Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for September 13 to September 19

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of September 13th to September 19th.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):

WWE

WWE RAW (September 14)
* Street Profits vs. Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura – 3.0
* Cedric Alexander vs. Ricochet – 3.0
* RAW Women’s Championship – Mickie James vs. Asuka (c) – 3.5
* Bobby Lashley vs. Erik – 1.5 (Squash)
* Steel Cage – Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio – 3.0
* Kevin Owens vs. Aleister Black – 2.5
* Riott Squad vs. Lana & Natalya – 1.0 (Squash)
* Drew McIntyre vs, Keith Lee – 2.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – RAW Women’s Championship match.
Worst – The camera work during the Retribution ambush attack and brawl with Hurt Business.
Show Notes – Opening McIntyre promo segment was a bit dull. Street Profits vs. Cesaro & Nakamura was pretty good. James vignette was decent. Hurt Business and Apollo Crews promo segment was good. The Lumbar Check finish to the Alexander vs. Ricochet match was amazing. Retribution’s promo segment was flat. RAW Women’s title match was very good despite the odd finish. Zelina Vega’s promo was decent. R-Truth’s KitKat ad was funny. Cage match was pretty good. Owens vs. Black was okay despite the flat ending. RAW Underground segments were a waste of time. The camera work during the Retribution ambush and brawl with Hurt Business was atrocious. This week’s episode was somewhat good overall.

NXT (September 16)
* Shotzi Blackheart vs. Io Shirai – 4.0
* Desmond Troy vs. Tommaso Ciampa – 1.5 (Squash)
* Austin Theory vs. KUSHIDA – 2.0 (Squash)
* NXT Tag Team Championship – Imperium vs. Breezango (c) – 3.0
* Jessi Kamea & Xia Li vs. Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter – 2.5
* Undisputed Era vs. Drake Maverick & Killian Dain – 1.5
* NXT North American Championship – Timothy Thatcher vs. Damian Priest (c) – 3.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – Shotzi Blackheart vs. Io Shirai match.
Worst – The booking of the Undisputed Era vs. Drake Maverick & Killian Dain match.
Show Notes – Opening Blackheart vs. Shirai match was amazing and a strong contender for best women’s match in WWE this year. Ciampa vignette was decent. Finn Balor interview segment was okay. Theory’s pre-match promo was boring. KUSHIDA’s new aggressive persona is great. Gargano Family promo segment was somewhat decent. NXT Tag title match was pretty good. Tegan Nox’s promo segment was dull. NXT’s booking of Maverick since his rehiring storyline has been horrible. Kyle O’Reilly face turn tease is interesting. William Regal’s big surprise announcement was okay. NXT North American title match was pretty good despite its the slow paced start. This week’s episode was very good overall.

Friday Night SmackDown (September 18)
* Gran Metalik vs. Cesaro – 2.5
* Nikki Cross vs. Lacey Evans – 1.5
* AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn – 3.0
* Samoan Street Fight Tag Team match – Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Sheamus & King Corbin – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Sasha Banks interview segment.
Worst – Nikki Cross vs. Lacey Evans match.
Show Notes – Opening Dirt Sheet segment was boring and made worse by Miz’s tighty whities spot. Gran Metalik vs. Cesaro was decent despite being one of Metalik’s weaker WWE matches. Uso interview segment was decent. Matt Riddle’s Bro segment was lame. Moment of Bliss segment was good until Evans dragged things down. Reigns vs. Uso hype vignette and Sasha Banks interview segments were very good. Styles vs. Zayn was pretty good. WWE security being easily bribed would help explain why they’ve been horrible at doing their jobs over the years. Samoan Street Fight match was pretty good. This week’s episode was decent overall and mainly due to the second half carrying the show in terms of quality.

