Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for November 29 to December 5

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of November 29th to December 5th.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):

WWE

WWE RAW (November 30)
* Symphony of Destruction Match – Jeff Hardy vs. Elias – 2.0
* Ricochet vs. Slapjack – 2.0
* Asuka & Lana vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler – 2.0
* Xavier Woods vs. Cedric Alexander – 2.5
* #1 Contender’s for WWE Championship “Sudden Death” Triple Threat match – Keith Lee vs. AJ Styles vs. Riddle – 3.5
* Dana Brooke vs. Reckoning – 1.5
* Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. John Morrison & The Miz -3.0
Overall – 1.5
Best – #1 Contender’s for WWE Championship “Sudden Death” Triple Threat match.
Worst – WWE’s booking for the Dana Brooke vs. Reckoning match.
Show Notes – Opening Moment of Bliss segment was way more corny than WWE likely expected. Hardy vs. Elias was somewhat average despite the dumb 24/7 title stuff early into it. The pre-match promos were the best part of a forgettable Ricochet vs. Slapjack match. Miz TV segment was boring. Nia Jax’s goofy looking rope spot botch was the only good part about the women’s tag match. New Day’s pre-match promo was a waste of time. Riddle & Styles segment was terrible. Triple Threat match was very good despite the odd camera shots for the finish sequence. Reckoning’s first match ending in a loss to Brooke was stupid. McIntyre interview segment was good. Main event tag match was pretty good despite the lame DQ finish. Miz looked even more dumber than before with the failed cash-in attempt. This week’s episode was mostly terrible overall.

NXT (December 2)
* Damian Priest & Leon Ruff vs. Legado Del Fantasma – 3.0
* August Grey vs. Cameron Grimes – 2.0
* Tony Nese vs. Jake Atlas – 2.5
* Ever-Rise vs. Grizzled Young Veterans – N/A
* Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Imperium – 3.0
* Women’s WarGames Advantage Laddder match – Raquel Gonzalez vs. Shotzi Blackheart – 3.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – Pat McAfee’s promo segment.
Worst – The lame non-finish for Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Imperium considering Ever-Rise have been nothing but a joke team on NXT.
Show Notes – Opening Pat Patterson tribute video was wonderful. Priest & Ruff vs. Legado Del Fantasma was pretty good despite some pacing issues. Undisputed Era vignette was cool. Candice LeRae interview segment was okay. Grimes and Dexter Lumis post-match attack was decent. Atlas’ post-match interview segment was pretty good. Pat McAfee’s promo segment was fantastic. Grizzled Young Veterans vignette was decent. Boa and Xia Li segment was weird and still not that interested in the mystery higher power storyline. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Imperium was going on well until the lame non-finish. Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa segment was decent. Gonzalez vs. Blackheart was pretty good. Surprised that the face team won the advantage stip since it goes against WarGames’ match formula. This week’s episode was very enjoyable overall.

Friday Night SmackDown (December 4)
* Bayley vs. Natalya – 1.5
* Pat Patterson Tribute 6-Man Tag Team Match – Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, & Big E vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, & Dolph Ziggler – 4.0
* Murphy vs. King Corbin – 1.5
* Otis & Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso & Roman Reigns – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Pat Patterson Tribute 6-Man Tag Team match.
Worst – Bayley vs. Natalya match.
Show Notes – The fake “Thank You Pat” chants after the tell bell salute for Pat Patterson were very cringey. Reigns, Paul Heyman, Uso, & Owens interview and promo segment was pretty entertaining. Bayley vs. Natalya was a dull match dragged down by a baffling finish decision. Tribute video for Paterson was wonderful. Big E’s new entrance theme sounds better than most of WWE’s new themes in recent times. The Pat Patterson 6-Man Tribute tag match was amazing. Owens and Otis segment was okay. Carmela and Sasha Banks sitdown interview segment was nothing special. Forgotten Sons, minus the moron Jaxson Ryker, being back as Corbin’s bodyguards was the only interesting part about Murphy vs. Corbin. Otis & Owens vs. Uso & Reigns was pretty good. This week’s episode was a mixed bag in quality overall.

