to the fact that he gave the death by elbow to the ref and then hit Guevara with not one, but two low blows. A shameful ending to a great match, but it goes down in the books as a win for Dunn.
The XWA rumble was next and the winner of the rumble would receive as shot at JT Dunn’s championship at a later date. My pick for the rumble was Richard Holiday, a kid with superstar written all over him as he entered the Rumble at number one. Holiday absorbed everything that was thrown at him in the match from a whole stable of CZW wrestlers, Matt Striker, Space Monkey, and even an appearance from ECW legend The Sandman, but in the end Sammy Guevara was just too much as he eliminated Holiday to claim his stake at the rubber match against JT Dunn. One of the promising things about last night’s Rumble was the mixture of talent from XWA’s very own Wrestle Kingdom School as Buff Dad, Todd Harris, Nick Delta, Joey Bones (who was almost killed by The Sandman), Jon Steele, Bob Whitney, etc. It’s amazing to see what the school is doing and it shows through their events. As I said, my match of the night was Ace Austin vs Danny Limelight and the promise of the night was that former WWE superstar Santino Marella was going to be at their next event XWA D.T.A. on March 23RD. The best wrestling around and you can take that to the bank.
Last month I listed some of my dream WWE matches that I would love to see happen in the near future. I thought it was a pretty good list, but I am back to do part two and this one is different. You see for today’s Dream Matches, we are thinking outside the box and beyond the walls of the WWE for matches we would just love to see happen in general. While Chris Jericho made a lot of our dreams come true last year by challenging Kenny Omega, there are still a ton of matches he and many others haven’t had and the possibilities are endless. Now the rules are simple, all you have to have is an imagination and leave your elitist opinions at home because we are just trying to have some fun here.
I’m naming this one first because we have to be honest with ourselves in realizing that the best thing going in the Impact Knockouts division is Tessa Blanchard! She had an amazing match at All In, sher’s had an amazing 2018 as champ, and she is the daughter of a Horseman (Tully Blanchard). Charlotte has been on top of the WWE since the moment she stepped foot through the doors and she has not disappointed us one bit. She had a 2018 that was up and down that saw her lose her title to a new and improved Becky Lynch, but she reinvented herself thanks to her match with Ronda Rousey. Oh yeah, she is also the daughter of a Four Horseman (Ric Flair) so while we will have to wait and see what happens this year. I’ll hope that the Diamond standard gets a shot at the Queen to see how good genetics really are since these are two of the most superior athletes in the game right now.
I have about a hundred different opponents that I would love to see CM Punk do battle with in the ring, but I’ll narrow it down to one (maybe two) match that I would love to see him wrestle. I look at matches like I am promoting a match and instantly the title The Best In The World vs The Phenomenal One comes to mind as I would love to see CM Punk take on AJ Styles. It’s one of those scenarios that probably never happen because Punk is dead set against coming back to wrestle and not just the WWE, but one can dream. This would have been a WrestleMania caliber match that would have tore the roof off the place with arguably two of the best in the business. Now, we do not know what lies ahead for any of these two other than the rumor that AJ will be headed to RAW and that Punk will be doing commentating for a small MMA promotion, but one can sit back and wish in his heart that this might happen someday. Would Punk hit AJ with the GTS or would AJ hit the phenomenal forearm and follow it up with a Styles clash?
You didn’t think that I was going to keep the Phenomenal One off of this post just because of the last one did you? Listen the hottest free agent in all of professional wrestling is out there right now in Kenny Omega and if you are a WWE fan then you hope that this guy makes his debut at the WWE Royal Rumble and hits the ground running like his predecessor AJ Styles. AJ was the leader of The Bullet Club until he was hit with his own finisher by his successor Kenny Omega. You don’t think that in all of the madness that has been the last two years or so that AJ Styles has forgotten about that? We at one time hoped that the WWE was going to give us our dream rematch of AJ/Nakamura and they delivered at WrestleMania 34. They also delivered us Finn Balor (who was the leader of the Bullet Club before AJ) vs AJ Styles and that match was amazing. Now, we can only sdit back and hope that we get AJ Styles vs Kenny Omega at a WrestleMania or maybe even a Summerslam. That my friends is what is best for business and lord knows the WWE needs it now that AEW is around the corner and threatening. So, let’s make it happen WWE!!!
I don’t know how one promotion would have dealt with a match like this considering one was a carbon copy of the other, but I honestly would loved to have seen Mankind in his prime take on Abyss to settle once and for all who is the better monster. Mankind was definitely the better of the two, but Abyss is a physical specimen that is imposing. Both of these men have had legendary matches and have carried their respective companies at one time or another. This is definitely catagorized in the dream matches that we all think of when we’re playing WWE2K and saying imagine if Andre The Giant faced The Big Show? So, we’ll go ahead and put this int he video game fantasy mode because this is a fantasy match of mine.
I want to indulge wrestling fans every where with this pick because it’s one that both teams have tweeted out that they’d love to do. These two could be considered hands down the two best tag teams in the business with The Young Bucks proving it on their own and after an outcry from the WWE Universe, The Revival are finally getting their chance to prove why they are the best in the WWE. I don’t see this match happening in the WWE if I am being honest so maybe when their contracts expire with the WWE maybe The Revival will head over to AEW. Nevertheless, I think this would be a fantastic match that combines two contrasting styles with the high flyers vs the nasty, fist in your mouth, Brain Busters styled team and those always make interesting matches. There was a belief once that Tag Team Matches carried the business and it definitely ruled in the WWE, but every time like it looks to get better they ruin it. Hopefully, The Revival is the start of the revival of tag wrestling and hopefully we get to see this match one day as well. This is it for part two, stay tuned for more dream matches as they come.
There is something that we should all be thinking about when it comes to tonights Impact Wrestling Pay Per View entitled Homecoming. Is the end near for Impact Wrestling as we know it? How much more into obscurity can this company go to when it switches to a channel that does not exist in my neck of the woods. It is the saddest deal that I have ever seen a company get excited about especially with the news of the new promotion AEW (All Elite Wrestling) that is sure to be the final nail in the proverbial coffin for Impact Wrestling. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone considering they tried to sell their company to AEW (Don’t believe me, just click 