Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for October 16 to October 22, 2022

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of October 16th to October 22nd, 2022.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):

WWE

WWE RAW (Oct. 17)
* The O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs. Alpha Academy (Otis & Chad Gable) – 2.5
* Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai & IYO SKY) vs. Candice LeRae & Bianca Belair – 2.0
* Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler – 3.0
* AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio – 3.0
* Dexter Lumis vs. The Miz – N/A
* United States Championship – Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins (c) – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Bobby Lashley & Brock Lesnar show opening brawl and the United States title match.
Worst – Damage CTRL vs. Candice LeRae & Bianca Belair match dragging too long & falling apart near the end.
Show Notes – Opening Bobby Lashley’s brief promo calling out Brock Lesnar & brawl was cool. OC vs. AA was a solid back-and-forth bout. Post-match promo by Judgement Day badmouthing The OC & matches setup insults banter about Styles mocking JD needing permission to do anything from their “mommy” Ripley and Dom’s dig at his father Rey cowardly leaving RAW for SD was all right. Rollins’ promo about those who doubted his US title win to kiss his butt, asking the crowd to sing his song, claiming that he will have the greatest US title run ever, & downplaying his tapout loss to Riddle. Mustafa Ali’s interruption demanding a title shot he was owed by Lashley, Rollins’ Waluigi laughter retort denying the request, banter, & brawl was all right overall. Damage CTRL vs. LeRae & Belair was mostly solid despite it dragging too long & falling apart near the end. Riddle’s rambling backstage interview about his upcoming US title match & promising Ali a title shot if he wins. Miz’s interruption claiming he injured his knee and can’t compete tonight & banter with Riddle & Ali was decent overall. Judgement Day & Cora Jade backstage segment about Jade picking Ripley as her Pick Your Poison choice for Roxanne Perez & Ripley accepting was all right. JBL’s promo bashing Oklahoma folk, OU football, and Rey, revealing Corbin as the newest member of RAW from the Rey trade, & bashing Ziggler was all right but Corbin’s new gear is god awful. Corbin vs. Ziggler was a good back-and-forth action bout, especially the latter half. Miz’s backstage medical room interview about Saxton’s revealing Miz staged his accident to get out of his match with Lumis, Miz’s upset reaction, & Gargano’s Lumis warning causing Miz to leap up on his feet being magically completely healed was a bit funny. Cameron Grimes surprise appearance & backstage segment with The OC asking for their help against Schism in NXT & OC agreeing only if they got paid was all right. Styles vs. Mysterio was going on well until the anti-climatic shenanigans ending by Ripley. Miz & Gargano’s backstage segment about Gargano’s hinting Miz and Lumis’ beef revolves around a big secret held by Miz was decent. Lumis vs. Miz non-match ambush attack by Miz with a chair & Skull Crushing Finale onto a chair was okay. Miz & Gargano’s backstage segment pat deux about Gargano claiming Miz made a big mistake, Miz’s angry reaction, & Gargano’s whistle threat was lame. Elias’ concert segment about Elias saying Ezekiel’s wrestling career is over. Riddle’s interruption bringing a set of bongos for the concert, “bong” weed joke, and “Walk Is Elias” sing-a-long with the crowd & Elias’ retort telling Riddle to take a seat but promising him a future duet concert, Elias’ piano setup, & Rollins interruption was a bit funny overall. US title match moments: Rollins shove to Elias into Elias’ ref distracted leaping knee strike on the outside. Rollins’ reverse superplex & inverted Falcon Arrow to Riddle. Riddle’s catch & Triangle Choke counter of Rollins’ Frog Splash into Rollins’ powerbombs counter into Riddle’s maintained Triangle hold. Rollins’ superkick to Elias into Riddle’s apron PK, snap powerslam, & draping DDT combo to Rollins. Rollins’ shove into Elias, & curb stomp finisher counter of Riddle’s RKO. Match itself was a good action filled bout despite the shenanigans ending. Post-match attack by Rollins & run-in save brawl by Ali was splendid.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly average overall & one of the weaker RAW shows since Triple H took over WWE Creative.

WWE NXT (Oct. 18)
* Pick Your Poison match – Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez – 3.0
* Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – 2.5
* Alba Fyre vs. Sonya Deville – 1.5
* Wes Lee & Oro Mensah vs. Trick Williams & Carmelo Hayes – 2.5
* The Schism (Joe Gacy, Jagger Reid, & Rip Fowler) vs. Cameron Grimes & The O.C. (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) – 3.0
* Xyon Quinn vs. Qunicy Elliott – 2.0
* Pick Your Poison match – Raquel Rodriguez vs. Cora Jade – 1.5
Overall – 2.5
Best – The Chase U & Chucky segment and the KO Show segment.
Worst – The lame DQ ending shenanigans to the Raquel Rodriguez vs. Cora Jade match and NXT Creative going overboard with the amount of shenanigans endings on the show.
