The advent of the Wednesdays Night Wars means we are in the 3.25-Star Match Era, so I will try to speak to what stood out moving forward.
If you’re into the wrestling, especially wrestling with questionable or little story around it, there’s in-ring stuff worth checking out into the first or two blocks of the Honorable Mentions here.
1. Hell in a Cell – RAW Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Sasha Banks (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19)
All hail Sasha Banks, the new maestro of the Hell in a Cell, the only bad motherfucker in wrestling left willing to embrace the absolute violence of the CELL. Vicious strikes, big aggression, scary bumps, and a bunch of well-placed wild spots… Hell in a Cell is overplayed but this is how you do it.
2. KUSHIDA vs. WALTER (NXT 10/9/19)
This was a wonderful result of WWE’s new world recruitment strategy, two complete product wrestlers from different countries not just delivering but exceeding a main event level match. An extra snug version of David vs. Goliath, and I always love when WALTER has to do leapfrogs to keep up with a guy.
3. Tornado Tag Team Match: Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19)
Sometimes you just need a big ol’ fight, and in this case a big ol’ fight that WAY over-delivered considering it was dented by a crap payoff to the Who Tried To Kill Roman Reigns angle and general cynicism of Luke Harper’s presence. Bryan did fired-up babyface stuff, Roman did Superman punches, and Luke and Erick used their old Bludgeon Brothers strategy of isolating a guy on the floor and hurting him with whatever’s around. They do one of the best finish setups I’ve ever seen too.
4. NXT Title: Adam Cole [c] vs. Matt Riddle (NXT 10/2/19)
Heated, hard-hitting, suplex-based professional wrestling – Riddle went full Riddle and the champ was game for it. Just a constant stream of badass grappling.
5. Chad Gable vs. King Corbin (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19)
Yet another casual classic by this great pair, right up there with the King of the Ring final that I loved. Gable wrestles like a man with a plan, staying on Corbin like his life depends on it, and for a couple of on-again-off-again characters they had the crowd in the palm of their hands.
6. The Hunt vs. Imperium (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel) (NXT UK 10/17/19)
Amazing squash match, straight and to the point with mean nasty offense by Imperium and a wild spot where Aichner caught a tope. Balls out finish too.
7. Trent Seven vs. Noam Dar (NXT UK 10/24/19)
Seven selling a limb is old news at this point but the bearded bastard did it again, creating huge drama via gesturing to his arm and leg. There was a ton of each guy just smacking at each others’ bodies as they fought out of holds and that’s always fun too.
8. Mansoor vs. Cesaro (Crown Jewel 10/31/19)
The nice deal with Cesaro working the government / crowd favorite is that everything is over and he can pull out all his tricks. This has some amazing Cesaro uppercut and suplex spots, big near falls, and a lot of shots of folks on the edge of their seats.
9. Pete Dunne vs. Danny Burch (NXT 10/2/19)
In a world of Good Wrestling, this was the Goodest. They grappled the heck out of each other and made sure every shot looked great and was all dramatic.
10. Tyler Bate vs. Cameron Grimes (NXT 10/30/19)
Everyone’s going hard trying to break out these days, but these guys delivered an extra high quality wrestling match here. Grimes’ rope-running is something special and they threw some HANDS.
11. Roman Reigns, Shorty G & Ali w/ Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart vs. King Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro w/ Ric Flair and Sami Zayn (SmackDown 10/25/19)
Good old-fashioned 6-man fun complete with a couple of legendary goblins on the floor. Formula is fine when the notes are hit right: Nak and Gable work the mat, Ali and Cesaro run the ropes, Ali takes a beating, Gable kicks Corbin’s ass, Reigns gets a hot tag, and the crowd is into everything – beautiful, just beautiful.
12. WWE Women’s Tag Team Title: The Kabuki Warriors [c] vs. Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox (NXT 10/30/19)
This went a couple commercial breaks with a long heat segment but just kept cooking, and in 2019 making a tag beatdown not feel like a chore is a special kind of wrestling. Dakota Kai is the template face-in-peril while Asuka and Kairi Sane are just straight-up mean.
13. Triple Threat Match – NXT North American Title: Roderick Strong [c] vs. Keith Lee vs. Dominik Diakovic (NXT 10/23/19)
This was Lee and Dijakovic doing their wild spots between Strong being a little shit who causes trouble and bumps around. It was very good.
14. NXT Women’s Title: Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Candice LeRae (NXT 10/2/19)
Wasn’t big on Baszler playing along with a few cute spots here but otherwise this was real good, and maybe the best showcase on NXT TV yet of just how effortlessly Candice moves around the ring. The sleeper hold cradle was a great near fall, and the finish is legitimately deflating.
15. NXT Tag Team Title: The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) [c] vs. Street Profits (NXT 10/2/19)
Another case of a long heat segment kept interesting by the bad guys, with O’Reilly and Fish kicking and suplexing poor Montez Ford before Angelo Dawkins shows up as the ultimate hot tag. Great send-off to The Street Profits on the first episode of NXT on USA.
16. Mustafa Ali vs. Randy Orton (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19)
Orton waves his dick around and bores you while reminding you every few minutes how casually good he is, while Ali brings the nutcase bumps and evokes a sympathy like not many can. There was also a great bit where Ali fired up with chops and Orton subtly responded with an eye rake. Very good.
