Reverse Hipster's Highlights
10. (NXT) Tag Champions Retain
Edris Enofe and Malik Blade threw everything they had at Pretty Deadly. They even had the crowd believing they were about to become champions with some very convincing near falls. However, it wasn't enough. Pretty Deadly still found a way to win. This was a good showing for Enofe and Blade, and a quality title defense for Pretty Deadly.
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance had their champion lives flash before their eyes when Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark temporarily won the titles. However, the match was restarted because the person pinned wasn't the legal woman. Carter and Chance won the restart match and they remain tag champions. I like this result because it showed Zoey and Nikkita were worthy while still maintaining Chance and Carter's reign. I will say Chance and Carter are great between the ropes, but they need more character development if they want to be truly great champions.
9. (NXT) JD McDonagh Annihilates Ilja Dragunov
JD and Dragunov had a match to settle their differences on NXT. I thought that surely Dragunov would win his way to an NXT Title match. However, not only did Dragunov lose, but he was busted open, choked out, and stretchered out of NXT. JD stock is way up right now.
8. (Impact) Mickie James Aces the Group Project
Mickie James's career has been on the line in every match she has been in. However, extending that stipulation to a six-woman tag was an interesting twist. If Mickie's partners, Jordynne Grace or Taylor Wilde, had been pinned by Deonna Purrazzo, Chelsea Green, or Gisele Shaw, then Mickie James's career would be over. That's a very high stakes main event. It was fun, fast-paced, and exciting. In the end, Mickie James did get to decide her fate. Mickie pinned Chelsea Green and won the match, and saved her career.
7. (Dynamite) Jamie Hayter Knocks Off a Former AEW Women's Champion
Hayter has been building momentum week after week. This week was no different. Hayter had a match with the amazing Riho, who threw everything she had at Hayter. In the end, Hayter pinned Riho in the middle of the ring with a bit of help from Britt Baker. Could this be the same fate Toni Storm will face?
6. (SmackDown) Uncle Howdy
Bray Wyatt has introduced another member of his universe. Once again, he came out as Bray Wyatt, the man, and he cut a promo, but he seemed lost like he was sputtering. Then, a masked figure named Uncle Howdy appeared on the screen and accused Bray of locking his demonic nature away. Uncle Howdy seems to be a manifestation of Bray's true darkness seeping out, begging to be unleashed. I can't wait to see what will happen next. What will Uncle Howdy do to get Bray to unleash his darkness?
5. (SmackDown) Two Paths Diverged in a Wood
Great character interactions result in characters changing each other. Ronda Rousey and Liv Morgan changed each other. At SummerSlam, Liv Morgan changed Ronda. Liv pissed off Ronda when she stole the SmackDown title from her. Ronda went over the edge, stopped caring what anyone thought, and won her title back. Now, Ronda is an arrogant heel. This week she added Shayna Baszler to her side. Shayna choked out Natalya in the back for talking smack to Ronda. Who in the world will be able to stop Shayna and Ronda?
Ronda changed Liv at Extreme Rules. When Liv lost her title, she went over the edge, and she hasn't been the same since. She viciously beat up Sonya Deville last week, and Sonya must have forgotten because she talked crap about Liv again. Once again, Liv popped out like a feral cat and put her hands on Sonya Deville again. Liv is growing wild and more dangerous, and Ronda is growing arrogant and more powerful. They may be going in different directions now, but I can't wait to see their paths cross again. It will be different from any of their other fights, and they will be different. Changed.
4. (SmackDown) Tribal Tribulations
The latest Bloodline segment was layered with drama and comedy. The drama was that Jey Uso was so fed up with Sami Zayn that he erupted and admitted out loud that he didn't give a damn what Roman Reigns thought. This brought up the possible rekindling of the Jey Uso/Roman feud. Roman put Jey in his place by saying that Sami would be taking his spot if he didn't fall in place. The comedy came in when Sami tried to diffuse the situation by saying Jey just wasn't feeling Usey. It was so funny that it almost ruined the segment in the best way because everyone broke character and chuckled a bit. The Bloodline is still must see.
3. (Dynamite) Bryan Danielson Knock Outs Sammy Guevara
Bryan Danielson and Sammy Guevara had an excellent match. Shockingly, in the end, Bryan completely dominated Sammy. He hit Sammy with his finishing knee strike, and then he stomped Sammy's face in. Tay Melo, Sammy's wife, was helpless as she watched Bryan Danielson beat Sammy past the point of unconsciousness. Even after stomping his head in, Danielson choked Sammy and hit him with elbow strikes until the ref called off the match. It was utter domination.