Show Notes – Ripley vs. Perez opener moments: Ripley’s catch & reverse Electric Chair slam onto the apron counter of Perez’s rana off the apron. Perez’s escape & Frankensteiner counter of Ripley’s superplex. Ripley’s catch & front slam counter of Perez’s running uppercut in the corner. Perez’s escape counter of Ripley’s Rip Tide into Ripley’s back drop counter of Perez’s Pop Rox into Ripley’s headbutt & Rip Tide finisher to Perez via Dominik distraction assist. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout despite being a bit sloppy at times & ending shenanigans by Dom. Grimes & OC’s backstage locker room segment about their upcoming match with the Schism & OC helping out Grimes only because he paid them was a bit goofy. Grayson Waller’s backstage interview badmouthing Apollo Crews, Chucky’s interruption mocking Waller and Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal match setup, & Waller freaking out afterwards was all right. Nakamura being revealed as Stacks’ mystery opponent was cool. Stacks vs. Nakamura was a solid bout. Fyre vs. Deville was somewhat solid at best despite the ending shenanigans by Toxic Attraction. Post-match ambush attack by T.A. & Mandy Rose’s promo promising being more ruthless to Fyre in their upcoming match, & Fyre freeing herself and attack on T.A. & Deville was decent. Lee & Mensah vs. Hayes & Williams was a solid bout. Post-match brawl with Von Wagner & Frazer was all right. Schism vs. Grimes & O.C. 6-Man Tag was a good back-and-forth action bout despite dragging a bit at times. Veer Mahan’s backstage interview about him not being willing to discuss what he said to Sanga last week & Sanga’s interruption saying he’s ready to listen to Mahan was interesting. Chance & Carter vs. Stark & Lyons NXT Women’s Tag titles match hype video was all right. NXT Women’s Tag titles match contract signing segment was decent. Julius Creed & Damon Kemp’s split-screen backstage interview insults banter about their upcoming match was all right. Shotzi’s surprise appearance revealing herself as one of the hosts for this week’s Halloween Havoc event, Quinn’s interruption wanting to be her co-host, Elliott’s interruption wanting to be Shozti’s co-host instead, & match setup was all right. Quinn vs. Elliott was a somewhat solid match despite the flat ending & ending shenanigans by Hank Williams. Chase U segment about Andre Chase’s history lesson about Halloween Havoc and digs at WCW’s awful HH moments, Chucky’s interruption mocking Chase, & insults banter was a bit funny. Rodriguez vs. Jade was a mostly nothing match topped with a lame DQ ending. Post-match Perez’s ambush attack to Jade was all right. KO Show segment about Owens’ dig at McDonagh for being a creepy weirdo and JD McDontGoogleMe insult. McDonagh’s retort promising to become next NXT champ, Dragunov’s retort about his attack on Breakker was not a mistake and wanting to regain the NXT title that should have been his to begin with, and Breakker’s retort about him not dropping the title as long as he breathes. Owens, McDonagh, Dragunov, & Breakker’s trash talk filled banter, Owens’ clearing out the ring for the expected brawl and leaving the ring, & brawl afterwards. Austin Theory’s surprise appearance & cash-in tease for NXT title was splendid overall.
Final Thoughts – This week’s Halloween Havoc 2022 go-home show was average overall.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Oct. 21)
* Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa – 3.5
* Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville – 2.0
* WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship – Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai & IYO SKY) vs. Shotzi & Raquel Rodriguez – 3.0
* Rey Mysterio vs. Ludwig Kaiser – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa match.
Worst – The lame double countout ending to the Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville match.
Show Notes – Sheamus vs. Sikoa opener moments: Sikoa’s block & guillotine drop counter of Sheamus’ Beats of the Ballard into Sikoa’s running hip attack to Sheamus onto the steel steps. Ouch at Sheamus’ arm after his rough landing from Sikoa’s Avalanche Samoan Drop. Sheamus’ back elbow strikes counter of Sikoa’s Spinning Solo into Sheamus’ one armed slam & lengthy Beats of the Ballard. Bloodline & Brawling Brutes brawl at ringside into Sheamus’ top rope smash to Usos on the outside. Match itself was a very good back-and-forth hard hitting bout despite the ending shenanigans by Sami Zayn. Post-match attack by Bloodline to Sheamus & chair smashes to his arm was all right. Mysterio & Imperium backstage taped segment about Imperium mocking Rey’s chances at beating Gunther for the IC title & Rey’s match challenge retort was decent. Bray Wyatt’s backstage promo apologizing for not getting to finish his emotional speech last week, still dealing with his problems, & not feeling sorry for his actions going forward was all right but the background music through out it was more distracting than helpful. Bloodline backstage lounge segment celebrating Sikoa’s win and destruction of Sheamus, Zayn’s words of warning from Reigns about Usos not being allowed to engage Logan Paul tonight, & Jey’s hotheaded retort was all right. Morgan vs. Deville moments: Morgan’s new Harley Quinn style entrance gear & makeup is interesting. Morgan going crazy throughout the bout and snapping near the end was also interesting. Match itself was somewhat solid despite the lame double countout ending. Morgan’s post-match attack & superplex onto the chairs was pretty cool though. LA Night hype vignette was all right. Drew McIntyre’s backstage interview about WWE officials being upset over his actions last week to Kross & steel cage match announcement between them at Crown Jewel was decent. Strowman & Omos’ face-to-face segment about Strowman calling out Omos for a monsters meeting, MVP’s response boasting about Omos being the real giant/monster in WWE, match setup banter, & Omos and Strowman’s staredown and shove attack by Omos was all right. Women’s Tag title match was a pretty good back-and-forth bout, especially the latter half, despite the ending shenanigans by Bayley. Ronda Rousey’s backstage interview bashing WWE fans for hating her & no longer giving out open challenges at will was decent at best. Wyatt’s creepy mystery video teasing a new “Howdy” person associated with Bray was interesting. Legado Del Fantasma’s backstage promo about Santos Escobar boasting about his growing empire, Zelina Vega joining his group, and plans to destroy Hit Row was splendid. Hit Row’s backstage response was somewhat decent. Mysterio vs. Kaiser was an entertaining back-and-forth action bout. Logan Paul’s rambling promo about his insults digs at everyone in the Bloodline and teasing at defying the odds and beating Reigns for the title, Jey Uso’s ambush attack, Zayn’s run-in trying to put an end to Jey’s actions, & Paul’s KO strike to Jey was decent.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2022 (Oct. 22)
* NXT North American Championship Ladder match – Nathan Frazer vs. Oro Mensah vs. Wes Lee vs. Von Wagner vs. Carmelo Hayes – 4.0
* Casket match – Grayson Waller vs. Apollo Crews – 2.5
* Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez – 2.5
* Ambulance match – Damon Kemp vs. Julius Creed – 3.5
* NXT Women’s Championship match – Alba Fyre vs. Mandy Rose (c) – 2.0
* NXT Championship Triple Threat match – JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. Bron Breakker (c) – 4.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – NXT North American title Ladder match and the NXT title match.