17. Matt Riddle & Keith Lee vs. The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) (NXT 10/30/19)
If it was a few minutes shorter I’d say this is a template TV tag, with Keith Lee breaking out thanks to some awesome work by O’Reilly and Fish. The double drop-down and crossbody spot on them was so good. They’re like The Midnight Express with kickpads. Alright I’m not sure about that but it sounds nice.
18. Shorty Gable (Chad Gable) vs. King Corbin (SmackDown 10/11/19)
Another quality match by these guys, but the luster began to wear off when they really actually went all in with Shorty as the name. Gable gets crafty but also manages a deadlift suplex on big Corbin too.
19. Candice LeRae vs. Io Shirai (NXT 10/30/19)
They packed a lot of action in bell-to-bell here, with Candice taking big bumps and Io moving around with a serious command of those ropes. Loved a headscissors being used as a dramatic possible submission too.
20. No DQ Match: Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick (205 Live 10/11/19)
The 205 rose has wilted even further compared to their last series, but this was still a lot of fun beyond Tozawa taking two unprotected chairshots to the head. Not sure why they did that either, considering Kendrick had a lot of safe heel BS lined up: tying Tozawa up with duct tape, choking him with a kendo stick, and denying tables to the crowd among them. Wish we saw these fellas do more stuff.
21. Matt Riddle vs. Bronson Reed (NXT 10/16/19)
This match is beautifully straight-up: Bronson is big, Riddle is strong – FIGHT!!!
22. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch vs. Imperium (Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel) w/ Alexander Wolfe (NXT 10/16/19)
A real good time, the kind of match JBL would crow “these guys are fun to watch ha HAAA” after he referenced Dave Taylor or Fit Finlay or Shirley Crabtree. Aichner, despite being jacked, is the most unassuming guy and then BOOM double springboard moonsault. Oney getting a run by proxy makes any match good too.
23. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Drew Gulak [c] vs. Lio Rush (NXT 10/9/19)
The best of both worlds, with Rush flying all over the place before Drew grounded him and stretched that ass. Tremendous build to and anticipation for a possible Rush win.
24. Johnny Gargano vs. Shane Thorne (NXT 10/2/19)
Johnny Wrestling comes about maybe once every few months and here he had a fun match that properly showcased Thorne.
25. Hell in a Cell – WWE Universal Title: Seth Rollins [c] vs. The Fiend (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19)
I won’t argue that the confounding dumbasses in charge of WWE didn’t paint themselves into a corner by booking this match in the first place – the obvious play if Fiend is challenging for the Universal Title is to have Fiend dominate and win, and he didn’t. And that sucks, especially if he was going to win the title soon anyways. But this was some movie-making by WWE – unique, eerie, and finish aside a pretty brilliant use of The Fiend in a big match – he stalked around, strategically hit his marks, and didn’t sell a god damn thing. It takes a special kind of guy to go all Freddy Krueger but also catch a tope with a Sister Abigail into the steel cage roo.
Honorable Mentions: RAW Tag Team Title: Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode [c] vs. The Viking Raiders (RAW 10/14/19), Jack Gallagher vs. Angel Garza (NXT 10/23/19), Pete Dunne vs. Damian Priest (NXT 10/16/19), Bronson Reed vs. Shane Thorne (NXT 10/30/19), Mia Yim vs. Io Shirai (NXT 10/2/19), Ricochet w/ Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart vs. Drew McIntyre w/ Ric Flair (RAW 10/28/19), NXT North American Title #1 Contender’s Match: Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic (NXT 10/16/19), Becky Lynch vs. Kairi Sane w/ Asuka (RAW 10/28/19), Bomber Dave Mastiff vs. Jordan Devlin (NXT UK 10/31/19)
WWE Women’s Tag Team Title: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross [c] vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19), U.S. Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Humberto Carrillo (Crown Jewel 10/31/19), Seth Rollins vs. Humberto Carrillo (RAW 10/21/19), Triple Threat Match – Winner Gets an Opportunity at the Cruiserweight Title: Tony Nese vs. Oney Lorcan vs. Ariya Daivari (205 Live 10/18/19), Career vs. Career Ladder Match: Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon (SmackDown 10/4/19), Lumberjack Match: Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan (SmackDown 10/4/19), Falls Count Anywhere: Seth Rollins vs. Erick Rowan (RAW 10/28/19)
Natalya vs. Lacey Evans (Hell in a Cell Kickoff 10/6/19), Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. The Kabuki Warriors (RAW 10/7/19), Tegan Nox vs. Kay Lee Ray (NXT UK 10/3/19), Braun Strowman & The Viking Raiders vs. AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19), SmackDown Women’s Title: Bayley [c] vs. Charlotte Flair (Hell in a Cell 10/6/19), Rhea Ripley & Piper Niven vs. Jinny & Jazzy Gabert (NXT UK 10/31/19), Ricochet vs. Apollo Crews (RAW 10/7/19), Tony Nese vs. Raul Mendoza (205 Live 10/25/19), Humberto Carrillo vs. AJ Styles (RAW 10/28/19), Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy (RAW 10/14/19)
WWE Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura [c] vs. Roman Reigns (SmackDown 10/18/19), Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley & Sasha Banks (SmackDown 10/4/19), Piper Niven vs. Isla Dawn (NXT UK 10/3/19), Isiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Roderick Strong (NXT 10/9/19), SmackDown Women’s Title: Charlotte Flair [c] vs. Bayley (SmackDown 10/11/19), Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre (RAW 10/21/19), The Street Profits vs. The O.C. w/ AJ Styles (RAW 10/21/19)
