Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for March 29 to April 4

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of March 29th to April 4th

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):
WWE
WWE RAW (Mar. 30)
* Aleister Black vs. Jason Cade – 1.5 (Squash)
* Street Profits & Kevin Owens vs. Angel Garza, Austin Theory, & Seth Rollins – 3.0
* Kayden Carter vs. Asuka – 1.5 (Squash)
Overall – 2.0
Best – The promos on the show.
Worst – Majority of the matches on the show.
Show Notes – Opening promo by Undertaker was decent. Becky Lynch’s promo and ambush segment were pretty good. 6-Man tag match and Owens post-match promo were decent. Edge’s promo was great. Angry Asuka was also great. WWE still not doing a good job with their handling of these empty arena shows. Heyman’s promo was one of his best in years. This week’s episode was somewhat decent at best overall.

NXT (Apr. 1)
* Velveteen Dream vs. Bobby Fish – 2.5
* Dexter Lumis vs. Jake Atlas – 1.5
* Second Chance Gauntlet match – Shotzi Blackheart vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Xia Li vs. Aliyah vs. Kayden Carter vs. Dakota Kai – 3.0
* KUSHIDA vs. Joaquin Wilde – 2.5
* NXT North American Championship Triple Threat match – Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Keith Lee (c) – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – NXT North American Championship Triple Threat match.
Worst – Sam Roberts on commentary.
Show Notes – Opening match between Dream and Fish was decent. Lumis vs. Atlas was boring. Women’s Gauntlet match was pretty good albeit one of the weaker ones in recent times. The Rhea Ripley and Charlotte video package was good. NXT seems to suddenly now have a kidnapping problem. North American title match was pretty good. This week’s episode was pretty good overall.

NXT UK (Apr. 2)
* Kay Lee Ray & Jinny vs. Dani Luna & Piper Niven – 2.5
* Amale vs. Xia Brookside – 1.0
* #1 Contender’s for NXT UK Championship 20-Man Battle Royal – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – 20-Man Battle Royal match.
Worst – Amale vs. Brookside match.
Show Notes – Latter half of the Battle Royal match was mostly very good but the rest of the Battle Royal and this week’s episode were average at best overall.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Apr. 3)
* Naomi vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina – 1.0
* Tucker vs. Dolph Ziggler – 2.0
* Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – 3.0
Overall – 2.0
Best – John Cena’s promo and The Fiend segment to close the show.
Worst – Naomi vs. Evans vs. Tamina match.
Show Notes – Opening segment and Women’s triple threat match were terrible. Replaying Ric Flair vs. HBK from WrestleMania 24 while nice had nothing to do with WrestleMania 36 unlike the other past matches aired. The Reigns replacement announcement was lame. The hacker video stuff for the Otis-Ziggler-Mandy storyline was pretty good. Cena’s promo and Fiend segment afterwards were great. This week’s episode was very skippable overall.

WWE WrestleMania 36 Night One (Apr. 4)
* Pre-Show: Cesaro vs. Drew Gulak – 2.5
* Women’s Tag Team Championship – Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss vs. Kabuki Warriors (c) – 1.5
* King Corbin vs. Elias – 1.5
* RAW Women’s Championship – Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch (c) – 2.5
* Intercontinental Championship – Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn (c) – 3.0
* SmackDown Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Ladder match – Kofi Kingston vs. Jimmy Uso vs. John Morrison (c) – 3.0
* Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins – 2.5
* No Disqualification match – Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins – 2.5
* Universal Championship – Braun Strowman vs. Goldberg (c) – 0.5
* Boneyard match – AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker – 4.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Boneyard match.
Worst – The finishes to most of the matches on the show.
Show Notes – Opening intro video was decent but the same can’t be said of Gronk’s promo. Women’s tag title match and Corbin vs. Elias were boring. Raw Women’s title match was good despite the flat ending. Bryan vs. Zayn was pretty good. SmackDown tag title match was good despite the weak finish. Owens vs. Rollins matches were decent but hurt by dumb booking. Universal title match stunk. Boneyard match was amazing and one of Undertaker’s best matches in years. Night 1 was mostly average at best overall.

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AEW
AEW Dark (Mar. 31)
* Matt Sells vs. Sammy Guevara – 2.5
* Shawn Dean vs. Shawn Spears – 2.0
* Preston Vance vs. Darby Allin – 3.0
* Faboo Andre vs. Jon Moxley (c) – 1.5 (Squash)
Overall – 2.5
Best – Vance vs. Allin match.
Worst – Andre vs. Moxley match.
Show Notes – Cody and Tony Schiavone’s commentary work was enjoyable. This week’s episode was decent overall.

AEW Dynamite (Apr. 1)
* Trent vs. Kenny Omega – 3.5
* Anna Jayy vs. Hikaru Shida – 2.5
* Marko Stunt vs. Lance Archer – 2.5 (Squash)
* Dark Order (8 & 9) vs. Natural Nightmares (QT Marshall & Dustin Rhodes) – 2.5
* Sammy Guevara & Shawn Spears vs. Darby Allin & Cody – 3.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – Chris Jericho’s segment.
Worst – Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares match.
Show Notes – Having talent at ringside already an improvement over last week’s show. Trent vs. Omega was very good. Shida’s vignette and Women’s match were decent. Jake Roberts promo was great. Archer’s debut match was a nice brutal squash. Dark Order segment was pretty good. Jericho’s segment was amazing. Guevara & Spears vs. Allin & Cody was good. This week’s episode was more enjoyable overall than last week’s empty arena show.

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Other
Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring – New Jack Episode (Mar. 30)
Overall – 3.5
Show Notes – The episode was a very interesting look at New Jack’s wrestling career and some of the infamous moments associated with it.

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Week awards:

• Best match of the week – Boneyard match – AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker (WWE WrestleMania 36 Night One)
• Worst match of the week – Universal Championship – Braun Strowman vs. Goldberg (c) (WWE WrestleMania 36 Night One)
• Best show of the week – AEW Dynamite
• Worst show of the week – WWE Friday Night SmackDown