Worst – The lame ending shenanigans to the NXT Women’s title match & Mandy Rose’s never ending Reign of Terror as champ.
Show Notes – NXT NA title Ladder match opener moments: Mensah’s yank off the ladder & overhead suplex to Frazer. Hayes’ ladder smash to Lee & Mensah’s backdrop to Hayes onto another ladder. Wagner’s catch & powerbomb on the ladder counter of Frazer’s rana. Ouch at Lee’s bum after his seated senton to Frazer onto a ladder. Haye’s springboard reverse leg drop to Mensah onto a ladder via Trick Williams assist. Frazer’s springboard Spanish Fly onto a ladder to Hayes was sweet. Mr. Stone’s shoe whack to Williams on the ladder into Williams ladder shove crotching Stone on the ropes. Frazer’s Frog Splash to Wagner through a ladder on the outside. Wagner chucking Lee out of the ring onto the announcer’s table that didn’t break was crazy. Mensah’s shove to Frazer off the ladder into Hayes’ leg yank to Mensah onto another ladder. Hayes & Lee’s slugfest on a prone ladder into Lee’s Meteora to Hayes onto the ladder. Match itself was a great action filled bout. Toxic Attraction & Fyre’s cinematic haunted house brawl with the comedic antics by spooky ghouls & over-the-top D-level horror acting by T.A. was very cheesy but also funny. Casket match moments: Waller’s eye gouge counter of Crews’ superplex sending him crashing through the casket. Crews’ lights out teleportation to the stage signaling for another casket to be brought out. Crews’ block, shove into the post, & slam into the casket finisher counter of Waller’s stunner. Match itself was a mostly solid bout despite dragging a bit too long & the wonky caskets shenanigans booking. Chase U segment about Andre Chase’s Halloween Havoc history lesson, Duke Hudson being revealed as the newest student of the class, & Bodhi Hayward’s issues with Hudson was decent. Weapons Wild match moments: Perez’s drop toe hold & head smashes on the skateboard to Jade into Perez rolling Jade out of the ring. Jade’s trash can whack to Perez into Jade’s kick & stomps to Perez inside a trash can. Jade & Perez’s brawl on the platform into Jade’s bodyslam. Perez’s Russian Leg Sweep to Jade off the platform onto a table. Perez’s block & backdrop onto chairs counter of Jade’s DDT into Perez’s Pop Rox onto chairs finisher. Match itself was solid, especially the latter half, despite dragging at times. T-Bar’s Retribution mask burning NXT return teaser vignette was pretty cool. Shotzi & Quincy Elliott’s promo about their Halloween costumes, Lash Legend’s interruption bashing Shozti and Elliott, & insults banter was somewhat corny & awful. Schism’s rambling promo about cult stuff was decent but a new member being revealed this Tuesday is interesting. Ambulance match moments: Kemp’s crutch blocks of Creed’s constant attempts at shutting the ambulance door made Creed looking like a bit of a moron. Creed’s kick counter of Kemp’s ambulance door slam boinking Kemp’s head. Kemp’s dodge & Uranage onto steel steps counter of Creed’s punch. Kemp’s block & head smash counter of Creed’s head smash onto the steps. Creed & Kemp chucking weapons at each other exchange. Ouch at Creed’s hand after blocking Kemp’s ambulance door slams. Creed’s stiff chair whacks combo to Kemp. Creed’s powerbomb onto a stretcher & swift punch onto a chair to Kemp. Match itself was a very good hard hitting hardcore style bout. NXT Women’s title match was solid at best despite the lame & stale ending shenanigans by Toxic Attraction. Not a fan of the booking decision at all nor Rose’s never ending Reign of Terror in the Women’s division. NXT title match moments: McDonagh’s Uranage & standing moonsault to Ilja. Ilja’s block counter of McDonagh’s Devil Inside into Breakker’s double clothesline to McDonagh & Ilja. Ilja’s block & DVD onto Breakker counter of McDonagh’s Devil Inside. Ilja’s Coast to Coast onto McDonagh & Breakker. Breakker’s Frankensteiner & Ilja’s sitout powerbomb combo to McDonagh. Ilja’s powerbomb & swift forearm strike to Breakker into McDonagh’s 450 splash to Ilja. Ilja’s German suplexes to McDonagh into Breakker’s German suplex to both guys at the same time. Breakker’s hard chuck to McDonagh over the turnbuckle into Ilja’s knee strike counter of Breakker’s spear into Ilja’s top rope knee strike & Torpedo Moscow to Breakker. McDonagh’s standing Spanish Fly counter of Ilja’s running attack on the outside. Ilja’s dodge & step up Euro uppercut counter of McDonagh’s chair strike onto the steel steps. Breakker’s spear counter of Ilja’s Torpedo Moscow. Match itself was a great physical action filled bout.
