Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for October 23 to October 29, 2022

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of October 23rd to October 29th, 2022.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):

WWE

WWE RAW (Oct. 24)
* Finn Balor vs. Karl Anderson – 3.0
* The Miz vs. R-Truth – 1.5
* Austin Theory vs. Mustafa Ali – 2.5
* 4-on-1 Handicap match – Omos vs. Team Job Squad – 2.0 (Squash)
* Chad Gable vs. Elias – 3.0
* Baron Corbin vs. Johnny Gargano – 2.0
* Bayley vs. Bianca Belair – 3.0
Overall – 2.0
Best – Finn Balor vs. Karl Anderson match and the Miz, Johnny Gargano, & R-Truth segment.
Worst – The show in general dragging & being dull a lot at times.
Show Notes – Opening Judgement Day’s promo bragging about Dom’s win over Styles last week & Dom claiming he’s this gen’s Eddie Guerrero. The OC’s interruption bashing Dom, dig at him being this gen’s Ellsworth instead, and threat to Judgement Day, Balor’s interruption claiming he built The Club and everyone who’s ever been in it is just living off of his legacy, & Anderson’s match setup retort was all right overall. Balor vs. Anderson was a mostly good back-and-forth action bout despite dragging long & ending shenanigans by Judgement Day. Gargano & Miz’s bickering backstage segment about Miz’s big hidden secret as the source of his feud with Dexter Lumis & Miz’s upset response claiming he will reveal the secret was decent. Miz’s promo segment bashing Dale Earnhardt Jr., his issues with Lumis’ stalking him, kidnapping Ciampa, and costing him a US title win, & big secret reveal being Lumis being jealous over him taking Ciampa under his wings. Gargano’s interruption bashing Miz for being a liar and threatening to blow the whistle if he doesn’t tell the truth. R-Truth’s random appearance after Miz kept saying “truth” repeatedly & banter was goofy but also a bit funny overall. Miz vs. R-Truth was a mostly nothing match topped with the ringside ending shenanigans by Gargano. Candice LeRae backstage interview about her WWE return & Bianca Belair shout out, Damage CTRL’s interruption badmouthing Belair & WWE Women’s division, LeRae’s insults retort, & brawl was decent. Elias & Riddle’s backstage segment about Elias not being fond of being interrupted during his concerts like Riddle did last week, Riddle’s bongs practice, Alpha Academy’s insults interruption, banter, & match setup was all right. Theory vs. Ali was a solid bout despite dragging at times & ending shenanigans by Rollins. Post-match Rollins & Ali brawl was all right. Miz & Gargano’s backstage segment about LeRae being attacked earlier, JBL’s interruption bashing Gargano, & Gargano’s insults retort to JBL & Corbin was a bit corny. Omos vs. jobbers team moments: MVP’s pre-match digs at Strowman & praising the jobbers for their courage but asking if they have health insurance was all right. Match itself was a somewhat decent jobbers destruction bout. Gable vs. Elias was a pretty good back-and-forth bout despite the flat ending. Post-match brawl with Otis & Riddle was all right. The OC backstage medical office segments about Ripley beating them all up earlier & Gallows’s big plan to solve the “Rhea problem” backfiring was goofy overall. Corbin vs. Gargano moments: JBL’s pre-match promo bashing Charlotte folk, sports, and Gargano, safe space rant, & boasting about the new wrestling god Corbin was decent. Match itself was a mostly solid back-and-forth bout despite dragging too long & ending shenanigans by JBL. Lesnar vs. Lashley match hype video package was splendid. Bayley vs. Belair moments: Bianca’s escape & Bayley-to-Belly counter of Bayley’s KOD. Belair’s catch & powerbombs to Bayley on the announcer’s table, post, & apron. Damage CTRL’s ref distracted attacks to Belair. Nikki Cross’ ambush attack taking out the ref, Damage CRTL, & Belair. Match itself was a mostly good bout despite dragging long & ending shenanigans by Cross. Post-match attack by Cross to Bayley was interesting.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was somewhat average at best overall & also very dull at times.

