With the debut week for NWA and New Japan’s show not being until Monday, we get another interesting week. What made the Top 5?

Now now, we know how this works by now. We had the September vote last week, so first we get to see what match got added to the Match of the Year Pool.

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
• August – NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff: WWE UK Championship: WALTER (c) vs Tyler Bate
• September – AJPW Summer Explosion Day 13: Triple Crown Championship: Kento Miyahara (c) vs Naoya Nomura

So we see the first entry from All Japan, which is nice to see the 90s power house get a dog in the fight this year. Kento Miyahara has done a great job at starting to re-establish the company, with the large shadow that New Japan has been casting last few years.

Anyway, last week was a close vote, but there was a decisive winner, NXT: NXT Championship: Matt Riddle vs Adam Cole, managed to become the first match in the October group.

Time to get to this week’s Top 5!

5. AEW Dynamite: Dustin Rhodes & Hangman Page vs Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Jericho taunts Hangman while bringing him up. Jericho slaps Hangman around more, but fans are rallying. Hangman gets mad and throws forearms on Jericho! Hangman runs, but Jericho elbows him down! LIONSAULT gets knees! Jericho and Hangman crawl, hot tag to Sammy and Sammy hoists Hangman up. Hangman elbows out and runs, but Sammy leaps over. Hangman follows Sammy to DISCUS LARIAT! Fans fire up as Sammy is practically dead on the mat. The standing count begins, but Hangman hot tags Dustin! Dustin has Sammy with big haymakers! Dustin whips and clobbers Sammy with a clothesline! Then another Rhodes uppercut, to an atomic drop! Dustin BOOTS Sammy, then gives Jericho the atomic drop! Dustin climbs, to CROSSBODY both Jericho and Sammy! Fans are fired up because The Natural’s still got it!

Dustin brings Sammy up to whip but Sammy kicks back. Sammy runs in but Dustin dumps him out. Hangman MOONSAULTS onto Sammy! Hangman feeds Sammy to Dustin but Hager CLOBBERS Hangman! Fans boo The Savage while Sammy crawls to tag Jericho! Jericho runs at Dustin but gets a kick, and DESTROYER! Cover, TWO!! Dustin keeps fired up and he goes at Jericho. Dustin sets up one leg, and then the other! Fans are ready for a classic to return, but Sammy runs in, only to get the spinning powerslam! The ref and Sammy argue, but Hager runs in to clobber Dustin now! Fans boo again, and Jericho is free of the corner. Jericho waits for Dustin to get up, to give him JUDAS EFFECT! Cover, The Inner Circle wins!

Winner: Jericho via Judas Effect

Rating: *** 1/2

4. NWA Powerrr: NWA World Championship: Tim Storm vs Nick Aldis (c)

From DeMarco’s Review:
The crowd popping for the bell ringing was a great touch–a happy accident. If Storm were to win, he’d be the oldest champion at 53, breaking his own record. Storm is an extremely lovable character for the NWA, even if he can’t challenge for the championship in the future. There’s a lot you can still do with him. There was little doubt Nick Aldis was retaining here, but that’s not a bad thing for the first episode.

The post-match promo was effective in putting Storm over as a great champion and competitor. I’m not totally sure if that was supposed to get sympathy for Kamille–but she comes across as someone you want to hate.

Winner: Aldis via Cradle

Rating: *** 1/2

3. ROH Glory by Honor NOLA: Jonathan Gresham vs Alex Shelley

I know what you’re thinking, I must be sick adding ROH matches two weeks in a row. But Gresham is a technical wizard and Shelley is an old favorite of mine from the TNA days. So does the old machine gun have enough left in the clip for the up and coming Octopus?

Compared to most of what goes on in ROH, Gresham is a breath of fresh air. Alex Shelley’s story is interesting since they said he came out of retirement because of the quality of opponents in ROH. It’s not secret that the IWC have generally low opinions of ROH currently.

Still, the match was really solid, but definitely took time to even get moving. We got a well wrestled technical match, but the lack of perceived heat and slower pace really hurt to a degree. Gresham focused Shelley’s arm, probably as a way to weaken Sliced Bread and open things for the Octopus Hold. Shelley didn’t go to the ropes that much, and when he did he hit a Crossbody that began locomotion cradle attempts. Shelley did hit an Avalanche Manhattan Drop as a counter to Gresham’s attempts, but it was mostly a grounded technical affair.

Gresham got progressively more frustrated, most notably when his La Magistral attempt didn’t work. This gave Shelley the opportunity to hook Gresham’s leg and arm as he took him down in a Crucifix pin position. Gresham was annoyed and went to get a chair, but Jay Lethal got involved and calmed down Gresham. So there may be a heel turn in the near future for The Octopus.