---

AEW

AEW Dark (September 15)
* Red Velvet vs. Brandi Rhodes – 1.5
* Daniel Garcia & Kevin Blackwood vs. The Butcher & The Blade – 2.5
* Dani Jordyn vs. Penelope Ford – 1.5 (Squash)
* Megabyte Ronnie vs. Brian Cage – 2.0
* Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Santana & Ortiz – 3.0
* Jessy Sorensen vs. Will Hobbs – 2.0 (Squash)
* Rache Chanel & Skyler Moore vs. Ivelisse & Diamante – 2.5
* Colt Cabana vs. QT Marshall – 2.5
* Peter Avalon vs. Brandon Cutler – 3.0
* Maxx Stardom & Dontae Smiley vs. Best Friends – 2.0 (Squash)
* Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds, Stu Grayson, & Evil Uno) vs. Gunn Club & Private Party – 2.5
Overall – 2.5
Best – Peter Avalon vs. Brandon Cutler match.
Worst – Dani Jordyn vs. Penelope Ford match.
Show Notes – Megabyte doing the People’s Elbow with a hotdog was a pretty funny moment. Garrison & Pillman Jr. vs. Santana & Ortiz was pretty good. Chanel & Moore vs. Ivelisse & Diamante was a decent hard hitting match. Avalon vs. Cutler match being the first to use the double countout finish in AEW history was interesting and made perfect sense for their on-going AEW’s Biggest Loser storyline. 8-man tag match was decent. This week’s extra stuffed episode was mostly enjoyable overall.

AEW Dynamite (September 16)
*Jurassic Express vs. FTR – 3.5
* Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Adam Page – 3.5
* MJF vs. Shawn Dean – 1.0 (Squash)
* Private Party vs. Jake Hager & Chris Jericho – 3.0
* NWA World Women’s Championship – 3.5
* Parking Lot Fight – Santana & Ortiz vs. Best Friends – 4.5
Overall – 4.5
Best – Parking Lot Fight.
Worst – The audio issues during Jake Roberts’ in-ring promo.
Show Notes – Opening Jurassic Express vs. FTR match was very good. Kazarian vs. Page was also very good. Parking Lot hype video was good. MJF’s post-match promo was amazing. Eddie Kingston’s crew channeling their inner Lance Archer with their destruction of random guys at ringside. Private Party vs. Hager & Jericho was pretty good and Marq Quen getting the upper hand over Jericho was interesting. Rosa has been fantasic acquisition for AEW’s women’s division since she showed up. Miro and Kip Sabian segment was decent. AEW title segment was wonderful and Will Hobbs getting a high profile match is cool. Parking Lot Fight was amazing. This week’s show was one of the best ever Dynamite shows.

---

NJPW & OTHER

NJPW Strong (September 18)
* The DKC, Blake Christian, Jordan Clearwater, & Barrett Brown vs. Adrian Quest, Logan Riegel, Clark Connors, & Danny Limelight – 3.0
* Misterioso & Fred Rosser vs. Rocky Romero & PJ Black – 3.0
* Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Alex Zayne & ACH – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – 8-Man tag team match.
Worst – Tama Tonga’s clean shaven look.
Show Notes – All three matches on the show were pretty good in quality. This week’s show was very entertaining overall.

NJPW G1 Climax 2020 Night 1 (September 19)
* Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji – 3.0
* G1 Climax 2020 A Block match – Yujiro Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay – 3.5
* G1 Climax 2020 A Block match – Jeff Cobb vs. Taichi – 3.5
* G1 Climax 2020 A Block match – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki – 4.5
* G1 Climax 2020 A Block match – Jay White vs. Shingo Takagi – 4.0
* G1 Climax 2020 A Block match – Kota Ibushi vs. Kazuchika Okada – 4.0
Overall – 4.5
Best – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki match.
Worst – Ishii’s neck after the beating he took from Suzuki.
Show Notes – Opening hype video for the G1 Climax was good. Young Lions match was a nice entertaining bout. Ospreay wasn’t joking about packing on the pounds during his break from NJPW since he’s a lot more thicker now. Takahashi vs. Ospreay was very good. Cobb vs. Taichi was also very good. Ishii vs. Suzuki was a glorious and brutal hard hitting war. White vs. Takagki was fantastic despite the usual Bullet Club style shenanigans. Ibushi vs. Okada was amazing and a bit surprised Ibushi won. Night 1 of the G1 Climax tournament was great overall.

---

Week awards:

• Best match of the week – G1 Climax 2020 A Block match – Tomohiro Ishii vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW G1 Climax 2020 Night 1)
• Worst match of the week – Riott Squad vs. Lana & Natalya (WWE RAW)
• Best show of the week – NJPW G1 Climax 2020 Night 1
• Worst show of the week – WWE RAW