Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for August 29 to September 3, 2022

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of August 29th to September 3, 2022.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):

WWE

WWE RAW (Aug. 29)
* AJ Styles & Dolph Ziggler vs. Judgement Day (Damian Priest & Finn Balor) – 2.5
* Alexa Bliss, Asuka, & Bianca Belair vs. Kayla Sparks, Dani Mo, & Katie Arquette – 2.0 (Squash)
* Alpha Academy (Otis & Chad Gable) vs. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) – 3.5
* Bobby Lashley vs. The Miz – 2.0
* Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens – 3.0
* WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament Finals – Dakota Kai & IYO SKY vs. Aliyah & Raquel Rodriguez – 2.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Kurt Angle & Chad Gable promo segment and the Alpha Academy vs. Street Profits match.
Worst – The screwy flat ending to the Women’s Tag titles tournament Finals match.
Show Notes – Styles & Ziggler vs. Judgement Day Tag was mostly solid despite being a bit sloppy at times. Post-match Balor & Priest promo whining about Rey Mysterio & Edge, Edge’s response bashing Balor and Priest, & ambush attack by Mysterios was decent at best & also a bit cringey. 6-Women Tag was a somewhat decent jobber destruction bout despite being a bit rough at times. Post-match Belair & Pals promo bashing Bayley & Pals was decent. Miz, Ciampa, & Pearce backstage segment about Pearce offering WWE services to Miz after his kidnapping last week, Miz denying the offer, & Pearce warning that Lumis is on the loose again was all right. Kurt Angle & Alpha Academy promo segment about Gable’s praise of Angle being his Olympic hero, Angle’s “broken freakin neck” response, Gable’s offer for Angle to join his group, Angle denying the offer, their comedic “shoosh” banter, Street Profits interruption, & match setup banter was great. Alpha Academy vs. Street Profits was a very good back-and-forth action bout. Post-match S.P. & Angle’s celebratory drinks with Angle spitting out the booze & milk drink instead was a bit funny. Riddle & Rollins split-screen trash talk banter segment was all right but the post-segment of Rollins’ bashing Riddle’s failed marriage & Riddle’s angry foul mouthed response during the ad break was great though. Lashley vs. Miz was somewhat dull topped with its sluggish pacing & ending shenanigans by Lumis. Edge & Angle backstage segment about Edge fooling Angle again with the photo posters with hidden insult messages on the back was a bit funny. Usos & Sami Zayn promo about Zayn boasting about the Bloodline and Usos, Owens’ interruption about Reigns still owes him a favor, Zayn denying Reigns owing Owens anything, Owens’ mocking Zayn, Zayn’s retort about the Bloodline liking him but not so much with Jey, Usos’ threat to Owens, Owens’ retort bashing Jey, & match setup banter was splendid. Uso vs. Owens moments: Jey’s superkick & Samoan Drop onto steel steps on the outside. Owens’ block & Avalanche Fisherman Buster counter of Jey’s superplex. Owens’ catch & superkick counter of Jey’s superkick into Jey’s leap over, superkick, & Uso Splash combo counter of Owens’ pop-up powerbomb. Match itself was a good action filled bout. Zayn having second thoughts & not following Jey’s orders to whack Owens with a chair was interesting. Miz & Ciampa parking lot segment about Miz wanting to bolt from the arena & Lumis hiding in the backseat of Miz’s van was all right. Gargano’s interview about his WWE return last week and Theory & Theory’s interruption claiming Gargano didn’t call him after leaving WWE was due to jealously over his success was decent. Women’s Tag titles Finals match was somewhat solid at best despite the flat ending & awful cam work for the finish.
Final Thoughts – This week’s Clash at the Castle go-home show was average overall & the weakest of Triple H’s booked shows since taking over.

WWE NXT (Aug. 30)
* Grayson Waller vs. Apollo Crews – 3.0
* NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship – Diamond Mine (Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley) vs. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (c) – 2.0
* Brooks Jensen, Josh Briggs, & Fallon Henley vs. Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson & Elton Prince) & Lash Legend – 2.5
* Andre Chase vs. Charlie Dempsey – 2.5
* Zoey Stark vs. Kiana James – 2.5
* Gallus (Joe & Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) vs. Diamond Mine (Damon Kemp & Creed Bros (Julius & Brutus Creed)) – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – The Tyler Bate & Gunther and Ciampa & Bron Breakker backstage pep talk segments.
