Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for January 5 to January 11

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of January 5th to January 11th.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):
WWE
WWE RAW (Jan. 6)
* United States Championship – Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (c) – 3.5
* RAW Tag Team Championship Triple Threat match – Street Profits vs. The O.C. vs. The Viking Raiders (c) – 3.0
* Erick Rowan vs. KJ Orso – 1.0 (Squash)
* AJ Styles vs. Akira Tozawa – 2.0 (Squash)
* Charlotte Flair vs. Sarah Logan – 1.5
* Drew McIntyre vs. No Way Jose – 2.0 (Squash)
* Aleister Black vs. Shelton Benjamin – 2.5
* AOP & Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, & Big Show – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – United States Championship match. Worst – Charlotte vs. Logan non-match brawl.
Show Notes – Brock Lesnar entering the Royal Rumble match is interesting but also shows the lack of real threats built up for him on RAW. U.S. title match was very good despite the dumb ending. RAW Tag Team Championship match was good overall. Rusev’s antics still have been the only good thing about the never-ending infidelity/wedding storyline. Charlotte vs. Sarah brawl went from being interesting to being a waste of time in the end. Big Show being the surprise reveal was anti-climatic. Main event match was pretty good overall. RAW itself was also better than usual.

NXT (Jan. 8)
* Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, & Candice LeRae vs. Kay Lee Ray, Io Shirai, & Bianca Belair – 3.0
* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic 1st Round match – The Forgotten Sons vs. Imperium – 3.0
* Austin Theory vs. Joaquin Wilde – 2.0
* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic 1st Round match – Undisputed Era vs. Gallus – 3.0
* Mia Yim vs. Kayden Carter – 2.5
* #1 Contender’s for NXT North American Championship Fatal 4-Way match – Damian Priest vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – Fatal 4-Way match. Worst – Austin Theory vs. Joaquin Wilde match.
Show Notes – Opening women’s promo segment was pretty good overall. Women’s tag team match was good. Forgotten Sons vs. Imperium match ended up being one of the rare good matches from the Forgotten Sons. Undisputed Era vs. Gallus match was pretty good overall. Arguably the weakest start to a Dusty tag tournament though. Johnny Gargano and Finn Balor promos were decent. Time Splitters reuniting announcement was great. Yim vs. Carter was decent overall. Chelsea Green showing up on NXT again is interesting since it seemed like she had been quietly called up to RAW. Fatal 4-way match was very good overall. NXT was very good and a great rebound from the past two weeks.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Jan. 10)
* The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston – 2.5
* Alexa Bliss vs. Mandy Rose – 2.0
* Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – 3.0
* The Usos vs. King Corbin & Dolph Ziggler – 2.0
Overall – 2.0
Best – Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House segments. Worst – Lacey Evans and Bayley promo segment.
Show Notes – Opening promo segment was decent. Miz vs. Kingston match was decent at best. Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House segment was pretty good overall. Elias musical segment was bad. The Mandy & Otis storyline has been way more entertaining than RAW’s never-ending infidelity and marriage story with Lana, Lashley, and Rusev. Lacey Evans and Bayley promo segment was bad. Strowman vs. Nakamura match was pretty good overall. Main event tag match was a mess. Smackdown was a very forgettable episode overall.

AEW
AEW Dark (Jan. 7)
* Skyler Moore vs. Awesome Kong – 1.0 (Squash)
* The Hybrid 2 & Kip Sabian vs. SCU – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – The Hybrid 2 & Kip Sabian vs. SCU match. Worst – Skyler Moore vs. Awesome Kong match.
Show Notes – The 6-man tag team match was pretty good. This week’s abridged episode of Dark was average at best overall.

AEW Dynamite (Jan. 8)
* “Hangman” Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs. Private Party – 3.5
* AEW Women’s World Championship – Kris Statlander vs. Riho (c) – 2.0
* Christopher Daniels vs. Sammy Guevara – 2.5
* Cody & Dustin Rhodes vs. Lucha Bros – 3.5
* Jurassic Express vs. Best Friends & Orange Cassidy – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Jon Moxley & Inner Circle segment. Worst – The Nightmare Collective mess during the Women’s title match.
Show Notes – Opening tag team match was very good overall. Women’s title match itself was good but got dragged down a lot by the Nightmare Collective shenanigans. First hour was one of the weakest for Dynamite in terms of overall quality. Rhodes vs. Lucha Bros match was very good. MJF and DDP promo segment was good overall. Sammy Guevara’s cue cards shtick has been the best use of picture-in-picture breaks. Jon Moxley did an great job with the swerve to the Inner Circle membership. Enjoyable show overall despite the very rough first hour.

Various Wrestling
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2 (Jan. 5)
* Pre-Show – NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet match – 3.0
* Naoki Sano & Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Ryu Lee & Hiromu Takahashi – 3.0
* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship – Roppongi 3K vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori (c) – 3.5
* RevPro British Heavyweight Championship – SANADA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (c) – 3.5
* IWGP United States Championship – Juice Robinson vs. Jon Moxley (c) – 3.0
* NEVER Openweight Championship – Hirooki Goto vs. KENTA (c) – 4.0
* Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi – 4.0
* Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho – 4.0
* IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship – Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito – 5.0
Overall – 4.5
Best – Okada vs. Naito match. Worst – New Japan World stream crashing during Liger’s post-match farewell.
Show Notes – Gauntlet match was pretty good overall. Liger’s final retirement match was very good and a wonderful end to a legendary career. SHO is the smartest guy in wrestling just for wearing a cup to counter a nut punch. Ending to Sabre vs. SANADA was very good and same for the match itself. U.S. title match was good but Suzkui showing up afterwards was amazing. Goto vs. KENTA was a great hard hitting match. G1 Climax taking place in October is going to be interesting since less time available for the post-G1 feuds. Psycho Ibushi is great and so was his match against White. Tanahashi vs. Jericho was very good overall. Naito vs. Okada was amazing. Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom was very good overall although felt Night 1 was the better of the two shows.

NJPW New Year Dash 2020 (Jan. 6)
* Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, & Toa Henare vs. Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, & Karl Fredericks – 3.5
* El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado vs. BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Roppongi 3K – 3.5
* Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, & Guerillas of Destiny vs. Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, David Finlay, & Juice Robinson – 3.0
* Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto vs. Shingo Takagi & EVIL – 4.0
* Robbie Eagles, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI, & Kazuchika Okada vs. Taichi, Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., & Minoru Suzuki – 3.5
* SANADA & Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White & KENTA – 3.0
Overall – 4.0
Best – Liger’s retirement ceremony. Worst – YOSHI-HASHI’s fashion choices.
Show Notes – Jushin Liger’s retirement ceremony was a great moment overall. Young Lions 6-man tag match was very entertaining. Both multi-man tag matches were good. Ishii & Goto vs. Takagi & EVIL was a great hard hitting match. Chaos vs. Suzuki-Gun tag match was very good. The Jon Moxley and Suzuki post-match brawl was great. Main event tag team match was very good overall. New Year Dash was a very entertaining show overall.

Week awards:

• Best match of the week – IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship – Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Night 2)
• Worst match of the week – The Usos vs. King Corbin & Dolph Ziggler (WWE Friday Night SmackDown)
• Best show of the week – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2
• 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.