WWE has the most excitement I’ve seen among “smart” fans. How’d their week go? What made the Top 5?

Okay so it was mostly WWE, but it was still a jam packed week of action. Yes part of this is because I have really no interesting in the New Japan tag league, so I might’ve missed a few matches there.

Either way, match of the week last week was, NXT: Ladder Match: Io Shirai vs Mia Yim. Which was definitely a good foreshadowing towards this week and the impact both women had in storylines.

ANYWAY! Too much good stuff to stop at 5 this week. I think we’ve got a four way tie on 5th. So pick from these 8!

5t. NXT TakeOver WarGames: #1 Contender Triple Threat: Pete Dunne vs Killian Dain vs Damian Priest

From My Analysis:
Early on this is controlled by Priest and Dain, but Dunne fights things back to parody. They did have one corny triple jumping kick spot that looked idiotic, but aside from that everything else made sense. Dain pulled out the old Ulster Plantation, but only for a 2 count. Priest hit most of his offense, including extra references like the Razor’s Edge since he came out dressed in a combination of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Dunne hung on at the correct times, benefited from Killian Dain at two different times. One being a groggy Dain bouncing off the ropes to break up Priest’s pinfall and the second being Dain using Dunne as a weapon to try and break the Sleeper Hold…but Dunne just decided to pin the prone Priest, and picked up a very lucky three count. Great back and forth with moments for each man, and it ended it a clever enough way where Dunne just happened to be in the right spot…and put there by Dain.

Winner: Dunne via Opportunistic Pinfall

Rating: ****

5t. WWE Survivor Series: 5v5v5 Elimination Men’s Team Match: RAW (Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre & Randy Orton) vs SmackDown (Baron Corbin, Roman Reigns, Shorty G, Mustafa Ali & Braun Strowman) vs NXT (Tommaso Ciampa, WALTER, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle & Keith Lee)

From My Analysis:
This was well done. We saw dissension with Corbin just generally being an ass and pissing off his teammates, but there was no illogical stalling. We even got a short stint of Vince McMahon loving big sweaty men when Braun, Drew and WALTER were all in the ring together. Amusingly, the crowd hates Seth who did the most pandering coming out in Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls stylized gear. When it was down to Roman, Seth, Keith Lee and Ciampa, the boos were raucous, especially when they took out Ciampa. Yes I also realize that taking out Ciampa was because Roman broke up Ciampa’s Fairytale Ending attempt, but that makes sense. Roman and Seth having a weird connection in every match is a trope we’re supposed to expect by now. But the final showdown with Keith Lee and Roman was nicely done, and the crowd received it well. Keith missed a beautiful Jumping Round Kick, and hit a Spirit Bomb, but Roman kicked out. One missed Moonsault from Keith later, Spear and the Samoan Sex Machine is sole survivor on the most dysfunctional team. So we all know Corbin will take credit being a great Captain on Friday. But it was a damn good match.

Winner: Reigns Sole Survivor

Rating: ****

5t. NOAH RATEL’S Produce SHOW TIME: 8 Man Tag Elimination Match: Stinger (Atsushi Kotoge, Yoshinari Ogawa, Kotaro Suzuki & Chris Ridgeway) vs RATEL’S (HAYATA, YO-HEY, Daisuke Harada & Tadasuke)

From My Analysis:
Everyone pairs off into their singles match opponents, but Ogawa makes sure to keep YO-HEY in the middle of the ring and working that left knee. Ogawa and Suzuki take turns torturing YO-HEY with a variety of knee focused offense, and then we get a big melee. When the dust settles, Ogawa tries to go back to YO-HEY but he hits a desperation Headlock Takeover into Head and Leg cradle for the first elimination. Suzuki comes in and hits a Tiger Driver to finish off YO-HEY. Tadasuke then has a decent back and forth with Suzuki before catching him in a back hand spring and transitioning into a Gedo Clutch for a surprise victory. Ridgeway’s turn to try and take someone out, which provokes HAYATA. HAYATA and Ridgeway get one another over the top rope and fight on the apron. HAYATA Superkicks Rideway off the apron for the elimination, but Ridgeway grabs HAYATA’s foot and pulls him off the apron with an ankle lock, so they eliminate each other technically. Kotoge is left to fight both members of GHC Junior Tag champs and the man who took the IPW Junior belt off him a little more than a week ago. Kotoge manages to dump Tadasuke onto the apron over the top rope and Dropkicks Harada into him, eliminating Tadasuke. Last 8 minutes are a grudge rematch. Harada goes to try and finish this the same way he won the IPW title with the Avalanche German Suplex Hold, Kotoge fights back, two Killswitches later, Kotoge wins! So Stinger ruins the RATEL’S party by edging them out in the main event.

