But before we send this thing into a nosedive into Parts Unknown the main bit, lets have a quick look at the news;
- Adam Cole has been kicked out of The Bullet Club, and was done so by the BlizCliz's newest member, 'The Villain' Marty Scurll. A superkick apiece from the Bucks and a crack of an umbrella from Scurll and Cole is outta here.
- It has been announced that coinciding with New Japan's G1 Special, there will be a round robin tournament to crown the first IWGP US Champion. It looks like they're gonna be having their own US brand, and to discuss this more, look out for a BWOTW Special soon.
- It has been confirmed that at TakeOver: Chicago, #DIY will challenge The Authors of Pain for the NXT Tag Team Championship in a ladder match! This will be the third in the brand's history, after Neville/Bo and Finn/Owens.
- Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella have welcomed their daughter into the world, Birdie. Congratulations to the couple and good luck in their future parental endeavours!
And now for the turkey legs in this wrestling blog of a trip to DisneyWorld, its the matches!
Monday Night RAW
Best Match on RAW (8/5/17): Seth Rollins vs Samoa Joe
Yes, its this pairing again, and whilst I am getting a little tired of seeing these two going at it on a near weekly basis, in a vaccuum, this is was a decent match. If you look past the fact that we've seen this face-off on a few occasions now, this was fine.
We did get a fair of things we have seen these two do before, with some development upon them, for example the countering of Joe's big sitout kneebreaker thing. I wouldn't necessarily say that this was a memorable clash in their feud, apart from maybe the end which was quite cool. Joe drove the head of Rollins into the exposed steel of the turnbuckle, causing a DQ, and then choking the fucker out.
Joe really needs to be put across more as a brutal killer. With Strowman and Lesnar (to a lesser extent) being the monsters of RAW, I feel that whilst Joe fits that archetype, I think that he could perhaps instead be a more calculated and sadistic destroyer. He takes out the body parts, targets people, whatever, just something a little different from Strowman.
Anywho, this was a fine match, but I definitely feel their match at Payback was better. In all, RAW isn't amazing right now, you might be better off keeping up with news/highlights and your favourite guys/girls, because it is feeling more and more like a slog to get through.
SmackDown! LIVE
Best Match on SD! (9/5/17): AJ Styles, Sami Zayn & Randy Orton vs Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin & Jinder Mahal
Going across to SmackDown! now and we are main-evented this week by a six-man tag featuring what is shaping up to be the competitors in Backlash's singles matches, with Randy Orton, AJ Styles and Sami Zayn teaming up to take on Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin.
It was your sort of typical six-man tag with thrown together teams. Lots of in and out, Sami being the one to take the brunt of the bad guys' beatdown. The ending sequence saw everyone getting in a signature move, sans Kevin Owens who just did a big push to Styles, though it was still awesome, seeing him fly out like that.
Jinder pins Orton! So, that was it, a nice match here on SmackDown! which did feel like a bit more filler until Backlash allows us to reevaluate and push on with storylines.
205 Live
Best Match on 205 (9/5/17): Akira Tozawa vs Brian Kendrick
Its another rematch here on 205 Live now, but it was much better than Joe/Rollins I feel, its Akira Tozawa taking on Brian Kendrick.
One thing that certainly stuck out was the thudding strikes we had from both men, chops and forearms letting their presence be known to the arena. Plus, a boot or two in there as well, with one really looking like it rocked Tozawa. A slapping sound of rubber sole meeting Akira's face was nasty and the sights matched it too. The British crowd were behind Tozawa pretty consistently throughout this, lots of 'AH's sounding through the arena and cheers for all his spots.
It's been a while since these two have had a one-on-one encounter, with them having won the acclaim of being 'The Best Match of the Week' on the last 205 Live before WrestleMania, so I can't really compare them, with it not being as clear in my mind. This one had a cleaner finish, though still a roll-up was what finished it so it leaves room for there to be even more to come from these two. Not sure what else they can do with these two, so hopefully we get some more fuel on this fire, or perhaps let them move onto new things.
In conclusion, this was a good match, better than the RAW and SmackDown! matches I'd say. But, will these two's performance be able to take the crown this week? Let's check out what's next, or you can just scroll to the bottom, up to you.
NXT
Best Match on NXT (10/5/17): Hideo Itami vs Roderick Strong - No.1 Contender's Match for the NXT Championship
Moving on to NXT now and we have some more fruitful results as we have a No.1 Contender's Match for Bobby Roode's NXT Championship, with the returning Hideo Itami heading up against the freshly built up Roderick Strong.
This match was really, really good. A very competitive and back'n'forth match, with both of these men proving their worth and right for contention to the title.
Like the Tozawa/Kendrick match just above this, strikes were a heavy influence in this match being as good as it was. Itami of course has a lot of his ring work centred around his array of stiff strikes and combinations, which always look brutal. Roddy kept up with this, having his own nasty chops and knee strikes being thrown into the mix that I adore.
It's a shame that I haven't managed to collate clips of them all, but Roddy went full 'Messiah of the Backbreaker' in this one, which is a surefire way to keep me enthralled. Dropped him on the apron, pumphandled him down on the knee and this corner catch one were Strong's methods of realigning Hideo's vertebrae;
The crowd were hot for this, and aside from a dickish chant or two, they were invested into this contest, counting along with the pins and reacting to all the big moves. Even sat at home I was fidgeting and shifting in my seat as I watched this, with the action here being a damn good watch.
Eventually, it came down to Itami winning with a GTS and pinning Roddy to secure his place in the main event of TakeOver: Chicago. Due to the injuries he's sustained, this is only his third TakeOver match, his last one being against Tyler Breeze at Rival. Jesus that was ages ago - to help with the time frame, that's the show where Owens won the NXT Championship.
