Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for October 9 to October 15, 2022

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of October 9th to October 15th, 2022.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):

WWE

WWE RAW (Oct. 10)
* Austin Theory vs. Johnny Gargano – 3.0
* Rey Mysterio vs. Chad Gable – 2.5
* Bayley vs. Candice LeRae – 2.0
* 2-on-1 Handicap match – Omos vs. Robert Adams & Joseph Torres – 1.5 (Squash)
* United States Championship – Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley (c) – 2.5
* Matt Riddle vs. Sami Zayn – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Matt Riddle vs. Sami Zayn match.
Worst – The lame opening DX backstage segment.
Show Notes – Opening DX backstage segment about Triple H’s not being able to join his pals due to work and no cursing rule for them for the show, DX’s fouled mouth retort, & rubber chickens “cocks” gag was lame. Bloodline promo segment about Reigns’ life lesson of the loudest person in a room being the weakest & a fool and asking Jey Uso if that was him in the group. Zayn’s interruption wanting to handle things, Jey not acting Ucey lately and lacking coolness, praising Jimmy & Sikoa for being cool pals. Jey’s death stare to Reigns & banter into Riddle’s interruption boasting about his win over Rollins and wanting another title shot despite the active stip against him. Reigns’ retort denying the request & match setup “yeet” banter with Zayn was all right but also a bit funny overall. Theory vs. Gargano was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Mysterio vs. Gable was a solid back-and-forth bout. Post-match Rey & Dominik confrontation about Dom’s mind games wanting Rey to hit him, Rey’s brawl with Judgement Day, & Dom’s attack on Rey was decent. Judgement Day’s promo about them mocking Edge, Beth Phoenix, and Rey for being losers and Balor’s ultimatum to Styles to join his group. Style response about needing someone to protect his back and fakeout swerve of joining JD into Good Bros’ surprise return as his real backup, & brawl was all right overall. Bayley vs. LeRae was a somewhat solid bout despite the abrupt ending. Post-match brawl with Damage CTRL & Bianca Belair was decent at best. Miz’s birthday party segment about Miz’s digs at New York sports fans, Maryse’s giant balls gift, Dexter Lumis’ surprise appearance inside a gift, and Lumis’ ambush attack to Miz sending Maryse into the cake and popping Miz’s giant balls was a bit funny. DX’s backstage pep talks to some jobbers & interruption by Miz being angry over his deflated balls was corny. The Lumis vs. Miz match stip of Lumis leaves WWE if he loses is interesting though even if it doesn’t make sense from a storyline perspective. Lashley’s pre-match promo boasting about all the big stars he’s beaten in WWE and issues with Rollins & Lesnar’s surprise return interruption blurting out a loud “holy shit” and beatings greeting was a bit cool. Rollins’ bashing Lashley for trying to walk out of their match due to injuries and digs at him being a disgrace as a solider & to his country was all right. US title match was a solid back-and-forth brief bout. Not a fan of the title change booking nor Triple H just doing the same Vince style troupe of guy loses high profile match/feud and gets rewarded right away with a title or high profile feud. Lashley’s backstage interview about Lesnar costing him the US title & unfinished business with Rollins was decent. Wyatt hacking the feed & “revel what you are” promo was interesting. Elias’ return brief vignette was decent. Riddle vs. Zayn was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. DX 25th Anniversary celebration segment about X-Pac’s shout out to Chyna, Road Dogg’s joke about them being old, Corey Graves’ joking reference at Billy Gunn’s absence & scissoring, & Triple H and HBK’s DX catchphrase routine was all right.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

WWE NXT (Oct. 11)
* Bron Breakker vs. Javier Bernal – 2.5
* Best-of-Three Series, Match #3 NXT North American Championship Ladder Match Qualifier – Axiom vs. Nathan Frazer – 4.0
* Valentina Feroz vs. Indi Hartwell – 2.0
* #1 Contender for NXT Tag Team Championship Triple Threat match – Malik Blade & Edris Enofe vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen vs. The Dyad (Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler) – 3.0
* Alba Fyre vs. Jacy Jayne – 2.0
* Wes Lee vs. Stacks – 2.5
* Kiana James vs. Thea Hail – 1.0 (Squash)
* Ilja Dragunov vs. Grayson Waller – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Axiom vs. Nathan Frazer match.
Worst – The flat ending to the Alba Fyre vs. Jacy Jayne match and the Kiana James vs. Thea Hail mostly nothing match.
