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.
This was an amazing night of wrestling and it all kicked off with the first ever Women’s WarGames match. The match featured Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai, and Kay Lee Ray took on Rhea Ripley, Candice LaRae, Tegan Nox, and Dakota Kai. Well , it was supposed to be Dakota and Tegan, but Dakota had her heel turn and took Tegan and herself out of the match. She essentially made it a 4 on 2 match and despite the odds, Rhea found a way to win the match pinning Shayna Baszler. The men’s WarGames match was even more exciting as it was the Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and Roderick Strong) who took on Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, and their mystery fourth member who turned out to be Kevin Owens. The match featured some amazing moments from guys like Lee, but it was that final moment that took your breath away as Ciampa dropped Cole from the top of the cage through a table.
What should have been the second consecutive amazing night for the WWE kind of fell short. None of the traditional 5 on 5 on 5 matches deserve to be up here, but two matches do. The first match saw Adam Cole having to defend his NXT Championship against Pete Dunne who won the opportunity the night before. Despite being battered and bruised up, these two gave everything they had including an incredible Panama Sunrise from Cole to Dunne on the outside apron. The other match that I thought was great was the match that saw NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong take on WWE United States Champion AJ Styles and WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. The match went back and forth and Shinsuke shined in this match despite taking some bumps including a styles clash that saw Roddy come out of nowhere as he proceeded to throw AJ out of the ring and he took the pinfall for the win.
It was a weird night on RAW and the two redeeming matches of the night was the Fatal 4 way to decide the man who would face AJ Styles for the WWE United States Championship as Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, and Randy Orton all did battle. Rey would get the best of Ricochet with a roll up for the win and it was up to him to get the job done against AJ. AJ was punishing Rey through out the match attacking Rey’s knee, but after Rey successfully hit the 619 on AJ, AJ’s momentum carried him into the referee who went down. This allowed Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows to come in and attack him, but thanks to Randy Orton clearing the ring and hitting AJ with an RKO, Rey was able to win the title. The other match of the night that was good was the match between Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens which happened thanks to Owens delivering a stunner to Seth at the beginning of the show. The match did wonders as it helped possible set up a heel turn for Seth with maybe A.O.P. (Authors Of Pain)?
This week’s episode of NXT wasn’t a terrible one, but it had a couple of memorable matches on the card with the first one being a NXT Tag Team Championship match that saw The Undisputed Era’s Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish take on the team of Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic, but that would quickly change as Bobby Fish suffered an injury in the beginning moments that then saw Roderick Strong step in to do the match. It was an excellent match that went back and forth, but UE would take advantage of a distraction by Adam Cole to retain the titles. The other great match on the card was between Tommaso Ciampa and Finn Balor and there is no need to tell you how good the match was, but the ending is what is worth watching since Adam Cole once again made an appearance.
There were a lot of great moments in this episode of Dyanmite like the debut of The Butcher and The Blade or the Jerigoat, but there were also a lot of strange finishes to matches as well. Nonetheless, you knew the minute you saw that Kenny Omega had his rematch with PAC that it was going to be an amazing match and it indeed delivered. After escaping each other’s attempts at finishers, Kenny was able to pull off a win against the number one ranked PAC with a second crucifix pin. I had high hopes for Scorpio Sky who I think is a future star, but we also knew that there was no way he was walking away AEW Champion against Chris Jericho. After some amazing back and forth, Jericho was able to get the win with a lion tamer. What was great about this was the fact that Jon Moxley sort of confronted Jericho at the end of the match making us wonder if that match is on the horizon.
Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc had themselves one hell of a match on MLW Fusion that saw them leave the arena, go to Jimmy’s house and so much more in a falls count anywhere in Orlando match. The triple threat match between Damian Priest, Pete Dunne, and Killian Dane to decide the number one contender for the NXT Championship was great, but not better than the two WarGames matches. The Fiend (Bray Wyatt) vs Daniel Bryan from Survivor Series was a decent match and while I thought WWE RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley vs NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler was a little too slow, it was definitely a lot better than most of the matches that night. Dakota Kai taking on Candice LaRae on NXT On USA had potential to be an excellent match, but the rivalry between these two will be far from over. On Thanksgiving, MLW had a special edition that feature Ross Von Erich take on Jacob Fatu for the MLW Heavyweight Championship and it was a really good match until the predictable heel turn of Filthy Tom Lawlor happened.
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.
This weekend is one of the coolest weekends in professional wrestling besides WrestleMania weekend because not only is it Royal Rumble weekend, it also marks the start of the Road to WrestleMania. This is the most important time of the year because all of the storylines throughout the year have been building up to this point (or so we hope it does). Tonight at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, the WWE presents NXT TakeOver: Phoenix which features some of the most power packed matches which are a true testament to what they have been building all year long. NXT is the superior brand right now and that is a testament to all the amazing indy talent they pick up all the time as well. Usually with a PPV, there are a couple of matches that I am looking forward to, but that is not the same with NXT which is all killer and no filler. Every match on the card has the potential to be a show stealer and as a wrestling fan that is all I can really ask for. One match that I am interested to see where they will go with it is the NXT Women’s Championship match that sees Shayna Baszler put her title on the line against the undefeated Bianca Belair. Is Shayna going to end her run or is Bianca going to be challenging Auska’s record run in NXT? The other question is what kind of a factor are the rest of the Horsewoman going to play and if Shayna loses, do we see her in the Royal Rumble?
