Opinion

Andrew’s Top 5 Matches: Week Ending 9/22/2019

With the NJPW Destruction Tour winding down this week, how much variety did we get in the Top 5?

Published

4 years ago

September 23, 2019

Andrew Balaz

With the NJPW Destruction Tour winding down this week, how much variety did we get in the Top 5?

So even though we had two really good WWE matches from Clash of Champions, they stole a few votes from one another and we had a clear winner. RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr, hard to argue with it, last week was just a tough week.

Now this week, we’ve got a healthy portion of New Japan, but there are some other companies that slipped in to fill out the Top 5.

Take a look…it’s in a book…great now I’ve got the Reading Rainbow theme stuck in my head. Just read the list.

5t. IMPACT!: LAX vs Willie Mack & Rich Swann

From My Analysis:
This was definitely more of a fitting way for Santana and Ortiz to head to AEW. The story was as simple as Mack and Swann wanting to give their friends a chance to go out on their own terms. There’s a lot of smiling and pandering to the crowd early, and then we got the break neck speed match that we expected. So many tandem moves from both teams, this match was just very entertaining. It was also nice to see that the referee was allowing them to play, without getting in the way with 5 counts and unnecessary rules lawyering. With the gravity of what this meant to Santana and Ortiz, the match was definitely an enjoyable watch. The face locker room clearing out to say goodbye to LAX was nice as well.

Winner: Mack via 6 Star Frog Splash

Rating: *** 3/4

5t. NXT: North American Championship: Velveteen Dream (c) vs Roderick Strong

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Strong goes at Dream but Dream fires haymakers back. Strong resists being brought back in, but Dream resists being brought out. They end up on the apron, Dream fireman’s carries but Strong slips out. Dream throws more hands but Strong KNEES hard! Dream is hanging in the ropes now, and fans declare “This is Wrestling!” Strong underhooks and drags Dream in, but Dream powers out to get away. Dream SLAPS Strong, but Strong KNEES back! Strong has Dream on the ropes, and traps him in them! Dream kicks but he can’t reach Strong. “You did this to yourself!” Strong goes side to side for endless elbows! Another backbreaker, to a TIGER BOMB! Cover, TWO!! Into Strong Hold! Dream endures being twisted as Strong sits down deep! Dream powers up, reaches, goes around the ring, screams in pain, but gets the ropebreak!!

Everyone is going nuts, and here come the rest of the Undisputed Era! Cole, O’Reilly and Fish are shouting at Strong to end this! Dream and Strong start throwing haymakers, and Dream rocks Strong over and over! Dream whips, back drops Strong, and sees he’s surrounded. Strong uses that distraction to throw Dream into the ref! Strong drags Dream up but Dream gets Strong, DREAM VALLEY DRIVER! Cole and O’Reilly get in, they get a SUPERKICK and a haymaker! Strong KNEES again! To END OF HEARTACHE!! Cover as the ref revives, TWO!?! And no one can believe it! Strong drags Dream up again, but Dream gets him again, DREAM VALLEY! But now Cole aims at Dream SUPERKICK! O’Reilly distracted the ref from seeing that! END OF HEARTACHE AGAIN! Cover, Strong wins!!

Winner: Strong via End of Heartache

Rating: *** 3/4

4. Stardom 5 Star GP Day 8: STARS (Riho, Mayu Iwatani, Tam Nakano & Arisa Hoshiki) vs Oedo Tai (Jamie Hayter, Andras Miyagi, Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire)

From My Analysis:
The evening show had a big faction fight, where Oedo Tai even brought back Michiko Omukai. Kagetsu referred to her as Oedo Tai’s Final Boss, since when she came out of retirement in 2017, she helped Konami and Yoko Bito beat Oedo Tai. But I guess since Oedo Tai is for kids, she’s had a change of heart and decided to come out with them (as well as what I assume are her children) and get a little involved.