Worst – WWE going overboard with shenanigans endings for all of the tag matches on the show & JD McDonagh’s rambling backstage interview segment.
Show Notes – Waller vs. Crews opener was a pretty good back-and-forth bout despite being derailed for a bit over Crews’ real or not eye injury spot. Satomura’s “Final Boss” vignette about her career accomplishments was splendid. Diamond Mine backstage segment about them not trusting Strong & Nile bashing them for bickering over petty issues was decent. Breakker & Balor’s backstage segment about Balor’s pep talk over the prestige he gave to the NXT title & expecting Breakker to uphold the tradition he established was all right. NXT Women’s Tag titles match was mostly solid despite its slowish pacing & ending shenanigans by Toxic Attraction. Post-match promo by Chance & Carter about them dominating NXT’s Women’s Tag division, Doudrop & Nikki ASH’s interruption wanting a tag title shot, & Chance and Carter accepting was decent. Gacy & Dyad promo segment about Gacy rewarding his lackeys with smiley face pins for climbing up the ladder in Schism, Dyad’s responses about Gacy’s teachings of togetherness, Gacy’s offer to Cameron Grimes, Grimes’ response rejecting Gacy’s offer, banter, Gacy’s dig at Grimes dead dad, & mini-brawl was somewhat corny. Bate & Butch”s video appearance about Butch’s pep talk the honor of NXT UK & British wrestling was all right. 6-Person Mixed Tag was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the lame ending shenanigans by Gallus. Baszler & Mandy Rose’s backstage locker room segment trash talking each other and Baszler’s threat of Rose must win or else everything she’s rambled about the past year would have been garbage was decent at best. JD McDonagh’s rambling backstage interview about being creepy and stuff was awful. Chase vs. Dempsey was a solid back-and-forth hard hitting grapple heavy bout despite the ringside ending shenanigans with Bodhi & was surprised Chase won. Bate & Gunther backstage segment about Gunther’s pep talk over the NXT UK title’s legacy & Euro wrestling legacy being on the line was splendid. Davenport’s backstage interview claiming NXT & NXT UK were built off of their women’s divisions and she will be the one to unify the titles, & Rhea Ripley’s interruption and pep talk about Davenport better not screw up the opportunity was all right. Gallus vs. Diamond Mine 6-Man Tag match was going on well until the buzzkill ending shenanigans with Strong. Post-match mass brawl with Pretty Deadly and Briggs & Jensen was cool. Breakker & Ciampa’s backstage locker room segment about Ciampa’s pep talk over the NXT title being very special to him & Breakker needs to fully embrace the pressure to win at Worlds Collide was splendid. Hayes & Williams promo about their issues over Hayes not being booked for Worlds Collide & bashing everyone for not being at his level, Ricochet’s surprise interruption about repping SmackDown for the event, match setup banter, & brawl was decent.
Final Thoughts – This week’s Worlds Collide 2022 show was mostly enjoyable overall, more so due to all of the surprise main roster people appearances.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Sept. 2)
* Viking Rules match – Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) vs. New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xaiver Woods) – 3.5
* Karrion Kross vs. Drew Gulak – 2.0 (Squash)
* Hit Row (Ashante “Thee” Adonis & Top Dolla) vs. Maximum Male Models (Mansoor & Mace) – 1.5
* Open Challenge match – Happy Corbin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – 2.5
* Butch vs. Ludwig Kaiser – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Vikings Rules match and Adam Pearce’s rant promo part of his segment with Ronda Rousey.
Worst – Ronda Rousey’s promo portion of her segment with Adam Pearce and the Hit Row vs. Maximum Male Models match.
