The tournaments continue, so there’s still a bunch to go through. What does Andrew sift through to sculpt the Top 5 Matches this week?

Another jam packed week, but let’s assess last week first. New Japan Cup: Zack Sabre Jr vs Kota Ibushi, got the win in a very close three way race.

So far in March we’ve had 3 winners from 3 different companies, and this is one of those nice week’s where the Top 5 is comprised of 5 different shows.

No one brand was hands down superior this week, and that’s always nice to see. Let’s see what the Top 5 is!

5. 205 Live: Tony Nese vs Cedric Alexander

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
The ring count begins and passes 5 before either man sits up. Alexander and Nese crawl at 8, and jump in at 9.5! Both Nese and Alexander glare at each other. Nese vows he’s going to Mania, but Alexander says “Over my dead body.” The brawl is on as both men throw more haymakers! Nese staggers but comes back, but so does Alexander. Alexander gest an edge but Nese gives him one big left! Nese runs but into Alexander’s uppercut! Alexander runs, Nese goes Matrix, but both men block kicks. They both go for superkicks but they get caught on each other. They break free and Nese back kicks, knee lifts and sweeps. But Alexander jumps it to SUPERKICK! Cover, TWO! Both men are down but Indy is fired up!

Alexander and Nese stir and stand in corners. Alexander goes to Nese to chop, and put Nese on the top rope. He climbs up to join Nese, but Nese hops down to enziguri Alexander down! Alexander flounders to the floor but Nese builds speed to FLY! Direct hit from Premier Athlete to Soul of 205! Nese puts Alexander in then climbs up top, 450 splash hits! Cover, TWO!! Alexander still lives and Nese is in disbelief! Nese glares at Alexander in the corner as he staggers over. Nese sits Alexander up, but Alexander keeps Nese from running. Alexander shakes his head but Nese stomps away! THe ref backs Nese off, but Nese brings the knee pad down. Nese goes side to side, but into a SPANISH FLY! Cover, TWO!!

But Alexander doesn’t stop, LUMBAR CHECK!! Cover, TWO!? Nese survives a Lumbar Check?! Even Indy can’t believe that one! But they do know “This is Awesome!” Alexander gets to a corner as he tries to understand what he’s seeing. Nese stirs while Alexander brings his knee pads down. Alexander drags Nese up and wants another, but Nese victory rolls! TWO and Alexander has it, TWO! Nese knees Alexander to the corner! Then side to side, PREMIER KNEE! Cover, Nese wins!!!

Winner: Nese via Running Kneese

Rating: **** 1/4

4. SmackDown Live Gauntlet: Kofi Kingston vs Sheamus, Cesaro, Rowan, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan

From My Analysis:
Kofi and Sheamus would’ve been a damn solid match alone, let alone kicking off the gauntlet. The sight gag of more and more faces crowding around the TV to watch was actually cool. The gauntlet played out really well, Rowan purposely getting DQ’d to inflict more damage with weapons made perfect sense as well. Just really really great stuff. Kofi beat the original 5 and then Vince continues to screw Kofi by adding Daniel Bryan at the end. So it’s all good story telling, a really good gauntlet and generally just great way to cap off the show. It was a gut punch to people rooting for Kofi, but also another wrinkle to overcome with a few more weeks til Mania.

Winner: Daniel Bryan via Knee Plus

Rating: **** 1/4

3. NXT #1 Contender Match: Matt Riddle vs Ricochet vs Adam Cole vs Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Ricochet staggers up and goes after Riddle. He puts the Bro in the drop zone then climbs up. Fans hope they “Fight Forever!” as Cole intercepts Ricochet. Cole climbs up to join Ricochet, but Ricochet resists. Dream adds on, climbing up to join them. They brawl and Aleister staggers over. Riddle follows, and they’re all on the second rope! It’s a Double Russian Leg Sweep SUPERPLEX! All five men are down again and fans know “This is Awesome!” The referee checks on everyone in turn and they’re all okay to continue. Fans build to a rally as the five slowly stir. Cole, Riddle and Ricochet bail out while Dream meets Aleister. Dream and Aleister trade haymakers on their knees. Aleister fires off hand after hand but Dream powers him to a corner. Aleister boots Dream away then hops up, Meteora!