WWE NXT (Oct. 25)
* NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship – Nikkita Lyons & Zoey Stark vs. Kayden Carter & Katana Chance (c) – 3.0
* Shotzi vs. Lash Legend – 1.5
* 5 Minute Time Limit match – Brutus Creed vs. Damon Kemp – N/A
* NXT Tag Team Championship – Malik Blade & Edris Enofe vs. Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) (c) – 3.0
* Indi Hartwell vs. Sol Ruca – 2.0 (Squash)
* Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Grayson Waller, Wes Lee, & R-Truth in-ring segment and the Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh match.
Worst – Shotzi vs. Lash Legend match being rough at times.
Show Notes – NXT Women’s Tag titles match opener moments: Carter’s hanging Octopus hold to Lyons into Lyons’ catatonic counter. Stark’s toss onto the turnbuckle & Half & Half suplex to Chance. Stark’s Dusty Finish fakeout title win moment. Chance’s Avalanche Spanish Fly to Stark. Carter’s neckbreaker & Chance’s 450 Splash combo finisher to Lyons. Match itself was a good back-and-forth bout despite the unneeded Dusty finish shenanigans. Dragunov’s angry promo video about his issues with McDonagh & wanting to get rid of McDonagh once and for all to make NXT safe was superb. Wes Lee’s passionate promo about his N.A. title win and thanking the fans for their support on his journey to NXT gold. Grayson Waller’s interruption mocking Lee and bashing Halloween and banter between the two. R-Truth’s surprise interruption about being the host of Halloween Havoc forgetting it already happened, comedic banter, match setup, & brawl was splendid & funny overall, more so due to Truth. Apollo Crews’ backstage interview about his feud with Waller being over & NXT title gold goal was all right. Shotzi vs. Legend was a somewhat rough bout topped with a rough looking finish. Creed vs. Kemp non-match moments: Creed Bros pre-match promo about Julius’ win over Kemp at Halloween Havoc & Brutus being thankful for his bro saving his NXT job and it being his turn to beat up Kemp. Kemp’s interruption saying the match is off due to injury reasons, Brutus’ insults retort, & Sanga and Veer Mahan’s ambush attack was all right overall. Toxic Attraction zoom call segment about their day off break, Halloween Havoc, Mandy Rose’s win over Alba Fyre and 1-year NXT Women’s title reign celebration announcement was nothing special. NXT Tag titles match moments: Blade’s dropkick and Blockbuster & Enofe’s elbow drop to Wilson at the start of their match. Wilson’s whip and leap frog & Prince’s DDT combo to Enofe. Blade’s sunset splash to Pretty Deadly over the turnbuckle onto the outside. PD’s double team gutbuster to Blade. Wilson & Blade’s slugfest exchange into Blade & Enfoe’s double team cutter & DDT. Match itself was a quite good back-and-forth action bout despite falling apart near the end. McDonagh’s promo video about his issues with Dragunov & promising to dish out serious pain to him tonight was all right. Schism’s unmasking ceremony about Gacy & Dyad’s rambling ranting about stuff was whatever but Rock’s daughter being revealed as the newest member of the group was interesting. Mystery person named Scrypts threatening phone call debut vignette was a bit corny. Hartwell vs. Ruca was a decent mostly squash brief bout. Post-match ambush attack by Elektra Lopez to Ruca & Hartwell was decent. Chase U class segment about Bodhi’s mystery absence, Duke Hudson sucking up to Chase, & Chase’s November wrestling history lesson was all right. Blade & Enofe’s parking lot segment mopping about their tag title loss & Odyssey Jones’ party van interruption was all right but Jones’ surprise return was cool. Dragunov vs. McDonagh was a good back-and-forth hard hitting bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Oct. 28)
* Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland & Butch) vs. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa & Sami Zayn) – 3.0
* Maximum Male Models (Mace & Mansoor) vs. New Day (Xaiver Woods & Kofi Kingston) – 2.0
* SmackDown Women’s Championship Open Challenge match – Emma vs. Ronda Rousey (c) – 1.5
* Legado Del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, & Cruz Del Toro) vs. Hit Row (Ashante “Thee” Adonis & Top Dolla) & Shinsuke Nakamura – 2.5
* Karrion Kross vs. Madcap Moss – 2.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – Bloodline in-ring promo segment with Sami Zayn managing to get the rest of the group to crack up over his “Ucey” line.
Worst – Ronda Rousey’s awful pre-match promo and the sluggish SmackDown Women’s Championship match.
Show Notes – Brawling Brutes vs. Bloodline Tag match opener moments: Zayn’s pre-match backstage speech to Jey Uso about wanting them to be all united & help out his upcoming match. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout despite the anti-climatic ending. Post-match Zayn and Jey bickering, Sikoa and Jimmy being pissed at Jey, and Reigns’ walk out interruption. Reigns’ promo being upset at Jey and Zayn and wanting their lingering problem fixed now, Zayn’s response about not knowing what he did to offend Jey and apologized for whatever it was. Jey’s retort denying Zayn’s handshake of peace and trashing Zayn for being in the group and not being Uce blood, banter, Jey retort not caring what the Tribal Chief says, Reigns upset reaction, Zayn’s peacekeeper speech and them all cracking up over Zayn’s “Ucey” line, Reigns’ threat to Jey & promote Zayn into full Uce status, & Heyman’s ad read to end the segment was superb & funny overall. Maximum Male Models vs. New Day was a mostly solid solid back-and-forth bout. Sonya Deville’s backstage interview bashing Liv Morgan, Morgan’s ambush attack, & brawl was decent. Strowman’s backstage promo about Omos being bigger than him but not stronger and their upcoming match was decent. SD Women’s title match moments: Rousey’s pre-match rambling promo was awful. Emma’s surprise return & answering the challenge was pretty cool. Match itself was a somewhat sluggish bout topped with shenanigans ending. Jey Uso & Paul Heyman backstage segment about Heyman denying Jey access into Reigns’ locker room & saying he will settle his issues personally with Reigns was all right. Baszler & Rousey backstage segment about Baszler congratulating Rousey over her win earlier, Natalya’s interruption, & Baszler’s ambush attack to Natalya was decent. Legado vs. Hit Row & Nakamura 6-Man Tag moments: Escobar & Nakamura’s slugfest exchange into Nakamura’s kicks into Escobar’s catch counter into Nakamura’s enziguri. Nakamura’s whip to Escobar in the corner into Escobar’s boot counter of Nakamura’s running attack into Nakamura’s catch, legs swing, & sliding German suplex. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth bout. Heyman & Reigns’ lounge room segment about Heyman’s footage of Logan Paul’s boxing skills, Reigns not concerned over Paul’s punches, Heyman’s rambling nonsense over his doctors story & Paul having steel in his hands, & banter was all right. Kross vs. Moss was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the ending shenanigans by Scarlett & flat finish. Post-match promo by Kross bashing McIntyre while having Moss in a sleeper hold and promising to end McIntyre in their upcoming steel cage match was decent. Bray Wyatt’s promo about still feeling high over the adrenaline of his return, “smoke & mirrors” Cody reference, not being afraid to do horrible things, & video interruption by creepy Uncle Howdy about Wyatt being a liar and not being able to hide from him was decent but also a bit goofy.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall despite dragging a bit at times.