Show Notes – Breakker vs. Bernal opener was a mostly solid back-and-forth bout. Post-match Breakker, McDonagh, & Dragunov staredown & brawl was all right. Axiom vs. Frazer moments: Axiom’s brutal looking powerbomb style drop to Frazer onto the turnbuckle. Axiom’s sliding German suplex counter of Frazer’s springboard attack. Frazer’s dropkick to Axiom off the top rope sending him crashing to the outside. Axiom’s 10 count break leap into the ring into Frazer’s springboard missile dropkick into Axiom’s catch & Triangle Choke counter of Frazer’s Flying Nothing. Frazer’s leap up superplex to Axiom into Axiom’s sleeper counter of Frazer’s suplex. Frazer & axiom’s superkicks exchange into Axiom’s knee strike flooring Frazer. Frazer & Axiom’s roll-ups exchange into Frazer’s roll-up finisher. Match itself was a very entertaining action packed bout. Dragunov’s backstage interview about his headbutt attack to Breakker earlier, Waller’s interruption, & banter about Waller’s sunglasses was decent. Apollo Crews’ nighttime outdoor promo about vision-related stuff & upcoming match with Waller was all right. Feroz vs. Hartwell was a somewhat solid bout despite the flat ending but Veer Mahan’s surprise appearance & Sanga walking out with him during the match was interesting. Post-match promo by Pretty Deadly praising Hartwell for her win & mocking American sports fans and their potential tag titles opponents was a bit corny. Triple Threat Tag match was a good action filled bout, especially the latter half, despite the ending shenanigans by Joe Gacy & Cameron Grimes. Jayne & Dolin’s backstage interview about their issues with Fyre costing them the chance at the NXT Women’s Tag titles was decent. Kiana James backstage office segment about business stuff & wanting to purchase Chase U was decent but also interesting. Fyre vs. Jayne was a mostly solid back-and-forth bout despite the flat ending. Post-match ambush attack by Sonya Deville to Fyre was interesting. Stark & Lyons’ promo vignette about their paring as a team & upcoming NXT Women’s Tag titles match was all right. Lee vs. Stacks was a mostly solid back-and-forth bout. Post-match ambush attack by Trick Williams & Carmelo Hayes and run-in save brawl by Mensah was all right. Deville & Toxic Attraction backstage interview about Deville doing a favor for Mandy Rose for why she attacked Fyre earlier was decent. Diamond Mine melodramatic soap opera style hospital segment about Roderick Strong’s neck injury, Creed Bros promising revenge on Damon Kemp, & Strong being sorry over his recent actions to them and wanting them to win for the group was all right. James vs. Hail moments: Mr. Stone’s pre-match promo about his issues with Hail ruining Von Wagner’s moment last week & his plan at getting payback failing spectacularly was a bit funny. Match itself was a big pile of nothing though. Dragunov vs. Waller was a pretty good back-and-forth bout despite the goofy Spin The Wheel ending shenanigans. Post-match ambush spear attack by Breakker was all right.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Oct. 14)
* Kofi Kingston vs. Sami Zayn – 3.0
* 2-on-1 Handicap match – Braun Strowman vs. James Maverick & Bryan Thomas – 2.0 (Squash)
* Mansoor vs. LA Knight – 2.5
* Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, IYO SKYE, & Bayley) vs. Raquel Rodriguez, Shotzi, & Roxane Perez – 2.5
* Hit Row (Ashante “Thee” Adonis & Top Dolla) vs. Legado Del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro) – 2.0
* #1 Contender for United States Championship Fatal Four-way match – Ricochet vs. Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Rey Mysterio – 3.5
Overall – 3.0
Best – Fatal Four-way match and Brayy Wyatt’s emotional promo segment minus the end part.
Worst – Damage CTRL vs. Raquel Rodriguez, Shotzi, & Roxane Perez match being sloppy on times topped with a rough ending.
