Reverse Hipster's What Mattered
7. (Impact) Morrissey vs. Moose
Formerly Big Cass in WWE, it truly looks like W. Morrissey is taking the next steps in Impact. Morrissey looks in his element and dominant. He dominated Brian Myers and the learning tree in a no DQ match, overcoming a 3-1 disadvantage. However, the match was honestly just a setup to the real main course, which was the beatdown after the match. Moose, the Impact champion, picked his spot and then pulled off a cold-blooded beatdown of Morrissey as revenge for Morrissey attacking him last week. I don't know much about Moose, but I want to see this clash between the Morrissey match and the beat down.
6. (Impact) Inspiration Skit
I love the IInspiration skits. Those jezebels trying to seduce Kaleb is pretty entertaining. This week, Kaleb got busted taking photos of the IInspiration by the tag team he works for. First off, who can blame him? Second, I like the chemistry IInspiration has with Kaleb, and they are funny together. I hope this isn't just a mind game, and they do steal Kaleb.
5. (AEW, Rampage) Hook
I really enjoyed Hook's squash match this week. Several small tweaks made a huge difference. Facing one of QT's protégé made the match feel more important, like there was a point. Also, Hook did a good job sticking to his tweener role. He didn't play to the fans like a babyface, but didn't spite them or act deliberately heelish. He was just cool. Also, Hook made sure to look impressive in between the ropes throughout the course of the match. Hook nailed it.
4. (WWE, SmackDown) Dungeon Style
I expected Natalya and Aliyah to have like a pre-recorded match like Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock, but that's not how the match went. Still putting my expectations aside, I think Aliyah and Natalya smashed it. Aliyah looked great in this match and showed she can really wrestle, which was probably the point. Also, Natalya won the match outright, which established her credibility in this feud and gave Aliyah something to aspire to. Aliyah has found ways to win, but can she beat Natalya straight up? Also, Xia Li saved Aliyah after the match, so it will be interesting to see what part she plays in this.
3. (AEW, Rampage) TAG Champs
The Gunn Club shocked me. Their match with the tag champs was way better than I expected. I mean, let's be honest, the Gunn Club was never going to beat Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus, but they did their job and made me believe they could. When they distracted the refs and hit Jungle Boy with the title for a split second, I thought they would win. Of course, they didn't, but both teams were solid all match. The Gunn Club did a great job beating down and separating Jungle Boy from his partner, and Luchasaurus did a great job with the hot tag. Also, as a cherry on top, Jungle Boy finished the match with a Killswitch.
2. (Impact) Walking Weapon
I didn't know anything about the Walking Weapon before his segment and match on Impact this week. He got over big time with me. He seemed to have some kind of hit out on him, and Big Kon (formerly Konnor in WWE) came out to get in the Walking Weapon's way. However, Josh Alexander, the Walking Weapon, crushed Big Kon with an ankle lock in street clothes, and he looked like a machine. Then, he proceeded to cut an impassioned promo to management about how he was done with corporate red tape and wanted to be an Impact champion more than anything. Ultimately, the maybe-heel authority figure sent him home and took him out of the Honor No More match after Alexander threatened to leave the company if he didn't get his Impact title match. He got over with me, but this story seems pretty real because Alexander tweeted out that his visa expired.
1. (WWE, SmackDown) Naomi
The highest high in wrestling this weekend was Naomi. Sonya tried to fine Ronda 100k, but that proposal was rejected live by Vince McMahon, who also punished Sonya by giving Naomi a title match and saying Sonya isn't allowed to touch Naomi. Then, Naomi came out and pointed out that she wasn't restricted at all. After that, she slapped the shit out of Sonya, and it was glorious. Finally, Naomi had her WWE championship match, and she came up short. Charlotte retained. However, we knew that was going to happen. They are already advertising Ronda vs. Charlotte. The real story was how great Naomi looked. She killed this match. She did everything she possibly could besides winning the damn match.
Rob's What Mattered
5. Finding a Replacement for Josh Alexander, Impact Wrestling
I don't know much about Josh Alexander's story, but Impact Wrestling did a great job executing the "finding a new partner" trope. Alexander's promo with Scott D'Amore to open the night was gripping, and it gave a story throughout the night to find out who was going to be on Team Impact.
4. Bullet Club Promo, Impact Wrestling
Impact did a great job telling a lot of story in one promo segment here. Eric Young and Jay White built tension, and Guerrillas of Destiny traded real-life jabs with Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. It would have been really easy for Impact to just promote these as new matches with names that most fans know, so I love that they tried to build even more animosity in these feuds.
3. Impact Women's Wrestling, Impact Wrestling
Deonna Purrazzo and Santana Garrett had a good match that makes you wonder why WWE didn't fight harder to keep either of the wrestlers. Mickie James and Chelsea Green told the story of two friends trying to have a fair, competitive match before being interrupted by Tasha Steelz. Regardless of who wins the title at Impact's next PPV, a story between James and Green should be on the horizon for Impact Wrestling. Impact's Women's Division is coming together as one of its underrated assets in the fight for relevancy in the modern wrestling era.