Show Notes – Viking Rules match opener moments: New Day smashing Ivar’s head on the viking shields on the apron. Woods’ running dropkick to a shield onto Erik via Kingston hold assist. Ivar’s running crossbody splatting Woods on the barricade. Kingston’s top rope unicorn Thor Hammer boinking Erik’s head. Erik’s bodyslam to Ivar onto Kingston. Kingston’s dodge and splash counter of Ivar’s moonsault into Wood’s springboard elbow dive to Ivar. Raiders’ lawn dart to Kingston onto the ship’s Dragon figurehead. Raiders’ double team powerbomb toss finisher to Woods through tables on the outside. Match itself was a very entertaining hardcore style bout. Zayn & Usos backstage segment about Zayn being all dressed up fancy for the special celebration & Jey not being fond of Zayn after he failed to help him out during his match on RAW was all right. Baszler’s backstage interview promising to hurt Liv Morgn during their upcoming match & Morgan’s interruption retort was decent at best despite Morgan’s rough promo delivery. Ronda Rousey’s promo about WWE’s letter of her suspension, Pearce’s response about her being suspended over not following rules, Pearce reading the letter revealing Rousey’s suspension was lifted, & banter was mostly decent. Pearce’s snapping rant promo afterwards bashing Rousey & her antics was great though. Not sure how Rousey is meant to be the face in their feud after that segment & attack by her since Pearce has been acting more face-like than she has been. Hit Row vs. MMM was a somewhat dull bout. Post-match brawl with Los Lotharios & Street Profits was all right. Corbin vs. Nakamura was a solid back-and-fourth bout. Sad Corbin moping around in the parking lot & JBL’s random appearance giving him a limo ride was interesting. Butch vs. Kaiser moments: Butch wearing his old Pete Dunne style gear was cool. Butch’s clothesline flooring Kaiser into Butch’s finger bending hold & leaping head stomp. Kaiser’s chop & Butterfly suplex to Butch. Kaiser’s kick counter of Butch’s top rope attack setup into Kaiser’s running dropkick to Butch onto the ropes. Butch’s fingers snap & Bitter End finisher counter of Kaiser’s DDT. Match itself was a really good back-and-forth hard hitting bout. Post-match Sheamus & Gunther confrontation was all right. Paul Heyman narrated videos about Reigns two year champion reign, everyone who failed to dethrone him, & list of WWE legends who held lengthy title reigns were all right overall. Reigns 2-year title reign celebration segment about Zayn imitating the Usos catch phrases while Jey spoke boasting about Reigns’ dominance, Reigns being late to the party, & McIntyre’s parking lot ambush attack to Reigns and brawl with Zayn & Usos was splendid.
Final Thoughts – This week’s Clash at the Castle go-home show was mostly enjoyable overall despite being a bit dull at times.

WWE Clash at the Castle (Sept. 3)
* Pre-show: Madcap Moss & Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. Alpha Academy (Otis & Chade Gable) & Austin Theory – 3.0
* Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, & Asuka vs. Damage Control (Bayley, Dakota Kai, & IYO SKY) – 3.0
* Intercontinental Championship – Sheamus vs. Gunther (c) – 4.5
* SmackDown Women’s Championship – Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan (c) – 2.5
* Rey Mysterio & Edge vs. Judgement Day (Damian Priest & Finn Balor) – 3.5
* Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins – 4.0
* Undisputed WWE Universal Championship – Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns (c) – 3.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – Intercontinental Championship match.
Worst – The Vince McMahon inspired awful booked buzzkill shenanigans ending to the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Show Notes – Women Tag opener moments: Kai & Belair & Pals triple suplex counter of Damage Control’s triple suplex. Asuka’s strikes fest & release German suplex combo to SKY. Sky’s sunset roll hold & Bayley’s sliding lariat to Asuka. Belair’s Press to Kai, using Kai as a weapon to SKY, & Fallaway slam to Kai. Belair’s catch & brutal powerbomb counter of Kai’s Scorpion Kick. Bayley’s hair yank, Kai’s running kick in the corner, Bayley’s Rose Plant, & SKY’s moonsault finisher combo to Belair. Match itself was a quite good back-and-forth bout despite being a bit sloppy at times. The crowd serenading Bayley whenever she was in the match & Bayley’s angry reactions each time was pretty funny. IC title match moments: Imperium reuniting as a group with