But before we get down and dirty in it, lets first look at the news;
- Belts, belts, belts! Championship changes aplenty here. NXT saw SAnitY and Drew McIntyre become champions, as well as the main roster seeing Neville, The Usos, Natalya, Sasha Banks and Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose picking up some gold. Lots and lots and lots of changes. Also, on ROH's UK tour, the six-man belts traded places, with the trio of 'The Hung Bucks' (Page and the Bucks) picking them up. That's a lot of metal.
- Adam Cole has debuted in NXT, forming this rumoured ROH stable with Fish and O'Reilly! Can't wait to see where this goes!
- Bobby Roode has debuted on SmackDown! LIVE, as well as FUCKING FINALLY SHELTON BENJAMIN!
- Despite retaining at Brooklyn, Asuka has vacated the NXT Women's Championship. She will be recovering from an injured collarbone for now, but will be called up when she returns
- Talking of injuries, Big Cass has injured his knee this past Monday on RAW. Though I thought this Enzo/Cass feud was dogshite, can't help but feel bad for the guy. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.
- Leading on from that, Enzo Amore debuted on 205 Live this week. If anyone can carry him through a feud it's Big Nev.
NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III
Best Match on Takeover: Brooklyn III: Asuka vs Ember Moon - NXT Women's Championship Match
Honourable Mention(s): The whole goddamn card
The women of NXT take centre stage once again as we get Asuka defending her title against the woman she couldn't beat clean in their last bout, Ember Moon.
This was a really great match. I would go as far to say this is both of these women's best matches so far in their respective runs in NXT. I think this match has finally sold me on Ember Moon. I've always been pretty so-so on her, but she sure had a great showing in this match. Her selling was really good in this match, making it all the more dramatic. Add to this the dynamic of Asuka's cocky championship reign, and the mocking of Becky Lynch at ringside, it all made her being on the backfoot more compelling. I honestly believed we were getting a title change here, making Asuka's out of nowhere Asuka-Lock all the more exciting and shocking.
I have seen all the praise this is getting, and whether it was from my tiredness on the night staying up late over here in jolly ol' Englande Towne, but I wouldn't say this is the best women's match we've had. I'd still rank both Sasha/Bayley matches, as well as Becky/Sasha too, above it. Nevertheless, this was great and definitely worth a watch.
WWE SummerSlam
Best Match on SummerSlam: The New Day vs The Usos - SmackDown! Tag Team Championship Match (Pre-show)
Honourable Mention(s): Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Samoa Joe vs Roman Reigns - WWE Universal Championship Match
DOWN SINCE DAY ONE-ISH! This was more awesome than anyone could have imagined. The New Day went with my favourite pairing, Big E and Xavier Woods and busted out some awesome new combo moves, such as Woods picking E up in an electric chair (fuck!) for an assisted splash.
You could see the work these guys were putting in, more than likely a response for putting them on the preshow, when they very much deserved to be on the main card, especially in the later minutes. With there already being plenty of near falls to the match, things got even more hyped from some insane spots like this bad boy;
Then soon near immediately after that, we got to see Big E risk his life once again with his big dive through the ropes, but with a less wince-inducing landing than his previous performances of that move.
Things looked to be going well for New Day, until The Usos channelled their inner Young Bucks, laying out E with a barrage of superkicks and finally finishing the match.
And there you have it, Usos are new tag champs. What a fucking awesome match, and I hope it goes as a reminder to not put these guys in this position again, because they will make it hard to follow - certainly the case here with the show not getting anywhere near this level until the main event.
Monday Night RAW
Best Match on RAW (21/8/17): Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy)
We're on RAW now and we have a pretty damn good tag team match here between the new RAW Tag Team Champions, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, taking on The Hardy Boyz.
This was much better than the standard sort of tag matches you tend to get on RAW, with this having many more near falls and false finishes than usual. Like the above matches, this adds to the drama and overall excitement of what we get here. The Hardys looked like they were real close to beating the new champions, landing a couple Twists of Fate and Jeff almost scoring with a Swanton Bomb too.