Show Notes – The show opening car crash & McIntyre’s beatdown on Kross in the parking lot was all right. WWE production botching the “Up Next” graphic for Bray Wyatt and New Day coming out instead was a bit funny. New Day’s pre-match promo about their lengthy tag titles record & it being their legacy in WWE was decent. Zayn’s backstage speech to Solo, wondering where Jimmy went, bickering with Jey, & phone call interruption by Reigns was all right. Kingston vs. Zayn moments: Kingston’s sunset dive to Zayn on the outside into Jey’s superkick to Woods on the outside into Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb to Kingston via distraction assist. Kingston’s roll-up counter of Zayn’s Blue Thunder into Jey’s ref distraction shove & Zayn’s roll-up finisher counter. Match itself was a good back-and-forth action bout despite the ending shenanigans by Jey Uso. Triple H & Mysterio’s backstage segment about Rey reaching a breaking point with Dom’s antics and quitting WWE over all the recent problems its caused to him & Triple H wanting a private talk to try to change his mind was interesting. Perez, Shotzi, & Rodriguez’s backstage segment about Perez picking Rodriguez for her Pick Your Poison choice, Bayley’s interruption mocking Perez’s choice, Perez’s losing streak insult retort, & Bayley’s match setup retort was all right. Strowman vs. jobbers team was a decent jobber destruction bout but Omos & MVP’s surprise appearance during it was somewhat interesting. MVP’s post-match rambling promo taking offense of Strowman being called “Monster of All Monsters” instead of Omos was decent at best. Mansoor vs. Knight was a solid back-and-forth bout. Knight’s abrupt heel turn post-match promo mocking Maximum Male Models, the crowd, & WWE locker room was a bit weird. Damage CTRL vs. Rodriguez, Shotzi, & Perez 6-Woman Tag was somewhat solid despite being sloppy at times & rough finish. Hit Row vs. Legado was somewhat solid at best. Sonya Deville’s backstage interview bashing Liv Morgan for being a failure as SD Women’s champ and lacking “it” & ambush attack by Morgan was decent. Fatal Four-way match moments: Ricochet’s dive outta nowhere nailing Sikoa & Mysterio’s sliding splash to Sheamus on the outside. Ricochet & Mysterio’s superplex hold to Sheamus into Sikoa’s modified Tower of Doom powerbomb to Mysterio & Ricochet into Sheamus’ splash breaking up Sikoa’s pin attempt. Sheamus’ lengthy Beats of the Ballard fest to Sikoa. Zayn, Jey, Sheamus, Imperium, & Brawling Brutes mass brawl at ringside. Ricochet’s block counter of Mysterio’s 619 into Mysterio’s reverse Canadian Destroyer, 619, & Frog Splash finisher. Match itself was a very good action filled bout. Wyatt’s new entrance theme is pretty cool. Wyatt’s emotional promo appreciating the warm support for his return, all the hard losses suffered in his life in the past two years, and overcoming his struggles & spooky mystery figure video interruption went from being very tough & splendid to anti-climatic in the end.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly enjoyable overall.

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AEW

AEW Dark Elevation (Oct. 10)
* Hikaru Shida vs. Erica Leigh – 2.0 (Squash)
* Lance Archer vs. Papadon – 2.5
* Emi Sakura vs. Trish Adora – 2.5
* Tony Nese & Josh Woods vs. Action Andretti & Myles Hawkins – 2.5
* Nyla Rose vs. Jordan Blade – 2.0 (Squash)
* ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship – Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brent and Brandon Tate) vs. Goldy, Brett Waters, & Logan Laroux – 2.5
* Serpentico vs. Brandon Cutler – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Serpentico vs. Brandon Cutler match.
Worst – N/A
Show Notes – Shida vs. Leigh opener was a decent mostly squash style bout. Archer vs. Papadon moments: Archer’s swift punch flooring Papadon during his entrance. Papadon’s shove & top rope diving spinning elbow counter of Archer’s Blackout off the top rope. Archer’s clothesline counter of Papadon’s running attack. Archer’s stiff chop & running back elbow strikes to Papadon in the corner. Papadon’s strikes to Archer into Archer’s big boot & Blackhole Slam counter. Archer’s chokeslam & Blackout finisher combo to Papadon. Match itself was a solid hoss battle. Sakura vs. Adora moments: Sakura & Adora’s Test of Strength duel & shoulder tackles exchange into Adora’s shoulder tackle flooring Sakura. Sakura & Adora’s strikes exchange into Adora’s block & Judo Throw counter of Sakura’s arm rake & Irish Whip. Adora’s delayed Northern Lights suplex to Adora. Adora’s Air Raid Crash style neckbreaker hold into Sakura’s block & underhook backbreakers finisher to Adora. Match itself was a solid back-and-forth action bout. Nese & Woods vs. Andretti & Hawkins was a solid back-and-forth & surprisingly competitive bout. Rose vs. Blade was a decent mostly squash bout. ROH 6-Man Tag titles moments: Castle’s disgusted reaction over Waters’ wet slimy upper body after his waistlock hold attempt was a bit funny. Match itself was a solid bout. Serpentico vs. Cutler moments: Serpentico & Cutler’s wristlocks, waistlocks, & suplexes duel exchange into both guys putting an end to it all due to their sore backs was a bit funny. Cutler’s float-over suplex, elbow drop & dab elbow drop to Serpentico into Serpentico’s dodge counter of Cutler’s dancing elbow drop into Cutler’s dodge counter of Serpentico’s running senton. Cutler’s first rope splash to Serpentico. Cutler’s dodge counter of Serpentico’s running headbutt into the corner into Serpentico’s dodge counter of Cutler’s running crossbody sending him through the ropes. Luther chucking Serpentico off the apron & missing nailing Cutler on the floor was a bit funny. Cutler shrugging off Serpentico’s chop & unzipping his jacket to take another bare chested only to wither in pain and rezip his jacket after Serpentico’s stiff chop was a bit funny. Cutler’s comedic ref distracted cold spray attack counter of Serpentico’s cold spray attack & doing the same to Luther afterwards was a bit funny. Match itself was an entertaining comedic heavy bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was average overall but also a mostly skippable show outside of the comedic main event.

