Tags
"Filthy" Tom Lawlor, 205 Live, Aerostar, AJ Styles, Americanrana 19, Angel Garza, Ángel De Oro, Bestia Del Ring, Beyond Wrestling, Big E, Candice LaRae, Chris Dickinson, CMLL, Contra Unit, Daga, Daisuke Sekimoto, Gran Final De La Copa Dinastias 2019, Impact Wrestling, Io Shirai, Jacob Fatu, Jake Crist, Jessamyn Duke, Joaquin Wilde, Josef Samael, Karl Anderson, Kevin Owens, Lowrider, Luke Gallows, Marina Shafir, Marshal Von Erich, Matthew Justice, MLW, MLW Fusion, Niebla Roja, NXT, NXT Breakout Tournament, NXT UK, NXT Women's Championship, OVE, Raw, Ricochet, Ross Von Erich, Rush, Sami Callahan, Sami Zayn, Samoa Joe, Shayna Baszler, Simon Gotch, Smackdown Live, Teddy Hart, Tessa Blanchard, The New Day, Uncharted Territory, WrestleCircus, WrestleCircus Big Top Revival, WWE, WWE Stomping Grounds, WWE United States Championship, Xavier Woods
As I have said many many times and I’ll say it again there is an abundance of wrestling at our disposal that it’s almost a dream come true because I remember being a teenager and wanting more wrestling than just the WWE and WCW because they were only on certain nights of the week. Now, we live in a world where you are getting WWE’s programming (RAW, Smackdown Live, 205 Live, NXT, NXT UK plus PPV’s when applicable), Impact Wrestling (free on Twitch), and so much independent wrestling whether it be Ring Of Honor TV on Fite, or all the various independent promotions that are on Independent Wrestling TV like Beyond Wrestling and ICW New York to name a few. Now, we are in the midst of a revolution in wrestling especially since AEW debuted with Double Or Nothing and with the fact that they have a weekly show coming in September. So with all this wrestling going on, I am once again here to present to you guys what I consider to be the top matches of the week from all the promotions that I have watched. If there is any match I may have missed and you think I should check it out then tweet me @EddieValiant82 on Twitter. Here are the matches that I believe you should check out, but to hear what my match of the week was, you’ll have to tune into my podcast Five Star Wrestling Podcast to find out when we read our five star moments/match of the week.
Tessa Blanchard vs Jake Crist (Impact Wrestling 6/21/2019)
Much like the WWE, it’s hard to find anything to be happy about when it comes to Impact Wrestling, but despite all of the hiccups the product seems to be getting better. One of the things the company does right usually is their Impact Knockouts division and one of my favorites is Tessa Blanchard who took on Jake Crist of OVE in a rare intergender match. Jake was instructed by Sami Callahan to get a victory over Tessa who interjected herself into their business the week before, but Tessa came out of the gates hot hitting Jake with some vicious forearms before launching herself not once, not twice, but three successful suicide dives. Unfortunately her advantage didn’t last long as Jake Crist was just vicious in the ring with her especially when he was raking her face with his forearm. Eventually, she would fight back and she got her opportunity when she climbed the ropes and she nailed Crist with the magnum. That was all it took as she covered him for the 1-2-3 and believe me Sami Callahan was not happy.
Rush & Bestia Del Ring vs Ángel De Oro & Niebla Roja (CMLL LUCHA LIBRE VIERNES ESPECTACULAR DE ARENA MEXICO 6/21/2019)
As you all know in CMLL, every match is fought in a best two out of three falls match and the first few falls are usually very short in time frame. Ring Of Honor sensation Rush and his partner Bestia Del Ring took on the brothers Ángel De Oro (Miguel Chavez) and Niebla Roja (Sergio Chavez) in the Gran Final De La Copa Dinastias 2019. The first fall was very quick in where Rush started the match early by attacking the others and got the first fall after hitting a missile dropkick in the corner to Niebla Roja with Bestial hitting a senton bomb against Ángel De Oro. The second fall saw them take them to the outside where they each fought their opponents in the stands. They continued to beat on them when they returned on to the ring, but soon paid when they were distracted allowing Ángel and Niebla to get back in the match with three straight suicide dives through the middle rope. Rush and Bestia would eventually drop the second fall when Rush was disqualified for using the camera wires. The two teams would go back and forth for the third fall trading advantages, but it was a powerbomb from the middle rope that Bestia delivered to Niebla that eliminated him from the match. They would try the same thing to Ángel, but he would reverse it into a huricanrana to eliminate Bestia. After going back and forth, a controversial finish would win the match for Ángel and Niebla. Ángel would deliver a low blow and turn it right into a roll up for the 1-2-3.
Aerostar Vs Teddy Hart vs Lowrider vs Daga (WrestleCircus Big Top Revival 6/23/2019)
When it’s a lucha libre rules match and you see that Daga is on the card then you know you are going to get one heck of a match. Add the veterans Aerostar and Teddy Hart and mix them in with a fresh face like Lowrider and this is a contest. The action was heavy and it was fast as these guys threw every thing they had at each other and one of my favorite spots was the multiple tope suicidas and back flips off the ropes and to the outside from each of the participants in the match. After surviving one heck of a Canadian Destroyer from Teddy Hart, Daga was able to get back into the match thanks to Lowrider hitting Teddy with a springboard cutter. Daga eventually began to duke it out with Lowrider eventually nailing him with an scoop slam piledriver before executing an underhook into a codebreaker of sorts that was enough to pick up the win and he got the three right before Teddy Hart was able to stop it. All the men in the match deserved a round of applause including Aerostar who was returning from a a bad injury just the week before.