Giovanni Vinci was cool. Sheamus’ pals & Gunther’s pals pre-match brawl during Gunther & Sheamus’ death staredown was sweet. Gunther’s chop & bodyslam to Sheamus onto steel steps. Gunther & Sheamus’ chops exchange into Gunther’s chops flooring Sheamus. Gunther’s stiff chops & punches fest to Shemaus onto the ropes. Sheamus & Gunther’s slugfest exchange into Gunther’s ripcord stiff chops flooring Sheamus into Sheamus’ catch & forearms fest counter of Gunther’s third chop. Gunther’s bodyslam to Sheamus on the floor & chucking him over the announcer’s table. Sheamus’ head smashes & Ballard beats to Gunther on the announcer’s table. Gunther & Sheamus’ slaps fest in the corner turnbuckle into Sheamus’ big boot crotching Gunther & Celtics Cross. Gunther’s vicious lariat finisher to Sheamus. Match itself was a fantastic physical & brutal slugfest battle. SD Women’s title match was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the somewhat flat & anti-climatic ending. Mysterio & Edge vs. Judgement Day moments: Priest’s catch & modified Broken Arrow counter of Rey’s springboard moonsault. Rey’s block & leg yank crotch counter of Priest’s powerbomb off the guard rail. Rey’s running sitout splash to Priest off the apron & Edge’s ugly looking 619 & Rey’s splash combo to Balor. Rey’s suicide dive counter of Ripley’s slam to Dominik on the outside. Balor’s lariat counter of Rey’s 619. Dominik’s sneaky foot grab, Rey’s 619, & Edge’s spear finisher combo to Balor. Match itself was a really good back-and-forth action bout. Dominik’s post-match sneak attack to Edge & Rey was a bit odd since he happily helped them win their match moments ago. Riddle vs. Rollins moments: Rollins’ powerbomb to Riddle onto the barricade. Rollins’ ropes shove crotching Riddle on the top rope into Riddle’s elbows counter of Rollins’ Avalanche Inverted superplex into Rollins kick & Tree of Woe double foot stomp. Rollins’ superplex to Riddle into Riddle’s Fisherman Buster counter of Rollins’ Falcon Arrow. Riddle’s Exploder suplex counter of Rollins’ discus punch. Riddle’s Bro 2 Sleep, powerbomb, & knee strike counter of Rollins’ Pedigree. Rollins’ head stomp & Bro Derek combo to Riddle. Rollins’ elbow strikes to Riddle’s head into Riddle’s leaping knee strike counter of Rollins’ curb stomp. Rollins’ flip over escape & Pedigree counter of Riddle’s powerbomb setup. Rollins’ shove out of the ring counter of Riddle’s slaps into Rollins swift kick & draping DDT combo. Rollins’ dodge counter of Riddle’s chair whack onto the announcer’s table into Rollins’ curb stomp & middle rope curb stomp finisher. Match itself was a great hard hitting back-and-forth action bout. WWE Universal title match moments: McIntyre’s pre-match Broken Dream intro theme was cool. McIntyre’s whip to Reigns into the steel steps into Reigns’ throat strike & shove into the post via Karrion Kross distraction assist. McIntyre & Reigns’ suplex attempt duel into Reigns’ punches & mid-match “Acknowledge Me” mini-promo to the crowd into McIntyre’s Glasgow Kiss. McIntyre’s spear to Reigns through the barricade. Tyson Fury punching out Theory to prevent him from cashing in was a bit funny. Match itself was a really good bout that got dragged down a lot over the pacing dragging at times just to get a very lengthy match topped with a buzzkill dogshit booked shenanigans. Post-match party with Fury serenading McIntyre & McIntyre acting if he was celebrating a title win with the crowd was dumb. Reigns’ title reign has gone well past its expiration date & little has changed over the overbooked shenanigans endings to Reigns title matches with Triple H in charge.
Final Thoughts – Clash at the Castle was a very good show overall that could have been in the great tier if not for the awful overbooked ending to the main event.

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AEW

AEW Dark Elevation (Aug. 29)
* Dante Martin vs. Wes Barkley – 2.5 (Squash)
* Julia Hart vs. Arie Alexander – 2.0 (Squash)
* Skye Blue & Queen Aminata vs. Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose – 2.5
* Matt Hardy vs. RSP – 2.0 (Squash)
* Serena Deeb vs. Katie Arquette – 2.0 (Squash)
* Frankie Kazarian vs. Andrea Guercio – 2.0 (Squash)
* AFO (RUSH, The Butcher, & The Blade) vs. Elijah, Zach Nystrom, and Chase Oliver – 2.5 (Squash)
* Regina di Wave Championship – Emi Sakura vs. Hikaru Shida (c) – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Regina di Wave Championship match.
Worst – The almost entirely squash filled matches for the show.