AEW Dark (Oct. 11)
* Lance Archer vs. Alec Odin – 2.5 (Squash)
* Penelope Ford, Serena Deeb, & Jamie Hayter vs. Jordan Blade, Trish Adora, & Brittany Blake – 2.5 (Squash)
* Marina Shafir vs. Hikaru Shida – 3.0
* Brian Cage vs. Papadon – 2.5
* Athena vs. Gia Scott – 2.0
* QT Marshall vs. Action Andretti – 3.5
* Dalton Castle & The Boys (Brent and Brandon Tate) vs. Joe Keys, Josh Fuller, & BK Klein – 2.5
* Kip Sabian vs. Brandon Cutler – 2.5
* AEW Interim Women’s World Championship Eliminator match – Emi Sakura vs. Toni Storm – 3.0
* The Factory (Cole Karter & Aaron Solo) vs. Matt Sydal and Dante Martin – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – QT Marshall vs. Action Andretti match.
Worst – Brian Cage vs. Papadon and Athena vs. Gia Scott matches being a bit rough at times.
Show Notes – Archer vs. Odin opener was a fine extended squash style bout. Women’s Trios was a decent mostly squash style bout. Shafir vs. Shida moments: Shida’s head scissors grab counter of Shafir’s Irish whip. Shafir’s grapevine choke to Shida on the apron via Vickie & Nyla Rose distraction assist. Shafir’s deadlift German suplex spiking Shida. Shafir’s block, back elbow, & Greedy setup counter of Shida’s Falcon Arrow into Shida’s escape & sliding kick counter of Shafir’s Rear Naked Choke. Shida’s block & punch counter of Shafir’s kick into the ropes into Shida’s Falcon Arrow & Katana finisher. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout & one of Shafir’s better matches in AEW. Cage vs. Papadon moments: Cage’s ribbreaker & spiked DVD to Papadon. Match itself was a solid hoss battle despite being a bit rough at times. Zack Clayton’s backstage promo about his recent signing in AEW, career goals, & threat to AEW’s locker room was decent. Athena vs. Scott was a mostly solid bout despite being a bit rough at times. Marshall vs. Andretti moments: Marshall’s pre-match promo mocking Andretti for not being on his level as a star, being generous sending The Factory to the back to make it a fair bout, & wanting the crowd to know he doesn’t suck was decent. Andretti’s leapfrog, tilt-a-whirl rana, & springboard tornilo splash to Marshall. Andretti’s dropkick to Marshall into Marshall’s pop-up punch counter of Andretti’s running attack. Marshall’s block of Andretti’s backbreaker into Andretti’s DDT & standing Shooting Star Press. Marshall’s DDT to Andretti into Andretti’s roll-up counter of Marshall’s Diamond Cutter. Andretti’s head scissors grab over the ropes & split legged moonsault to Marshall on the outside. Marshall’s Diamond Cutter outta nowhere finisher counter of Andretti’s springboard attack. Match itself was a very entertaining back-and-forth action filled bout. Castle & The Boys vs. Keys, Fuller, & Klein 6-Man Tag was a solid bout. Sabian vs. Cutler was a mostly solid bout with some nice comedic moments. Andretti’s backstage promo about his performance earlier, promise to be back in AEW, & loving the cheers from the crowd was splendid. Sakura vs. Storm moments: Sakura’s underhook backbreaker to Storm via apron assist. Sakura’s chops to Storm in the corner into Storm’s dodge & chops counter into Storm’s sunset roll-up to Sakura into Sakura’s ankle lock & chomp counter. Sakura’s Bow & Arrow and modified Dragon Sleeper combo to Storm. Storm’s German suplex counter of Sakura’s attack. Sakura’s stalling backbreaker to Storm. Storm’s Tornado DDT, running hip attack, & Storm Zero finisher combo to Sakura. Match itself was a good hard hitting back-and-forth action bout. Factory vs. Sydal & Martin was a quite good back-and-forth action filled bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

AEW Dynamite (Oct. 12)
* Luchasaurus vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry – 3.5
* The Factory (QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto) vs. WarJoe (Wardlow & Samoa Joe) – 2.5 (Squash)
* Swerve Strickland vs. Billy Gunn – 2.5
* ROH World Championship – Bryan Danielson vs. “Lionheart” Chris Jericho (c) – 4.0
* Jamie Hayter & Dr. Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida & Toni Storm – 3.5
* AEW All-Atlantic Championship – Orange Cassidy vs. PAC (c) – 4.0
Overall – 4.0
Best – Rene Paquette’s debut, Hangman Page & Jon Moxley promo segment, and the AEW All-Atlantic title match.