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AEW

AEW Dark (December 1)
* KTB vs. Shawn Spears – 1.5 (Squash)
* Damian Fenrir vs. Ricky Starks – 2.0 (Squash)
* Danny Limelight vs. Brandon Cutler – 3.0
* Jon Cruz vs. “Pretty” Peter Avalon – 1.5 (Squash)
* Tesha Price vs. Shanna – 2.5
* Katalina Perez vs. KiLynn King – 2.0
* Adam Priest & Sean Maluta vs. Best Friends – 2.5
* Alex Gracia vs. Leva Bates – 2.0
* Angel Fashion, VSK, & Shawn Donavan vs. Gunn Club – 3.0
* Aaron Solow vs. Matt Sydal – 3.0
* Baron Black & Fuego Del Sol vs. Dark Order (Stu Grayson & Evil Uno) – 2.0
* Cezar Bononi & Ryzin vs. Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr. – 2.5
* Lindsay Snow vs. Ivelisse – 2.5
* George South Jr. & Bobby Wayward vs. The Acclaimed – 2.5 (Squash)
* Alex Chamberlain & Seth Gargis vs. Chaos Project – 3.0
* Lady Frost vs. Red Velvet – 2.0
* Three-way Tag Team match – Dark Order (Alan “5” Angels & 10) vs. Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela vs. Jurassic Express – 3.5
Overall – 2.5
Best – Three-way Tag Team match
Worst – The over two-hour runtime for the show.
Show Notes – Scorpio Sky’s mind games was the only interesting part about the KTB vs. Spears match. Limelight vs. Cutler was pretty good. Avalon’s reaction to his win was the best part of his match. Gunn Club mocking Taz’s towel entrance and Taz’s reaction to it was great. Fashion, VSK, & Donavan vs. Gunn Club was pretty good. Solow vs. Sydal was pretty good and possibly Solow’s best match in AEW so far. Max Caster’s pre-match rap routine has been one of the best things about AEW Dark recently. Chamberlain & Gargis vs. Chaos Project was pretty good. Main event three-way tag match was very good. This week’s episode had several entertaining matches but was mostly average overall.

AEW Dynamite “Winter Is Coming” (December 2)
* Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale – 3.5
* Frankie Kazarian vs. Chris Jericho – 2.5
* Britt Baker vs. Leyla Hirsh – 3.0
* Darby Allin & Cody Rhodes vs. Team Taz (Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs) – 3.0
* AEW World Championship – Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley (c) – 4.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – AEW World Championship match and the surprise reveal of Omega and Don Callis working together and showing up on Impact Wrestling next week.
Worst – The Acclaimed’s promo segment.
Show Notes – Opening Battle Royale match was very entertaining. Kazarian vs. Jericho was decent despite dragging a bit too long. Young Bucks interview was okay but The Acclaimed’s promo segment afterwards was lame. Baker’s pre-match promo was fine and Tony Schiavone’s reaction afterwards was hilarious. Baker vs. Hirsh was pretty good, especially the latter half. Baker and Thunder Rosa post-match brawl was wonderful. AEW’s production has been a bit sloppy tonight. Allin & Rhodes vs. Team Taz was pretty good and same for the post-match Team Taz & Nightmare Family brawl. Sting’s debut was amazing. Hikaru Shida’s interview segment was funny. Omega vs. Moxley was great. Don Callis being with Omega and Omega showing up on Impact next week was an amazing bombshell surprise. This week’s episode was very entertaining overall.

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NJPW & OTHER

NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 Night 11 (November 29)
* Gabriel Kidd & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma & Satoshi Kojima – 2.5
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Yuya Uemura vs. Ryusuke Taguchi – 3.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – DOUKI vs. El Desperado – 3.5
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Master Wato vs. SHO – 3.5
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – BUSHI vs. Taiji Ishimori – 3.5
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Hiromu Takahashi vs. Robbie Eagles – 4.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – Hiromu Takahashi vs. Robbie Eagles match.
Worst – Gabriel Kidd & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma & Satoshi Kojima match.
Show Notes – Opening Kidd & Nagata vs. Honma & Kojima was okay although the last couple minutes were very entertaining. Uemura vs. Taguchi was another quality performance by Uemura during this Best of the Super Jrs. tournament. DOUKI vs. El Desperado was very good. Wato vs. SHO was a very good hard hitting bout. BUSHI vs. Ishimori was also very good. Takahashi vs. Eagles was one of the best NJPW matches this year. All of the tournament matches were very entertaining and same for Night 11 of NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 overall.

NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 Night 12 (November 30)
* Yota Tsuji & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma & Satoshi Kojima – 3.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi – 3.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI – 3.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. HenarACE – 4.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – Guerillas of Destiny vs. Shingo Takagi & SANADA – 3.5
* World Tag League 2020 match – FinJuice vs. Dangerous Tekkers – 4.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – FinJuice vs. Dangerous Tekkers match.
Worst – Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI match.
Show Notes – Opening Tsuji & Nagata vs. Honma & Kojima match was an entertaining bout. Empire vs. EVIL & Takahashi was pretty good despite it dragging a bit near the end. Fale & Owens vs. Goto & YOSHI-HASHI was also pretty good. Yano & Ishii vs. HenarACE was terrific, especially the latter half. Guerillas of Destiny vs. Takagi & SANADA was very good despite the weak ending. FinJuice vs. Dangerous Tekkers was fantastic. Night 12 of NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 was a very enjoyable show overall.

NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 Night 13 (December 2)
* Gabriel Kidd & Yota Tsuji vs. Tomoaki Honma & Satoshi Kojima – 3.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Yuya Uemura vs. DOUKI – 3.5
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Robbie Eagles vs. Ryusuke Taguchi – 3.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – BUSHI vs. Master Wato – 3.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – El Desperado vs. Taiji Ishimori – 4.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – SHO vs. Hiromu Takahashi – 4.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – SHO vs. Hiromu Takahashi match.
Worst – Kojima hoarding all of the pinfall victories from his buddy Honma during this tour.
Show Notes – Opening Young Lions vs. Honma & Kojima match was a nice solid bout. Uemura vs. DOUKI was very good, especially the latter half. Eagles vs. Taguchi was pretty good. BUSHI vs. Wato was pretty good and Wato’s sell of the MX was wonderful. El Desperado vs. Ishimori was great. SHO vs. Takahashi was amazing and back-to-back phenomenal performances by Takahashi in this Best of the Super Jrs. tournament. Night 13 of NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 was great overall.

NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 Night 14 (December 4)
* Yota Tsuji & Gabriel Kidd vs. Tomoaki Honma & Satoshi Kojima – 3.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens vs. Dangerous Tekkers – 3.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI – 3.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii vs. FinJuice – 3.5
* World Tag League 2020 match – Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. Guerillas of Destiny – 3.0
* World Tag League 2020 match – HenarACE vs. Shingo Takagi & SANADA – 4.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – HenarACE vs. Shingo Takagi & SANADA match.
Worst – EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI match.
Show Notes – Opening Young Lions vs. Honma & Kojima match was another solid bout between the two teams. Fale & Owens vs. Dangerous Tekkers was pretty good. EVIL & Takahashi vs. Goto & YOSHI-HASHI was also pretty good. Yano & Ishii vs. FinJuice was very good and David Finlay racking up the pinfall wins for his team recently has been interesting. Great-O-Khan & Cobb vs, Guerillas of Destiny was pretty good despite the flat ending. HenarACE vs. Takagi & SANADA was fantastic. Night 14 of NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 was very enjoyable overall.

NJPW Strong (December 4)
* The DKC vs. Sterling Riegel – 3.0
* Alex Zayne vs. Blake Christian – 3.0
* Elimination Tag Team match – Hikuleo, Guerillas of Destiny, KENTA, & Jay White vs. ACH, Karl Fredericks, Brody King, David Finlay, & Juice Robinson – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Elimination Tag Team match.
Worst – Both singles matches having some bit sluggish moments at times.
Show Notes – Opening DKC vs. Riegel match was pretty good, especially the finish. Zayne vs. Christian was a pretty good back-and-forth style match. 10-man Elimination tag match was also pretty good. Brody King pinning KENTA to win the match was interesting. This week’s episode was enjoyable overall.

NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 Night 15 (December 5)
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Yuya Uemura vs. SHO – 3.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – DOUKI vs. BUSHI – 3.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles – 3.5
* Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima, & Kota Ibushi vs. SANADA, Shingo Takagi, & Tetsuya Naito – 4.0
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori – 3.5
* Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi – 4.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi match.
Worst – The ending sequencne of Yuya Uemura vs. SHO match being a bit rough in quality.
Show Notes – Opening Uemura vs. SHO match was pretty good despite the botch near the end taking some steam out of the finish. DOUKI vs. BUSHI was also pretty good and was very surprised DOUKI won. El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles was very good. 6-man tag match was great and was helped a ton by the crowd being super active, especially for a non-tournament match during this tour. Wato vs. Ishimori was very good despite a few sloppy moments. Takahashi’s photo of Taguchi in his tournament match book was hilarious. The early portion of Taguchi vs. Takahashi was great in terms of comedic antics while the match itself was a strong contender for best match of the tournament. Night 15 of NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 was amazing overall.

GCW Slime Season (December 5)
* Jordan Oliver vs. Chris Bey – 3.5
* Sefa Fatu vs. Facade – 3.0
* Matthew Justice vs. Jacob Fatu – 3.5
* Five Way Clusterf*ck Match – Jimmy Lloyd vs. Eli Everfly vs. Matt Vandagriff vs. KTB vs. “Spyder” Nate Webb – 3.0
* Mance Warner vs. Atticus Cogar – 3.0
* Kikutaro vs. Allie Kat – 1.5
* Juicy Finau vs. Rickey Shane Page – 2.5
* Blake Christian vs. Lio Rush -3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – Matthew Justice vs. Jacob Fatu match.
Worst – GCW’s production issues with commentary and show audio throughout the show.
Show Notes – Opening Oliver vs. Bey match was very good, especially the latter half. Fatu vs. Facade was pretty good. Justice vs. Fatu was a very good hard hitting hardcore bout. Five Way match was entertaining. Warner vs. Cogar was pretty good. Kikutaro vs. Kat had some good comedic moments but dragged on way too long. Page’s pre-match promo segment and Finau vs. Page were decent. Rush vignette was fantastic. Rush’s pre-match special entrance was pretty cool despite the audio issues. Christian vs. Rush was very good despite the flat ending. GCW Slime Season was mostly enjoyable overall.

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Week awards:

• Best match of the week – Best of the Super Juniors 2020 match – Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi (NJPW World Tag League & Best of the Super Juniors 2020 Night 15)
• Worst match of the week – Kikutaro vs. Allie Kat (GCW Slime Season)
• Best show of the week – AEW Dynamite
• Worst show of the week – WWE RAW