Show Notes – Martin vs. Barkley opener was a decent fast paced mostly squash bout. Hart vs. Alexander was a decent brief squash bout. Blue & Aminata vs. Shafir & Rose moments: Nyla’s catch & scoop powerslam counter of Blue’s superkick. Blue’s escape & face shove counter of Rose’s bodyslam onto Shafir’s knees into Blue’s superkick to Shafir. Aminata’s strikes & kicks combo to Shafir. Shafir’s kicks & stiff Uranage to Aminata. Shafir’s sweep kick & Rose’s standing senton combo to Aminata. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the botched finish. Hardy vs. RSP was a decent mostly squash bout but Private Party coming out on stage to watch Hardy’s match was interesting. Deeb vs. Arquette was a decent mostly squash quick bout. Kazarian vs. Guercio was a decent extended squash bout. AFO vs. Elijah, Nystrom, & Oliver Trios Tag moments: RUSH’s running splash, leaping foot stomps, Bulls Horn fakeout, & swift kick combo to Nystrom in the corner. Butcher’s Pump Handle suplex to Oliver. Elijah’s chops & punches combo to Blade into Elijah’s kick counter of Blade’s whip into Blade’s stiff lariat flooring Elijah. Butcher & Blade’s double team powerbomb neckbreaker & RUSH’s Bulls Horn finisher combo to Oliver. Match itself was a fine jobber destruction bout. Regina di Wave title match moments: Shida’s suplex counter of Sakura’s suplex. Sakura’s running crossbody to Shida on the apron sending her crashing to the outside. Sakura’s dodge & Saito suplex onto a chair counter of Shida’s running leaping knee via chair assist on the outside. Sakura’s Tiger Driver to Shida into Sakura’s Moonsault Press. Shida’s kick escape counter of Sakura’s double underhook backbreaker into Sakura’s punch counter of Shida’s top rope attack into Shida’s rana counter of Sakura’s running powerbomb into Shida’s running leaping knee strike. Sakura’s chops & Shida’s forearms exchange into Shida’s forearms fest & sliding elbow strike flooring Shida. Shida’s escape & Falcon Arrow counter of Sakura’s eye rake & underhook backbreaker. Shida’s swift Katana kick finisher to Sakura. Match itself was a really good back-and-forth hard hitting action bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly average overall but the main event match was really good.

AEW Dark (Aug. 30)
* Serpentico vs. John Silver – 2.5
* Charlette Renegade vs. Diamante – 2.0
* Angelo Parker vs. Gus De La Vega – 1.5 (Squash)
* Kiera Hogan vs. Mylo – 2.5
* Trustbusters (Ari Daivari, Parker Boudreaux, & Slim J) vs. Logan Cruz, Tyshaun Perez, & Hermano – 2.5 (Squash)
* Julia Hart vs. Vicky Dreamboat – 2.0 (Squash)
* Kayla Rossi vs. Vipress – 1.5 (Squash)
* Varsity Blonds (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.) vs. Rosario Grillo & Dean Alexander – 2.0 (Squash)
* Dante Martin vs. A.R. Fox – 3.0
* Brock Anderson vs. Tyson Maddux – 2.0 (Squash)
* The Workhorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) vs. Oliver Sawyer & Manny Lo – 2.5 (Squash)
* Leila Grey vs. Renee Michelle – 2.5
* Blake Christian vs. RUSH – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Blake Christian vs. RUSH match.
Worst – Kayla Rossi vs. Vipress match being a bit sluggish in pacing.