Worst – QT Marshall’s dull pre-match promo segment and the buzzkill ending shenanigans to the ROH World title match.
Show Notes – Opening show greeting by Renee Paquette & interview with Christian Cage about guaranteeing Luchasaurus win tonight and dig at Maple Leafs playoff woes was all right but Paquette’s AEW debut was cool. Luchasaurus vs. Jungle Boy moments: Jungles’ sunset bomb to Luchasaurus through a table. Luchasaurus’s Electric Chair counter of Jungle’s Kill Switch into Jungle’s Posion Rana & Kill Switch counter into Jungle’s Snare Trap. Luchasaurus’ one armed Iconoslasm & Burning Hammer finisher to Jungle. Match itself was a very good back-and-forth action bout despite the ending shenanigans by Cage. QT Marshall’s pre-match promo besmirching WarJoe’s team name stunk. Factory vs. WarJoe tag was a fine mostly squash style bout. Post-match WarJoe’s attack on Marshall, interruption by The Embassy bashing WarJoe and FTR, FTR’s rambling interruption, Shawn Spears’ surprise return, & attack on Solo was decent despite being a bit all over the place. Strickland vs. Gunn was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the anti-climatic ending. Post-match interruption by Mark Sterling & Tony Nese about Sterling owning the “Scissor Me” trademark & his scissoring taunt with Nese was decent. MJF & Stokely’s backstage segment about MJF’s Carlton Banks wannabe dig & firing threat to Stokely over his recent antics, issues with Regal & Yuta, & fiery response about being hated and his AEW title goal was splendid. Moxley’s promo about being proud to be ruthless as champion & Hangman Page’s interruption about appreciating Moxley’s praise of him & offering praise in return but also being upset over being called a “kid.” Moxley’s retort about Page becoming soft & Page’s heated retort about missing his old Elite pals and upcoming title match was superb overall. Danielson vs. Jericho ROH title match hype video package with old ROH footage of Danielson’s time in ROH was cool. ROH World title match moments: Danielson’s rope shove crotching counter of Jericho’s top rope attack into Danielson’s top rope Butterfly suplex. Danielson’s dodge & leaping knees strikes counter of Jericho’s Lionsault into Jericho’s Codebreaker counter of Danielson’s Flying Nothing. Jericho & Danielson’s chops & counters exchange into Jericho’s shove to Danielson into the ref. Garcia’s run-in save fakeout attacking Danielson. Match itself was a mostly great hard fought action bout despite the ending shenanigans by Garcia. Not a fan of the booking decision to have Garcia rejoin JAS & undoing the past few weeks of storyline stuff with him. Hayter & Baker vs. Shida & Storm was a very good back-and-forth action bout. All-Atlantic title match moments: PAC mocking Orange’s comedic kicks was a bit funny. Orange;s shotgun dropkick sending PAC out of the ring into PAC’s catch & brutal Falcon Arrow counter of Orange’s dive onto the floor was awesome. PAC’s Tombstone piledriver onto the ramp. The ref preventing PAC from using the bell hammer into Orange’s suicide dive, brutal looking diving spiked DDT on the floor, & spiked DDT in the ring to PAC. Danhausen’s surprise appearance blocking PAC’s attempt at grabbing the bell hammer. Orange’s stiff Orange Punch counter of PAC’s hidden bell hammer into Orange’s Orange Punches finisher to PAC. Match itself was a great hard fought action filled bout.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was mostly great overall.