Final Thoughts – Halloween Havoc 2022 was mostly very enjoyable overall.

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AEW

AEW Dark Elevation (Oct. 17)
* Kip Sabian & Penelope Ford vs. Jessika Neri & Jeremy Profit – 2.0 (Squash)
* Frankie Kazarian vs. Matt Blackmon – 2.5
* Athena vs. Jody Threat – 3.0
* Voros Twins (Chris & Patrick Voros) vs. The Butcher & The Blade – 2.0 (Squash)
* Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh vs. Junior Benito & Dylan Davis – 1.5 (Squash)
* Emi Sakura & Serena Deeb vs. Madison Rayne & Skye Blue – 2.5
* Bollywood Boyz (Gurv & Harv Sihra) vs. The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn) – 2.5
Overall – 2.5
Best – Athena vs. Jody Threat match.
Worst – The flat ending to the Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh vs. Junior Benito & Dylan Davis match.
Show Notes – Sabian & Ford vs. Neri & Profit opener moments: Profit’s catch & snap suplex counter of Sabian’s top rope Flying Nothing. Ford’s matrix dodge & stunner counter of Neri’s running attack & Sabian’s springboard shotgun dropkick & Anarchist suplex to Profits. Ford’s Codebreaker & Sabian’s Anarchist Suplex finisher combo to Profit. Match itself was a decent mostly squash style bout. Kazarian vs. Blackmon was a solid brief bout. Athena vs. Threat moments: Threat’s ambush attack to Athena during Athena’s entrance. Threat’s misdirect run & Michinoku Driver to Athena. Athena playing a more heelish role in response to the crowd being fully behind her hometown opponent was pretty cool. Athena’s dodge counter of Threat’s running attacking into the corner post into Athena’s punch & leap up rana. Athena’s suplex toss to Threat over the ropes into Athena’s brutal looking shotgun dropkick sending Threat crashing hard into the barricade. Athena’s O-Face, running boot, & overhead gutbuster finisher to Threat. itself was a pretty good hard hitting bout. Voros Twins vs. Butcher & Blade tag was decent jobber destruction bout. Sonjay Dutt’s pre-match promo denying the rumors about Lethal and himself are not on the same page and instead are still a well oiled machine & threat to their opponents tonight was decent. Lethal & Singh vs. Benito & Davis moments: Singh shrugging off Davis’ chops into Singh’s multiple throat slams to Davis. Singh’s brutal looking spinning Razor’s Edge & overhead club shot finisher to Davis. Match itself was a mostly decent squash bout despite the flat & awkward finish. Sakura & Deeb vs. Rayne & Blue was a solid back-and-forth bout. Bollywood Boyz vs. The Gunns moments: The Gunns’ FTR parody gear & cardboard ROH Tag title belts during their entrance was a bit funny. Austin’s Fameasser & Gunn’s Big Rig finisher combo to Gurv. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth action bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was average overall.

AEW Dark (Oct. 18)
* Hikaru Shida vs. Vanessa Kraven – 2.5
* Dark Order (Evil Uno, John Silver, Alex Reynolds, & 10) vs. Tyler Tirva, Shayne Hawke, Zak Patterson, & Jordano – 3.0
* Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Mo Jabari & Jake O’Reilly – 2.5 (Squash)
* Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) vs. Kobe Durst, Steven Mainz, & Jessie V – 2.0 (Squash)
* Ari Daivari vs. Brandon Cutler – 2.5
* Willow Nightingale vs. Seleziya Sparx – 2.5
* QT Marshall vs. Dante Martin – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – QT Marshall vs. Dante Martin match.
Worst – Orange Cassidy & Best Friends vs. Kobe Durst, Steven Mainz, & Jessie V being a bit rough at one point.