Rollins and Dean are showing more double team offence with each match, and considering it was Rollins and Reigns who were tag champs in the Shield, these two are a very promising team. Plus, being in the ring with awesome teams like The Hardy Boyz and Shesaro really helps.
Overall, a real good match here on RAW, a fun li'l something here on the show.
SmackDown! LIVE
Best Match on SD! (22/8/17): AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens - WWE United States Championship Match w/ Special Guest Referee (Baron Corbin)
On SmackDown! LIVE now and we have another United States Championship match between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens.
Summing this up, its another good match between these two that's soured by the stipulation and the muddying of a special referee, here Baron Corbin, a great next step after facing John Cena at SummerSlam two days prior. Basically, this is a perfectly fine match, but the SummerSlam match between these two, and probably the SmackDown! matches from this past month, are better. I'd watch those instead.
205 Live
Best Match on 205 (23/8/17): Neville vs Akira Tozawa - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Another SummerSlam rematch here on 205 Live, pitting the recently re-crowned King of the Crusierweights, Neville against Titus Worldwide representative, Akira Tozawa.
This is another instance of the SummerSlam match being superior, but this was also a very good match. I can't really recall any specifics from this, other than that it boiled down to Big Daddy Nev making Tozawa tap from the Rings of Saturn. Can I just say that it is great that WWE have kept that name for the move. Perry Saturn's luck hasn't been great over the past few years, and I sure am happy his legacy gets to continue with his signature submission being used to such devastating effect. Lovely. So yeah, good match here on 205, seeming closing the book on this Neville/Tozawa feud.
NXT
Best Match on NXT (24/8/17): Tyler Bate & Trent Seven vs Wolfgang & Pete Dunne
Woooo nelly we've got ourselves an amazing match here on NXT. Taped before Takeover: Brooklyn III, it's Moustache Mountain, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven teaming up to do battle with Wolfgang and the WWE United Kingdom Champion, Pete Dunne.
This is my first time seeing Bate and Seven together like this, something I've been wanting to for a long time, so this was an absolute treat, though any of WWE's UK division matches are for me. They got in some really cool tag moves in, like Bate vaulting off of Seven's shoulders with a senton. I feel Bate in particular shone in this match, with him getting some of the biggest pops in ring, my favourite being with this slick as all hell rebound lariat;
After a bit of misdirection, it boiled down to Wolfgang landing a swanton bomb (can't remember the name he has for it) on the former champion Bate interestingly, and gaining the pinfall for his team. From the backstage segment preceding this match, it looks like Wolfgang/Dunne might be the next title match, but from what I've heard about the newest NXT tapings, there is a lot more to be looking forward to.
Awesome match here on NXT, I definitely recommend checking it out. Please do.
Ring of Honour
Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 309): Coast 2 Coast (Leon St. Geovanni & Shaheem Ali) vs Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Baretta)
Honourable Mention(s): Dalton Castle & The Boys vs Colt Cabana & The Tempura Boys - ROH World 6-Man Tag Championship Match
The Best Friends are back in Ring of Honour, taking on the up and coming team of LSG and Shaheem Ali, Coast 2 Coast. This match, bell to bell, was packed with exciting action that tickled me lovingly. Both of these teams had some great spots, with Coast 2 Coast doing some insane dives, notably LSG springboarding to the outside with a move with more flips than I have fingers. An Awful Waffle from Chuckie T brought about the end of this great match.
At this point in time, I feel like Chuck and Baretta are the best candidates to take the tag belts off of the Young Bucks who have had them for a long ass time. They are running out of challengers, plus with them teaming with Page as The Hung Bucks as a six man group, I can see them dropping them soon.
As always, you can catch ROH TV for FREE on either www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current, on the Fite TV app, or at www.fite.tv,
ROH: War of the Worlds UK
Best Match on WotW UK: KUSHIDA vs Hiromu Takahashi vs Dalton Castle vs Marty Scurll - ROH World Television Championship Match
It was another War of the Worlds event this past week, uniting ROH, CMLL, New Japan and even RevPro this time at one event in Liverpool in the exact same building as ROH: Unified that saw the McGuinness/Danielson classic, a nice little factoid to this match. Here, we have a fatal-4-way with KUSHIDA defending his ROH World Television Championship against Hiromu Takahashi, Dalton Castle and 'The Villain' Marty Scurll.