AEW Rampage (Oct. 14)
* The Butcher & The Blade vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley) – 3.0
* Nyla Rose vs. Anna Jay A.S. – 2.5
* Ethan Page vs. Isiah Cassidy – 2.0 (Squash)
* The Pinnacle (Shawn Spears & FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. The Embassy (Brian Cage & Gates of Agony (Kaun & Toa Liona)) – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – Stu Grayson’s surprise return.
Worst – The flat ending to the Nyla Rose vs. Anna Jay A.S. match.
Show Notes – Butcher & Blade vs. BCC tag opener moments: Moxley’s back rake & superplex to Blade into Moxley’s piledriver & head stomps into Butcher’s running splash breaking up Moxley’s attack & splatting him. BCC’s head stomps, Moxley’s Death Rider to Blade, & Claudio’s Ricola Bomb finisher to Butcher. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Post-match BCC promo about not caring who are their opponents nor getting knocked down & threat to Hangman Page about his chances at beating Moxley for the title was all right. Swerve In Our Glory backstage interview about Swerve mocking Billy Gunn’s loss and Acclaimed no longer being allowed to do “scissor” stuff anymore & Lee being upset at Swerve needing to cheat to win was interesting. Dark Order’s backstage interview about their Trios titles loss last week, interruption by Jose, 10’s response being upset at La Faccion’s antics costing them the Trios titles and demanding a match with RUSH was all right but Stu Grayon’s surprise return was cool. JAS’ promo about Daddy Magic talking about his nipples and JAS being together as a group forever, Garcia’s reason for turning his back on Danielson was due to him always wanting to be a sports entertainer and being done with his rebellious wrestler phase, & Jericho boasting about being the greatest ROH champ and quest to beat every former ROH champ. Dalton Castle’s interruption about being sick to see the ROH title around Jericho’s wasit, demanding a title match, and stuff about Peacock power & Jericho’s response agreeing to it was all right overall & also a bit funny. Shida vs. Storm AEW Interim Women’s title match hype video was all right. Rose vs. Jay was mostly solid despite the flat ending. Post-match Vickie’s win streak sign for Rose mocking Jade Cargill’s undefeated streak, Baddies brawl with security, & Vicious Vixens running away in the background was all right. Ari Daivari’s backstage promo being upset HOOK ripped up his offer & match challenge was decent. Page vs. Cassidy was a decent mostly squash bout. Best Friends backstage promo video about Orange Cassidy’s All-Atlantic title win & wanting a rematch for the Trios titles was all right but Orange being unaware that next week’s Dynamite show is on a Tuesday was a bit funny. Pinnacle & Embassy’s pre-match split-screen backstage interview was decent. Trios moments: Liona’s running senton splatting Spears on the apron into Cage’s middle ropes suplex from the apron to the inside. Wheeler’s yank counter of Kaun & Cage’s double team suplex into Pinnacle’s triple Sharpshooters to Kaun, Cage, & Prince Nana. Harwood’s dodge counter of Liona’s spear into the steel steps via Wheeler’s grab assist. FTR’s Hart Attack & Spears C4 finisher combo to Kaun. Match itself was a pretty good back-and-forth action bout. Post-match The Kingdom’s surprise appearance, Maria Kanellis’ promo bashing the Pinnacle and ROH Tag titles goal, brawl with Embassy to Pinnacle, & walk-in save by WarJoe was all right.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

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NJPW, Impact, & Other Wrestling

NJPW Declaration of Power (Oct. 10)
* Ren Narita Comeback match – Ren Narita, Robbie Eagles, & David Finlay vs. DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & El Desperado – 3.0
* TMDK (Bad Dude Tito & Shane Haste) vs. Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.) – 3.0
* Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, & EVIL – 2.5
* Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto – 3.0
* BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito vs. United Empire (Francisco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare, & Will Ospreay) – 3.0
* Master Wato vs. Taiji Ishimori – 3.5
* Provisional King of Pro Wrestling 2022 Championship Who’s Your Daddy match – El Phantasmo vs. Shingo Takagi (c) – 3.5
* JONAH vs. Kazuchika Okada – 4.0
* IWGP World Heavyweight Championship – Tama Tonga vs. Jay White (c) – 4.5
Overall – 4.0
Best – The pre-show Antoni Inoki tribute ceremony and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match.
Worst – Ryusuke Taguchi, Hikuleo, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, & EVIL match.