Winner: Shelley via Leg & Arm Trap Crucifix Pin

Rating: *** 3/4

Honorable Mentions:

NXT: North American Championship: Isaiah Scott vs Roderick Strong (c)
Winner: Strong via Stronghold
Rating: *** 1/4
IMPACT!: Jake Crist & Madman Fulton w/Dave Crist vs Tessa Blanchard & Daga
Winner: Tessa via Magnum
Rating: *** 1/4
NXT: NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Drew Gulak (c) vs Lio Rush
Winner: Rush via The Final Hour
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE Friday Night SmackDown: SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs Bayley
Winner: Bayley via Inside Cradle
Rating: ***
GCW No Sleep: GCW Heavyweight Championship: Matthew Justice vs Nick Gage (c)
Winner: Gage via Chairshot to the head
Rating: ***
WWE Raw: Viking Raiders vs Roode & Ziggler
Winner: Raiders via Viking Experience
Ratings: ***
IMPACT!: Shera & Desi Hit Squad (Rohit Raju & Raj Singh) w/Gama Singh vs The Rascalz (Trey, Dez & Wentz)
Winner: Shera via High Angle Falling Powerslam
Rating: ***

2. NXT: WWE UK Championship: WALTER (c) vs Kushida

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Both men back off, but Kushida winds up, but Walter dodges the Fast Ball! Walter half nelsons and pump handles, but Kushida fights out. Kushida waistlocks, Walter elbows out, but Kushida hook kicks! Kushida runs, into a BOOT! GERMAN SUPLEX! Walter drags Kushida, the half nelson and pump handle, BRIDGING SUPLEX! Cover, TWO!? Kushida lives and Walter can’t believe it! Fans duel and rally again as both men are down. Walter goes to the apron, and then heads for the corner. But Kushida revives to hop up and kick Walter down! Kushida climbs to join Walter, and he starts throwing forearms. Fans still duel as Kushida elbows away on Walter. Walter body shots and CHOPS Kushida! Kushida holds on and fires up, to go after the arm! Kushida wants the arm, SUPER ARMBAR TAKEDOWN!! HOVERBOARD!! Walter slips out but Kushida stomps the good arm! Walter endures, Full Sail is thunderous, and Kushida uses his chin to keep that arm trapped! But Walter’s long legs get the ROPEBREAK!

Kushida lets up at 4, and fans are loving this! Both men go to opposite ends, and then stand. Kushida sees an opening, and he dropkicks the bad arm! But Walter CHOPS with the good arm! Kushida comes back with kicks to Walter’s face! Kushida has the bad arm, but Walter pushes him off, to DROPKICK! Walter drags Kushida up, WALTER BOMB! Cover, TWO!?! Walter is getting TakeOver: Cardiff flashbacks, and fans say “This is Awesome!” Walter looms over Kushida and starts slapping away. He reels Kushida in, LARIAT! Cover, Walter wins!

Winner: WALTER via Short Arm Lariat

Rating: ****

1. AEW Dynamite: The Young Bucks vs Private Party

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
The Bucks are playing mean but fans are dueling. Matt taunts Quen, but Quen throws forearms. Matt clubs Quen down, then Nick comes in. The Bucks double suplex but Quen fights out! Quen DOUBLE PELES! Hot tag to Isaiah! Isaiah climbs up and leaps, double missile dropkick! And a kip-up! That back is hurting but Isaiah uses his arms to rally. He gets a double huricanrana! Fans fire up but time is running out. Isaiah throws forearms on Matt, then squeals, but Matt forearms him in the back! Matt sends Isaiah at Quen. Quen helps Isaiah stay in, but the “Silly String” DDT gets countered into a Northern Lights! And then another! Nick keeps Quen anchored as Matt keeps moving through Northern Lights! Quen gets in, Matt gets Private Party for a Double Northern Lights! Double cover, TWO!!

Fans are loving this as Matt drags Isaiah up. Matt puts one out, powerbomb lift, buckle enzuigiri bomb in the corner! Matt wants the Sharpshooter but Quen runs in. Nick sends Quen out to Penalty Kick! Isaiah suffers the Sharpshooter, but crawls all the way to the other side! Only for Nick to Facebuster him down! Nick moonsaults onto Quen, Matt sits DEEP! Isaiah powers out to the ropebreak!! Fans hope these teams “Fight Forever!” Quen tags in and Isaiah shoves Matt into Nick! Then POISON-RANA for Matt! Quen runs at Nick, FLYING STEINER INTO CUTTER! The Gin ‘n’ Juice!! Fans are thunderous as Quen goes back up top to aim at Matt. SHOOTING STAR! Cover, TWO!?! Matt survives but Quen is not deterred. Quen clubs away on Matt, throws knees, but Matt slides under to pump handle and pop into a gut wrench! Nick is in position but Isaiah trips him up! Quen victory rolls, PRIVATE PARTY WINS!?!

Winner: Private Party via Victory Roll

Rating: ****

Thoughts:

Well this isn’t an easy vote this week. Young Bucks vs Private Party, was the best match (as you can see from placement), but I don’t think it really carried the same weight as my pick. My vote, will go to, NWA World Championship: Tim Storm vs Nick Aldis (c), that match, that show, everything about the NWA presentation was great.

So I think the NWA just striking me in a way I haven’t felt about wrestling in a long time, is definitely why the Storm and Aldis match gets my vote. Make sure to voice your opinion and vote!