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

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

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):
WWE
WWE WrestleMania 36 Night Two (Apr. 5)
* Pre-Show: Natalya vs. Liv Morgan – 2.0
* NXT Women’s Championship – Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (c) – 3.0
* Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley – 2.0
* Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis – 2.5
* Last Man Standing match – Edge vs. Randy Orton – 1.5
* RAW Tag Team Championship – Austin Theory & Angel Garza vs. The Street Profits (c) – 3.0
* SmackDown Women’s Championship Fatal 5-Way Elimination match – Sasha Banks vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Bayley (c) – 2.0
* Firefly Fun House match – John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt – 3.5
* WWE Championship – Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar (c) – 2.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Firefly Fun House match.
Worst – Last Man Standing match being way too long in length.
Show Notes – NXT Women’s title match was good despite the non-stop yelling and not being a fan of the end result. Black vs. Lashley and Otis vs. Ziggler were decent. Edge vs. Orton started off really well but dragged on way too long and was boring. Firefly Fun House match was very entertaining and Titus O’Neil’s reaction at the end was great. WWE title match was a typical Brock style match. Night 2 was average at best overall.

WWE RAW (Apr. 6)
* Asuka vs. Liv Morgan – 2.0
* RAW Tag Team Championship – Austin Theory & Angel Garza vs. The Street Profits (c) – 2.5
* Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega – 2.0
* Street Profits & Bianca Belair vs. Austin Theory, Angel Garza, & Zelina Vega – 2.0
* Aleister Black vs. Apollo Crews – 3.0
* Cedric Alexander & Ricochet vs. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch – 3.0
* Seth Rollins vs. Denzel Dejournette – 1.0 (Squash)
* Nia Jax vs. Deonna Purrazzo – 1.0 (Squash)
* Humberto Carrillo vs. Brendan Vink – 2.0
* WWE Championship – The Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre (c) – 2.5
Overall – 1.5
Best – Black vs. Crews match.
Worst – Lack of interesting post-Mania debut surprises.
Show Notes – Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler’s promos were decent. Bianca Belair’s promo was handled awkwardly. First hour ended up being mostly a big waste of time. Black vs. Crews was good despite it dragging a bit too long. Alexander & Ricochet vs. Lorcan & Burch was pretty good. Kevin Owens promo was good. Charlotte’s promo was bland. WWE title match was decent at best. This week’s episode was mostly boring overall.

NXT (Apr. 8)
* #1 Contender’s for NXT Women’s Championship Ladder match – Io Shirai vs. Tegan Nox vs. Chelsea Green vs. Mia Yim vs. Dakota Kai vs. Candice LeRae – 3.0
* Indus Sher vs. Ever-Rise – 1.5 (Squash)
* Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa – 3.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – #1 Contender’s for NXT Women’s Championship Ladder match.
Worst – Indus Sher vs. Ever-Rise match.
Show Notes – Women’s ladder match was pretty good and the right person won. Finn Balor vignette was pretty good. Adam Cole’s promo was decent. Gargano vs. Ciampa was very good in terms of the action but also dragged way too much in typical TakeOver main event fashion and WWE going to the well too quickly again with another cinema-style bout. Killer Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux tease was great. This week’s episode was enjoyable overall.

NXT UK “Best Of” Special (Apr. 9)
Overall – 2.5
Show Notes – This week’s “Best Of” episode looking back on the early history of the NXT UK brand was entertaining and a good showcase for new viewers.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Apr. 10)
* WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship – Kabuki Warriors vs. Nikki Cross & Kairi Sane (c) – 3.0
* Dolph Ziggler vs. Tucker – 2.5
* Lucha House Party vs. The Forgotten Sons – 2.0
* Sheamus vs. Cal Blooom – 1.0 (Squash)
* Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – 2.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Firefly Fun House segment.
Worst – Sheamus vs. Bloom match.
Show Notes – Opening segment between Strowman and Nakamura was decent. Women’s tag title match was better than their match at WrestleMania. Ziggler vs. Tucker was decent despite the abrupt ending. Holding another singles Triple Threat match for the tag belts is dumb. Jeff Hardy vignette was good. Bray’s promo invoking Strowman’s time with the Wyatts was great. This week’s episode was mostly good overall and one of the better empty arena shows by WWE.

---

AEW
AEW Dark (Apr. 7)
* Lee Johnson vs. QT Marshall – 2.0
* Ryan Pyles vs. Wardlow – 1.5 (Squash)
* Tony Donati vs. Kip Sabian – 2.0
Overall – 2.0
Best – Wardlow’s one-hit destruction of a jobber.
Worst – Johnson vs. Marshall match.
Show Notes – This week’s very short episode was somewhat decent at best but also completely skippable.

AEW Dynamite (Apr. 8)
* Alan Angels vs. Lance Archer – 1.5 (Squash)
* Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida – 3.5
* Best Friends vs. Kenny Omega & Michael Nakazawa – 3.0
* Lee Johnson vs. “The Exalted One” Brodie Lee – 1.5 (Squash)
* TNT Championship tournament First Round match – Shawn Spears vs. Cody – 3.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – Chris Jericho’s commentary work.
Worst – Best Friends vs. Omega & Nakazawa being a bit of a miss for the comedic style they were going after.
Show Notes – Opening promo by Jake Roberts was great. Baker vs. Shida took a while to heat up but was very good overall. The vignettes for upcoming matches have been a very good use of time for the empty arena show. Matt Hardy promo was decent. Ending to Spears vs. Cody was very interesting. Chris Jericho’s commentary during the show was both great and hilarious. This week’s episode was enjoyable overall.

---

Other
Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring – Brawl for All Episode (Apr. 7)
Overall – 3.0
Show Notes – Decent episode overall detailing how extremely dumb the Brawl for All tournament was back then and still to this day.

---

Week awards:

• Best match of the week – Firefly Fun House match – John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (WWE WrestleMania 36 Night Two)
• Worst match of the week – Last Man Standing match – Edge vs. Randy Orton (WWE WrestleMania 36 Night Two)
• Best show of the week – TIE: AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT
• Worst show of the week – WWE RAW