Show Notes – The pre-show tribute video and cermony in honor of the late Antonio Inoki was magnificent. Narita, Eagles, & Finlay vs. Suzuki-Gun 6-Man Tag opener was a good back-and-forth bout. TMDK vs. Danerous Tekkers was a good back-and-forth hard hitting bout. Taguchi, Hikuleo, & Tanahashi vs. House of Torture 6-Man Tag was a solid bout. Great-O-Khan & Cobb vs. YOSHI-HASHI & Goto moments: Cobb’s catch, KO punch, & Tour of the Islands finisher counter of YOSHI’s thrust kick. Match itself was a good back-and-forth action bout. LIJ vs. United Empire 8-Man Tag was a pretty good action filled bout despite the ending shenanigans by the mystery masked person. CMLL’s Titan being revealed as the mystery person & newest member of LIJ was interesting. The intermission announcement of a new TV title focusing on fast paced matches & younger talents was interesting. The new belt itself is a swing & miss in terms of looks though. Wato vs. Ishimori moments: Ishimori’s catch & TKO onto the guard rail counter of Wato’s running attack on the outside. Ishimori’s catch & Bone Lock counter of Wato’s springboard elbow attack. Ishimori’s boot to Wato into Wato’s leg lariat counter of Ishimori’s running attack. Wato’s springboard elbow & extra high angle German suplex combo to Ishimori. Ishimori’s dodge counter of Wato’s RPP into Ishimori’s shotgun dropkick, shove into the ring post, & shoulderbreaker combo. Ishimori’s La Mistica & Bone Lock to Wato into Wato & Ishimori’s moves counter into Wato’s Recientemente finisher. Match itself was a very good hard fought action bout. Post-match promo by Wato, Takahashi, and El Desperado about them all wanting a shot at the IWJP Jr. title & Ishimori agreeing to a 4-way match was interesting. KoPW 2022 title Who’s Your Daddy match moments: ELP’s escape, stiff chop, & Frankensteiner counter of Takagi’s top rope DVD into ELP’s Thunder Kiss 86. Takagi’s roll-up & CR II to Takagi. Takagi’s escape & Made In Japan counter of ELP’s CR III. Takagi’s Sudden Death & spiked modified CR II to ELP. Takagi’s Octopus Hold & grapevine Octopus hold finisher to ELP. Match itself was a very good hard hitting action filled bout. Post-match ELP not wanting to call Takagi his “daddy”, Takagi wanting a family photo with ELP wearing a pacifier, ELP’s fakeout hug with his “daddy” and nut shot, & ELP breaking the KoPW trophy was a bit funny. JONAH vs. Okada: JONAH’s running powerbomb to Okada onto the post. Okada’s leg kicks pushing JONAH out of the ring into Okada’s leg wrap on the guard rail, kick to the railing, & running shotgun dropkick to JONAH. Okada’s kicks to JONAH into JONAH’s spear counter of Okkada’s running attack. JONAH’s spinning suplex to Okada. JONAH’s dodge counter of Okada’s top rope elbow drop into Okada’s dodge & body slam counter of JONAH’s running attack in the corner. JONAH’s block & brutal looking high angle German suplex counter of Okada’s Rainmaker into JONAH’s stiff lariat. Okada’s block counter of JONAH’s powerbomb into JONAH shrugging off Okada’s mini-Rainmakers into Okada’s discus lariat flooring JONAH. JONAH’s Uranage counter of Okada’s Rainmaker into JONAH’s Black Forest Bomb into Okada’s dodge counter of JONAH’s Torpedo. JONAH’s escape & splatting body tackle counter of Okada’s Money Clip. Okada & JONAH’s moves fest exchange into Okada’s Landslide & Rainmaker finisher combo. Match itself was a great hard fought action filled battle. IWGP World title match moments: White’s catch & Exploder suplex over the ropes counter of Tonga’s lariat into White’s whips into the guard rail. Tonga’s block & Tonga Twist counter of White’s TKO. Tonga’s rolling DVD to White into White’s knees counter of Tonga’s Supreme Flow. White’s rib punches & suplex toss onto the ropes to Tonga sending him out of the ring into White’s Gourdbuster onto the apron. White’s spiked Uranage, Boston Crab, & modified Lion Tamer combo to Tonga. White’s block & shove into the ref counter of Tonga’s Gun Stun into White swift low blow to Tonga’s yambag. Tonga’s low blow counter of White’s chair whack attempt. Tonga’s Bloody Sunday counter of White’s Bladerunner. White’s cross-armed Bloody Sunday to Tonga into Tonga’s pop-up Gun Stun counter of White’s Gun Stun setup. Tonga & White’s moves & counters exchange into Tonga’s Dragon Suplex. White’s blocks & Bladerunner finisher counter of Tonga’s Gun Stuns. Match itself was an amazing back-and-forth action filled bout.
