Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for March 7 to March 13

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of March 7th to March 13th

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):

WWE

WWE RAW (March 8)
* WWE Championship – The Miz vs. Bobby Lashley (c) – 2.5 (Squash)
* No Disqualification match – Sheamus vs. Drew McIntrye – 4.0
* Xavier Woods vs. Shelton Benjamin – 2.0
* Riddle vs. Slapjack – 3.0
* WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship – Naomi & Lana vs. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler – 2.0
* AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton – 2.5
Overall – 2.0
Best – Sheamus vs. Drew McIntrye match.
Worst – Shane McMahon’s very odd promo segment with Braun Strowman.
Show Notes – Opening Lashley interview segment was all right. Miz’s pre-match promo was lackluster. The CGI lighting effects for Lashley’s new entrance looked goofy although his new entrance tron is cool. Rhea Ripley vignette was fine. R-Truth’s letter and antics to Bruan Strowman backstage segment was funny. Strowman & Shane McMahon apology segment was a bit anti-climatic. Sheamus vs. McIntrye was a terrific hard hitting bout despite the flat no contest finish. Alexa Bliss & Orton creepy vignette was cringey. Riddle & New Day backstage segment was lame. Riddle vs. Slapjack was pretty good. McMahon long-winded wheezing promo to Strowman was horrendous. Jax being in love with Reginald is giving off Harvey Wippleman & Bertha Faye-like vibes. Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, & Charlotte Flair segment was nothing special. Styles vs. Orton was a good match dragged down by dumb Bliss’ Fiend-like shenanigans for the ending. Laughed at the botched pyro spot for one of the ring posts. This week’s show was mostly average at best.

NXT (March 10)
* NXT Women’s Championship – Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai (c) – 3.5
* Jake Atlas vs. Pete Dunne – 2.5
* NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship – Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez – 3.5
* Kayden Carter vs. Xia Li – 2.0
* Legado Del Fantasma vs. Grizzled Young Veterans – 2.0 (Squash)
* NXT Championship – Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor (c) – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – NXT Championship match.
Worst – NXT Creative’s dumb booking for the debut night of the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship.
Show Notes – Opening major announcements segment was fine. Not that fond of the next TakeOver being two nights. Kai & Gonzalez being crowned as the inaugural NXT Women’s Tag champions was a bit anti-climatic. NXT Women’s title match was very good. LA Knight & Brong Reed segment was okay. Imperium inviting Thatcher & Ciampa to join them was interesting. NXT Women’s Tag title match was very good but hotshotting the titles barely an hour into the belts debut was very stupid. The Way’s backstage segment was lame. Jordan Devlin promo was whatever and have zero interest in watching him wrestle due to WWE sweeping his serious abuse allegations under the rug. Zoey Stark vignette was wonderful. Grizzled Young Veterans pre-match promo was a bit flat. Back-to-match matches ending via a DQ or distraction was lame. Kai & Gonzalez interview segment was okay but Shirai vs. Gonzalez Women’s title feud sounds interesting. NXT title match was very good and same for the Cole & O’Reilly post-match brawl. This week’s show was mostly very enjoyable overall.

Friday Night SmackDown (March 12)
* 8-Man Tag Team match – Street Profits & Dominik & Rey Mysterio vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis), Dolph Ziggler, & Robert Roode – 3.0
* Cesaro vs. Murphy – 2.0
* Bianca Belair & Sasha Banks vs. Natalya & Tamina – 1.5
* Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge match – Sami Zayn vs. Big E (c) – 2.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – Big E’s fiery style pre-match promo segment.
Worst – Kevin Owens Show segment with Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair.
Show Notes – Opening Edge & Daniel Bryan promo segment was quite good. Michael Cole briefly forgetting twice who was on the heel team for the 8-Man tag match was funny. 8-Man tag match was pretty good, especially the ending sequence. Jey Uso & Paul Heyman backstage segment was decent. Seth Rollins interview segment was okay. Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, & Reginald men’s fashion store segment was nothing special but the smiling look Jax gave at the end was a bit funny. Cesaro vs. Murphy was decent despite the lame DQ finish. Zayn & Kevin Owens backstage segment was decent. Uso & Edge backstage segment was fine. KO Show with Belair & Banks was one of the worst KO Show segments ever. Sasha has been more cringey than good in her new obnoxious heel persona. Big E’s fiery promo against Apollo Crews was amazing but King Corbin being the first to show up to try to take the Open Challenge offer was a buzz kill. Universal title contract signing segment felt a bit too rushed. This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