2. (Dynamite) The Combat Club Gets Retribution
The Jericho Appreciation Society is living its best life right now. Chris Jericho has captured his eighth championship, beating everyone in front of him. Daniel Garcia has captured the ROH Pure Wrestling Championship, and he has rejoined the Jericho Appreciation Society, and they are rolling. However, Claudio Castagnoli, the former ROH Champion, and Wheeler Yuta, the former ROH Pure Champion, have been left in the dust. Nonetheless, they got revenge on Dynamite when they single handily took out the entire Jericho Appreciation Society, and Claudio pinned Jericho in the middle of the ring. This match had the crowd jumping out of their seats.
1. (Dynamite) Swerve In Our Glory Climbs Back to the Top
Swerve In Our Glory had a tag team match with FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) for the right to face The Acclaimed for the AEW Tag Team Titles. The match was incredible, and FTR looked great. FTR pulled off the biggest Big Rig in history on Keith Lee, but Swerve Strickland delivered a low blow behind everyone's back. The Gunn Club held down Cash Wheeler on the outside. Then, Keith Lee took advantage, but was oblivious to what his partner and the Gunn Club had done to FTR. Swerve In Our Glory knocked off one of the best tag teams in the world. Now, they get a chance to reclaim their titles.
Rob’s Highlights
9. Ava Raine joins Schism, NXT
Ava Raine, daughter of the Rock, would not have been on the list of people I thought would join Joe Gacy’s faction this week. I thought it was a creative booking, and it will allow her to establish an identity of her father while ironically codeveloping her identity in a cult-Esque faction.
8. Emma Returns, WWE SmackDown
Another star returned out of nowhere as Ronda Rousey’s open challenge led to the return of Emma. Emma has always been one of the underrated drivers of the Women’s Revolution in NXT and WWE, and I’m glad she will get another chance to prove it among the most talented women’s roster ever.
7. X-Division Tournament, Impact Wrestling
Impact Wrestling kicked off with a solid match between Trey Miguel and Alan Angels. The match is the start of a tournament to crown a new X-Division champion. This is a smart play by Impact to have meaningful matches and build a new champion who can recover the damage from Frankie Kazarian dropping the title.
6. Bray Wyatt and Uncle Howdy, WWE SmackDown
Intrigue in the Bray Wyatt story continued as Wyatt told the crowd he wasn’t hiding behind a mask anymore. He was interrupted by a mysterious figure who called himself Uncle Howdy. Uncle Howdy said Wyatt was still hiding behind a mask. I love that this story plays with themes of performing and what it means to be a character in WWE. I hope the pacing picks up a little, but I’m admitting this story has me excited to see what comes next every week.
5. McDonagh Defeats Dragunov, NXT
JD McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov squared off in a much-anticipated fallout of the triple threat match at Halloween Havoc. In the triple threat match, McDonough was a breakout star, so having him defeat Dragunov by referee stoppage was huge for his character and momentum in NXT.
4. Johnny Gargano, WWE Raw
Johnny Gargano was a highlight of WWE Raw. His backstage segments with the Miz were hilarious, and his ultimatum accelerates Miz’s month-long program with Dexter Lumis. He was also the perfect foil to JBL and Baron Corbin in-ring this week. He arguably shouldn’t have taken the loss, but the segment was so entertaining that I think it elevated everyone.
3. Swerve Takes Billy Gunn, AEW Rampage
I was skeptical that Swerve in Our Glory should again challenge the Acclaimed for the AEW Championship, but this segment won me back over. After a Keith Lee squash, the Acclaimed came to the ring to confront him before finding out Swerve was backstage with Billy Gunn tied up, torturing him with a pair of pliers. We knew there was a natural tension between Lee’s heroics and Swerve’s heel antics, but this blatantly monstrous action brought it to a whole new level. The Acclaimed have a blood feud with Swerve now, and Lee doesn’t know what to do with his partner.
2. The Bloodline, WWE SmackDown
Tribal Chief Roman Reigns finally forced the issue between Sami Zayn and Jey Uso into a confrontation. Sami Zayn made half of the Bloodline break character by saying that Jey wasn’t feeling very Ucey lately. Jey added to the drama by pointing out how ridiculous this whole thing is and that Zayn isn’t family. Reigns said he would officially add Zayn to the family if this continues. My long-shot theory is that everyone in the Bloodline is actually in on this- we were meant to see them laughing through this segment, as they are using Zayn for their own gain.