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs The New Day (WWE Stomping Grounds 6/23/2019)
I went into this PPV with absolutely no expectations whatsoever and out of all the matches on the card, this one came out of nowhere. The tag team match saw Kevin Owens and his best friend Sami Zayn take on The New Day’s Big E and Xavier Woods ina grudge match of sorts. The match started and it almost looked as if KO and Zayn were going to take it early as KO eliminated Big E out of the picture temporarily with a superkick. He followed it up with three straight superkicks to Xavier and followed it with a senton from the top, but Xavier kicked out. Zayn tried a blue thunder bomb, but Xavier kicked out so he tagged KO back in. Kevin then tried to hit a frog splash, but Xavier kicked out and Big E finally made his way back onto the apron. The duo began working on Woods for most of the match before he was able to tag Big E into the ring. There was a lot of action as they never led off of the pedal. Eventually after several tags, Xavier was in the ring with Kevin and he tried climbing the ropes for a high risk maneuver, but Kevin was quick to knock him off it and when he got up, Kevin hit him with the stunner to get the 1-2-3. If you watch any match from that night make sure this is one of them.
Ricochet Vs AJ Styles (WWE RAW 6/24/2019)
Just from the two names that you see this match already should have been a match of the week contender, but the WWE always finds ways to screw things up and they almost did. Ricochet had won the US title from Samoa Joe the night before and now 24 hours later was in a match with AJ Styles who was returning from injury. When the match first started, it was actually fun to watch as each competitor was trying to one up each other, but then all of a sudden here comes Gallows and Anderson to screw up a perfectly good match. AJ then kicks out the duo after they tried tripping up Ricochet and when the match returns from commercial break, it has been restarted. Most of the match, it just seemed that AJ was always a step ahead of Ricochet and that is just the veteran in him, but it got serious as Ricochet was matching him move for move. At one point, Ricochet was able to hit a springboard moonsault, but he failed to get the 1-2-3 as AJ kicked out. At that point that is when he set himself up for a 630, but AJ was quick to get out of the way eventually nailing him with a forearm and then he topped it off with a phenomenal forearm to get the 1-2-3. I look forward to whatever lies in the future for these two.
Io Shirai Vs Shayna Baszler (NXT 513 6/26/2019)
One of the best rivalries going in NXT has to be the one between NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler and Io Shirai. For Io Shirai, it all came down to this steel cage match which happened to be the first in NXT history for women and that is because out of two chances at the championship, Shirai has already failed twice. Shayna at first in the match was the smarter competitor as she targeted the body parts she needed in case of submission and she used the steel cage as a weapon while Io was always trying her high flying techniques. Io finally came to her senses eventually in the match and started using the cage as well and boy did she use it. At one point, Shayna delivered her patented Kirifuda Clutch submission to get Io away from the cage, but as Shayna climbed Io quickly got back up and did a German suplex from almost the top of the cage. That put Baszler out for a bit and that is when Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir came to ringside to guard the door preventing her from escaping. So, she climbed the cage and that is when Shafir followed, but Candice LaRae came to the rescue and eliminated the horsewomen while Io delivered a Moonsault from the very top of the cage that connected with Baszler. Unfortunately as she tried to crawl her way out, she was met with another Kirifuda Clutch, but as she used the cage door to get Baszler off of her, it only knocked Baszler to the ring floor helping her retain her championship.
Chris Dickinson vs Matthew Justice (Uncharted Territory Ep. 13 6/26/2019)
“Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson should have his own column here on Top Matches because the man brings it week in and week out with amazing matches. As he gears up for his big match against Daisuke Sekimoto at Americanrana 19, he has asked for the best talent around and Matthew Justice, a journeyman of indy wrestling answered the call. It looked like another easy match for the dirty daddy until Justice introduced some chairs and things went hardcore in this no DQ match. Justice would get a window of opportunity as Dickinson was trying to perform the Memphis piledriver on the apron, Justice reversed it with a back body drop and in turn Dickinson hurts his elbow on the way down. Then the holy shit moment happened because Justice got too cocky. Both men were on the outside of the ring and Justice looked to be in full control as he took a door from underneath the ring and set it up at the ring bell table. As they made their way to the stage at The White Eagle in Worcester, Dickinson was able to reverse it and he delivered a Pazuzu bomb (Razor’s Edge) on to the door. Despite this, Justice would kick out of the ensuing pin attempt to stay in the match and he would kick out again after a death valley driver onto a chair. Dickinson then traveled to the outside and he pulled out a door from underneath the ring, but this time Justice delivers a death valley driver onto the door, but Dickinson kicked out. As Justice climbed the ropes, Dickinson quickly rose up and met him at the top to deliver a power bomb of sorts which was the final nail in the coffin as Dickinson was able to get the 1-2-3.
Honorable Mentions:
One of the matches that is worth a mention was the first round match of the NXT Breakout tournament match between Angel Garza and Joaquin Wilde. The match showed what both men could do and what lies ahead for the future of NXT which is promising. The next match on the list would be the WWE United States Championship match at WWE Stomping Grounds between Ricochet and the champ at the time Samoa Joe. It was a match that featured contrasting styles, but in the end it was pretty entertaining. At WrestleCircus Big Top Revival, the match between Tessa Blanchard and Scorpio Sky may not have gone the way I wanted it to, but Tessa Blanchard is awesome and deserves a watch. The last match on the honorable mention list is from episode 63 of MLW Fusion that saw the debut of the Von Erich brothers (Marshall and Ross) as they teamed with Filthy Tom Lawlor to take on Contra Unit (Jacob Fatu, Simon Gotch, and Josef Samael) in what was an all out war.
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.