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AEW

AEW Dark Elevation (Oct. 24)
* 10 vs. Baron Black – 2.0 (Squash)
* Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Russ Myers & T-Money – 2.5
* Serena Deeb vs. Haley J – 2.0 (Squash)
* The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) vs. The Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison) – 3.0
* Emi Sakura & Mei Suruga vs. Nikki Victory & Jaylee – 2.5 (Squash)
* Matt Hardy vs. Lord Crewe – 2.0 (Squash)
* QT Marshall vs. Claudio Castagnoli – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – QT Marshall vs. Claudio Castagnoli match.
Worst – The Hardy vs. Crewe post-match Ethan Page, Stokely Hathaway, & Matt Hardy promo segment.
Show Notes – 10 vs. Black opener was a decent mostly squash style brief bout. Kingston & Ortiz vs. Myers & T-Money was a solid brief bout. Post-match Kingston’s beatdown to Myers was a bit funny. Deeb vs. Haley J moments: Deeb’s ropes hold grab & Dragon Screw counter of Haley J’s whip & dropkick. Match itself was a decent mostly squash bout. WorkHorsemen vs. Blonds moments: Drake’s stiff chop & Henry’s running dropkick outta nowhere combo to Pillman Jr. on the guard rail. Garrison’s rope swing, catch, & powerslam counter of Henry’s hair grab on the apron. Pillman Jr’s O’Connor Roll to Henry & suplex to Drake at the same time. Drake’s swift kick flooring Garrison into WorkHorsemen’s double team toss & Liger Bomb to Pillman Jr. Pillman Jr’s dodge counter of Drake’s moonsault into Garrison’s discus elbow, Pillman Jr’s dropkick, & Blonds’ Hart Attack finisher combo. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Sakura & Suruga vs. Victory & Jaylee moments: Suruga’s Indian Deathlock hair slaps taunt to Jaylee. Sakura’s Whirling Dervish counter of Victory’s suplex. Sakura & Suruga’s Transformer splash to Victory & Jayleee into Sakura’s moonsault finisher to Victory. Match itself was a fine mostly squash bout. Hardy vs. Crewe moments: Hardy’s “Hardy Facts” style Firm Facts addition to his entrance was pretty cool. Ethan Page’s pre-match promo banning Hardy from using the Twist of Fate. Match itself was a decent squash bout. Post-match promo by Stokely putting an end to Hardy’s victory music and being upset Hardy used a banned move that now belongs to Page & Page fining him $50,000 for using it and another $50k for touching him and a 1 week suspension was lame. Marshall vs. Castagnoli moments: Claudio’s deadlift overhead backbreaker to Marshall. Marshall’s suplex, mocking Claudio’s machine gun arm taunt, & leg drop combo to Claudio. Claudio’s deadlift suplex counter of Marshall’s suplex. Claudio shrugging off Marshall’s punches into Claudio’s Euro uppercuts & running uppercuts fest in the corner. Marshall’s escape counter of Claudio’s big swing. Marshall’s backdrop counter of Claudio’s Neutralizer into Claudio landing on his feet counter into Marshall’s dodge & handspring side kick counter of Claudio’s lariat. Claudio’s escape & double stomp counter of Marshall’s piledriver into Claudio’s big swing. Claudio’s pop-up uppercut, overhead elbow strikes, & Ricola Bomb finisher combo to Marshall. Match itself was a good back-and-forth action bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall.