It looks like Strong might be facing Eric Young at Chicago, being attacked after the match sa shown on their YouTube. I hope Strong gets a title match soon, and with those video packages that have certainly got him majorly over with me, it looks like things might be going that way shortly.
Ring of Honour
Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 294): Dalton Castle & Christopher Daniels vs The Bullet Club (Adam Cole & Cody Rhodes)
We're on the last episode before War of the Worlds now with Ring of Honour. Main-eventing this time around, we have the team of ROH World Champion Christopher Daniels and Dalton Castle facing a duo from The Bullet Club, Adam Cole and Cody Rhodes.
This was another match this week that felt a little inconsequential. It was a perfectly fine match, but it was a little hard to get invested knowing that the pay-per-view was soon and with me not being too high on Cody, his interactions with Daniels didn't have the same payoff for me. The stakes may not have felt too high, but I can't say this was a bad match, or even an okay one because this most definitely was good. Hell, those who do quite enjoy Cody's work will probably like this more than me.
What I did like from this match was the fake out of Adam abandoning Cody, coming back near the climax to superkick Daniels from behind and set Cody up for the win. I thought that was a nice creative play that I cannot remember seeing before.
As always, you can watch ROH TV for completely FREE on either www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current or on the Fite TV app.
ROH: War of the Worlds
Toronto
Best Match on WotW Toronto: Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) vs The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson))
Honourable Mention(s): Jay Lethal vs KUSHIDA
The....Elite.....The, The Elite (break it down)
With his work visa or something inhibiting his ability to wrestle in the US or something like that, Kenny Omega joins us here on the tour in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to team with The Young Bucks to face Tanahashi, Daniels and Kazarian.
This was a very good match, with The Elite's presence being a treat whatever the occasion and whatever the promotion. There was a strong build to a face off between Omega and Tanahashi, which they teased and teased, letting us have it in the final few minutes of the match. It did feel a little topsy turvy in some regards. Daniels and Tanahashi are meant to be pretty much the biggest babyfaces in their respective companies, but The Elite were so massively cheered that it ended up with them getting dampened cheers, or even boos. Whilst Kaz and Daniels have experience as incredible heels, and did tap into it in this one, Tanahashi kept a performance akin to the fan favourite, which really was Omega in this one hands down.
No matter what, whatever match the Bucks inhabit, they always make their finishes memorable, and adding Kenny to this one made it even more so. Reminiscent of their combos with Styles back in the day, after and Indytaker they passed over the destroyed Daniels to Omega, who muscled him up to a powerbomb position, turned him round and hit with the One Winged Angel for the 3 count.
Awesome match this, definitely centred around Omega, with this being his first appearance in ROH in ages. I've always thought that Omega would make a great ROH World Champion, and maybe if he doesn't win the IWGP belt at Dominion, he could have a tenure in ROH, maybe swap him and Cody around for a bit. It'd certainly stimulate the main event scene, and maybe with this pin on Daniels, he might get put into the running.
SUPERKICK COUNTER: 19
New York City (PPV)
Best Match on WotW NYC: Jay White vs Will Ospreay
Taking the cake on ROH's pay-per-view this time around, it was the 'dream match' contest between Jay White and Will Ospreay.
Right off the bat, I wanna say that for a long time, I've been a bit of a critic on Jay White. I figured his debut in PWG at 'Only Kings Understand Each Other' against Marty Scurll might have finally gotten me on board with him, but it didn't really. However, I feel this match may have now sold me on him. I'd felt in his previous matches he didn't do a lot to wow me, with a bit of a basic moveset. In this one, he got to flaunt some fancier and flashier parts of his arsenal. The competitiveness of this contest made me feel like he had more of a character and attitude to intrigue me. I hope that he can keep this up.
Ospreay, as ever, is nothing short of a joy to watch. Throughout all the controversy and polarising nature of some his matches and ringwork, I am forever in awe of Ospreay and what he can do, plus being a little bit of a hero to li'l British me. The flips, the strikes and even his overlooked technical game all were on full show in this, making for an awesome match.
This match had so many good moments, and I felt that the exclamation point to this one was the false finish deep into the match, with White millimetres away from a 3-count. Had it ended there, this match would still have been the show's best. From then after, things went to the next level and so did the excitement levels. Then everything leading up to the climax with the springboard Shooting Star Press and following Oscutter from Will was fantastic. Great stuff from these two.
Oh, and happy birthday, Will!
The Verdict
Best Match of the Week: Jay White vs Will Ospreay - ROH/NJPW: War of the Worlds NYC
Yes, it's only gone and done it. It built and built as time went on into a truly incredible match. Whilst I might not go as far as Meltzer who deemed it the best match seen in North America so far this year, it's certainly up there for me. This is Ospreay's sixth 'Best Match of the Week' and Jay's first (of perhaps a few if he keeps it up).
I also wanna say, that until I watch War of the Worlds this morning (Saturday), Strong/Itami on NXT was my clear cut winner of this week, and should be recognised as also being great. My recommendation would be to check both of those out.
With another week done, dusted and put on the fridge for everyone to see, here's what the leaderboard looks like now.
And now the last thing to be decided upon this week, it's 'The Best Promo of the Week' and once again, its the insane Usos taking the microphones and spewing out an awesome promo in preparation for their clash with last week's winners, Breezango, at Backlash, check it out;
That just about does it for me for this one readers. Thank you for joining me and I hope to see you again soon! Like I said, I'll be doing a BWOTW Special on New Japan's venture into the US wrestling scene, and it should be on your screens soon. I'm too far away to give you my hugs, so being good to yourselves in your part of the world will suffice. Take care, and I'll catch you down the road!
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