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AEW

AEW Revolution 2021 (March 7)
* Buy In Pre-Show: Britt Baker & Maki Itoh vs. Thunder Rosa & Riho – 3.5
* AEW World Tag Team Championship – MJF & Chris Jericho vs. The Young Bucks (c) – 4.0
* Casino Tag Team Royale – 3.5
* AEW Women’s World Championship – Ryo Mizunami vs. Hikaru Shida (c) – 3.5
* Miro & Kip Sabian vs. Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy – 3.5
* Big Money Match – Matt Hardy vs. Hangman Adam Page – 3.0
* Face of the Revolution Ladder match – Max Caster vs. Lance Archer vs. Penta El Zero M vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ethan Page – 3.5
* Street Fight – Brian Cage & Ricky Starks vs. Sting & Darby Allin – 4.0
* AEW World Championship Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch – Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega (c) – 4.0
Overall – 4.0
Best – AEW World Championship Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch.
Worst – The botched and/or lame show closing ringside big explosions spot.
Show Notes – Maki Itoh as Baker’s surprise tag partner was cool. Opening AEW Tag title match was great despite dragging a bit long. Casino Tag Team Royale match was AEW’s best Casino themed match so far. Women’s title match was very good, especially the latter half, despite the weak finish. Miro & Sabian vs. Taylor & Cassidy was Miro’s best match in AEW so far. Hardy vs. Page was mostly good despite dragging too long. Ethan Page being the surprise entrant for the Ladder match was cool. Face of the Revolution Ladder match was pretty good despite it dragging and being a bit sloppy at times. Christian Cage revealed as the big surprise new signing was cool but doesn’t live up to the massive hype the mystery guy had going in. Street Fight match was awesome and among my favorite cinematic matches of the COVID era. The Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch was an amazing bloody brutal match despite the shenanigans ending. The post-match big ringside explosions spot being a huge dud was very lame. Revolution 2021 was a very entertaining show overall.

AEW Dark (March 9)
* Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Angel Fashion – 1.5 (Squash)
* Azriel & Danny Limelight vs. SCU – 3.0
* Aaron Solow, Brick Aldridge, & Dean Alexander vs. Cezar Bononi, Ryan Nemeth, & Pretty Peter Avalon – 2.0
* Lee Johnson vs. Baron Black – 3.0
* 8-Man Tag Team match – Dark Order (Colt Cabana, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, & Alex Reynolds) vs. Aaron Frye, D3, Jon Cruz, & Varly Morales – 2.5
* Varsity Blonds vs. Cameron Stewart & Ryzin – 2.0
* Diamante vs. Savannah Thorne – 2.0
* Fuego Del Sol vs. QT Marshall – 3.0
* Carlie Bravo vs. Kip Sabian – 2.5
* Abadon vs. Katalina Perez – 2.0 (Squash)
* Santana & Ortiz vs. Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Fuego Del Sol vs. QT Marshall match.
Worst – Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Angel Fashion match.
Show Notes – Hobbs vs. Fashion opener was a somewhat decent squash match. Azriel & Limelight vs. SCU match was an entertaining action filled bout. Avalon’s entrance of him being wheeled out in a heart-shaped cushion is pretty cool. Johnson vs. Black was a pretty good back-and-forth action style bout. MJF’s former campaign manager Nina now being a wrestler in AEW is interesting. Diamante vs. Thorne was mostly decent despite being a bit too slow in pace. Taz’s disgust for Del Sol and him getting bleeped out for swearing during his rant was funny. Del Sol’s counter of Marshall’s Diamond Cutter was cool. Del Sol vs. Marshall was quite good. Taz mocking Janela during the main event tag match was a bit funny. Santana & Ortiz vs. Kiss & Janela was pretty good. This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