The match starts off quickly with Oedo Tai going after the STARS members, and setting up situations for Michiko to get a few pot shots with a Kendo Stick. Kagetsu and Tam eventually remember it’s a wrestling match and not a Rugby scrum, so wrestling starts to happen. Hot damn, poor little Tam gets singled out for a good bit of this match. Oedo Tai take turns beating her up, Andras hits a few Scoop Slams, Sumire hits her…I’m gonna call it a Bronco Buster, but yeah…it’s very…unique to Sumire. Jamie was the last to get in on beating up Tam, but Tam finally shows some life. Granted, Oedo Tai sees that and wipes out the STARS members so she has no one to tag in.

Eventually Tam does tag in Riho, and the High Speed Champion starts to equalize the match, all 98 pounds of her. Riho runs a few of them over, and STARS gets something going. Arisa comes in for a kick war with Kagetsu, and then the wild aspects continue. After a little more brawling, all eight women get in the ring, STARS gets thrown into the middle, but Oedo Tai eats kicks from each girl. Then each STARS member dives out of the ring onto someone and the crowd loved every second of this.

Mayu throws in Andras, and it’s about time to put an end to this madness. Mayu hits her Moonsault and then Dragon Suplex Hold for the pinfall. Damn good multi-person match.

Winner: Mayu via Dragon Suplex Hold

Rating: ****

3. NJPW Destruction in Kobe: Shingo Takagi vs Hirooki Goto

From My Analysis:
Takagi got one of his largest Heavyweight victories over Goto in the G1, so Goto needs to try to get his win back. This was every bit the hard hitting power match we expected. They started off countering one another’s moves and then just hitting huge lariats and just being two angry bulls trying to kill each other. Goto pulled out everything, Ushigoroshi, Reverse GTR, Shouten Kai, Modified GTR…it was just an insane match. Shingo pulled off most of his moves as well, but never hit Last of the Dragon, so that move was protected nicely. I personally have a Shingo bias, but this was a great match and might finally help Goto become more than just a gatekeeper.

Winner: Goto via GTR

Rating: **** 1/4

Honorable Mentions:

NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima: Wrestle Kingdom Contract Rights: Kota Ibushi (c) vs KENTA
Winner: Ibushi via Kamigoye
Rating: *** 3/4
Stardom Blue Stars Day 6: Jungle Kyona vs Kagetsu
Winner: Kyona via Kinniku Buster
Rating: *** 1/2
WWE Raw: KOTR Finals: Chad Gable vs Baron Corbin
Winner: Corbin via End of Days
Rating: *** 1/2
NJPW Destruction in Kobe: SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI vs Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada & Robbie Eagles
Winner: SANADA via Skull End
Rating: *** 1/2
Stardom Blue Stars Day 8: Konami vs Andras Miyagi
Winner: Time Limit Draw
Rating: *** 1/2
NJPW Destruction in Kobe: Young Lion Cup: Karl Fredericks vs Shota Umino
Winner: Fredericks via Modified Liontamer
Rating: *** 1/4
NXT: #1 Contender Four Way: Candice Larae vs Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair vs Mia Yim
Winner: Candice via La Quebrada
Rating: *** 1/4
Stardom Blue Stars Day 7: Bea Priestley vs Kagetsu
Winner: Kagetsu via Death Valley Driver
Rating: *** 1/4
NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima: SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero
Winner: Okada via Rainmaker
Rating: *** 1/4
SmackDown Live: New Day vs The Revival & Randy Orton
Winner: Kofi via Trouble in Paradise
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE Raw: Bliss Cross vs Boss N Hug
Winner: Sasha via Bank Statement
Rating: ***
NJPW Destruction in Kobe: Will Ospreay, YOH, SHO, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii vs KENTA, Guerrillas of Destiny, Taiji Ishimori & ELP
Winner: YOH via Inside Cradle
Rating: ***
IMPACT!: Street Fight: oVe (Sami Callihan, Jake Crist, Dave Crist & Madman Fulton) vs RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Rhino & Tessa Blanchard
Winner: Tessa via Cobra Clutch w/Kendo Stick
Rating: ***
NJPW Destruction in Kobe: DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr & Minoru Suzuki vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask, Rocky Romero & Jyushin Thunder Liger
Winner: Suzuki-Gun via DQ
Rating: ***
WWE Raw: Cesaro vs Rey Mysterio
Winner: Mysterio via Code Red
Rating: ***
IMPACT!: The Rascalz (Dez, Wentz & Trey) vs Arez, Toxin & Australian Suicide
Winner: Rascalz via Hot Fire Flame
Rating: ***
NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima: Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI vs Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe & Hiroshi Tanahashi
Winner: Liger’s team via DQ
Rating: ***
NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima: Young Lion Cup: Clark Connors vs Yuya Uemura
Winner: Uemura via Boston Crab
Rating: ***