Show Notes – Shida vs. Kraven opener moments: Kraven’s catch & Fireman Carry style slam onto the apron counter of Shida’s running knee strike via chair assist on the outside. Kraven’s block & stiff chop counter of Shida’s Falcon Arrow into Shida’s escape & enziguri counter of Kraven’s Fireman Carry. Shida’s Falcon Arrow & Katana finisher combo to Kraven. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth bout. Dark Order vs. Tirva, Hawke, Patterson, & Jordano 8-Man Tag moments: Silver’s ugly looking spiked half-suplex & half-DDT counter of Hawke & Tirva’s double team suplex. Evil Uno’s senton splatting Patterson. Dark Order’s moves fest & Evil Uno’s Something Evil finisher to Hawke. Match itself was an entertaining action filled bout. Kingston & Ortiz vs. Jabari & O’Reilly moments: Kingston’s loud machine gun chops to Jabari in the corner. Kingston shrugging off O’Reilly’s chops into Kingston’s stiff chop flooring O’Reilly in return. Match itself was a fine extended squash style bout. Post-match Kingston’s random Stretch Plum attack to O’Reilly was a bit funny. Cassidy & Best Friends vs. Durst, Mainz, & Jessie V 6-Man Tag was a decent mostly squash style brief bout despite being a bit sloppy at one point. Daivari vs. Cutler moments: Sonny Kiss’ ref distracted roundhouse kick to Cutler. Daivari’s ropes assisted block, superkick, & Two Sweet hand-sign taunt with Kiss counter of Cutler’s waistlock hold. Cutler’s comedic dancing elbow drops fest to Daivari. Cutler’s cold spray counter of Kiss’ leg grab on the top rope into Daivari’s ref distracted cold spray can whack to Cutler into Daivari’s ripcord lariat finisher. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth bout with some nice comedic moments despite the ending shenanigans. Post-match promo by Daivari badmouthing HOOK for turning down his offer to buy the FTW title & HOOK’s interruption walk to the ring and disappointed walk back after Daivari took the cowards way out of a brawl was all right. Nightingale vs. Sparx was a solid back-and-forth hard hitting bout. Marshall vs. Martin moments: Marshall’s mid-match promo bashing the crowd for taunting him with “QT Sucks” and threatening to leave & the crowd going harder with the “QT Sucks” chants. Martin’s springboard rana to Marshall into Marshall’s flapjack onto the ropes counter of Martin’s running attack. Martin’s block & top rope headscissors slam counter of Marshall’s Avalanche Diamond Cutter sending Marshall to the outside into Martin’s springboard splash. Martin’s springboard fakeout of Martin’s Diamond Cutter into Martin’s springboard splash. Marshall’s bickering with the ref into Martin’s flip over stunner to Marshall into Marshall’s dodge counter of Martin’s Nosedive into Martin’s backslide finisher. Match itself was a quite good back-and-forth action bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

AEW Dynamite “Tuesday Night Special Edition” (Oct. 18)
* AEW World Trios Championship – Orange Cassidy & Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) vs. Death Triangle (Rey Fenix, Penta El Zero Miedo, & PAC) (c) – 3.5
* AEW Interim Women’s World Championship – Hikaru Shida vs. Toni Storm (c) – 3.0
* ROH World Championship – Dalton Castle vs. Chris Jericho (c) – 3.5
* AEW World Championship – Hangman Adam Page vs. Jon Moxley (c) – 4.0
Overall – 4.0
Best – MJF & William Regal promo segment and the AEW World Championship match minus Hangman Page’s injury calling off the match.
Worst – Hangman Page’s very scary looking head injury at the end of the AEW World title match.
Show Notes – AEW Trios title match opener moments: PAC’s superplex to Orange & Best Friends’ superplex to PAC setup into Lucha Bros Tower of Doom powerbomb. Trent’s spiked Tornado DDT to Fenix. Lucha Bros superkicks to Trent & hold counter of Orange’s double rana into PAC’s running dropkick to Orange. Best Friends’ Sole Food & Half & Half suplex combo to PAC. Trent’s block & Best Friends’ Strong Zero counter of Penta’s Destroyer. Fenix’s rebound roundhouse kick, knee strike, & sitout piledriver finisher to Trent. Match itself was a very good action packed bout. Moxley’s promo video about his return to Cincy & Moxley vs. Page AEW World title match hype video was splendid. Britt Baker & Pals backstage interview about them promising one of them being the Women’s Champ by the end of this year was decent. AEW Interim Women’s title match was a quite good back-and-forth hard hitting bout. Post-match brawl with Baker & Pals, Saraya, & a surprise return Riho was cool. FTR’s backstage interview about their tag titles collection and AEW Tag titles being next, Swerve in Our Glory’s interruption about them being more deserving of the AEW Tag titles shot, & match setup was all right. William Regal & MJF’s lengthy promo segment about MJF’s heated issues over Regal breaking his word on getting him a WWE job after doing all the hard work requested & Regal’s email dashing his WWE dreams and suicide thoughts afterwards. MJF bashing Regal for becoming the generational talent that Regal did not think he would become, dig at WWE now being all open arms at signing him, & AEW title goal plans. Regal’s retort about wanting to light a fire under MJF to push him harder into becoming a bigger star & being let down over MJF taking short cuts in his career. Regal’s talk about becoming the devil, open hit offer, & being disappointed over MJF’s lack of action was fantastic overall. Danielson & Yuta sit-down backstage interview about their issues with Garcia’s actions last week, & Yuta bashing Danielson for being a fool was splendid. ROH title match moments: Castle’s dodge counter of Hager’s running