Rob’s Highlights (AEW/Impact)
5. Trinity vs. Sonny Kiss, Impact Wrestling
It was awesome to see Sonny Kiss resurface after leaving AEW earlier this year. Trinity is putting together a memorable championship run on the most underrated women’s division in wrestling. Trinity beat Kiss to keep her run going.
4. Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland, AEW Dynamite
A contract signing is usually a cliche for the go-home show, but Adam Page and Swerve Strickland used this time for personal attacks to up the stakes even further for their Texas Death Match. They have earned a point where this is one of the most anticipated matches on the card, a personal rivalry that will likely pay off with blood.
3. Dax Harwood vs. Rush, AEW Collision
I am interested in a Dax Harwood singles run after seeing what he can do in his previous singles matches on AEW. This match was no exception- Rush is typically underutilized, and a tag team run with La Faccion Ingovernable could be exactly what he needs to break out in a dense AEW roster. The match ended in a no-contest after interference from Ricky Starks and Big Bill, but it was a great promotion of what could be in the Full Gear Fatal Four Way Tag Team Ladder Match.
2. Trent Beretta vs. Penta vs. Brian Cage vs. Komander, AEW Collision
Fans of the blog know I am a sucker for a match with built in stakes. Putting four great wrestlers in the ring is great, but four great wrestlers fighting for a TNT Championship shot later in the night is even better. These are four of AEW’s best that are typically forgotten about or underutilized, and this is exactly the kind of spot they should be in. They put together some crazy spots that required a lot of coordination and timing. Trent Beretta pulled out the win in a great moment for the AEW original, even if it was just to lose to Christian Cage on Rampage.
1. Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander, Impact Wrestling
This is a contender for television match of the year. An interesting clash of styles between Will Ospreay and Josh Alexander set up insane sequences throughout the match. Ospreay surprisingly ended up picking up the win against the face of Impact on its weekly show. Ospreay continues a strange bid for wrestler of the year which has seen him have match of the year candidates on three different wrestling brands, one of which we don’t even regularly review. Even in defeat, this felt like the moment to me that Alexander was truly back on Impact to set up more show stealing matches in the future. After seeing this match, independent wrestlers from everywhere should want to fight Alexander on Impact.
Reverse Hipster's Highlights
3. Good For You, Teagan Beats Piper
Teagan Nox is a talented wrestler; that the fans and the the WWE themselves seem indifferent to her, but a win over Piper is big. Overcoming a weight disadvantage like that and winning the match makes Teagan look great. Plus, this is the type of match that could earn Nox fans. Good For You Teagan.
2. (NXT) Lash Legend
Lash Legend beat former NXT Champion Roxanne to qualify for the Iron Survivor Challenge. I'm so happy for her. Lash Legend has come so far from the days of her talk show. Now, she is in a popular faction, and she is beating former NXT champions and getting on a major PPV in a significant match. It's the development for me.
1. (Raw) Drew McIntyre Chooses Revenge
Drew is not letting bygones be bygones, and I love it. Jey was with the Bloodline when they screwed over Drew for the Universal title. So when Cody and Jey were having a great match with the Judgement Day for the WWE Tag team titles, Drew appeared and cost Jey the title with a Claymore. Drew is done playing nice. He wants results by any means necessary, and I'm here for it.
Reverse Hipster's Lowlights
1. Smackdown
SmackDown was bad overall. The women's wargames set up was the most exciting thing on the show, and that was just average. There's a whole list of forgettable matches and moments on SmackDown. If you missed this Smackdown, there is nothing worth going back to. Next time, Smackdown should have some true stakes. Following that, the show should create moments that make people want to tune in next week to see what happens.
I'm interested to see Baylee possibly get kicked out of Damage control, but nothing about the segment made me feel like I needed to come in next week to see what happens next week. Santos turned heel and went solo, but once again, no choices were made that made me feel like I needed to see what happened next. WWE sometimes leans on the crutch that people will just tune in cause it is WWE, and that makes bad television
Rob’s Lowlights (AEW/Impact)
1. Wheeler Yuta pins Hook, AEW Dynamite
Lost in a tag team match that was meant to promote Orange Cassidy and Jon Moxley’s rematch over the International Championship, Wheeler Yuta pinned Hook to win the match. To my memory, Hook has only lost once against Jack Perry and promptly got that win back. Contrastingly, I’m typically complaining that Yuta has maintained his spot in the Blackpool Combat Club because he usually eats the pins in these matches. Yuta has no momentum, and he’s one of the most frequent losers on the roster. This move didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me unless it’s to build a future FTW Championship shot for Yuta.
Rob’s Winner of the Week (AEW/Impact)
In a week where AEW was working on promoting Full Gear, Impact Wrestling kind of stole the week for me among the weekly shows. They were willing to put a big match between Josh Alexander and Will Ospreay on weekly TV, and it made the top highlight for me.
Reverse Hipster’s Winner of the Week
Raw Wins. In a slow week for WWE, it was Raw who provided the most highlights.
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