AEW Dynamite (March 9)
* Rey Fenix vs. Matt Jackson – 3.5
* Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Garcias – 1.5 (Squash)
* Ethan Page vs. Lee Johnson – 2.5
* Trios match – Britt Baker, Nyla Rose, & Maki Itoh vs. Thunder Rosa, Ryo Mizunami, & Hikaru Shida – 3.0
* TNT Championship – Scorpio Sky vs. Darby Allin (c) – 3.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – Inner Circle War Council segment and post-match reveal of MJF’s new group.
Worst – Whoever was in charge of TNT’s end of the feed for that embarrassing random basketball audio botch that lasted way too long.
Show Notes – Opening Fenix vs. Jackson match was very entertaining. Eddie Kingston is amazing since he delivered a great and genuine feeling cover story for his part in the big finale debacle at Revolution. Rhodes & Penta promo segment was superb. Sting vs. Lance Archer feud sounds interesting. Basketball game audio randomly playing at one point during the show and taking way too long to be fixed was hilarious for the wrong reasons. Adam Page & Dark Order leaving “5” behind for their ice cream trip was funny. Don Callis & Kenny Omega cover story for Revolution’s dud ending was fine. Callis, Omega, Kingston part of the segment was both goofy and wonderful. The tease of Christian vs. Omega was cool. Itoh signing while a brawl was going on was funny. Butcher & Blade joining Matt Hardy’s group is interesting. Sky vs. Allin was very good and same for Sky’s heel turn. Inner Circle War Council segment was fantastic, especially MJF’s reveal of him leading a new 4 Horsemen-like group. This week’s show was fantastic overall minus the audio screw up during the middle of the show.

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NJPW, Impact, & Other Wrestling

NJPW New Japan Cup Night 3 (March 7)
* Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura – 3.0
* Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. Tomoaki Honma & Satoshi Kojima – 3.0
* Dick Togo, KENTA, Jay White, & EVIL vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson, Toa Henare, & Hiroshi Tanahashi – 3.0
* BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, & Shingo Takagi vs. SHO, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada – 3.5
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – Gabriel Kidd vs. Zack Sabre Jr. – 3.5
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – Will Ospreay vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Gabriel Kidd vs. Zack Sabre Jr. match.
Worst – Dick Togo, KENTA, Jay White, & EVIL vs. Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson, Toa Henare, & Hiroshi Tanahashi match.
Show Notes – Opening Young Lions match was entertaining. United Empire vs. Honma & Kojima was a fine back-and-forth style bout. Bullet Club vs. Taguchi, Robinson, Henare, & Tanahashi was all right despite dragging a bit long. The post-match brawl between Henare and White was fine. 8-Man LIJ vs. CHAOS tag match was very good. Kidd vs. Sabre Jr. was a very good grapple based bout. Tenzan still doing Mongolian Chops despite losing the right to do so against Great-O-Khan makes little sense. Ospreay vs. Tenzan was pretty good and way better than I expected going into the match. Ospreay’s show closing promo was decent. Night 3 of New Japan Cup 2021 was enjoyable overall.

NJPW New Japan Cup 2021 Night 4 (March 9)
* EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, & Bad Luck Fale vs. Yuya Uemura, YOSHI-HASHI, & Toru Yano – 3.0
* Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay, & Jeff Cobb vs. Gabriel Kidd, Tomoaki Honma, & Satoshi Kojima – 3.0
* Gedo, Chase Owens, KENTA, & Jay White vs. Toa Henare, David Finlay, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi – 3.0
* BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, & Shingo Takagi vs. SHO, Hirooki Goto, & Kazuchika Okada – 3.5
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – Yota Tsuji vs. Yuji Nagata – 3.0
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – SANADA vs. Tomohiro Ishii – 4.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – SANADA vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Worst – SANADA constant dumb habit to release his Skull End submission hold for a Moonsault spot he misses a lot of the time.
Show Notes – Bullet Club vs. Uemura, YOSHI-HASHI, & Yano opener bout was pretty good. United Empire vs. Kidd, Honma, & Kojima was a good back-and-forth style bout. Bullet Club vs. Henare, FinJuice, & Tanahashi was entertaining. LIJ vs. CHAOS 6-Man tag match was a very good action filled bout. Tsuji vs. Nagata was a splendid young potential future star versus grizzled old vet style bout. SANADA vs. Ishii was great, especially the latter half and ending sequence. Night 4 of New Japan Cup 2021 was very enjoyable overall.

