Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for February 16 to February 22

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of February 16th to February 22nd.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):
WWE
NXT TakeOver: Portland (Feb. 16)
* NXT North American Championship – Dominik Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee (c) – 3.5
* Street Fight – Texan Nox vs. Dakota Kai – 3.0
* Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor – 3.5
* NXT Women’s Championship – Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley (c) – 3.0
* NXT Tag Team Championship – The Broserweights vs. Undisputed Era (c) – 4.0
* NXT Championship – Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Cole (c) – 4.0
Overall – 4.0
Best – NXT Tag Team Championship tag team match. Worst – NXT Women’s Championship match.
Show Notes – Lee vs. Dijakovic was very good despite the match flow being off at times. Street Fight was pretty good despite the flat ending. Gargano vs. Balor was very good. Women’s title match was decent but dumb to have Charlotte completely overshadow it. Tag title match was great. NXT title match and Gargano’s heel turn were very good. TakeOver Portland was a very good show overall.

WWE RAW (Feb. 17)
* Erick Rowan vs. Aleister Black – 2.5
* 24/7 Championship – Mojo Rawley vs. R-Truth vs. Riddick Moss (c) – 1.0
* Drew McIntyre vs. MVP – 1.5 (Squash)
* Rusev & Humberto Carrillo vs. Angel Garza & Bobby Lashley – 3.0
* Natalya vs. Kairi Sane – 2.0
* Karl Anderson vs. Ricochet – 2.5
* Kevin Owens & The Viking Raiders vs. Murphy & AOP – 3.0
Overall – 2.0
Best – Rusev & Carrillo vs. Garza & Lashley match. Worst – Charlotte and Baszler’s promos.
Show Notes – Opening segment dragged on way too long. Charlotte’s promos have gone down in quality these past few weeks. McIntyre and Paul Heyman’s promo segment was decent. Becky’s promo was good but Shayna Baszler’s promo was poor. Rusev & Carrillo vs. Garza & Lashley was pretty good. Seth Rollins sermon was a big waste of time. 6-man tag team match was good despite the anti-climatic ending. This week’s RAW was mostly dull overall.

NXT (Feb. 19)
* NXT Cruiserweight Championship – Lio Rush vs. Jordan Devlin (c) – 3.5
* Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde vs. Grizzled Young Veterans – 2.5
* The Broserweights vs. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan – 3.0
* Keith Lee vs. Kona Reeves – 1.0 (Squash)
* Kayden Carter vs. Chelsea Green – 1.0
* Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – NXT Cruiserweight Championship match. Worst – Booking of the Carter vs. Green match.
Show Notes – Cruiserweight title match was very good overall. Broserweights’ pre-match promo was decent. Forgotten Sons promo was not that good. NXT needs to chill on the amount of Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic matches. Carter vs. Green was a decent match ruined by terrible booking decisions. Dream vs. Strong felt more like a regular match and not something their feud had been building towards. This week’s episode of NXT was mostly good but also one of its weaker episodes in months.

NXT UK (Feb. 20)
* Tyler Bate vs. Joseph Conners – 3.5
* Noam Dar vs. Josh Morrell – 2.5
* Ilja Dragunov vs. Joe Coffey – 3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – Dragunov vs. Coffey match. Worst – Dar vs. Morrell match.
Show Notes – Bate vs. Conners and Dragunov vs. Coffey matches were both very good and arguably the best matches Conners and Coffey have had in NXT UK. This week’s episode was very entertaining overall.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Feb. 21)
* The Usos & The New Day vs. Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, The Miz, & John Morrison – 3.0
* Symphony of Destruction match – Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Elias & Braun Strowman – 3.0
* Daniel Bryan vs Heath Slater – 1.5 (Squash)
* #1 Contender’s for SmackDown Women’s Championship – Naomi vs. Carmella – 2.5
Overall – 2.5
Best – Symphony of Destruction match. Worst – The Bella Twins Hall of Fame announcement promo.
Show Notes – Lacey Evans’ interview segment was decent at best. Symphony of Destruction match was very entertaining overall. Moment of Bliss segment was boring. Goldberg and The Fiend’s segment at the end was okay. SmackDown itself was average at best but nothing really special.

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AEW
AEW Dark (Feb. 18)
* Diamante vs. Kris Statlander – 2.5
* The Hybrid 2 vs. Best Friends – 3.5
* Christi Jaynes vs. Big Swole – 2.5
* QT Marshall & “The Librarian” Peter Avalon vs. The Young Bucks – 3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – The Hybrid 2 vs. Best Friends match. Worst – Jaynes vs. Big Swole match.
Show Notes – Hybrid 2 vs. Best Friends match was very good. Avalon’s mid-match promo was great. This week’s episode of AEW Dark was pretty good overall.

AEW Dynamite (Feb. 19)
* #1 Contender’s for AEW World Tag Team Championship Tag Team Battle Royale – 3.5
* Shanna vs. Kris Statlander – 3.0
* Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb – 3.0
* AEW World Tag Team Championship – Lucha Bros vs. “Hangman” Adam Page & Kenny Omega (c) – 3.5
* Steel Cage match – Wardlow vs. Cody – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – AEW World Tag Team Championship match. Worst – Wardlow’s entrance theme.
Show Notes – AEW not using the same lame WWE elimination rule for the tag battle royale was nice. Tag Battle Royale itself was very good. Nyla Rose’s promo was good. Cobb vs. Moxley was good overall. Tag title match was very good, especially the latter half. Cage match was very good overall. This week’s episode did a great job building for AEW Revolution.

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Various Wrestling
NJPW New Japan Road 2020 Night 1 (Feb. 20)
* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship – Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Roppongi 3K (c) – 3.5
* NEVER Openweight Championship – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi (c) – 4.0
Overall – No Rating
Show Notes – IWGP Jr. Tag title match was very good and the NEVER Openweight title match was a great hard hitting fight.

NJPW New Japan Road 2020 Night 2 (Feb. 21)
* Rocky Romero, Will Ospreay, & Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito – 3.0
* NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship – Ryusuke Taguchi, Colt Cabana, & Toru Yano vs. BUSHI, EVIL, & Shingo Takagi (c) – 3.0
* IWGP Tag Team Championship – Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (c) – 3.5
Overall – No Rating
Show Notes – NEVER 6-Man Tag title match had a good mix of comedic shenanigans and decent to good wrestling. IWGP Tag title match was very good overall.

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Week awards:

• Best match of the week – NEVER Openweight Championship – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Shingo Takagi (c) (NJPW New Japan Road 2020 Night 1)
• Worst match of the week – Kayden Carter vs. Chelsea Green (WWE NXT)
• Best show of the week – WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland
• Worst show of the week – WWE RAW