Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for December 29 to January 4

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of December 29th to January 4th.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):
WWE
WWE RAW (Dec. 30)
* Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy – 4.0
* Erick Rowan vs. Kip Stevens – 1.0 (Squash)
* Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya – 1.5
* The O.C. vs. Street Profits – 3.0
* 2-On-1 Handicap match – Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs. Drew McIntyre – 1.0 (Squash)
* Andrade vs. jobber – No Rating
* Andrade vs. Ricochet – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Aleister Black vs. Buddy Murphy match. Worst – Latter half of the Lana & Lashley Wedding segment.
Show Notes – Kevin Owens promo and brawl at the start were good. Black vs. Murphy match was one of the best RAW matches this year. Charlotte’s promo was boring and Natalya being the surprise opponent was a huge let down. OC vs. Street Profits match was very good overall but can’t say the same for Angelo Dawkins promo afterwards. Orton’s fake injury speech wasn’t that good. Lana and Lashley wedding segment went from being an entertaining train wreck to being terrible by the end of it. RAW started off very strong but was average at best overall.

NXT Year-End Awards Special (Jan. 1)
Overall – 2.5
Show Notes – NXT’s awards show was decent overall. Some of the choices for award winners were head scratchers. NXT’s side of this year’s Dusty Tag Team Classic tournament looks very weak in terms of actual teams compared to NXT UK’s side.

NXT UK (Jan. 2)
* Dave Mastiff vs. Kona Reeves – 2.0
* Ligero vs. Kassius Ohno – 3.0
* Oliver Carter & Ashton Smith vs. Riddick Moss & Dorian Mack – 2.5
* No Disqualification match – Ilja Dragunov vs. Alexander Wolfe – 3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – Dragunov vs. Wolfe match. Worst – Mastiff vs. Reeves match
Show Notes – Toni Storm and Piper Niven promo and brawl segment was decent. Dragunov vs. Wolfe No DQ match was very good overall. NXT UK was an enjoyable show overall.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Jan. 3)
* Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. Lacey Evans & Dana Brooke vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross – 2.5
* Shorty G vs. Dash Wilder – 1.0 (Squash)
* Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz – 2.5
* Otis vs. Drew Gulak – 2.0 (Squash)
* Braun Strowman vs. Cesaro – 3.0
* Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler & King Corbin – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Reigns & Bryan vs. Ziggler & King Corbin match. Worst – Shorty G vs. Wilder match.
Show Notes – Women’s opening promo segment was terrible but the triple threat tag match was pretty decent overall. Elias musical segment was decent. Sheamus surprise return was the only good thing about the Shorty G vs. Wilder match. Miz’s heel turn was good since he’s way better in that role. Main event tag match was very good until the end when everything started to become a mess. Overall, a mostly average episode of SmackDown.

AEW
AEW Dark Year in Review Special (Dec. 31)
Overall – 3.0
Show Notes – Dark’s Year End Special was a very good showcase of some of the company’s best matches and feuds during its debut year as a company.

AEW Dynamite (Jan. 1)
* Darby Allin vs. Cody Rhodes – 4.0
* AEW Women’s World Championship – Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker vs. Riho (c) – 3.5
* Trent vs. Jon Moxley – 3.5
* Sammy Guevara vs. Dustin Rhodes – 3.0
* Lucha Bros & PAC vs. Young Bucks & Kenny Omega – 3.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – Allin vs. Rhodes match. Worst – The flat ending to the Guevara vs. Dustin match.
Show Notes – Darby vs. Cody match was amazing overall. Women’s title match was very good overall despite the abrupt ending. Trent vs. Moxley match was very good and so was Moxley’s mockery of Orange Cassidy. Sammy vs. Dustin match was decent but the ending was flat. MJF’s promo segment was great. Britt’s heel turn is a much needed change in direction for her. Main event was very good. Dynamite was very good and the most well-rounded one in terms of in-ring action and story building stuff.

Various Wrestling
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1 (Jan. 4)
* Pre-Show – Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, Tomoaki Honma, & Togi Makabe vs. Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks, & Toa Henare – 3.0
* Pre-Show – Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata – 2.5
* Tiger Mask, The Great Sasuke, Tatsumi Fujinami, & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani, & Naoki Sano – 3.5
* BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, EVIL, & SANADA vs. El Desperado, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, & Zack Sabre Jr. – 3.0
* YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & Hirooki Goto vs. Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, & KENTA – 3.0
* IWGP Tag Team Championship – David Finlay & Juice Robinson vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (c) – 3.5
* IWGP United States Championship Texas Death match – Jox Moxley vs. Lance Archer (c) – 4.0
* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay (c) – 5.0
* IWGP Intercontinental Championship – Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White (c) – 4.0
* IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada (c) – 5.0
Overall – 4.5
Best – IWGP Heavyweight Championship match. Worst – The camera botches during the show.
Show Notes – Both pre-show matches were good overall. Intro video for the show was amazing. The entrances for Liger’s first retirement match were great and the match itself was very good. Wrestle Kingdom’s undercard was very good overall. Tag title match was good. Yikes at Archer’s arm at the end of the Texas Deathmatch match which was great. Takahashi vs. Ospreay was amazing and an instant all-time classic. Naito vs. White was very good and way better than their previous match for the I.C. belt. Psycho mode Ibushi is the best Ibushi. Ibushi vs. Okada was amazing. Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 14 was also amazing.

Week awards:

• Best match of the week – IWGP Heavyweight Championship – Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada (c) (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Night 1)
• Worst match of the week – Shorty G vs. Dash Wilder (WWE Friday Night SmackDown)
• Best show of the week – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1
• Worst show of the week – WWE Friday Night SmackDown

TPWW community, post your comments below on what was your favorite and least favorite match this past week and the same goes for wrestling shows.