AEW Dark (Oct. 25)
* Lance Archer vs. Iseah Brown – 2.5 (Squash)
* Zack Clayton vs. Shane Saber – 2.0 (Squash)
* Athena vs. Alexia Nicole – 2.5
* Danhausen vs. James Storm – 2.5
* Aaron Solo vs. Serpentico – 2.5
* Riho vs. Jungle Kyona – 3.0
* The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) vs. Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo) – 3.0
* Emi Sakura & Serena Deeb vs. KC Spinelli & Taylor Rising – 2.5 (Squash)
* Nick Comoroto vs. Ricky Starks – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Riho vs. Jungle Kyona match.
Worst – The somewhat sloppy ending sequence to the Danhausen vs. James Storm match.
Show Notes – Archer vs. Brown opener moments: Brown’s ambush attack to Archer at the start of their match into Archer’s dodge & pounce counter of Brown’s springboard attack. Archer’s brutal looking spiked chokeslam to Brown. Brown’s escape & chop block counter of Archer’s chokeslam into Brown’s kicks counter of Archer’s running attacks in the corner into Brown’s swift punch to Brown off the top rope. Match itself was a fine hard hitting mostly squash style bout. Clayton vs. Saber was a decent mostly squash style bout. Athena vs. Nicole was a solid back-and-forth bout & Athena playing more of a heelish role against a hometown favorite for the 2nd week in a row was interesting. Danhausen vs. Storm was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the ending sequence being a bit sloppy. Solo vs. Serpentico moments: Serpentico’s spear to Solo on the outside via Luther’s throw assist. Solo’s chuck off the top rope counter of Serpentico’s top rope attack into QT Marshall’s ref distracted stomp to Serpentico. Luther’s ref distracted snap suplex to Solo. Marshall’s swift punch flooring Luther on the outside into Solo’s corkscrew kick finisher to Serpentico via distraction assist. Match itself was solid despite the ending shenanigans. Riho vs. Kyona moments: Kyona’s catch & Fallaway Slam counter of Riho’s running crossbody. Kyona’s modified curb stomp & running low dropkick combo to Riho. Kyona’s block counter of Riho’s Northern Lights suplex into Riho’s running forearm & Northern Lights suplex counter of Kyona’s running attack. Kyona’s leap up punch to Riho on the top rope into Riho’s punches, leg sweep, & double foot stomp combo to Kyona. Kyona’s lift & suplex counter of Riho’s hanging Guillotine choke. Riho’s escape & leaping knee strike counter of Kyona’s Muscle Buster into Riho’s diving foot stomp. Rhino’s running double knee strike finisher to Kyona. Match itself was a quite good back-and-forth action bout. WorkHorsemen vs. Lucha Bros moments: Drake’s toss onto the ropes, Drake’s reverse Flapjack, & Drake’s leg lariat combo to Fenix into Drake’s suicide dive to Penta on the outside. Penta’s slingblades to WorkHorsemen into Penta’s half suplex hold, Fenix’s superkick, & Penta’s Made In Japan combo to Henry. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Sakura & Deeb vs. Spinelli & Rising was a decent extended squash bout. Comoroto vs. Starks moments: Comoroto’s Fireman’s Carry catch counter of Starks’ leaping attack into Starks’ escape & palm strikes counter of Comoroto’s press slam. Starks’ pose taunt into Comoroto’s swift uppercut in response. Ouch at Starks’ face after Comoroto’s low whip into the bottom turnbuckle. Starks’ swift lariat & spiked Tornado DDT combo to Comoroto. Comoroto’s catch & spike spinebuster counter of Starks’ running attack. Comoroto’s catch counter of Starks’ running attack into Starks’ Crucifix Bomb & spear counter. Starks’ pop-up kick & sitout powerbomb finisher to Comoroto. Match itself was a good back-and-forth bout despite the abrupt ending. Avalon vs. Cutler match hype video reuniting their Dark series feud was sweet.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