Dream’s up but gets a roundhouse and a German! But Riddle sentons the bridge! Riddle drags Aleister up in a deadlift Fisherman Buster! Cradle, but Cole breaks it! Cole drags Riddle up but Riddle fires off fast hands! Riddle misses, gets a SUPERKICK, and Last Ride brainbuster! Cover, but Ricochet breaks it! Ricochet drags Cole up but Cole breaks free. Ricochet fakes Cole out for a boot and an ax kick! He keeps going, fireman’s carry but Cole rakes eyes! SUPERKICK to the front, SUPERKICK to the back! Cole brings the knee pad down but misses the Last Shot Wizard to get a Reverse-Rrana! Cole rolls all the way out and Ricochet can’t believe it. But Ricochet also sees a prime target, and FLIES with the Sasuke Special! Ricochet wipes Cole out but hurries to get back up.

Dream returns to the ring but so does Riddle. The would-be North American Championship showdown happens as Riddle throws chops. Riddle swings up and around Dream’s clothesline to powerbomb, but Dream slips out! Dream wants but Riddle denies the Sidewinder, to wring Dream out for a Bro Trigger! Riddle reels Dream into the BroMission! Dream flails but Cole yanks the ref out! No Disqualifications, but plenty of consequences as Riddle BOOTS Cole! Riddle turns around into BLACK MASS! Aleister turns around into Dream Valley Driver! Dream hurries to the top rope, but Ricochet’s right up for a SUPER STEINER onto Aleister and Cole! Ricochet hurries up for his own, SHOOTING STAR onto Riddle! Cover, but LAST SHOT!! Cole covers, Cole wins!!

Winner: Cole via Last Shot

Rating: **** 1/4

Honorable Mentions:

New Japan Cup: Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii
Winner: Okada via Rainmaker
Rating: **** 1/4
New Japan Cup: Tomohiro Ishii vs YOSHI-HASHI
Winner: Ishii via Vertical Drop Brainbuster
Rating: ****
New Japan Cup: SANADA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
Winner: SANADA via Skull End
Rating: ****
AJPW: World Junior Heavyweight Title: Kotaro Suzuki vs Koji Iwamoto (c)
Winner: Iwamoto via Koko no Geijutsu
Rating: *** 3/4
New Japan Cup: Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay
Winner: Okada via Rainmaker
Rating: *** 3/4
WWE Raw: Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre
Winner: McIntyre via Claymore
Rating: *** 1/2
IMPACT: X Division Championship Match: Sami Callihan vs Rich Swann (c)
Winner: Swann via Cradle
Rating: *** 1/2
New Japan Cup: Zack Sabre Jr vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
Winner: Tanahashi via Leg Clutch
Rating: *** 1/2
NJPW: Tomohiro Ishii, Ren Narita, Ryusuke Taguchi & Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, EVIL & Shingo Takag
Winner: Shingo via Pumping Bomber
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW: IWGP US Title Match: Juice Robinson (c) vs Chase Owens
Winner: Juice via Pulp Friction
Rating: ***
NJPW: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr vs Hiroshi Tanahashi & Will Ospreay
Winner: Taichi via Gedo Clutch
Rating: ***
NJPW: Mikey Nicholls, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto vs Hikuleo, Bad Luck Fale & Jay White
Winner: White via Blade Runner
Rating: ***

2. AJPW Dream Power Series: World Tag Team Championship Match: Strong BJ (c) vs Violence Giant

From Mathew’s Review:
Shuji and Daisuke would be the ones to start off our match here with an incredible display of power as the two were unable to budge and they would tag in their respective partners. Suwama and Yuji were both also very hard-hitting as they would now fight outside of the ring as these two teams are making it personal. Strong BJ has been doing great work during this rivalry with the Violence Giant and they would even give Suwama a big beatdown but the former ace would even try his best to fight them off, even when he was on the corner and would kick Yuji to show his fighting spirit. Suwama would hit a Dropkick to save himself for a little bit and would tag in Shuji for the hot tag and Shuji does indeed come in hot with his Lariats, knees, anything he can throw along with the kitchen sink.