Show Notes – Serpentico vs. Silver opener moments: Serpentico’s superkick to Silver via Luther distraction assist. Serpentico’s headbutt to Silver flooring himself instead. Silver’s catch & Liger Bomb counter of Serpentico’s leap over attempt. Silver’s kicks & Spin Doctor finisher combo to Serpentico. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth bout. Renegade vs. Diamante moments: Diamante’s rough looking top rana off the top rope to Renegade. Match itself was mostly solid despite falling apart near the end. Parker vs. De La Vega was a mostly nothing extra brief squash bout. Hogan vs. Mylo was a solid back-and-forth bout. Trustbusters vs. Cruz, Perez, & Hermano moments: Slim J’s ropes assisted head scissors & swift lariat combo to Perez. Boudreaux’s running splashes splatting the jobber team in the corners. Slim J’s top rope reverse DDT to Hermano & Slice Bread to Perez via Boudreaux’s lift assist. Match itself was a fine jobber destruction bout. Hart vs. Dreamboat was a decent squash bout. Matt Menard & Parker backstage interview about Parker’s extra quick win earlier, mocking HOOK for needing more time to beat Clayton, their issues with HOOK, & wanting HOOK’s FTW title was splendid. Rossi vs. Vipress was a somewhat decent squash bout despite its sluggish pacing. Varsity Blonds vs. Grillo & Alexander was a decent mostly squash bout but Garrisson’s new pissed off persona was interesting. Martin vs. Fox moments: FOX’s leg sweep on the apron to Martin into FOX’s roll over corkscrew brainbuster. Fox’s back elbows counter of Martin’s waistlock into Martin’s boot counter of FOX’s attack in the corner into FOX’s springboard Spanish Fly & 450 Splash. Martin’s springboard attack fakeout into Nosedive finisher to Fox. Match itself was an entertaining back-and-forth action bout. Anderson vs. Maddux was a decent mostly squash bout. The Workhorsemen vs. Sawyer & Lo was a fine hard hitting mostly squash bout. Drake’s post-match promo about leaving the Wingmen & him and Henry being obsessed with success was interesting. Gray vs. Michelle was a mostly solid back-and-forth bout. Christian vs. RUSH moments: Christian & RUSH’s fast paced counters exchange into Christian’s rana sending RUSH to the outside into RUSH’s dodge & swift forearm strike counter of Christian’s baseball slide. RUSH’s hard chucks to Christian into the barricades. RUSH’s loud stiff chops flooring Christian in the corner. Christian’s trip, 619, & missile dropkick combo to RUSH into Christian’s suicide dive to RUSH through the ropes. Christian’s Fosbury Flop to RUSH on the outside. RUSH’s headbutt counter of Christian’s 450 Splash into RUSH’s forearm strike & Bulls Horn finisher. Match itself was a quite good back-and-forth action bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall.

AEW Dynamite (Aug. 31)
* Bryan Danielson vs. Jake Hager – 3.5
* Dr. Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm & Hikaru Shida – 3.5
* FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) & Wardlow vs. Vic Capri, Silas Young, & Ren Jones – 2.0 (Squash)
* Four-way match – Dante Martin vs. RUSH vs. Rey Fenix vs. Wheeler Yuta – 3.5
* AEW World Trios Championship tournament Dynamite Finals – United Empire (Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) & Will Ospreay vs. The Elite (Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) & Kenny Omega) – 4.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – Jox Moxley’s opening promo segment and the United Empire vs. The Elite Trios match.
Worst – The puzzling booking decision to put JD Drake right back into the Wingmen despite this week’s AEW Dark show had him revealing he left the group.
Show Notes – Opening Moxley fiery promo mocking Punk over his quick loss and injury excuse, open challenge offer, & being the personification of wrestling was awesome. Ace Steel randomly coming out & taking the contract after Moxley left was interesting. Jericho’s backstage interview about Danielson & interruption by Garcia apologizing for last week and pledging his loyalty to JAS was all right. Danielson vs. Hager was a very good hard hitting back-and-forth action bout. Post-match brawl with JAS & BCC and Garcia taking away Jericho’s chair weapon was splendid. Wingmen’s protest over their lack of Dynamite bookings & Morrissey’s surprise interruption laying out the group was pretty cool but Morrissey joining Stokely was interesting. Women’s Tag was a very entertaining hard hitting back-and-forth action bout. Sabian & PAC’s All Atlantic title match hype video was all right. Miro promo vignette about HoB’s attack last week and mocking his god for making a deal with the devil to take him out & Allin and Sting joining forces against HoB was splendid. CM Punk promo about his foot injury, trashing a fat guy heckler in the crowd, letting his fans down and questioning his passion, Steel’s passionate pep talk interruption and handing him the AEW title match contract, & Punk’s heated message to Moxley was splendid, especially the latter half. Christian Cage & Jungle Boy sitdown interview about their upcoming match was all right. Dark Order backstage interview about 10’s injury, Evil Uno taking over 10’s spot in the Trios tournament Andrade’s interruption offering 10 a spot in the AFO, Uno’s rejection, & Andrade & Jose’s attack response was all right. 