Winner: Kotoge via Killswitch

Rating: ****

5t. NXT TakeOver WarGames: Finn Balor vs Matt Riddle

From My Analysis:
Matt Riddle was even cockier than usual during this match. Not only did he hit a Spear and Jackhammer, as the shot to Goldberg. There was a very real moment when Riddle hit the Bro to Sleep when he could’ve won the match, but he tried to get cute and go for the Floating Bro…and that gave Balor the opening. Shotgun Dropkick into the corner, missed Coup de Grace, into a Bromission attempt, but Balor broke out of it. Balor said in an earlier promo that the Prince was back, so it was only fitting to win with the Blood Sunday. The Prince really is back boys and girls.

Winner: Balor via Bloody Sunday

Rating: ****

4. IMPACT!: #1 Contender Elimination Match: Moose vs Micheal Elgin vs Rich Swann vs Daga vs Brian Cage vs Tessa Blanchard

From My Analysis:
Now this was a long match since it was gauntlet style, but damn was this good. Daga and Moose started things off, and Daga more than held his own against an established talent. Moose caught him with a timely Go to Hell and then the Spear gave him the first win. Rich Swann was the next to come out, and this was a great back and forth match. Swann showed off his agility and manged to win with a Crucifix Rollup that he even added a Jacknife bridge for complete pinfall. Michael Elgin comes out next and this goes a decent amount of time. Swann got busted open, and Elgin hit a plethora of power moves. The finish became a little obvious since the referee kept getting in Elgin’s way, so he got frustrated and started throwing the referee around. So Elgin gets disqualified, but Elgin hits the Elgin Bomb for the visible 3 count and to make a point. Cage comes out taking initial pity on Swann’s condition, but Swann fires back with some strikes and we get a much more competitive match than Cage expected. Cage of course wins with Weapon X, but Swann did get some good time in there and hit a few Lethal Injections and 450 Splashes, so Cage was a little worn down. Tessa coming out last gave Brian a similar reaction where he didn’t really take it super seriously, but Tessa reminded him about how good their Wrestle Circus match was last year. The final leg went through 2 commercial breaks, but was still great stuff. The fact the Cage kicked out of the Buzzsaw DDT and Magnum, meant Tessa needed to pull off something new, and Cage looked to finish things with Weapon X again, but Tessa flipped it into a Code Red, and TESSA IS NUMBER 1 CONTENDER!

Winner: Tessa via Code Red

Rating: **** 1/2

3. NXT: The Revival vs Undisputed Era (Fish & O’Reilly)

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Kyle wrecks Dawson into railing and Dash into a post! Fans are dueling strong as ever as Kyle lines up a shot. Kyle knees Dash into the timekeeper! Kyle puts Dawson into the ring, then climbs up top. SUPER KNEE DROP on the back! Cover, TWO!?! Dawson survives that?! Fans hope these two “Fight Forever!” Kyle and Dawson are slow to stand, but Kyle knees hard. Ax and SMASH! Cover, TWO!! Dawson still lives and Kyle is frustrated further. Fans build to a rally as Kyle tags Fish in. They drag Dawson up, but Dawson fights out. Kyle and Dawson both evade strikes, but Dawson fakes Kyle out into a DDT! Fish knees Dawson now, but Dawson cradle counters, TWO! Fish kicks, punches, punches and kicks Dawson down!

Tag back to Kyle and reDRagon wants to finally end this. Dawson sees Dash crawling up, and Dawson tells reDRagon to “Kiss my ass!” He gets TOTAL ANNIHILATION! Cover, reDRagon wins!

Winner: UE via Total Annihilation

Rating: **** 1/2

Honorable Mentions:

AEW Dynamite: Jon Moxley vs Darby Allin
Winner: Moxley via Avalanche Paradigm Shift
Rating: *** 3/4
WWE Survivor Series: NXT Championship: Adam Cole (c) vs Pete Dunne
Winner: Cole via Last Shot
Rating: *** 3/4
NOAH RATEL’S SHOW TIME: YO-HEY vs Yoshinari Ogawa
Winner: Ogawa via Ref Stoppage
Rating: *** 3/4
NXT TakeOver WarGames: WarGames: Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai & Candice Lerae vs Shayna Baszler, Kay Lee Ray, Bianca Belair & Io Shirai
Winner: Ripley via Rip Tide
Rating: *** 3/4
NXT: Matt Riddle vs Ricochet
Winner: Riddle via Crucifix Pin
Rating: *** 1/2
WWE Survivor Series: Women’s Champion Triple Threat: Bayley vs Shayna Baszler vs Becky Lynch
Winner: Baszler via Kirifuda Clutch
Rating: *** 1/2
NOAH RATEL’S SHOW TIME: Atsushi Kotoge vs HAYATA
Winner: Time Limit Draw
Rating: *** 1/2
RAW: Drew McIntyre vs Kevin Owens
Winner: No Contest
Rating: *** 1/2
WWE Survivor Series: Tag Team Triple Threat: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) vs Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
Winner: Raiders via Viking Experience
Rating: *** 1/2
AEW Dynamite: Nick Jackson vs Fenix
Winner: Fenix via Fenix Driver
Rating: *** 1/4
NXT TakeOver WarGames: Isaiah Scott vs Angel Garza
Winner: Garza via Wing Clipper
Rating: *** 1/4
NOAH RATEL’S SHOW TIME: Chris Ridgeway vs Tadasuke
Winner: Ridgeway via Straightjacket Suplex Hold
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SmackDown: The New Day vs Heavy Machinery vs Undisputed Era
Winner: Roddy via Knee Strike
Rating: *** 1/4
RAW: Akira Tozawa vs Buddy Murphy
Winner: Murphy via Murphy’s Law
Rating: ***
NOAH RATEL’S SHOW TIME: Kotaro Suzuki vs Daisuke Harada
Winner: Harada via German Suplex Hold
Rating: ***
IMPACT!: The Rascalz (Dez & Wentz) vs Reno Scum vs Desi Hit Squad vs The Deaners
Winner: Rascalz via Hot Fire Flame
Rating: ***
NXT: Becky Lynch vs Rhea Ripley
Winner: No Contest
Rating: ***
AEW Dynamite: Hikaru Shida vs Britt Baker
Winner: Shida via 3 Count
Rating: ***