2. Naomi, WWE SmackDown
Naomi has been on WWE TV for almost 12 years, and she can still go out and do that. In her match with Charlotte Flair, she won the crowd over, got them to root unabashedly for her, and even fooled them on some false finish spots. In my mind, it's evidence that Naomi should be rewarded, put in more spots like this, and given a chance to be the champion of the division in 2022.
1. The Young Bucks vs. Rappongi Vice, AEW Rampage
One of my favorite things about AEW is that any seemingly thrown-together tag match can turn into this. The Young Bucks are so good they can turn any match into something meaningful with memorable high spots. Rappongi Vice has great chemistry with them, and they impressed me with their moves too. Rampage opened with the best match of these shows for me.
Reverse Hipster's What Didn't Matter
3. (Impact) Mickie vs. Chelsea
I was looking forward to this match, and I like all the women involved, especially Tasha Steelz. However, I hated the direction of the match. Chelsea hit Mickie with Tasha Steelz's move, and she got so offended that she ran and interfered by throwing trash at Chelsea. I get that Impact wanted to get Tasha some heel heat and refocus on her. However, if you are going to do that finish, you need to give Chelsea and Mickie more time to really build up a classic and have Tasha ruin that. As it stands, she ruined a decent match, but if you skipped this episode of Impact, did you miss a significant part of the story or an incredible match?
2. (AEW, Rampage) Best Friends vs. Super Clique
Trent and Rocky lost a good match against the Young Bucks, but they have had different variations of this match for weeks. These two factions need to move on from each other. Hopefully, the post-match attack from Jay White against Trent will pull these factions apart.
1. (WWE, SmackDown) SmackDown Mid-card
The SmackDown mid-card is a mess. The IC Championship feels irrelevant, and a podcast segment where the champion wasn't even the main feature didn't help. Corbin beating Cesaro was pretty disappointing. Honestly, it's hard to care when both guys are ice cold. Madcap Moss shouldn't still be feuding with Drew McIntyre. Drew is bigger than this feud. Honestly, after giving Madcap a black eye and showing up to his doctor's visit, and intimidating him into fighting through his injuries, Drew looks like a bully. So, Drew is going to fight a weaker comprised opponent he already beat. Why should I be rooting for Drew, and why should I be looking forward to this?
Rob's What Didn't Matter
3. Rampage Regulars, AEW Rampage
Maybe this is a weird thing to complain about, but I don't love that Rampage seems to have become the de facto home for certain acts instead of on the longer Dynamite. Acts like Adam Cole, Daniel Bryan, Hook, and Jurassic Express seem to have all or most of their matches on Rampage. My complaint is that it makes it feel like a segregated entity from Dynamite and takes away from the immersion that AEW is one cohesive universe.
2. Aliyah vs. Natalya, WWE SmackDown
Whatever WWE tries, they can't seem to get this right. I love that they are focusing on other women in the division, but this feud continues to be built on nothing but Natalya's impromptu World Record gimmick, and they have fought three weeks in a row now. This was supposed to be the payoff match of the feud, with a dungeon match gimmick that completely disappeared. On top of that, Natalya won, killing Aliyah's push, but Natalya still continues to be treated as a non-threat whenever she gets an opportunity at the top of the division. This simply didn't help anyone.
1. Most of SmackDown, WWE SmackDown
In addition to the above match, there wasn't much to love about SmackDown. Even our character of the year, Sami Zayn, wasn't enough to save an all-over-the-place InZayn segment with Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs. Happy Corbin beat Cesaro for no reason, and Madcap Moss continued his mediocre feud with Drew McIntyre. Even after the main event, a career effort from Naomi was pushed aside instead of continuing the Sonya Deville storyline and building mild enthusiasm for the Ronda Rousey/Charlotte Flair feud.
Find out who had the overall best show in the final thoughts section below.
Fantasy Booking Day 1
Join Patreon (Here) and get access to exclusive content, including Fantasy bookings. My Day 1 booking just dropped on Patreon. The story picks up right after Survivor Series and goes to Day 1, and focuses on the Bloodline and the SmackDown Women's Tag Titles. This is a long running storyline that will continue to WrestleMania with new entries each month.
Rob's Final Thoughts
I didn't think any of these shows were excellent, but I have to give it to Impact Wrestling this week. Aside from the main event, SmackDown was pretty much entirely skippable. Rampage had my favorite match of the three to open, but nothing got near that level again. Approaching their PPV show, Impact did a lot of storytelling in just two hours and managed to have a few good, not great, matches.
Reverse Hipster's Final Thoughts
It's tough to pick a winner this week. None of these shows were incredible. SmackDown had the highest high, which should have secured its victory for the week. However, the rest of the SmackDown dropped the ball. Rampage has some good match quality, but it still feels like a B show. Impact was the most solid show with the best quality overall. Impact wins its second week in a row.