4-Way match moments: RUSH’s top rope release suplex to Martin onto Fenix. RUSH’s leaping knee strike & straightjacket piledriver to Yuta. Martin’s catch & sitout Half suplex slam counter of Fenix’s springboard Flying Nothing. Martin’s spiked Poison Rana to Fenix. Match itself was a very good action filled bout. Reynolds & Silver’s backstage interview about being down a guy for their Trios team, Hangman’s interruption asking to be their partner, & Silver and Reynolds being on board was all right. United Empire vs. The Elite Trios moments: Aussie Open’s catch of Bucks dives to the outside & running smash into Omega. Matt’s backdrop counter of Ospreay’s piledriver on the ramp & Swanton to UE off the stage. Matt’s spiked cazadora facebuster to Ospreay. Omega’s dodge & snap Dragon Suplex counter of Ospreay’s dive flip to the outside. A.O.’s delayed double team superplex to Omega. Nick’s slingshot Code Red to Ospreay into Nick’s rope walk armdrag & rana to AO. Ospreay’s knees & snap Dragon suplex counter of Nick’s 450 splash. Ospreay’s catch & float over brutal Liger Bomb counter of Omega’s running attack. Ospreay’s Oscutter counter of Bucks’ Meltzer Driver to Feltcher into Fletcher & Ospreay’s modified Meltzer Driver. Ospreay’s knee strike counter of Omega’s V-Trigger into Bucks catch, flip over toss to Omega, & Elite’s IndyTaker. Omega’s V-Trigger & One Winged Angle finisher to Fletcher. Match itself was a terrific action packed bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s All Out 2022 show was great overall.

AEW Rampage (Sept. 2)
* AEW World Trios Championship tournament Rampage Finals – Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, & Chuck Taylor) vs. Dark Order (Hangman Page, John Silver, & Alex Reynolds) – 3.5
* Rey Fenix vs. Blake Christian – 2.5 (Squash)
* Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo vs. Ruby Soho & Ortiz – 3.0
* Ricky Starks vs. QT Marshall – 2.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – Best Friends vs. Dark Order Trios match.
Worst – The anti-climatic ending to the Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo vs. Ruby Soho & Ortiz match.
Show Notes – Best Friends vs. Dark Order Trios opener moments: Reynolds’ moonsault to Trent & Taylor on the outside via Page’s powerbomb lift assist. Trent & Taylor’s double team chokeslam to Page through the timekeeper’s table. Silver’s kicks to Orange into Orange’s Stundog Millionaire counter of Silver’s suplex. Orange’s pyramid splash to Silver via Trent & Taylor’s shoulders & hold assist. Page’s flip over counter of Trent’s Avalanche German suplex into Page’s discus elbow to Trent & Deadeye to Orange. Trent’s spear to Page on the apron. Best Friends’ Strong Zero to Reynolds on the outside & Taylor’s Awful Waffle to Silver. Taylor’s dodge counter of Page’s Buckshot Lariat into Orange’s Orange Punch & Trent’s lariat over the ropes to Page. Match itself was a very entertaining action filled bout despite the abrupt ending. Ishii vs. Kingston match hype video was all right. Fenix vs. Christian moments: Fenix’s Dominator style spin knee breaker & sitout tombstone piledriver finisher to Christian. Match itself was a fine mostly squash brief bout. HOOK & 2point0’s backstage segment about Parker’s mind games planting seeds of doubt about HOOK being able to beat him at All Out, HOOK’s angry reaction, & Menard’s retort was all right. Guevara & Melo vs. Soho & Ortiz moments: Soho’s ref distracted kicks to Guevara into Melo’s yank off the apron, chuck into the steel steps, & kick on the steps to Soho’s hand. Ortiz’s atomic drop, Soho’s goofy run setup for the cazadora drop, & Ortiz’s senton combo to Guevara. Guevara’s hold counter of Soho’s cazadora into Melo’s spiked DDT via Guevara’s hold assist. Match itself was a mostly good back-and-forth action bout despite the anti-climatic ending. Cargill & Athena sitdown interview about Cargill mocking Athena for being considered as a threat to her and heated insults filled banter was pretty good. Acclaimed & Swerve In Our Glory insults filled backstage interview about their upcoming AEW Tag titles match was pretty good. FTR & Wardlow’s promo about Harwood’s speech over people’s criticisms about their random trios match at All Out, Chris Sabin’s interruption mocking Chicago and praising Detroit, Shelley bashing FTR and Wardlow for being not as tight together or as great as them as a group, & Dutt mocking Harwood’s little girl was splendid. Starks & Marshall’s pre-match split-screen backstage interview segment was decent. Starks vs. Marshall moments: Starks & Marshall’s brawl in the crowd into Starks’ chucking Marshall hard over the barricade. Marshall’s Diamond Cutter counter of Starks’ spear attempt. Starks’ dodge, spear, Roshambo finisher combo counter of Marshall’s attack. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth bout. Post-match Starks & Hobbs brawl was cool.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall.

