The entire TakeOver: Portland show, Women’s Championship matches on TV, and Jordan Devlin – throw the rest in the bin.
1. NXT North American Title: Keith Lee [c] vs. Dominik Dijakovic (TakeOver: Portland 2/16/20)
The everlasting rivalry finally got a TakeOver match and it delivered. These two freaks of nature bring the best out of each other, or maybe the craziest. This was spectacular.
2. NXT Tag Team Title: Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish [c] vs. The BroserWeights (TakeOver: Portland 2/16/20)
An amazing tag match that was a little all over the place, a meteor shower of crazy 2020 wrestling with work Katsuyori Shibata would approve of in between. Great performances all around, including Bobby Fish’s understated look after the near fall of all near falls.
3. Street Fight: Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai (TakeOver: Portland 2/16/20)
Tegan Nox just committed and bumped her way here into nearly re-inventing the WWE Street Fight, as despite some cute stuff like a cricket bat beneath the ring and stunts delivered for the benefit of a nearby camera, this felt as close as we’ve gotten to an actual chaotic brawl in a while.
4. Johnny Gargano vs. Finn Balor (TakeOver: Portland 2/16/20)
A match that went from vaguely annoying to undeniably great. Sometimes I think there aren’t a lot of surprises left in the Gargano and Balor match, but then they do a bunch of cool setups and twists on their signature moves that reminds me they still think deeply about this stuff.
5. NXT Title: Adam Cole [c] vs. Tommaso Ciampa (TakeOver: Portland 2/16/20)
A big stupid title match with ALL the tricks, Adam Cole playing Shawn Michaels and Tommaso Ciampa playing Triple H. It was good for what it was. It really is a great performance by Ciampa.
6. Tyler Breeze vs. Jordan Devlin (NXT 2/5/20)
A tale of two matches, one before commercial and one after. Jordan Devlin is a real character, an acquired taste kinda guy, and by that I mean one who in a cold Full Sail debut will bore the shit out of you and then suddenly the crowd is screaming their lungs out for Tyler Breeze making a comeback. Tremendous stuff.
7. SmackDown Women’s Title: Bayley [c] vs. Carmella (SmackDown 2/14/20)
Quality wrestling – Bayley put out her most confident heel performance yet and there are a lot of twists and turns that kept Carmella alive. By the end of the match they were battling for the win like it was RINGS match.
8. RAW Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Asuka w/ Kairi Sane (RAW 2/10/20)
Frantic and credible grappling mixed with big moments that all counted because they took their time on them – this is great wrestling, a heck of a pairing.
9. NXT Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley [c] vs. Bianca Belair (TakeOver: Portland 2/16/20)
Big fight holds, great selling, wild finish – a match that took its time and delivered. Belair takes the craziest back body drop to the floor here too.
10. NXT Cruiserweight Title #1 Contender’s Match: Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza (NXT 2/12/20)
Another great outing by these two, maybe on the lower end of their series but also more straight-up: great rope running, intensity, and drama, all brought up by Lio Rush just being an absolute nutjob. Garza’s deadlift Angel’s Wings is so cool too.
11. NXT Cruiserweight Title: Jordan Devlin [c] vs. Lio Rush (NXT 2/19/20)
Two absolute talents, Rush the guy who will flip you out and Devlin the guy who will slow it to a crawl then make people gasp as he kicks out at the last second by grabbing the bottom rope.
12. Symphony of Destruction Match: Braun Strowman & Elias vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro (SmackDown 2/21/20)
These guys leaned into the ridiculousness of this match based around musical weapons that against all odds they created a piece of art. Totally bought a Cesaro near fall on Strowman here.
13. Johnny Gargano vs. Cameron Grimes (NXT 2/12/20)
A very good Gargano match, which is a rarity these days not because he’s no good but because he just barely wrestles. Great build to a finish.
14. RAW Tag Team Title: Seth Rollins & Murphy [c] vs. The Street Profits (Super ShowDown 2/27/20)
Respect to the boys, they got it done on the dumb Saudi Arabia show. Rollins and Murphy are trying some things.
15. KUSHIDA vs. Adam Cole (NXT 2/12/20)
A solid Best of Super Juniors main event from a spot show that MAYBE aired and got English commentary because Kevin Kelly was willing to do it.
16. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott vs. Angel Garza (NXT 2/5/20)
A higher-end than normal NXT TV match, just choc full of bombs and genuinely impressive wrestling. Garza is a star.
17. I Quit Match: Toni Storm vs. Kay Lee Ray (NXT UK 2/26/20)
A solid I Quit Match that got pretty violent and crazy for a feud that didn’t really build to such violence and craziness. They got the job done, but weren’t really helped on the way there.
18. A-Kid vs. Brian Kendrick (NXT UK 2/26/20)
Kendrick is the kind of veteran independent guy who you know is into wrestling a scrappy young pup like A-Kid, and here they brought some rock solid grappling before Kendrick took the nastiest head bump off of A-Kid’s ridiculous springboard backflip DDT.
19. Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz & John Morrison (SmackDown 2/14/20)
Felt like it was from some alternate universe where SmackDown actually wanted to use Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and The Miz & John Morrison as stars.
20. Natalya vs. Asuka w/ Kairi Sane (RAW 2/3/20)
These two took a standard RAW TV match and added a dash of “let’s go bitch!” and pinch of “you wanna shoot on me!?” and suddenly their match felt more interesting than usual.
21. Humberto Carrillo vs. Zelina Vega w/ Angel Garza (RAW 2/24/20)
This and the Super ShowDown both felt pretty exhibition-like, but they work well together and pulled off some cool stuff.
22. Rey Mysterio vs. Angel Garza w/ Zelina Vega (RAW 2/3/20)
A legit Dream Match that didn’t quite work, the type of RAW match that got time but was a little too quiet and tame to really hit. Quality stuff but not enough.
23. Steel Corners Street Fight: Trent Seven vs. Eddie Dennis (NXT UK 2/6/20)
A gimmick match that wasn’t as cool as it sounds, though I’m not sure it even sounds cool. The goal here seemed to be to top the Razor’s Edge to the outside from TakeOver: Blackpool, and after some brawling Trent Seven’s Burning Hammer off the announcer’s table sure did that. A match with some wild bumps, though not much beyond that.
24. Daniel Bryan vs. Heath Slater (SmackDown 2/7/20)
Daniel Bryan got back on track after his loss to The Fiend at the Royal Rumble by running through his moveset on Heath Slater. Very, very, very, very good squash match.
25. Bianca Belair vs. Santana Garrett (NXT 2/12/20)
Speaking of good squashes, Bianca Belair wrestled here like she was trying to win Beat the Clock. Great stuff.
Honorable Mentions: Tyler Bate vs. A-Kid (NXT UK 2/6/20), Triple Threat Match: Jordan Devlin vs. Lio Rush vs. Tony Nese (205 Live 2/7/20), The New Day & The Usos vs. The Miz, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode (SmackDown 2/21/20), Steel Cage Match: Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin (Super ShowDown 2/27/20), Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet Match (Featuring: R-Truth, Bobby Lashley, Andrade, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, The Undertaker) (Super ShowDown 2/27/20)