1. MJF, AEW Dynamite
Another week, another top highlight for MJF. This week on Dynamite, I laughed out loud at his interview with Renee Paquette. MJF is starting to change for the better, but he can’t help but get in some heel jabs. He scolded Stokely Hathaway for interrupting him again and instructed him not to attack Jon Moxley this week. When Hathaway’s crew attacked Moxley after the main event, MJF seemed conflicted but ultimately decided to charge the ring and try to fend off the attack. It was the first genuine babyface action that MJF has done, and it ended in him getting taken out too.
Rob’s Lowlights
1. None
Reverse Hipster's Lowlights
2. (NXT) Sol Ruca
Sol Ruca had a match with Indi Hartwell and was pretty much squashed. This is mismanagement of a bright young star. I know Sol Ruca is very new to WWE, but even in her short time here, she has flashed an immense upside. Why squash her and make her look weak? Also, even if you knew nothing about Indi and Sol or wrestling, nobody would look at the two and expect Indi to make quick work of Sol. Also, Indi is ice-cold right now. If you are going to squash someone, at least let it be to help someone else. Indi is still ice-cold after this victory.
1. (SmackDown) Emma's Debut
It's great that Emma is back in WWE, and that alone is exciting and should have landed her on the highlight list. Emma answered Ronda Rousey's open challenge and tapped out to Ronda after Ronda got the upper hand by raking her eyes. This was a poor way to portray Ronda and Emma. Emma shouldn't be reintroduced to the WWE Universe as a loser, and Ronda doesn't need to cheat to get the upper hand.
However, I'm not just complaining without solutions. What WWE should have done was have Emma shock Ronda. Ronda has grown arrogant, and Emma has been wrestling all over the world. Ronda knows nothing about Emma. Why couldn't Emma have shocked Ronda and brought some offense to the table that Ronda didn't expect? Ronda could have gotten her heat back by taking liberties with Emma, which causes the ref to call off the match. This way, Ronda gets heat and stays dangerous, plus Emma has a good debut match and isn't introduced as a loser.
Rob’s Winners of the Week
6. Impact Wrestling didn’t capitalize on some of its stronger stories this week, and it took a hit as a result.
5. WWE Raw put forth another solid showing, but there haven’t been many developments in the same stories we’ve seen every week.
4. NXT had some not-great segments that were not worth writing about, but their great segments are on par with WWE’s main roster.
3. AEW Dynamite put forth another solid showing this week. They are building great stories for Full Gear.
2. AEW Rampage put together an unexpectedly solid show. The segment with Swerve felt like something that would usually happen on Dynamite, and the main event TNT Championship match, was solid.
1. WWE SmackDown had a few high-quality segments in their show, and I have to give it to them.
Reverse Hipster's Winners of the Week
6th Place Rampage
Rampage didn't have any highlights this week. The show attempted to be relevant with some decent matches and story developments. However, it was entirely skippable. If you missed this Rampage, you wouldn't be confused next week. Also, there were no moments to return to.
5th Place Raw
Raw was also entirely skippable. It had some moments that were close to mattering, like Nikki Cross debuting and Austin Theory picking up a win. However, overall, the show felt like a house show. It felt like Raw was just filling time until the real developments.
4th Place Impact
Impact had a great six-woman tag match that got it on the highlight list. The rest of the show didn't make it, but there were interesting developments that didn't make it to the level of highlights. Moose interfering in Bully Ray's business, Joe Hendry getting more over, and the destruction of Honor No More were all interesting developments.
3rd Place NXT
NXT had two good NXT title matches and interesting nontitle development between JD McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov. Unfortunately, it also had a lowlight with Sol Ruca. Overall, even though NXT snuck into third place this week, the show is just treading water in terms of how great it could be, especially for a show after a fire PPV.
2nd Place SmackDown
After being in my number one spot for two weeks, SmackDown has been unseated. SmackDown was still good, which is why it's in second place. However, SmackDown didn't get number one because while it had great story developments, the matches weren't there this week. Also, SmackDown contributed to the lowlights list.
1st Place Dynamite
Dynamite dominated my highlight list this week, contributing 40% of the highlights, which was the most of any show this week. Dynamite had dope matches that had their entire crowd on the edge of their seats. Also, the matches weren't just exciting to watch, but also meaningful.
Which Show Was Better?
- 0%SmackDown
- 0%Dynamite