2. WWE Survivor Series: NA vs US vs IC Champion Triple Threat: Roderick Strong vs AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Shinsuke aims from the corner, YAO! But Styles uses Strong for a launching pad, Phenomenal Forearm! Strong back elbows Styles, Shinsuke enziguris Strong! Shinsuke kicks Styles but Strong boots and enziguris Shinsuke. Styles back hands and LARIATS Strong, Shinsuke hits a backstabber! Shinsuke has Strong, Inverted Exploder throws Strong onto Styles’ head! Shinsuke judo throws Strong and hits KINSHASA!! Cover, but Styles breaks it in time!! Sami is furious as this isn’t over yet! Strong flops out of the ring, Styles and Shinsuke flounder. Chicago figures they should just “Fight Forever!” Styles and Shinsuke stand, and Shinsuke says, “C’MON!!” They fire off fast hands! Strike fest meets Phenomenal Blitz, but Shinsuke hits the heel kick! Styles hits the PELE!

Shinsuke staggers back, Styles runs in but gets a boot. Shinsuke is up, FLYING KNEE! Shinsuke drags Styles up to the fireman’s carry, LANDSLIDE DRIVER! Cover, TWO! Sami is getting heated as Shinsuke aims from the corner again. Sami rallies the fans, but Styles rolls Shinsuke up! ONE, into the Clash, but Shinsuke fights out. Styles boots back, forearms again, and then springboards, PHENOMENAL FOREARM! But Strong tosses Styles out and covers Shinsuke, Strong wins!!

Winner: Strong via Opportunistic Pinfall

Rating: **** 1/2

1. NXT TakeOver WarGames: WarGames: Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong & Adam Cole) vs Keith Lee, Tommaso Ciampa, Dominik Dijakovic & Kevin Owens

From My Analysis:
So the NXT version of these have been pretty great, even though they aren’t totally the old school WarGames. Ciampa starts off the match to make a point, but Nigel McGuinness also makes a great point on commentary. Since all of his known teammates are bigger guys, he started to keep their gas tanks full. It’s little things like that, that make for great commentary when you add to the story being told.

There was a lot of great action in this match, even though Undisputed Era really lost steam with Cole’s entrance. Throwing in six tables and setting a table on the outside took a little while, but it all played into the finish, so it’s hard to stay mad at that. Cole being hoisted by his own petard set the Undisputed Era up for failure. When Kevin Owens was finally revealed as the secret team member for Ciampa, it already felt like UE was swimming against the current.

Great action, huge car crash style spots and just pure fun, it was a spectacle. Dijakovic Chokeslams Roddy through a table, Owens Frog Splashes Kyle through another, and Keith Lee with the Avalanche Spirit Bomb on Bobby Fish, lays him out for the rest of the match. Ciampa and Cole are on the cage, Ciampa then gets him in Air Raid Crash position and falls back through two tables. Ciampa is great at big ugly murder spots, the camera even zoomed in on Britt Baker looking very concerned. Amazing spectacle of an awesome match.

Winner: Ciampa via Air Raid Crash off the Cage

Rating: **** 3/4

Thoughts:

It’s been a while since there were so many ties it nearly looks like a Top 10, but WWE showed out this weekend. Impact snuck in with the great gauntlet match and NOAH had a fun elimination match of it’s own that had a self contained story in the show.

I’m going to pick the triple threat mid card titles match, just because I really enjoyed that quite a bit. So, Shinsuke vs AJ Styles vs Roddy Strong, wins the week for me.

Plenty of options this week, let your opinion be heard!