Tommaso Ciampa is the best heel in the business as we speak and I am so thankful that he went in this direction because he has mastered the arts of the dark side. The only problem is his way is Aleister Black, a man that many feel Tommaso cannot beat because of the interference that occurred thanks to Gargano. However, one cannot contest that Tommaso is not a serious threat as he has been NXT champion for 190+ days. That is no easy feet as the man has run through competition like Gargano and the Velveteen Dream to name a few. Will Tommaso pay for his sins or will he succeed in defeating Aleister Black and ending that notion once and for all? Another match that I am looking forward to it the NXT Tag Team Championship match that pins NXT Tag Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) against the behemoths known as the War Raiders (Hanson And Rowe). The WWE really needs to build their tag team division and what they don’t realize is that it’s thriving in NXT. This is going to be one unbelievable match due to the contrast of styles and I can’t wait to watch.
I definitely saved the best for last because NXT North American Champion Ricochet is going to be putting his belt on the line against the underachiever Johnny Gargano. Gargano is going to be under a lot of pressure in this match because he has to prove that he can win under pressure and when it counts in a championship match. I truly believe for his legacy in NXT, Gargano really needs this win more than you think he does because if he loses then what’s next? This match in my opinion is going to be the match of the night as we witness some magic that is going to be on display as Johnny Wrestling clashes with a man that defies the laws of gravity in Ricochet. The other match on the card features indy wrestling darling Kassius Ohno who is looking for some revenge over the embarrassing loss to the “King of Bros” Matt Riddle who defeated Ohno in six seconds at NXT TakeOver: War Games II. Something tells me that we are actually going to get more of a wrestling match out of this one, but I expect the same outcome when it is all said and done. I hope all of you wrestling fans are going to check this one out because it’s going to be phenomenal. Check out my predictions below:
Tonight is going to be one of the most historic nights in the history of pro wrestling and in WWE history because tonight is the first ever all women pay per view entitled Evolution. The WWE has been pushing the women’s evolution for about a coupe of years now and deservedly so because the product is so much better than it used to be. Tonight, you are getting two Women’s championship matches, A NXT women’s championship match, The Mae Young Classic final, and the return of two legends. The most interesting match and probably the match of the night will be WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch as she defends her belt against Charlotte Flair. They have been cutting the best promos in the past few weeks and Becky is exactly what we have wanted her to be as far as attitude and look. Let’s be honest, who really believes that Nikki Bella is going to defeat Ronda Rousey for her WWE Raw Women’s Championship? I understand why they are doing it, but Nikki is not what we wanted. I haven’t been watching the Mae Young Classic, but I am looking forward to seeing Toni Storm and Lo Shirai battle for the trophy.
I was looking forward to seeing the match that originally involved Trish Stratus and Lita taking on Mickie James and Alexa Bliss. The only problem is that Alexa has been pulled from the match and they substitute her with Alicia Fox which means Trish and Lita are winning tonight. The Historic Women’s Battle Royal is only historic because it features some current and classic battling for a chance at the championship which is the same as the Royal Rumble. The best part about it though is that Alundra Blaze is going to be competing it so that will be fun to see since she never lost her women’s championship. Now the other match I am looking forward to is the six women tag match that sees The Riott Squad taking on Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Natalya. I am hoping that the WWE makes the right call and let’s The Riott Squad win to build them as a legitimate team because they deserve it or at least Ruby Riott does. Shayna Baszler is one bad ass woman who I think restarts her reign of terror on NXT tonight. Here are my predictions and please enjoy history!!!
For today’s Main Event Madness match, we are backtracking all the way back to November for NXT TakeOver: Toronto for a match that in my opinion was one worth checking out. For six years, Mickie James had been in TNA while the women’s division in the WWE devolved before it evolved into what it is today. Asuka is a superstar who had been untouchable and undefeated in NXT and was the women’s champion. She dominated the division to the point that it almost seemed like there was no more competition left in the division. That is until the WWE brought back one of it’s legends in former five time women’s champion Mickie James for what we thought was a one night only match at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. The question going into the match was how rusty was Mickie James going to be or did she still have it in her? She definitely convinced Asuka that she wasn’t going to play mind games with her as she gained the first advantage in the match sending Asuka to the outside with a sliding dropkick.
They continued the mind games with hammerlocks, head scissors, and then finally Asuka hitting Mickie James out of the ring with a hip attack. They were testing the waters against each other and who could get in whose head the most. After a little bit of a tussle on the outside of the ring, Asuka was able to gain control of the match when she placed Mickie into an ankle lock and then proceeded to deliver a German suplex. That changed the complexity of the match, but after taking some devastating kicks to the chest, she was able to counter and place Asuka into the Muta lock. After grabbing the rope forcing the break, Mickie James brought her a game to Asuka almost pinning the champion after seated senton from the top rope. After surviving the Mick kick and countering the Mickie-DT, she was able to wrestle her way into locking the chicken wing and Asuka forced Mickie to tap out as she retained her title in an excellent match. This was truly an amazing match as both competitors told an amazing story of who was the baddest chick on the planet. I am goign to give the match an A for a final grade.