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.
I love the fact that I receive emails from Independent Wrestling TV because last night in Queens, NY there was a card from a promotion called ICW New York which stands for Independent Championship Wrestling (not Insane Championship…) and the card was stacked for their event What’s Beef? The card featured matches like Independent Wrestling Champion Orange Cassidy defend his title against the Bad Boy Joey Janela while Nick Gage took on Sami Callihan in a Last Man Standing match. The night opened up with veteran Grim Reefer taking on the up and coming Jimmy Lloyd which featured some awesome hardcore action that saw Grim Reefer win the match with a brain buster on to a chair. The next match featured some pre-match excitement as Rich Swann danced to Lionel Richie’s All Night Long with the crowd before Marko Stunt tried to match the excitement, but took advantage by attacking a distracted Swann. The match was one of the more exciting matches of the night as it featured some amazing back and forth action as both men left everything they had in the ring. Unfortunately for Stunt, Swann was just a step ahead as he won with a 450 splash.
Things began to heat up as Scarlet Bourdeaux made her way to ringside to face a last minute replacement in “Thick Mama Pump” Jordynne Grace. There was a little bit of shadiness in the beginning of the match between Bourdeaux and the referee, but that would come back to help her later on as she used the distraction to pull off the upset over Grace. The next match might be a little controversial to some, but I have to give Maria Manic a lot of credit for stepping in the ring with the “Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson as she stood toe to toe with him throughout the whole match. The match saw Dickinson deliver a death valley driver to Manic on top of a chair, Manic would put Dickinson through a door, but it was Dickinson delivering a Pazuzu bomb to Manic through a door that secured him the win. One thing was for certain and that is even though she lost, she definitely won the crowd over that night. There was a brief intermission that featured an old school match of Eddie Kingston taking on a pre-WWE Jon Moxley which was awesome to see.
When we came back to action, we were treated to what makes independent wrestling so awesome and great and that was the Independent Wrestling Championship match between champion Orange Cassidy and challenger the “Bad Boy” Joey Janela who came dressed to the ring exactly the same as Cassidy. The best was the fact that Janela was playing along with Cassidy, but the talent that Cassidy possess is absolutely amazing especially when he pulls off moves with his hands in his pocket. The best part of the match was the way it ended as both men resorted to thinking and executing the same tactic which was to spit orange juice into each others eyes. The difference was that Cassidy was able to recover while Janela was still blinded as he rolled up the referee thinking it was Cassidy as Cassidy acted as the referee. Just as Janela thought he won, he was rolled up with a mouse trap roll up that led to Cassidy taking the win. The match was followed by a great gesture as both men showed each other respect with a pair of sunglasses. This for the pure sense of storytelling and how much fun it was made it a contender for match of the night.
The next match was an insane fatal four way match that saw New York legend Homicide take on KTB (Kyle The Beast), Pinkie Sanchez (brought to the ring by Riley Madison), and Joe Gacy who was very impressive in the match. The match was absolute insanity as it looked like a massive car wreck when it was all said and done. At one point, it liked KTB was going to take the win as he walked the rope and sent Pinkie Sanchez straight through a door, but Homicide took KTB out and hit Sanchez with a cop killer to take the win. Chris Dickinson would come out to the ring to challenge Homicide for the right to be called King Of New York at ICW’s next event. The main event of the night saw Sami Callihan change the rules of the match to a falls count anywhere match against the legend Nick Gage. Both men literally tried to kill each other with every single chair in the building and just about every door there was including the fact that Gage was put through a plastic table. Callihan couldn’t match the intensity as Gage piledrived him through a door to set up the pinfall. If you have not subscribed to Independent Wrestling TV, then you need to do it now because this was one hell of a night of wrestling. Check out some photos below:
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 
What a night to be a fan of independent wrestling last night when XWA’s Wrestlution 16 came to the XWA Event Center in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The night started off with what I am naming match of the night and what could possibly be match of the year in the six man stipulation contract ladder match. The match featured Ace Romero, Tyler Nitro, Devin Blaze, Christian Casanova, Antonio Atama, and Kevin Bennett. The match had the most Holy Sh** moments of the night with guys going through ladders all around the ring. I thought at one point that Devin Blaze might have been dead after going through a ladder courtesy of Ace Romero, but he survived the night. There was so much mayhem around the ring that the referees were distracted and they didn’t see Christian Casanova grab the contract, but what they did see was Antonio Atama holding it. Atama pounced on the chance to steal the contract because he knew the refs weren’t looking like an intelligent competitor who is aware of everything that is going on. I am however going to say that every wrestler in that match definitely earned my respect for the punishment they put themselves through.
All of us thought that we were going to get a triple threat match for one of the main event matches. We were supposed to see Ricochet take on Zack Sabre Jr. and JT Dunn, but because of United Airlines dropping the ball, Ricochet and Tessa Blanchard couldn’t make the show. That in turn had an effect on another match as well as Sumie Sakai essentially had no opponent. Well that was until XWA student Isana stepped forward to challenge the Japanese wrestler. While Sumie Sakai would pick up the win against Isana’s valiant effort in the ring, the match was very entertaining as Sumie provided some laughs for the audience. For the triple threat match that Ricochet was to be apart of, it ended up being the rematch between Zack Sabre Jr. and JT Dunn to finally determine a winner that we didn’t get at Breakout. While Zack tried his best to turn JT Dunn into a human pretzel all throughout the match, JT Dunn stayed determined and he kept fighting back even trying to match wits with the technical wizard. As the match wore on and it looked like a stalemate, JT out of nowhere rolled up Sabre Jr. and took the win making the man from Providence the better of the two (for at least right now). One of the oddest, but my favorite moment of the night was the criss cross apple sauce slap fight that the two had in the middle of the ring (yes I did say that).