attack on the outside into The Boys & Hager’s brawl at ringside into Jericho & Castle’s running crossbodies into each other. Castle & Jericho’s slugfest exchange into Jericho’s shove into Castle’s catch & German suplex counter of Jericho’s Lionsault. Castle’s catch & Bang-A-Rang counter of Jericho’s Codebreaker. Castle’s forearms fest to Jericho into Jericho’s dodge & brutal looking Judas Effect finisher. Match itself was a very entertaining action filled bout. Post-match promo by Jericho about his on-going quest to destroy the legacy of ROH, Jerry Lynn’s run-in save of JAS’ attack on Riccaboni, & Jericho’s piledriver to Lynn onto the ROH belt was pretty cool. Christian Cage’s promo video mocking Jungle Boy & plans to go after all of AEW’s titles with Luchasaurus was all right. The Baddies backstage segment about Cargill’s threat to Tony Khan to have Nyla Rose give back her TBS title or she will hijack this week’s Rampage show was interesting. AEW title match moments: Page & Moxley’s brawl in the crowd during Moxley’s entrance. Page’s snap suplex onto the concrete floor & balcony moonsault to Moxley. Page’s Fallaway Slam to Moxley into Page’s kip up into Moxley’s pop up cutter. Page’s Deadeye counter of Moxley’s piledriver on the apron. Page’s Avalanche Fallaway Slam to Moxley. Page’s leap over & swift discus lariat counter of Moxley’s German suplex. Moxley’s brutal looking King King Lariat spinning Page onto the mat. Match itself was going on greatly until Page’s real head injury incident. Moxley’s post-match promo about his prayers for Page’s recovery and insults filled calling out MJF, MJF’s heated retort wanting no excuses when he beats Moxley for the title at Full Gear 2022, & Moxley’s insults-filled beatings retort to MJF was splendid.
Final Thoughts – This week’s special Tuesday show was great overall despite Hangman Page’s scary looking head injury incident.

AEW Rampage (Oct. 21)
* Titles vs. Trademark, AEW World Tag Team Championship match – Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese & Josh Woods) vs. The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) – 3.0
* FTW Championship – Ari Daivari vs. HOOK (c) – 2.5
* Leila Grey vs. Willow Nightingale – 2.5
* AEW All-Atlantic Championship – RUSH vs. 10 vs. Orange Cassidy (c) – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – AEW All-Atlantic Championship match and the pre-match comedic antics with Orange Cassidy & Mark Henry.
Worst – Leila Grey vs. Willow Nightingale match falling apart a bit near the end.
Show Notes – AEW Tag titles match opener: Caster’s pre-match rap about AEW’s ratings win over NXT this week, Kayne West dig, and nut stomp threat to Sterling, Mark Sterling’s interruption of Bowens’ “scissor me” line and wanting Nese and Woods to “scissor” him, & Acclaimed’s beatdown retort was a bit funny. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Sterling’s post-match about his “scissor me” trademark ownership & Billy Gunn’s ambush toss into the ring and Acclaimed’s nut stomps to Sterling was a bit funny. Jade Cargill’s backstage sitdown interview about Cargill’s deal allowing Grey to replace an injured Ford for Nightingale’s match in return to getting her TBS belt back tonight was okay. Eddie Kingston, Ortiz, & Lucha Bros backstage segment about them being concerned over Kingston’s recent temper issues and antics & PAC’s insults dig at Kingston was interesting. FTW title match moments: Daivari’s pre-match promo about him trying to buy off the FTW title one last time & HOOK smacking the money away response. Match itself was solid. HOOK’s post-match Redrum to Jeeves was all right. Ethan Page, Stokely Hathaway, & Matt Hardy backstage interview about Page and Stokely sending Private Party away for training and booking Hardy for an AEW Dark match since he’s not worthy of real tv time, Hardy’s rap response, & Page and Stokely’s bewildered walk away look was decent but also a bit funny. Grey vs. Nightingale was a solid back-and-forth bout despite falling apart a bit near the end. Post-match Tony Schiavone revealing Nightingale getting the “#AllElite” signing treatment was nice. Cargill & The Baddies hijacking the show demanding Rose give back the TBS belt, Rose and Pals video interruption about Rose not giving back the belt and them driving off in Cargill’s car, & Cargill beating up security trying to make her leave was all right. RUSH, 10, & Cassidy’s bar room segment about RUSH demanding 10 show some fire in their upcoming match, Orange’s interruption offering a beer to both guys, 10’s response about his mask not having a mouth, RUSH wanting the title instead, & Orange’s retort was all right. Cassidy, 10, & RUSH’s pre-match split-screen backstage interview with Orange popping up in Mark Henry’s screen and trying to take over Henry’s routine and catchphrases & Henry’s disappointed reactions was funny. All-Atlantic title match moments: 10 & RUSH’s catch & chokeslam onto the timekeeper’s table counter of Orange’s splash to the outside. 10’s catch & Full Nelson counter of Orange’s Orange Punch into Orange’s hands in the pocket counter. Orange’s Stundog Millionaire to 10 & spiked DDT to RUSH. Jose breaking up Orange’s pin attempt to 10 into Danhausen’s curse & swift nut punch to Jose. RUSH’s brutal looking overhead suplex to Orange in the corner. 10’s block, wheelbarrow suplex, & discus lariat counter of Orange’s cazadora. RUSH’s mask pull & foot stomps to 10 in the corner into Orange’s Orange Punch to RUSH into 10’s block counter of Orange’s Beach Break into Orange’s roll-up finisher. Match itself was a good action filled bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall.