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NJPW, Impact, & Other Wrestling

Impact Wrestling Impact! (Sept. 1)
* Impact World Tag Team Championship – Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) (c) – 3.0
* X-Division Championship – Kenny King vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey (c) – 3.0
* Alex Zayne vs. Mascara Dorada – 3.5
* #1 Contender for Impact Knockouts Championship – Deonna Purrazzo vs. Masha Slamovich – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Alex Zayne vs. Mascara Dorada match.
Worst – The Dusty Finish shenanigans & abrupt ending to the X-Division title match.
Show Notes – Impact Tag titles match opener moments: Bennett chucking Gallows into the steel steps & rope crotch counter of Anderson’s top rope attack into Bennett & Taven’s Proton Pack finisher to Anderson. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Killer Kelly vignette about Tasha Steelz and wanting to play together was all right. Honor No More backstage segment about Eddie Edwards being happy over HNM’s success tonight but still having trust issues with PCO, Vincent’s retort vouching for PCO, & King claiming he will bring home the X-Division title to the group was all right. X-Division title match moments: King’s catch & Exploder suplex onto the ringside apron counter of Bailey’s kick. Bailey’s dodge counter of King’s clothesline to the ref. King’s low blow counter of Bailey’s Ultima Weapon setup. King’s kick counter of Bailey’s Ultima Weapon into Bailey’s spiked rana roll-up finisher counter of King’s Royal Flush. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth action bout despite the abrupt ending. Aussie Open backstage interview about their Impact debut & quest to take over Impact was all right. Violent By Design’s backstage segment about Young’s speech over them splitting up on different paths was an interesting way to write out Joe Doering over his cancer issues. Mickie James’ teary promo about her lengthy career, her rough time at the end of her WWE career, Impact return, praise of women’s wrestling, & not retiring yet from wrestling was all right but her stip of being done once she loses another match is interesting. Zayne vs. Dorada moments: Zayne’s dodge & ropes assisted leaping rana counter of Dorada’s dive to the outside. Zayne’s backdrop driver toss to Dorada on the apron. Dorada’s rope walk senton to Zayne on the outside. Dorada’s rope walk springboard swanton to Zayne. Zayne’s leap up rana, running boot, & Baja Blast combo to Dorada. Dorada’s dodge, Tornado DDT, & Dorada Driver finisher combo counter of Zayne’s Cinnamon Twist. Match itself was a very good action filled bout. Purrazzo vs. Slamovich moments: Slamovich’s vicious hair grab snapmares to Purrazzo. Purrazzo’s knee strike to Slamovich on the apron via Green’s distraction assist. Slamovich’s knee strike, running big boot, & spinning heel kick combo to Purrazzo. Purrazzo’s block & Russian leg Sweep counter of Slamovich’s Snow Plow into Purrazzo’s Fujiwara armbar. Yikes at Purrazzo’s neck after Slamovich’s rough looking Air Raid Crash in the corner counter of Purrazzo’s Queen’s Gambit. Slamovich’s spinning back fist to Purrazzo, big boot flooring Green, & Snow Plow finisher to Purrazzo. Match itself was a really good back-and-forth action bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

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Weekly Awards:

• Best match of the week – Intercontinental Championship – Sheamus vs. Gunther (c) (WWE Clash at the Castle)
• Best match of the week runner-up – AEW World Trios Championship tournament Dynamite Finals – United Empire (Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) & Will Ospreay vs. The Elite (Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) & Kenny Omega) (AEW Dynamite)
• Worst match of the week – Hit Row (Ashante “Thee” Adonis & Top Dolla) vs. Maximum Male Models (Mansoor & Mace) (WWE Friday Night SmackDown)
• Worst match of the week runner-up – Kayla Rossi vs. Vipress (AEW Dark)
• Best show of the week – AEW Dynamite
• Worst show of the week – AEW Dark Elevation