Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for January 19 to January 25

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of January 19th to January 25th.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):
WWE
WWE RAW (Jan. 20)
* United States Championship Ladder match – Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (c) – 3.5
* Aleister Black vs. some jobber – 1.0 (Squash)
* Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre – 2.5
* Becky Lynch vs. Kairi Sane – 2.5
* RAW Tag Team Championship – Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy vs. The Viking Raiders (c) – 3.0
* Matt Hardy vs. Erick Rowan – 1.0 (Squash)
* Bobby Lashley & Lana vs. Rusev & Liv Morgan – 2.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – U.S. title Ladder match. Worst – Lack of the traditional go-home show Rumble brawl.
Show Notes – Ladder match was very good overall. Tag team title match was good although also had WWE’s dumb habit of established teams losing to randomly paired singles guys. Viking Raiders title reign was a dud. Street Profits’ SNL parody skit was mostly terrible. Rowan’s mystery cage storyline has gotten worse the longer its been going on. Mixed tag match was mostly dull. RAW itself was average at best but the lack of the traditional Rumble brawl and latter half of the show dragged it down a lot.

NXT (Jan. 22)
* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-finals match – Undisputed Era vs. Grizzled Young Veterans – 3.0
* Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai – 3.0
* Finn Balor vs. Joaquin Wilde – 1.5 (Squash)
* Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi Blackheart – 2.5
* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-finals match – Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle vs. Imperium – 3.5
* NXT North American Championship – Keith Lee vs. Roderick Strong (c) – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – Keith Lee finally winning gold in NXT. Worst – Finn Balor vs. Joaquin Wilde match.
Show Notes – Undisputed Era vs. Grizzled Young Veterans was good. Storm vs. Shirai was good despite the buzzkill ending. Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai video package segment was very good. Dunne & Riddle vs. Imperium was very good. Lee vs. Strong was also very good overall. WALTER’s vicious chop to Adam Cole was great. This week’s episode was very enjoyable overall.

NXT UK (Jan. 23)
* Cruiserweight Championship at Worlds Collide Qualifier match – Ligero vs. Jordan Devlin – 3.0
* Josh Morrell vs. Ilja Dragunov – 2.0 (Squash)
* Cruiserweight Championship at Worlds Collide Qualifier match – Travis Banks vs. Brian Kendrick – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Ligero vs. Jordan Devlin match. Worst – Joe Coffey’s promo segment.
Show Notes – Both Cruiserweight title qualifier matches were very good overall. This week’s episode was a lot better than last week’s episode.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Jan. 24)
* The Usos & Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, & King Corbin – 3.0
* Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Fire & Desire (Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose) – No Rating
* Elias & Braun Strowman vs. Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura – 3.0
* Kofi Kingston vs. John Morrison – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – SmackDown starting off with an actual match. Worst – The first hour of the show outside of the latter half of the Six-man tag match.
Show Notes – SmackDown not starting off with a promo for once was refreshing. Six-man tag team match was pretty good despite it dragging on for too long. Lacey Evans’ promo felt way too forced and almost opposite of her character in her Sasha & Bayley feud. Elias & Strowman vs. Cesaro & Nakamura match was good. Kingston vs. Morrison match was good. Contract signing segment was decent. Smackdown itself was mostly average at best.

WWE Worlds Collide (Jan. 25)
* Pre-show – Mia Yim vs. Kay Lee Ray – 3.0
* Finn Balor vs. Ilja Dragunov – 3.0
* NXT Cruiserweight Championship Fatal Four-Way match – Isiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Jordan Devlin vs. Travis Banks vs. Angel Garza (c) – 3.5
* Mustache Mountain vs. DIY – 4.5
* NXT Women’s Championship – Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley (c) – 2.5
* Undisputed Era vs. Imperium – 4.0
Overall – 4.0
Best – Mustache Mountain vs. DIY match. Worst – NXT Women’s Championship match.
Show Notes – Balor vs. Dragunov was a good showcase match for Dragunov. Cruiserweight title match was very good although was not a fan of the title change since Garza’s title reign was useless in the end. Mustache Mountain vs. DIY was Match of the Year contender worthy. NXT Women’s title match was decent at best. Undisputed Era vs. Imperium was great especially considering Wolfe’s injury early on. Worlds Collide was very entertaining overall.

AEW
AEW Dark (Jan. 21)
* Diamante vs. Big Swole – 3.0
* #Stronghearts vs. Jurassic Express – 3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – StrongHearts vs. Jurassic Express match. Worst – The awkward ending sequence to the women’s match.
Show Notes – Another short episode in terms of length but both matches were good to very good in quality. This week’s episode was a lot better than last week’s mostly forgettable one.

AEW Dynamite (Jan. 22)
* AEW World Tag Team Championship – “Hangman” Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs. SCU (c) – 3.5
* Priscilla Kelly vs. Britt Baker – 2.5
* Jurassic Express vs. Santana & Ortiz & Chris Jericho – 3.5
* MJF vs. Joey Janela – 3.0
* #1 Contender for AEW World Championship – PAC vs. Jon Moxley – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – AEW World Tag Team Championship match. Worst – TNT going overboard with the censoring due to the possibly drunk crowd.
Show Notes – The cruise setting looked pretty cool. Tag team title match was very good overall despite it being a bit too long. Kelly vs. Baker match was decent and so was Baker’s post-match promo. Jurassic Express vs. Inner Circle tag match was very good. PAC vs. Moxley was very good. This week’s Dynamite was a fun show to watch overall.

Week awards:

• Best match of the week – Mustache Mountain vs. DIY (WWE Worlds Collide)
• Worst match of the week – Bobby Lashley & Lana vs. Rusev & Liv Morgan (WWE RAW)
• Best show of the week – WWE Worlds Collide
• Worst show of the week – WWE Friday Night SmackDown