AEW Dynamite (Oct. 26)
* JAS (Daniel Garcia & Chris Jericho) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Wheeler Yuta & Claudio Castagnoli) – 3.0
* #1 Contender for AEW World Tag team Championship – Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) – 3.5
* Sammy Guevara vs. Bryan Danielson – 4.0
* Jamie Hayter vs. Riho – 3.0
* AEW World Championship match – Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Jon Moxley (c) – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – The interesting Elite’s “Thanos Snap” style vignette and the Sammy Guevara vs. Bryan Danielson match.
Worst – JAS backstage interview segment being plagued by poor audio quality issues throughout it.
Show Notes – JAS vs. BCC Tag match opener was a good back-and-forth action filled bout. Danielson’s backstage interview about his frustrations over Jericho and Garcia, upset at Yuta talking back to him last week, and upcoming match against Guevara, interruption by Yuta, angry banter, & Castagnoli playing peacekeeper was all right. The Elite’s “Thanos snap” style vignette & return tease was very interesting. JAS’ backstage interview about their issues with BCC was mostly a mess in terms of poor quality audio issues. Swerve In Our Glory vs. FTR moments: Lee’s leapfrog & running splatting crossbody counter of FTR’s running attack. Harwood’s high angle German suplex to Swerve into Harwood’s block & FTR’s moves fest counter of Swerve’s German suplex. Lee’s shoulders toss & Swerve’s Liger Bomb combo to Wheeler. Harwood & Swerve’s counters fest into Harwood’s slingshot powerbomb to Swerve into Lee’s pounce to Harwood. Harwood’s superplex & Wheeler’s splash combo to Lee was cool. Swerve’s ref distracted nut shot to Harwood into Lee’s Big Bang Catastrophe finisher. Match itself was a very good back-and-forth action filled bout. Post-match ambush attack by Gunns & run-in save by Acclaimed was all right. MJF’s promo mocking Moxley’s mannerisms, wanting to wrestle a relatively clean bout against Moxley for the AEW title, bashing Regal, and fighting to prove his naysayers wrong. Stokely’s interruption implying the Firm will beat up Moxley for him ahead of their match & MJF’s retort about not wanting the Firm to touch Moxley and firing threat was splendid. Guevara vs. Danielson moments: Danielson’s catch & Romero Special counter of Guevara’s dropkick. Guevara’s knee strike counter of Danielson’s Flying Nothing off the apron into Guevara’s Asai moonsault. Danielson’s back drop over the ropes counter of Guevara’s running attack crashing hard on the outside into Danielson’s suicide dive. Danielson’s block & Poison Rana counter of Guevara’s GTH. Match itself was a great hard fought action bout. Hayter vs. Riho moments: Hayter’s catch & brainbuster counter of Riho’s top rope splash. Riho’s escape & Dragon suplex counter of Hayter’s ripcord lariat. Hayter’s swift boot & ripcord lariat finisher to Riho. Match itself was good back-and-forth bout. Eddie Kingston’s backstage interview about him sarcastically saying he’s feeling great and not dealing with any temper issues & thoughts on Moxley vs. Penta was all right. Darby Allin’s promo video about Sting’s recent absence due to him wanting to do things on his own & issues with Jay Lethal was all right & same for Lethal & Pals response video. AEW World title match moments: Moxleys boot & overhead suplex into the corner counters of Penta’s running attacks. Moxley’s block & cutter counter of Penta’s Fear Factor into Moxley’s spiked piledriver. Moxley’s block & DDT counter of Penta’s Destroyer onto steel steps. Penta’s escape, swift kick, Tree of Woe double foot stomp, & Fear Factor combo counter of Moxley’s superplex. Moxley’s kick, Paradigm Shift, & Death Rider finisher counter of Penta’s springboard attack. Match itself was a very good hard fought action bout. Post-match ambush attack by The Firm to Moxley, MJF’s run-in save firing Stokely for their actions, & The Firm’s attack on MJF afterwards was interesting.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was very enjoyable overall.

