Andrew’s Top Matches: Week Ending 8/11/2019

Action packed weekend! WWE, NXT and G1 Climax…so we got some good stuff. Right?

So we know how this works by now. First I update the MoTY pool, and then we reveal the week winner. I will say at least we have more than just G1 Climax matches.

Time to get the revelations out of the way.

Updated Match of the Year Pool:

• January – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
• February – NXT Halftime Heat: Ricochet, Aleister Black & Velveteen Dream vs Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
• March – Stardom: Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Jungle Kyona vs Momo Watanabe (c)
• April – WrestleMania 35: WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan (c)
• May – AEW Double or Nothing: Cody Rhodes vs Dustin Rhodes
• June – NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals Day: BOSJ 26 Finals: Shingo Takagi vs Will Ospreay
• July – NJPW G1 Climax Night 6: Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii

Our first match of the August pool is, NJPW G1 Climax 29 Night 13, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi. Well with the G1 finals being on Monday (so for next week’s matches), it’s safe to assume we’ll probably see some more of these.

Now on to this week’s matches!

5t. WWE SummerSlam: WWE United States Championship: Ricochet vs AJ Styles (c)

Styles worked over Ricochet’s knee and Ricochet sold the injury well. We saw a slower paced match than many probably expected from the two, but it was still a damn good match. Anderson and Gallows didn’t really interfere until the last minute or so, and they played an important role in distracting Ricochet, but it didn’t really detract. Ricochet went for a Phoenix Splash that AJ Styles caught Ricochet and hits the Styles Clash for the pinfall. Damn solid match.

Winner: Styles via Styles Clash

Rating: **** 1/4

5t. NXT Takeover Toronto: Io Shirai vs Candice LaRae

Io’s evil transformation seems to suit her very well. She has very similar body language to that of Akira Hokuto, and Candice looking for a modicum of payback after the betrayal is a nice story. The match was hard hitting, paced well, Candice hit some solid moves and had great near falls. Candice kicking out of the Moonsault caused a lot of conflict and Io emotes these well. Her ring psychology transcends a language barrier.  Damn good match.

Winner: Shirai via Modified Koji Clutch

Rating: **** 1/4

4. NJPW G1 Climax Night 17: A Block: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Will Ospreay

Even partially crippled, Tanahashi still has a tendency to put on good matches against smaller opponents. Tanahashi pulled out a few technical tricks we haven’t seen in a long time as long as numerous modified Slingblade counters. This was just a really well wrestled match with a great story of the Next Generation trying to prove themselves and unseat the older generation. Generational wars are very big in Japanese wrestling and we even saw a bit of it when Shinsuke Nakamura started his King of Strong Style gimmick.

Winner: Ospreay via Stormbreaker

Rating: **** 1/2

3. NXT Takeover Toronto: North American Championship: Velveteen Dream(c) vs Pete Dunne vs Roderick Strong

This was a great match. Dunne and Dream teamed up on Strong early, they had a little flair between the two when Dream did his Rick Rude hip swivel, and then it was more wide open. Everything about this match was hard hitting, interesting, built off of past events and the finish was a shock. After Strong hits End of Heartache, we get a 1 count, and then Dream crashes down and steals the 3. The initial camera angle made it look like a steal, but replays showed it to be the Purple Rainmaker. Everything was very well executed with this match.

Winner: Dream via Purple Rainmaker

Rating: **** 1/2

Honorable Mentions:

NJPW G1 Climax Night 18: B Block: Tomohiro Ishii vs Taichi
Winner: Taichi via Black Mephisto
Rating: **** 1/4
NJPW G1 Climax Night 17: A Block: Zack Sabre Jr vs KENTA
Winner: Sabre via Jim Break Special
Rating: **** 1/4
NJPW G1 Climax Night 15: A Block: Kota Ibushi vs Zack Sabre Jr
Winner: Ibushi via Kamigoye
Rating: ****
NJPW G1 Climax Night 18: B Block: Shingo Takagi vs Hirooki Goto
Winner: Takagi via Last of the Dragon
Rating: ****
Stardom 8.10.2019: Wonder of Stardom Championship: Arisa Hoshiki (c) vs Jungle Kyona
Winner: Arisa via Brazilian Kick
Rating: ****
NXT Toronto: NXT Championship 2 out 3 Falls: Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole (c)
Winner: Cole 2-1
Rating: ****
NJPW G1 Climax Night 16: B Block: Jay White vs Juice Robinson
Winner: White via TTO
Rating: ****
NJPW G1 Climax Night 18: B Block: Tetsuya Naito vs Jay White
Winner: White via Blade Runner
Rating: ****
NJPW G1 Climax Night 15: A Block: SANADA vs Lance Archer
Winner: SANADA via Japanese Leg Clutch
Rating: *** 3/4
NJPW G1 Climax Night 15: A Block: EVIL vs Kazuchika Okada
Winner: Okada via Rainmaker
Rating: *** 3/4
IMPACT! Impact World Tag Team Championship Match: The North (c) vs Daga & Ortiz
Winner: The North via Torture Rack/Spine Buster Combo
Rating: *** 1/2
IMPACT!: X Division Championship Match: Jake Crist (c) vs Aiden Prince
Winner: Crist via Super Cutter
Rating: *** 1/2
NJPW G1 Climax Night 15: A Block: KENTA vs Will Ospreay
Winner: Ospreay via Stormbreaker
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SummerSlam: WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs Ember Moon
Winner: Bayley via Avalanche Bayley to Belly
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW G1 Climax Night 18: Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI & Kazuchika Okada vs Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki
Winner: Tanahashi via Cross Legged Cradle
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW G1 Climax Night 17: A Block: EVIL vs Lance Archer
Winner: Archer via EBD Claw Hold
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SummerSlam: WWE Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs Seth Rollins
Winner: Rollins via Stomp
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW G1 Climax Night 16: B Block: Tetsuya Naito vs Jeff Cobb
Winner: Naito via Destino
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SummerSlam: Bray Wyatt vs Finn Balor
Winner: Wyatt via Mandible Claw
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax Night 16: B Block: Jon Moxley vs Hirooki Goto
Winner: Goto via GTR
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax Night 17: Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto
Winner: Suzuki via Gotch Style Piledriver
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax Night 18: Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji
Winner: Narita via Boston Crab
Rating: ***
WWE SummerSlam: WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Oney Lorcan vs Drew Gulak(c)
Winner: Gulak via Cyclone Crash
Rating: ***
WWE SummerSlam: WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston (c) vs Randy Orton
Winner: Double Count Out
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax Night 15: Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishii & Ren Narita vs Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI
Winner: BUSHI via MX
Rating: ***
NXT Toronto: NXT Tag Team Titles: Street Profits(c) vs Undisputed Era
Winner: Ford via Frog Splash
Rating: ***
WWE SummerSlam: If Shane Wins Kevin Quits WWE: Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon
Winner: Owens via Stunner
Rating: ***
NJPW G1 Climax Night 16: Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr & Lance Archer vs KENTA, Clark Connors & Karl Fredericks
Winner: Suzuki via Gotch Style Piledriver
Rating: ***
WWE SummerSlam: Charlotte Flair vs Trish Stratus
Winner: Flair via Figure Eight
Rating: ***

2. NJPW G1 Climax Night 17: A Block: Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi

So after being ahead the entire tournament, Ibushi was the only one with a prayer to steal the block away from Okada. This was everything and more that you would expect from the two. Ibushi pulled out all his tricks, and when he attempted the Bom-Ba-Ye Okada was all too familiar with Nakamura’s move. Definitely one of the best matches of the tournament. A must watch for everyone.

Winner: Ibushi via Kamigoye

Rating: *****

1. NJPW G1 Climax Night 16: B Block: Shingo Takagi vs Tomohiro Ishii

Wow, Jesus…wow. They’ve both been exceptional all tournament, and this was a hell of a bout. Even after losing, Ishii crawls to Takagi and they still keep clawing. This will be a NEVER Openweight match that everyone should look forward to. Just amazing, action never stopped, rarely slowed, these two just tried to reach down one another’s throats and rip out the other’s soul. Ishii is now eliminated, but that was a hell of a match.

Winner: Takagi via Last of the Dragon

Rating: *****

Thoughts:

Sometimes I pick a dark horse just to mix things up, but damn the Takagi vs Ishii match was amazing. So I rated it number 1, and I can’t pick another match on this list.

Aside from that, hopefully everyone finds something they’ve seen on this list. Would be the first time in a couple week’s where the more household names show up.