NJPW New Japan Cup 2021 Night 5 (March 10)
* Dick Togo, KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, & EVIL vs. Yuya Uemura, Juice Robinson, Toru Yano, & Hiroshi Tanahashi – 3.0
* Great-O-Khan, Will Ospreay, & Jeff Cobb vs. Tomoaki Honma, Yuji Nagata, & Satoshi Kojima – 3.0
* BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, & Shingo Takagi defeated SHO, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada – 3.5
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – Chase Owens vs. David Finlay – 3.0
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – Yujiro Takahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI – 1.5
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – Toa Henare vs. Jay White – 3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, & Shingo Takagi defeated SHO, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada match.
Worst – Yujiro Takahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI match.
Show Notes – Bullet Club vs. Uemura, Robinson, Yano, & Tanahashi was pretty good. United Empire vs. Honma, Nagata, and Kojima was a pretty good back-and-forth style bout. LIJ vs. CHAOS 6-Man tag was just as very entertaining as their other matches have been on this tour so far. Owens vs. Finlay was fairly good despite the flat finish. Takahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI was somewhat decent but also one of the weaker tournament matches so far in terms of flow and excitment. Henare vs. White was mostly very good, especially the latter half, despite the flat finish and dragging a bit too long. Night 5 of New Japan Cup 2021 was enjoyable but also the weakest night of the tournament so far.

NJPW New Japan Cup 2021 Night 6 (March 11)
* Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yota Tsuji & David Finlay – 3.5
* Jado, Yujiro Takahashi, & Bad Luck Fale vs. Yuya Uemura, Tomoaki Honma, & Satoshi Kojima – 3.0
* BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, & SANADA vs. SHO, Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, & Yuji Nagata – 3.5
* Chase Owens, KENTA, & Jay White vs. Toa Henare, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi – 3.5
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament Second Round match – Great-O-Khan vs. Toru Yano – 2.5
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament Second Round match – EVIL vs. Jeff Cobb – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – EVIL vs. Jeff Cobb match minus the finish.
Worst – Great-O-Khan’s big win over Tetsuya Naito in the First Round and tournament momentum being quickly deflated due to some very questionable booking decisions.
Show Notes – Opening Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tsuji & Finlay opener was a very good action packed bout. Bullet Club vs. Uemura, Honma, & Kojima was really good. LIJ vs. SHO, Okada, Goto, & Nagata was a highly entertaining back-and-forth action style bout. Bullet Club vs. Henare, Robinson, & Tanahashi 6-Man tag was very good. White and Tanahashi having a post-match abs comparisons talk was a bit funny. Great-O-Khan vs. Yano was mostly decent with some funny comedic moments despite dragging a bit long. Great-O-Khan beating Naito in the 1st Round ended up being completely meaningless and a big waste in the end. Cobb’s upper body strength and power is amazing whenever he gets the chance to to show it off during his matches. EVIL vs. Cobb was very good despite the flat shenanigans finish. Night 6 of New Japan Cup was very entertaining overall.

NJPW Strong (March 12)
* The Riegel Twins (Logan & Sterling Reigel) vs. Adrian Quest & Barrett Brown – 3.0
* New Japan Cup USA 2021 Qualifying match – Jordan Clearwater vs. Hikuleo – 3.0
* New Japan Cup USA 2021 Qualifying match – JR Kratos vs. Fred Rosser – 3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – JR Kratos vs. Fred Rosser match.
Worst – Jordan Clearwater vs. Hikuleo match dragging at times.
Show Notes – Opening Rosser & Kratos video promo segment was all right. The Riegel Twins wearing Brody King masks for their entrance was cool. Riegel Twins vs. Quest & Brown was quite good. Clearwater v.s Hikuleo was pretty good despite dragging at times. Kratos vs. Rosser was a very good hard hitting match. This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

NJPW New Japan Cup 2021 Night 7 (March 13)
* Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Gabriel Kidd, Yota Tsuji, & David Finlay – 3.0
* Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, & Will Ospreay vs. DOUKI, Taichi, & Zack Sabre Jr. – 3.0
* BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, & SANADA vs. SHO, Kazuchika Okada, & Yuji Nagata – 3.0
* Bad Luck Fale, EVIL, & Jay White vs. Toa Henare, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi – 3.0
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament Second Round match – KENTA vs. Minoru Suzuki – 4.0
* New Japan Cup 2021 tournament Second Round match – Shingo Takagi vs. Hirooki Goto – 4.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – Shingo Takagi vs. Hirooki Goto match.
Worst – The flat finish to the Bullet Club vs. Toa Henare, Juice Robinson, & Hiroshi Tanahashi match.
Show Notes – Yano, Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI vs. Young Lions & Finlay was an entertaining opening bout. United Empire vs. Suzuki-Gun was somewhat short but pretty good in general. LIJ vs. SHO, Okada, & Nagata 6-Man Tag match was good but lacked a bit of energy or excitement compared to the prior LIJ vs. CHAOS (& Nagata) matches during this tour. Bullet Club vs. Henare, Robinson, & Tanahashi was pretty good despite the Bullet Club style shenanigans and flat finish. KENTA reading a newspaper during Suzuki’s entrance was funny. KENTA vs. Suzuki was a terrific hard hitting match. Takagi vs. Goto was a manificant action packed bout and strong contender for match of the tournament. Night 7 of New Japan Cup 2021 was very entertaining overall and one of the best nights in terms of tournament matches.