This was a pretty fast paced match that went more for the one-in, one-out approach to the multi-man dynamic, with a lot of spots and big moves keeping things flowing. I was a bit disappointed that Hiromu didn't get more a showing outside of antics with Daryl, and I do wish this match could have gone longer. It did feel a little bit rushed, but it was good. KUSHIDA retained the title after connecting with his new small package driver 'Back to the Future'. KUSHIDA's reign doesn't show any sign of slowing, with him having one of the hottest streaks currently in wrestling, having just won the WCPW World Cup as well. God damn that man knows no defeat.
Lucha Underground
Best Match on LU (S3E32): Johnny Mundo vs Rey Mysterio - Lucha Underground Championship Match
The Cuerto Cup Finals happened this week, but a better match, in my opinion, was the massively hyped up match for the Lucha Underground Championship between Johnny Mundo and Rey Mysterio.
To me, it is still insane to see how Rey is working these days, just so much better than his later time in WWE its ridiculous. I think its pretty safe to say that under AAA, LU might not have quite the same standard of wellness policy WWE has and that might be involved in that to some degree, but hey, I'm not one to judge.
Mundo continues to be great in championship matches, and I know he is a heel and it makes sense to garner heat, but the constant interference of the Worldwide Underground is getting pretty repetitive at this point, and its no longer a matter of 'if' with them getting involved, but 'when'. That is what led to Mundo retaining once again here on the show. It was a great match for the belt, but I can't help but be soured by the shenanigans.
PWG: Pushing Forward Back
Best Match on PFB: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs The Unbreakable Fucking Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin)
Things are looking towards Reseda now in the last show before this year's Battle of Los Angeles (I think), and we have one more tag team match stealing the show, this time around with the Jackson brothers taking on the team of Brian Cage and Michael Elgin, The Unbreakable F'N Machines.
If I'm remembering correctly, this may be the first time that I haven't heard a Young Bucks chant not interspersed with 'Fuck The' in between the shouts. Being booked against these guys and the likes of War Machine, they've been the smaller underdogs against these big hoss teams. Even so, I can't think of any circumstance where the Young Bucks will be universally booed.
The match itself was full of high spots a plenty, with the Machines having some of the most impressive movesets I have ever witnessed. Cage's new powerbomb/slam combo on both the Bucks is a sight to behold, and Elgin has no business moving around the ring like he does. The Bucks are ever-entertaining, both in character antics and wrestling manoeuvres and I doubt I will ever get bored with them.
This was an awesome match, however I've felt that PWG shows may be a bit of step down from around this time last year I'd say, but with BOLA just around the corner, with some very talented individuals on the cards, it should be a fantastic trio of shows.
SUPERKICK COUNTER: 17
The Verdict
Best Match of the Week:The New Day vs The Usos - SmackDown! Tag Team Championship Match - WWE SummerSlam Pre-show
YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, DAMMIT. Yes, Asuka/Moon was very good indeed, but this match truly blew me away. My expectations from these two teams were exceeded greatly, putting on one of the best tag team matches in recent WWE memory. Plus, if I'm honest, Asuka/Moon didn't quite hold my attention the same way that New Day/Usos did, and I just enjoyed it that much more. Shoutouts this week to the tag match on NXT as well as on ROH TV, they were great too.
With those results in the books, here's how the leaderboard looks, with things still looking very New Japan at the top, but with WWE guys catching up.
And now for the 'Best Promo of the Week' that this time around goes to this impassioned and absurd promo by the returning Dolph Ziggler getting pretty meta in places. Ziggy's gone cray-cray;
Now all that's left is to wish you all a very merry few days ahead (and even shorter span probably due to the delay on this), and in every sense of the phrase, I wish you the best of luck. I've been Noah, this has been the week, and that was it's best wrestling. Seeya next time!
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