AEW Rampage (Oct. 28)
* AEW World Championship Eliminator match – “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard vs. Jon Moxley – 3.0
* Keith Lee vs. Serpentico – 1.5 (Squash)
* Tay Melo vs. Madison Rayne – 2.0
* TNT Championship – Matt Taven vs. Wardlow (c) – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – The Keith Lee, Acclaimed, Swerve Strickland, & Billy Gunn segment.
Worst – Tay Melo vs. Madison Rayne match dragging at times.
Show Notes – Menard vs. Moxley opener moments: Parker’s ref distracted lariat to Moxley on the outside. Menard crotching Moxley on the ring post on the outside. Moxley’s cutter to Menard. Menard’s punches to Moxley into Moxley’s punches & stiff King Kong Lariat in return. Moxley’s superplex & ankle lock combo to Menard. Moxley’s escape & Regal Knee counter of Menard’s sunset roll-up. Moxley’s head stomps to Menard & cutter to Parker into Menard’s shove to Moxley into the turnbuckle post. Menard’s head stomps to Moxley into Moxley’s lift escape & rear naked sleeper finisher counter. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth action bout. Post-match promo by Stokely mocking Moxley, match setup with Lee Moriarty, and Moriarty “Tiger Style” hype video & Moriarty accepting was decent. Jade Cargill’s gym training video bashing Nyla Rose & promising to get back her TBS title was pretty good. Lee vs. Serpentico: Lee’s Spirit Bomb finisher splatting Serpentico. Match itself was a decent extra brief jobber destruction bout. Post-match interview about Lee’s win & Acclaimed’s interruption about their issues with Billy Gunn’s absence and claim that Swerve was responsible. Swerve’s dim lit room video interruption revealing he kidnapped Gunn and pliers attack on Gunn’s hands to ensure Gunn won’t be around for his tag titles rematch was splendid overall. JAS taped backstage segment about them being pissed over their loss to BCC this week, Jericho being offended that Claudio used a bat to cheat, & revenge threat to BCC & Rayne was decent. Melo vs. Rayne moments: Melo’s top rope backbreaker drop to Rayne onto the turnbuckle. Rayne’s strikes & rough looking top rope cutter to Melo. Melo’s slam counter of Rayne’s cazadora. Rayne’s backdrop counter of Melo’s Gotch Style Piledriver. Melo’s swift knee strike & TayKO finisher to Rayne. Match itself was somewhat solid despite dragging at times. Ethan Page’s backstage interview about The Firm’s attack on MJF was due to MJF changing the plans of the group, claiming it was the Firm who was responsible for all of MJF’s recent success, attack on MJF as a favor to Moxley, & AEW title gold goal was all right. TNT title match moments: Taven & Wardlow’s pre-match split-screen backstage interview about Taven boasting tonight being the start of the “Time of Taven” & Wardlow’s retort about a powerbomb fest in store for him was all right. Taven’s dropkick flooring Wardlow into Wardlow’s headbutt flooring Taven in return. Wardlow’s whip to Taven sending him crashing over the corner ropes onto the outside. Taven’s running splash to Wardlow on the outside via Maria & Mike Bennett distraction assist. Taven’s Frog Splash to Wardlow’s knee. Wardlow’s dodge & F-10 counter of Taven’s Frog Splash. Taven’s enziguri counter of Wardlow’s pendulum lariat. Wardlow’s bridge escape counter of Taven’s pin attempt into Wardlow’ Powerbomb Symphony finisher. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Post-match brawl with Bennett, Samoa Joe, The Embassy, & Powerhouse Hobbs was all right.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly average overall & one of the weaker Rampage shows this year.