2. NJPW Destruction in Kobe: IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Jay White vs Tetsuya Naito (c)

From My Analysis:
This match lived up to the build. They played mind games, taunted and were just generally douchey to one another, but it was fantastic. Tons of mocking and talking, both men kept telling the other to ‘Smile’, the odd enjoyment and disdain of each other made for a fun dynamic. Naito pulled out a few unique applications of Combinacion Cabron, and did his Tornado DDT by kicking off of Gedo at one point. We saw the culmination of a story where if the situation was a little different, these two could be best friends. Gedo didn’t really get involved much, so that was nice, this was just a great match if you were following the feud a little. Also I did appreciate Jay White gingerly walking down the ramp, and taking a big step over the metal connector, as a reference to when YOSHI-HASHI face planted last year.

Winner: Jay via Blade Runner

Rating: **** 1/2

1. NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima: IWGP Juinor Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & ELP) (c) vs Birds of Prey (Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles)

From My Analysis:
Words do tend to fail a little bit to encapsulate what happened in this match. The main thread was that Ospreay and Eagles both have issues mainly with ELP. ELP instigated things beautifully and of course there were a ton of high flying spots, but damn it did tell a great story.

Eagles left Bullet Club, so BC wanted to prove it was the wrong call. Birds of Prey pulled off a tandem flip out of the powerbomb, they followed it up with a tandem Tope con Hilos and just a lot good work. Eagles still maintained his Sniper gimmick by focusing on Taiji’s leg as set up for the Ron Miller Special. But ELP managed to break up the hold and throw caution to the wind by hitting a Top Rope Moonsault over the first barricade and into the first row of fans just to try and take Ospreay out of the equation. This really was the Phantasmo show, not to say Taiji didn’t hold his own and isn’t still one of the best Juniors in wrestling today…but the story was all ELP. Phantasmo did just enough to wipe out Ospreay and a combination of finishers from Taiji and ELP kept the belts in Bullet Club’s possession. A damn crazy match.

Winner: ELP via Bloody Cross/CR2 combo

Rating: **** 1/2

Thoughts:

Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed the New Japan Destruction tour, for the first time in a couple years. It’s usually generally considered the reset point from the G1 Climax to get us to Wrestle Kingdom, and there’s usually a disappointing show, but not this year!

Liger’s reveal of Kishin Liger has eclipsed everything else about the tour, but when it comes down to the best match…I was just tickled at every interaction between Naito and Jay. The match had a lot of personality and was just a blast to watch how the whole thing built up. But yeah, Tetsuya Naito vs Jay White, gets my vote for the week.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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(NOAH) WEEKLY NEWSLETTER VOL.53 ~ 22ND SEPTEMBER 2019

Opinion

Greg DeMarco’s Good, Bad, & Ugly: WWE Smackdown On FOX (November 3, 2023)

It’s the go-home show for WWE Crown Jewel, and Smackdown is in full force! As is Greg’s Good, Bad, & Ugly review!

Published

4 weeks ago

November 4, 2023

Greg DeMarco

It’s the go-home show for WWE Crown Jewel, and Smackdown is in full force! As is Greg’s Good, Bad, & Ugly review!

WWE Smackdown On FOX sends us home for the Crown Jewel premium live event, so it has to be strong. But is it? Maybe it’s Good. Possibly it’s Bad? I sure hope it isn’t Ugly.

Let’s find out!

If you haven’t checked out Mitchell’s Results & Review for this episode of Smackdown, go and check it out now!