Yuji would brawl with Shuji to deliver some chops while Shuji would give him a couple of forearms and a headbutt to try and daze him but Yuji is pumped up and slams him down with a few Lariats. Once Yuji would hit another Lariat to Shuji, he would kick out at one that time around before getting hit with another one with a two count. What’s it gonna take to take Shuji down for good? Yuji would get to the top rope to hit the Splash and it looks like this could be it but Suwama would break the pinfall to save his partner. Strong BJ would have them up for the Torture Racks but they would get down for Suwama to hit a Back Suplex while Shuji hits a Dragon Suplex. Shuji is alone with Yuji again and would hit another Dragon Suplex and a Running Knee to get him out for another two count, he was so close! Shuji would pick Yuji up real quick for the Fire Thunder and goes for the pin as Daisuke breaks the pinfall this time around as Suwama would get Daisuke out of the ring. Shuji knew what he had to do to try and end it as he hits the Giants Slam and pins Yuji to win back the titles! Hell of a match and definitely topped their previous encounter at BJW. I would love to see Violence Giant get a fair and dominating run with this reign, can’t wait to see where this goes now.

Winner: Ishikawa via Giant Slam

Rating: *****

1. NJPW New Japan Cup Finals: Kazuchika Okada vs SANADA

From My Analysis:
WOW! This was a fantastic match that felt like it told the story of their perception. SANADA was on the receiving end of Okada’s offense for the first about third of the match. SANADA hit a few desperation moves, Dropkicks, Misawa Feint into Cannonball off the apron, even a big Rolling Forearm to stop the Rolling Rainmaker at one point. Hell SANADA even pulled out the Tiger Suplex, so there was a lot of Misawa nods from SANADA’s offense, and I’m not sure if there’s a deeper story. SANADA and Okada took turns trying one another’s moves, but never successfully pulling off either. The crowd was solidly behind SANADA for most of the match, and it seemed to play well for Okada to pull out a few more arrogant moves, like a Draping DDT from the barrier. This was great, and SANADA wasn’t as desperate to throw Moonsaults at Okada, but he still wasn’t able to land one. SANADA did attempt a Shiranui (most likely to get in position for Skull End), but Okada stopped it, hit a Jumping Tombstone, and Okada lands the Rolling Rainmaker and classic Rainmaker to win the Cup! What I meant by a story of their perception, is that Okada was easily on top early in the match, and then SANADA proved himself over and over to be more of an equal than many probably assumed.

Winner: Okada via Rainmaker

Rating: *****

Thoughts:

Well I’m in a quandary this week. We have two 5 snowflake matches and they were both tremendous in different ways. Strong BJ vs Violence Giant was just a hard hitting, King’s Road, stiff match of big guys doing the best big guy stuff along with great story telling and selling. SANADA and Okada was more relatable for many, but the level of storytelling in that match was so damn great, along with a great wrestling match.

I kinda want to abstain from voting, but that’s a cop out. So I’ll vote for Strong BJ vs Violence Giant. Not only was it on par with Okada versus SANADA, but it did so as a tag team match. It’s harder to have a high quality tag match since it’s four people as opposed to two and you have to hope everyone stays on the same page. And boy did they!

This should be interesting to see who wins the week, since I’d say it would be the favorite to win the month. Well, Always Use Your Head, and join in with the fun and let your vote be heard!