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NJPW, Impact, & Other Wrestling

NJPW Royal Quest II (original date – 0ct. 1, upload date – Oct. 16)
* Dan Moloney vs. Gabriel Kidd – 3.5
* Michael Oku & Ricky Knight Jr. vs. United Empire (Gideon Grey & Great-O-Khan) – 3.0
* Alex Windsor & Ava White defeated Kanji & Jazzy Gabert – 3.0
* DOUKI, El Desperado, & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito – 3.5
* Zack Knight & Bad Dude Tito vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada – 3.0
* Jado, Hikuleo, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Tama Tonga vs. Bullet Club (Gedo, Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson), & Jay White) – 3.0
* Shota Umino vs. Will Ospreay – 4.0
* IWGP Tag Team Championship – Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) – 5.0
Overall – 4.0
Best – IWGP Tag Team Championship match.
Worst – The anti-climatic ending to the Shota Umino vs. Will Ospreay match.
Show Notes – Moloney vs. Kidd opener moments: Kidd & Moloney’s stiff slaps exchange into Moloney’s dropkick into Kidd’s Exploder Suplex. Moloney’s block & double foot stomp counter of Kidd’s sunset roll-up into Moloney’s spear. Kidd’s blocks counter of Moloney’s piledriver into Moloney’s short piledriver. Kidd & Moloney’s chops & counters exchange into Kidd’s lariat, brainbuster, & spiked piledriver finisher. Match itself was a very good back-and-forth hard hitting bout. Oku & Knight Jr. vs. United Empire Tag was a good back-and-forth action bout. Windsor & White vs. Kanji & Gabert was a pretty good bout. Suzuki-Gun vs. LIJ 6-Man Tag moments: ZSJ’s block & cravat counter of Hiromu’s suplex into Hiromu’s escape & Falcon Arrow counter. ZSJ’s Indian Deathlock to SANADA into ZSJ’s Deathlock to SANADA & Cobra Twist to Naito combo. DOUKI’s Daybreak & Italian Stretch 32 combo to Naito. Naito’s brutal looking spiked Valencia & Destino finisher to DOUKI. Match itself was a very good action filled bout. Knight & Tito vs. Ishii & Okada moments: Ishii & Knight’s lengthy forearms fest exchange into Knight’s running forearm into Ishii’s shoulder tackle flooring Knight. Tito & Ishii’s chops & forearms in the corner exchange into Tito’s clothesline flooring Ishii. Tito’s blocks, kick, strikes, & Blue Thunder Bomb counter of Okada’s neckbreaker. Knight’s Buckle Bomb & Rear Naked Choke combo to Ishii. Okada’s dropkick & Ishii’s sliding lariat and brainbuster finisher combo to Knight. Match itself was a good back-and-forth hard hitting bout. Post-match surprise appearance by Yota Tsuji & staredown with Ishii was cool. Jado, Hikuleo, Tanahashi, & Tonga vs. Bullet Club 8-Man Tag was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Umino vs. Ospreay moments: Ospreay’s flapjack onto the ropes & swift big boot flooring Umino. Ospreay & Umino’s moves exchange into Umino’s knees counter of Ospreay’s Phoenix Splash into Ospreay’s Liger Bomb counter of Umino’s running attack. Umino’s cutter counter of Ospreay’s Oscutter. Umino’s dodge counter of Ospreay’s hook kick into Ospreay’s standing Spanish Fly counter of Umino’s running attack. Umino & Ospreay’s forearms exchange into Umino shrugging off Ospreay’s Kawada kicks & chops into Unimo’s catch, knee strikes, & swift forearms fest. Ospreay’s flip over escape & Oscutter counter of Umino’s reverse suplex. Umino’s strikes & Fisherman suplex to Ospreay. Umino’s running spinning neckbreaker to Ospreay. Ospreay’s block, pop-up punch, & spiked Liger Bomb counter of Umino’s Death Rider into Ospreay’s brief forearms strikes to the back of the head finisher. Match itself was a great hard fought action packed bout despite the abrupt anti-climatic ending. IWGP Tag title match moments: Davis’ chest welting stiff chops to Harwood in the corner into Harwood & Davis’ bloody chests stiff chops exchange. Harwood’s chops, snap suplex, & leg drop to Fletcher. Davis’ standing sentons fest to Wheeler. Fletcher & Harwood’s slugfest into Davis’ legs yank to Harwood off the apron. Wheeler’s front toss into the ropes & super backdrop to Fletcher. Davis’ legs yank to Harwood off the apron denying Wheeler’s tag into Fletcher’s running kick in the corner & brainbuster to Wheeler. Wheeler’s stiff uppercut flooring Davis. Davis shrugging off Harwood’s ripcord lariats into Davis’ block & big boot counter into Harwood’s swift lariat flooring Davis. Davis’ toss & Fletcher’s top rope Codebreaker combo to Harwood. Wheeler’s tosses to the outside & suicide dive to AO. Fletcher’s shove to Wheeler into the ringside apron & Harwood’s head smash to Davis into the post. Davis’ catapult to Harwood into the ringside light truss. Davis’ Airplane Spin toss to Harwood. Davis’ superplex to Harwood into Harwood’s knees counter of Fletcher’s Frog Splash & Davis’ knees counter of Wheeler’s springboard splash. FTR’s double team spiked piledriver to Davis. Fletcher’s ref distracted title belt whack to Wheeler. Harwood & Davis’ slugfest exchange into FTR’s double Sharpshooters to AO into Fletcher slapping Davis to piss him off enough to not tap out. Fletcher’s spear to Wheeler counter of FTR’s Big Rig setup to Davis into AO’s Big Rig to Harwood. AO & FTR’s slugfest exchange into FTR’s boots into AO’s lariats flooring FTR. FTR’s Big Rig finisher to Davis. Match itself was a fantastic physical action packed battle.