Good

Roman Reigns & LA Knight In Ring Promo – Last week LA Knight got the better of Roman, so it made sense for Roman to get it all back this week. And he did just that. “Redneck Cosplay of my cousin” was a fantastic line from Roman Reigns, but “I ain’t here to finish something” from LA Knight got a bigger reaction from me. Roman calling himself the megastar was also a phenomenal line. Good stuff all around.
Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory – Kevin Patrick keeping “The 150 million hit man” schtick going for Austin Theory is so great. Milk that for all it’s worth! “What is your issue with Kevin Owens’ face?” “LOOK AT IT, MAN!” Absolutely brilliant shit. “How’s that feel, idiot?” Grayson Waller should be on commentary every week, for every match. And this match, by the way, was really good. Austin Theory has settled into his current role, showing he understands the WWE cycle. And Owens is Owens.
Backstage Series Of Events – We had the Bianca Belair interview where she was attacked by Damage Ctrl, followed by The Street Profits & Bobby Lashley running into Logan Paul and then B-Fab. Flowed well, no issues for me.
Chelsea Green & Piper Niven vs. Shotzi Blackheart & Charlotte Flair – No surprise that Charlotte Flair was the partner, and no surprise that Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn made an appearance. This was a perfectly fine TV match–didn’t set the world on fire, but also wasn’t Bad or Ugly. This was a step in this story, and an effective one.
The Brawling Brutes vs. Pretty Deadly in a Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook! – Shout out to Sheamus, whose return I look forward to seeing. With Ridge really coming into his own, we’re to the point where all four of these guys range from good to great to fantastic on any given night. Putting Pretty Deadly into any “manly fight” is always guaranteed entertainment. Really, Pretty Deadly in anything is typically guaranteed entertainment. Pretty Deadly picking up the win was not a shock, although I’d have loved to see Butch and Ridge Holland pick up a win here. Given the rules (or lack thereof) of this match, Pretty Deadly basically won clean here.
Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul Crown Jewel Weigh-In – A very effective way to pretape something, which saves time as part of a double taping. It was essentially a go home promo, but done in a different way. I liked it. It also smoothly transitions into the rundown of the card by the commentary team, which I always appreciate.
Bianca Belair vs. Bayley – If you know me, you know that Bianca can be hit or miss for me. She can’t “work with anyone,” but she can definitely work with Bayley. Bayley, of course, is money with anything she does. Both women delivered a main event quality match, and no one should complain that Bianca Belair won. She’s challenging for the Women’s Championship in less than 24 canon hours, so she needs to win. Bayley is a made woman, losing here doesn’t hurt her one bit.
“Just Enough Nick” Nick Aldis Usage – Triple H has done an amazing job of establishing Nick Aldis. Three weeks in and he already “belongs.” Much of that is attributed to how Aldis carries himself. But they are also using him to the right degree. It’s not too much, but it’s also not too little. Adam Pearce could miss two weeks of Raw and when he shows back up, it all makes sense. For Aldis, he needs to be very present, but not overbearing or “shoved down our throats.” They have the right balance.

BAD

Solo Sikoa & John Cena In Ring Promo – John Cena, lost voice and all, completely buries Solo Sikoa. He “cooks” Solo, as promised. And, as Cena does, he makes Solo look like crap. Bargain Basement Tazz Rip Off? C’mon man, you’re better than that. But here’s the real problem: what happens if Solo loses? Cena made him look like a loser, and then proves that he is? Solo has to win this match. If he doesn’t, and Cena is gone, then Solo is left out in the cold. And you don’t want to do that to Solo Sikoa at this point of his career.

UGLY

Misstep for Theory – Referencing Halloween as if it hadn’t already happened. You can edit this episode–c’mon, man!
Kevin Owens’ Crotch Chop – C’mon, man! We’re better than crotch chops in 2023.

The Verdict

Good – 8
Bad – 1
Ugly – 2

In all honesty this was a damn good show. Milwaukee showed out considering they’d already seen 2 hours of Smackdown before this was taped. Good on them, and good on WWE for a great go home show for Crown Jewel.