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NJPW, Impact, & Other Wrestling

Impact Wrestling Impact! (Oct. 27)
* Impact X-Division Championship Tournament First Round match – Trey Miguel vs. Alan Angels – 3.5
* Tasha Steelz vs. Rachelle Scheel – 1.5 (Squash)
* Chris Bey vs. Tommy Dreamer – 2.5
* Matt Cardona vs. Alex Shelley – 3.0
* Raj Singh vs. Joe Hendry – 2.0 (Squash)
* VXT (Chelsea Green & Deonna Purrazzo) & Gisele Shaw vs. Mickie James, Taylor Wilde, & Jordynne Grace – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Trey Miguel vs. Alan Angels match.
Worst – The flat DQ shenanigans ending to the Tasha Steelz vs. Rachelle Scheel match.
Show Notes – Opening Scott D’Amore & OGK’s backstage segment about OGK being angry over their Impact Tag titles loss and both Maria & Vincent being injured last week & D’Amore’s retort about not putting them in a bad position ever again since they are fired was a bit funny. Miguel vs. Angels moments: Angels’ legs swipe counter of Miguel’s top rope attack causing Miguel to crash hard off the turnbuckle. Angels’ reverse Slingblade to Miguel. Angels’ legs yank counter of Miguel’s top rope attack into Angels’ running dropkick & DDT combo in the corner. Miguel’s block, escape, Cheeky Nandos, & Meteora combo counter of Angels’ superplex. Miguel’s block counter of Angel’s kick into Angel’s Half & Half suplex & Frog Splash. Miguel’s heel hook kick & Lightning Spiral finisher to Angels. Match itself was a very good back-and-forth action bout. Bey, Ace Austin, Bully Ray, & Dreamer backstage segment about Bey & Austin’s claims of Ray attacking Austin last week, Ray’s retort denying the allegations, match setup banter by Bey and Dreamer, & Dreamer being upset at Ray for being dragged into his mess was all right. Steelz vs. Scheel was a mostly decent jobber destruction bout & same for Steelz’s mid-match promo despite the DQ ending. Bey vs. Dreamer was a mostly solid bout despite being a bit sloppy at times. Aussie Open backstage promo about wanting revenge over their loss to MCMG & open challenge match offer to Impact’s Tag division was decent. Dreamer & Ray’s backstage segment about Ray snapping over people constant mistrust of him since his return, Dreamer believing Ray for once, & their issues with Moose was decent. Cardona vs. Shelley was a pretty good back-and-forth bout despite going overboard with the shenanigans throughout it. Post-match ambush attack by Major Players & run-in save brawl by Heath & Rhino was all right. Alexander, Swann, & Gail Kim backstage segment about Kim’s words of advice to Alexander about not trusting Bully & ambush attack by Steve Maclin was all right. Alexander, Swann, & Kazarian backstage segment about Maclin’s ambush attack earlier & Kazarian making sure nothing bad happens to Alexander before their title match, & Alexander’s offer to team up to take up Aussie Open’s match offer was all right. Singh vs. Hendry moments: Hendry’s pre-match promo about one guy in the crowd losing everything but got to see Hendry and his wife believing in Hendry was a bit funny. Match itself was a decent mostly squash bout. Violent By Design about Young’s speech about VBD’s revival & Sami Callihan was all right but the unseen mystery person Young was talking to was interesting. Eddie Edwards’ backstage sit-down interview about Honor No More being done, not regretting running HNM at the expense of his marriage, PCO being the poison pill of HNM, & promising payback to PCO was all right. 6-Women Tag moments: Purrazzo’s shove counter of James McDDT into VXT’s double team Blockbuster. Wilde’s spear counter of VXT’s Due Collector to James into James’ DDT finisher to Green. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout.
Show Notes – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall.

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Weekly Awards:

• Best match of the week – Sammy Guevara vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Dynamite)
• Best match of the week runner-up – #1 Contender for AEW World Tag team Championship – Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland & Keith Lee) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (AEW Dynamite)
• Worst match of the week – Shotzi vs. Lash Legend (WWE NXT)
• Worst match of the week runner-up – SmackDown Women’s Championship Open Challenge match – Emma vs. Ronda Rousey (c) (WWE Friday Night SmackDown)
• Best show of the week – AEW Dynamite
• Worst show of the week – WWE RAW