Final Thoughts – Royal Quest II Night 1 was a great show overall.

Impact Wrestling Impact! (Oct. 20)
* Bully Ray & Tommy Dreamer vs. Bullet Club (Juice Robinson & Chris Bey) – 3.0
* Mia Yim vs. Taylor Wilde – 3.0
* Jason Hotch vs. Joe Hendry – 2.0 (Squash)
* Eric Young vs. Rich Swann – 2.5
* Impact World Tag Team Championship – Heath & Rhino vs. The Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) (c) – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – PCO’s snapping & brutal destruction of Honor No More.
Worst – The flat finish & ending shenanigans to the Eric Young vs. Rich Swann match.
Show Notes – Opening Bey & Robinson backstage segment about Ace Austin being missing, Bey finding a knocked out Austin in the parking lot, & them claiming Bully did it and Dreamer shrugging off their concerns was decent. Ray & Dreamer vs. Bullet Club tag moments: Dreamer’s catch & cutter counter of Bey’s Art of Finesse. Bully’s dodge & Bully Bomb finisher counter of Juice’s top rope Flying Nothing. Match itself was pretty good. Post-match Bully’s talk with Bey over him claiming he didn’t attack Austin was interesting. Heath & Rhino’s backstage promo about their upcoming Impact Tag titles match & Rhino wanting revenge over the Kingdom for putting him out of action for months was all right. Ray & Dreamer’s backstage argument over Dreamer being doubtful Ray didn’t attack Austin, Ray’s retort claiming he’s telling the truth, & Moose’s interruption about him and Bully both being scumbags and teasing at being a liar like Bully if he was the one to attack Austin was all right. Yim vs. Wilde was a good hard fought action bout. Post-match promo by Mickie James praising Wilde’s return to Impact and Last Rodeo match challenge request, VXT & Gisele Shaw’s ambush attack, & Jordynne Grace run-in save brawl was decent but ouch at Shaw after getting ragdolled by Grace. Hotch, Hendry, & mystery green haired woman taped backstage segment about Hotch’s issues with Hendry stealing his Call Your Shot spot, Hendry’s random appearance after his name got invoked, & comedic antics was a bit funny. Hotch vs. Hendry was a decent mostly squash bout. Scott D’Amore’s promo praising Kazarian over his X-Division title win & him invoking Option C. Kazarian not hesitating to vacate his title for an Impact title shot, praise of Mike Bailey and his family, and Impact title being the last major goal of his Impact career, Steve Maclin’s ambush attack, & run-in save by Alexander was superb overall. Honor No More & Alisha’s backstage segment about Eddie Edwards teasing a major announcement over his decision of family or HNM was interesting. Young vs. Swann was a solid bout despite the flat ending & ringside ending shenanigans by Deaner. Post-match ambush attack by a hooded VBD guy, VBD, & Sami Callihan was all right. Major Players backstage segment about Cardona boasting about his Impact return & their Impact Tag titles gold plans was decent. Impact Tag titles match moments: Maria’s grab counter of Rhino’s Gore to Bennett into Bennett’s grab of Rhino into Rhino’s dodge counter of Maria’s powder trow into Bennett’s face. Bennett’s dodge counter of Rhino’s Gore to Maria & Heath’s Wake Up Call finisher to Taven. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Post-match Edwards’ promo about his major announcement, the crowd’s goodbye song taunt to HNM, Edwards’ being upset over HNM’s recent failures & asking everyone if they are still loyal to HNM, Edwards’ bashing PCO, & PCO snapping & destroying HNM was splendid. PCO’s brutal rampage on HNM was awesome.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

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Weekly Awards:

• Best match of the week – IWGP Tag Team Championship – Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) (NJPW Royal Quest II Night 1)
• Best match of the week runner-up – NXT North American Championship Ladder match – Nathan Frazer vs. Oro Mensah vs. Wes Lee vs. Von Wagner vs. Carmelo Hayes (WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2022)
• Worst match of the week – Pick Your Poison match – Raquel Rodriguez vs. Cora Jade (WWE NXT)
• Worst match of the week runner-up – Alba Fyre vs. Sonya Deville (WWE NXT)
• Best show of the week – NJPW Royal Quest II Night 1
• Worst show of the week – WWE RAW