Interesting of note – the pictures for this show that are posted to the WWE website are uploaded in the order the matches and segments were recorded, not the order in which they aired. Just a little tidbit that I found interesting.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

News

Greg DeMarco’s Wrestling Ratings Report: Monday Night Raw (10/30/2023) & WWE NXT (10/31/2023)

Greg DeMarco takes a look at your Monday and Tuesday night TV ratings. What do they mean? Do they matter?

Published

1 month ago

November 2, 2023

Greg DeMarco

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 Carmelo Hayes Ilja Dragunov

Greg DeMarco takes a look at your Monday and Tuesday night TV ratings. What do they mean? Do they matter?

Settle in for a look at this week’s ratings for WWE Monday Night Raw and WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2! Both were up against some stiff competition–let’s see how they fared!

WWE Monday Night Raw (October 30, 2023)

Hour #1 – 1.466 million viewers, .44 demo rating, #6 for the night on cable
Hour #2 – 1.450 million viewers, .46 demo rating #5 for the night on cable
Hour #3 – 1.256 million viewers, .39 demo rating, #8 for the night on cable

WWE Monday Night Raw for October 30, 2023 faced some stiff competition on Monday night. You had Monday Night Football as normal–which aired on both ESPN and ABC–along with the usual peripheral shows (Monday Night Football Postgame, Monday Night Football Kickoff, SportsCenter, and the Monday Night Countdown, which factored into the Top 10). 6.851 million people watched Monday Night Football on ESPN, a number that more than doubles when you factor in ABC.

What does it all mean? It means that outside of Monday Night Football–on cable–WWE Monday Night Raw was the top rated show. If you take away all things NFL, Raw finishes #1, #2, and #3 for the night. Viewership did drop off for our 3, but that’s the 10 PM hour that sees kids go to bed and people checking on the Monday Night Football and World Series games.

Speaking of which, that’s another factor to consider–the World Series! 8.126 million people watched the World Series on FOX (not really that good), with another 8.356 million watching Monday Night Football on ABC (yes, more than the World Series) for a decent-at-best Lions vs Raiders match-up.

In summary, it was another successful night for WWE Monday Night Raw, which was the go-home edition of the program. You can check out my Good Bad & Ugly look at Monday’s Raw, where I gave the show an overall “Good” rating. Haven’t watched yet? Give Mitchell’s live coverage a read.

Listen to this week’s edition of Bandwagon Nerds!

WWE NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 (October 31, 2023)

Entire Broadcast – 674 thousand viewers, .20 demo rating, #6 for the night on cable

WWE NXT (Halloween Havoc Night 2) for October 31, 2023, had to deal with a myriad of external factors this week. First is the most obvious–it was Halloween! Many people had plans, Trick-Or-Treat escapades and more. That right there will be a detriment to any ratings results. Add in two live NBA games, each drawing over a million viewers for TNT. Combine it all together and WWE NXT was the top rated program that wasn’t sports programming on TNT or ESPN. Hell, the entire Top 12 consisted of ESPN and TNT sports programming, plus NXT.

It’s easy to call this a failure since viewership was lost week over week. But that’s very shortsighted. The fact remains that NXT was among the most watched programming for the night, holding its own against live sports and sports-peripheral programming. If you’re WWE and USA Network, you’re nothing but happy with these results.

NXT, of course, featured the second week of Halloween Havoc, headlined by Ilja Dragunov defending the NXT Championship against Carmelo Hayes in the third match of their trilogy. Along with that you had The Creed Brothers in a Tables, Ladders, and Scares (Chairs) match with Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo, Lola Vice vs. Kelani Jordan in the finals of the Women’s Breakout Tournament, and much more.

I’d call the Tuesday program a ratings success. My Good, Bad, & Ugly review of NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 is available here, where I called it “Good” overall. If you haven’t seen the show yet, check out Mitchell’s play-by-play.

As the weeks roll on, I will compile some historical data and look more about week-over-week (and beyond) patterns in all of my ratings reports.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!