Impact Wrestling Impact! (March 9)
* Tasha Steelz vs. Jazz – 2.5
* Rohit Raju & Mahabali Shera vs. James Storm & Chris Sabin – 3.0
* Trey Miguel vs. Sam Beale – 1.5 (Squash)
* Ace Austin vs. Chris Bey – 3.5
* ODB vs. Susan – 2.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – The show closing announcement of a TNA title vs. Impact title unification match and the winner to face off against AEW champion Kenny Omega next month.
Worst – Juice Robinson & David Finlay wasting some quality booze during the Impact Tag Team title contract segment.
Show Notes – Opening Steelz vs. Jazz match was mostly decent. Miguel & Beale segment was decent. Moose vs. Rich Swann match hype video was superb. Raju & Shera vs. Storm & Sabin was pretty good. XXXL, Reno Scum, & Decay backstage segment was okay. Violent By Design and Storm & Sabin segment was quite good. Brian Myers & Scott D’Amore office segment was fine but D’Amore saying that killing someone in a Hold Harmless match would be legal was funny. Sami Callihan promo was decent at best. AEW’s paid ad was all right but the weakest one in general so far. Impact Tag title contract signing segment might have broke the all-time wrestling record for most booze involved. Austin vs. Bey was very good although puzzled at the decision to have Austin lose right before his big PPV match. ODB vs. Susan was decent despite the weak ending. The show closing announcement segment of a TNA & Impact title unification and future Kenny Omega match was splendid. This week’s Sacrifice go-home show was mostly enjoyable overall.

Impact Wrestling Sacrifice 2021 (March 13)
* Decay (Black Taurus & Crazzy Steve) vs. Reno Scum – 3.0
* Kaleb with a K & Tenille Dashwood vs. Havok & Nevaeh – 2.5
* Violent By Design (Joe Doering & Deaner) vs, James Storm & Chris Sabin – 3.0
* Hold Harmless match – Brian Myers vs. Eddie Edwards – 2.5
* Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship – Jordynne Grace & Jazz vs. Fire ‘N Flava (Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz) (c) – 3.5
* Impact X-Division Championship – Ace Austin vs. TJP (c) – 3.5
* Impact Knockouts Championship – ODB vs. Deonna Purrazzo (c) – 3.0
* Impact World Tag Team Championship – FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) vs. Good Brothers (c) – 3.5
* Impact World Championship & TNA World Heavyweight Championship Unification match – Moose (TNA) vs. Swann (Impact) – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – Impact World Tag Team Championship match.
Worst – Kaleb with a K & Tenille Dashwood vs. Havok & Nevaeh match.
Show Notes – Decay vs. Reno Scum was a pretty good show opening bout. Kaleb & Dashwood vs. Havok & Nevaeh was mostly decent at best. Edwards & Swann backstage segment was all right. Rhino’s surprise heel turn on Sabin was interesting. Violent By Design vs. Storm & Sabin was quite good despite the shenanigans at the end. Myers interview segment was decent. Myers vs. Edwards was mostly all right despite its slowish pace and dragging a bit too long. Knockouts Tag title match was very good, especially the latter half. Moose interview segment was okay. X-Division title match was a very good back-and-forth style bout. Swinger’s Palace segment with Dashwood & Kaleb was one of the weaker Palace segments. Knockouts title match was pretty good. Karl Anderon got some really good height with his spinebuster spot to Robinson. Impact Tag title match was very good and surprised FinJuice won the belts. TNA & Impact title unification match was very good despite the abrupt finish. Sacrifice 2021 was a very entertaining show overall.

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Weekly Awards:

• Best match of the week – New Japan Cup 2021 tournament Second Round match – Shingo Takagi vs. Hirooki Goto (NJPW New Japan Cup Night 7)
• Worst match of the week – New Japan Cup 2021 tournament First Round match – Yujiro Takahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI (NJPW New Japan Cup 2021 Night 5)
• Best show of the week – AEW Revolution 2021
• Worst show of the week – WWE RAW