Final Thoughts – Destruction of Power was a great show overall.

Impact Wrestling Impact! (Oct. 13)
* No Disqualification match – Tasha Steelz vs. Killer Kelly – 2.5
* 6-Way match – Trey Miguel vs. Black Taurus vs. Alex Zayne vs. Laredo Kid vs. Kenny King vs. Crazzy Steve vs. Yuya Uemura – 3.5
* Gisele Shaw & VXT (Chelsea Green & Deonna Purrazzo) defeated The Death Dollz (Rosemary, Jessicka, & Taya Valkyrie) – 3.0
* Matt Cardona vs. Bhupinder Gujjar – 2.5
* Impact World Championship – Bobby Fish vs. Josh Alexander (c) – 3.0
Overall – 3.0
Best – 6-Way X-Division match.
Worst – The opening promo segment dragging on way too long.
Show Notes – Opening Alexander promo about his win over Edwards, calling out Bully Ray, and his praise of Ray but wondering why he didn’t cash-in at BFG. Ray’s response about his past history of backstabbing others, not wanting to do the same to Alexander, and wanting to fix his legacy of mistrust. Steve Maclin’s interruption bashing Ray for “politicking” his way into the Call Your Shot match, Moose’s interruption about him modeling his career after Ray and both of them being scumbags, Fish’s rambling interruption mocking Moose, Maclin, and Ray, & match setup with Alexander was decent overall despite dragging too long. Motor City Machine Guns’ backstage interview about The Kingdom cheating them out of an Impact Tag titles win at Bound For Glory and wanting a rematch & Heath and Rhino revealing they beat them to the punch was all right. Steelz vs. Kelly No DQ was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the pacing being a bit off at times. Scott D’Amore & Alexander’s backstage locker room segment about D’Amore being happy Alexander beat Edwards & words of wisdom about Ray’s ulterior motives was all right. 6-Way match moments: Kid’s hanging DDT to Miguel, Uemura’s reverse DDT hold to Kid, Taurus’ reverse DDT hold to Uemura, Zayne’s reverse DDT hold to Taurus, & King’s Blockbuster to Zayne causing the rest to nail their DDTs to each other was cool. Zayne’s step-up rana to Taurus off the top rope via Kid assist into Zayne’s German suplex to Kid onto Taurus. Miguel’s twisting neckbreaker finisher to Zayne. Match itself was a very good frantic action filled bout despite the abrupt ending. Kazarian & Bailey’s backstage parking lot segment about their praise of each other & Miguel’s interruption about his X-Division title goal was decent. Shaw & VXT vs. Death Dollz 6-Woman Tag was a pretty good back-and-forth bout. Tommy Dreamer & Ray’s backstage segment about Ray’s fat dig at Dreamer, Dreamer’s retort about Ray’s past history of backstabbing people whenever he’s around title gold, & Ray’s retort about not being a liar about his promise to Alexander was all right. Honor No More’s backstage segment about their recent setbacks, issues with D’Amore’s continued disrespect to them, badmouthing Heath & Rhino, & wanting to honor Edwards by retaining the Impact Tag titles was all right. Cardona vs. Gujjar was a solid back-and-forth bout despite the ringside ending shenanigans by Brian Myers. Myers & Cardona reuniting as the Major Players again was okay. Impact World title match moments: Fish’s Dragon Screw to Alexander onto the ramp. Fish’s block, kick, & Saito suplex counter of Alexander’s C4 Spike. Fish’s block & overhead suplex whiplash to Alexander onto the ropes. Alexander’s moonsault & Ankle Lock into Fish’s escape, swift kick, & Triangle Choke into Alexander’s escape, knee strike, & C4 Spike finisher counter. Match itself was a quite good back-and-forth hard hitting bout. Post-match Kazarian’s promo cashing in his X-Division title for an Impact World title shot was interesting.
Final Thoughts – This week’s show was enjoyable overall.

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Weekly Awards:

• Best match of the week – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship – Tama Tonga vs. Jay White (c) (NJPW Declaration of Power)
• Best match of the week runner-up – AEW All-Atlantic Championship – Orange Cassidy vs. PAC (c) (AEW Dynamite)
• Worst match of the week – Kiana James vs. Thea Hail (WWE NXT)
• Worst match of the week runner-up – 2-on-1 Handicap match – Omos vs. Robert Adams & Joseph Torres (WWE RAW)
• Best show of the week – NJPW Declaration of Power
• Worst show of the week – AEW Dark Elevation