The other highlights of the night for me was seeing one of my favorites in XWA in Rudeboy Riley who took on the Prince of Dayton, Ohio Jake Crist. The two went through an absolute war with each other as they threw just about everything but the kitchen sink whether in the ring or out of it. We would see Sumie Sakai in the night once again when she accompanied NJPW’s The Tempura Boys (Sho Tanaka & Yohey Komatsu) who took on veteran Jason Blade and newcomer Vinny Pacifico. It was a treat to see some of the best from NJPW who along with Sumie Sakai got the crowd involved in the match with the abdominal stretch that had six or more people helping Sukie. A match that was absolutely intense as I thought it would be was the match between Kingdom member Vinny Marseglia who took on Callahan Death Machine Sami Callahan. At first I think the whole crowd believed that the match was going to be cut short due to an injury to Vinny, but that is why Vinny is one of the best. Vinny ran back to the ring to attack Callahan and it worked for a little while. The two actually fought each other all over the XWA Event Center, but unfortunately the match ended when Vinny decided to superkick the referee.
Travis “Flip” Gordon certainly had the odds against him in what was suposed to be a triple threat match against Mr. 450 and Jon Cruz. Little did he know that it was a 2 on 1 match, but nonetheless he flipped his way to victory over the LWO (Lucha World Order) who also happen to be some pretty intense guys. Brian Fury fought and won an absolute war against TNA talent Braxton Sutter, who for a while looked as if he was going to have the win. The final match of the night was a title match that saw XWA champion and Kingdom member “The Best Around” TK O’Ryan defend his strap against veteran “The Miracle” Mike Bennett. There was a special stipulation in the match that said that TK was allowed to have someone in his corner while Bennett was not allowed to. Who was the person, well it turned out to be Bennett’s own best friend and Kingdom leader Matt Taven. Taven for the most part of the match was pretty neutral until he showed his real colors not once, but twice. Bennett would nail TK with a superkick, but when the referee went to initiate the pin count, Taven would pull him out of the ring and he hit him with a superkick. After a couple of minutes, Bennett would then hit TK with the Miracle In Progress, but Taven would do the same thing. After a little bit of a distraction, TK would steal the win from Bennett retaining his championship.
TK O’Ryan and Matt Taven had thought they had pulled one over Bennett until XWA official Mike Antonucci came out and had a huge announcement. He was not a happy camper with how the match turned out so he announced that there would be a rematch at XWA’s Xtreme Rumble (January 20) and that there would be a special guest referee who was WCW and WWE legend Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. The crowd went absolutely nuts over the announcement and Matt Taven was not pleased at all. It was definitely the monkey wrench that could make things fair for The Miracle when the rematch happens next month. The thing that I love about this company is that not only do they have the best talent in the Indy scene, but they give their students a shot as well which rang true when Joey Bones and Sully pulled out a big win in a tag team grudge match during the night and as mentioned above, giving Isana a shot at Sumie Sakai. Overall, it was a great night of Indy wrestling that money could buy. I am going to give the event an A- for a final grade. Check them out on their website 
I woke up today in a very jubilant mood because I realized that XWA’s Wrestlution 16 is today. XWA is an independent organization based out of Rhode Island that has hosted some of the best in the business like AJ Styles, Rhyno, and so many more. They also host some of the best in the independent world right now like Ricochet, Zach Sabre Jr., JT Dunn, Antonio Atama, TK O’Ryan, Vinny Marseglia, and so many more. The company’s annual extravaganza takes place this time at the company’s own XWA Event Center in West Warwick, Rhode Island and it promises to be one that people will never forget. Yesterday on their Facebook event page, they announced that NJPW stars Sho Tanaka and Yohey Komatsu were going to be at Wrestlution 16. The night is being headlined by a special triple threat match that features superstars Ricochet, Zach Sabre Jr. and JT Dunn all in one match. Last month at XWA Breakout, Zach Sabre Jr. went to battle with JT Dunn in a match that the winner would move on to Wrestlution to face Ricochet. The only problem is that the two fought to a draw and XWA then determined that they would both compete in the match against Ricochet setting up one hell of a main event.
The other main event of the night features The Miracle Mike Bennett facing XWA Champion and Kingdom member TK O’Ryan for the championship, but there’s a catch. TK is cashing in his special stipulation which allows him to have whoever he wants at ringside while Bennett is not allowed to have anyone. It seems a little unfair, but that is the stipulation the Miracle needs to deal with. That is definitely not all there is for the night people, there is a hell of a lot more. The night also features a six man Contract Stipulation Ladder Match which will feature Christian Casanova, Antonio Atama, Kevin Bennett, Devin Blaze, Nitro, and Ace. They are all fighting for the same thing that TK O’Ryan won last year and has used. In what should be a brutal match, Sami Callahan will be taking on Kingdom member Vinny Marseglia which means this is a must see match. In a triple threat match, Travis “Flip” Gordon welcomes former NXT stars Mr. 450, and Jon Cruz. TNA talent Braxton Sutter takes on the legendary Brian Fury while Wrestling royalty and third gen superstar Tessa Blanchard takes on Sumie Sakai. Rudeboy Riley will take on one half of The Irish Airborne in Jake Crist and I believe Ethan Case will take on Anthony Henry. This is definitely a night of wrestling that you absolutely do no want to miss and if you are not aqauinted with them yet, do yourself a favor and do so. You can check out their official website 