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It's time once again to find out which company produced the best match of the week. With both IMPACT Wrestling and WWE NXT holding events over the coming weekend, those two brands needed to deliver in their go-home shows. That's exactly what they did, giving us some incredible matches and segments to chew on as we moved into the weekend.
The semi-finals of both the men's and women's Dusty Cups wrapped up this week, IMPACT Wrestling gave us a strong preview of what's to come in their X-Division #1 Contender's match at No Surrender, not to mention the start of the AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament. There were a lot of great matches and segments this week, making this list a tough one to write.
We'll kick this one off with AEW Dynamite, as the main event saw Kenny Omega team up with NJPW's KENTA to face Jon Moxley and Lance Archer in a hellacious Falls Count Anywhere Match.
Falls Count Anywhere Match: KENTA and Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley and Lance Archer
Last week, KENTA shocked the world at AEW Beach Break when he attacked former AEW World Champ and current IWGP US Champion Jon Moxley. KENTA had been calling Moxey out for a while now after winning the New Japan Cup USA in August.
In his debut match for AEW, the Bullet Club member teamed up with former Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega to take on Moxley and former IWGP US Champion Lance Archer.
Now, while KENTA and Omega both had their eyes set on injuring Mox, they, several times over, seemed to forget about the Murderhawk Monster.
Of course, that's always a mistake, and Archer was a real highlight in this match. The former enemies worked well together. This match was rather chaotic, and anyone that got in the way wound up facing the wrath of these four men. Poor Peter Avalon.
The brawl made it out of the ringside area, and even into the kitchen where KENTA attempted to force Moxley to tap to the crossface. Archer broke that up with some uncooked potatoes, because why not?
It looked like Archer would actually get a win over Omega near the end, but the numbers game was too much to overcome. The IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers would make the save, allowing Omega and KENTA to pick up the win.
A double low blow from Omega and KENTA, the Magic Killer, a V-Trigger, and finally a One-Winged Angel later, and Archer was unable to kick out. Of course, Omega couldn't get Archer up by himself, meaning that should they face off against each other in a singles match, say for the title, the AEW World Champion may not be able to put away Archer on his own.
NXT Dusty Cup Semi-Final Match: MSK vs Legado Del Fantasma
The opening match for NXT this week was the first of two semi-final contests in the men's NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. MSK debuted in the tournament, and have gone on to impress the WWE Universe with each installment in the Dusty Cup. Fans of IMPACT Wrestling knew this duo as Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier of The Rascalz.
Now known as Nash Carter and Wes Lee, these boys picked up right where they left off, wowing the fans with some fast-paced tag team action. The transition from any company to WWE can often leave some performers a little off-kilter, but Carter and Lee found their groove quickly. They've managed to stand out so far thanks to some pretty unique offense, but they really struck gold when they battled Legado Del Fantasma in this semi-final match.
If this was how the finals of the Dusty Cup ended, no one would be complaining. These four men tore the house down, and Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza did their part to make MSK look as dangerous and unpredictable as possible.
There was a point where MSK hit their jaw-dropping Hot Fire Flame off the apron, with Lee launching Carter mid-moonsault off the apron onto their opponents below. Not to be outdone, though, Lee would follow that with a phenomenal tope con hilo that saw him clear the top rope with tons of room to spare.
Ultimately, MSK walked away with the win after hitting their spinebuster/neckbreaker combination to finish the match. With another match in the books, they're on their way to the finals of the Dusty Cup. We'll get into that later, of course.
As far as Legado Del Fantasma goes, they really impressed throughout this tournament. No matter who wins out at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, we'll hopefully see those guys get involved in the title picture soon.
AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament Opening Match: Thunder Rosa vs Leyla Hirsch
Last week, Thunder Rosa came up short in a stellar match with Britt Baker. This week, she had a chance to get some momentum back and pick up the first win in the AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament. Her opponent? The always impressive Leyla Hirsch.
Again, AEW's weakest part of the show for many critics had always been their women's division. Much like last week, what we saw on AEW Dynamite this past Wednesday showed that wasn't the case anymore. The division has built up quite nicely over the past six or so months, and Hirsch and Rosa walked away with the match of the night.
Everyone knew just how incredible Thunder Rosa was going into this match, and many consider her to be a favorite for the whole tournament. Leyla Hirsch, however, came into this match looking to prove everyone wrong. As great as the former NWA Women's World Champion looked, what we saw this week was another star-making performance for Hirsch.
No-nonsense offense from Hirsch, as she battered Rosa throughout the match with heavy knee strikes and suplexes. She kept up well with Rosa throughout and was able to escape the Fire Thunder Driver on a few occasions.
In the end, it was Thunder Rosa who punched her ticket to the next round. She'll face the winner of former AEW Women's Champion Riho and the NWA World Women's Champion Serena Deeb.
It's really unfortunate to see Hirsch taken out this early, as she's been nothing but impressive since stepping foot in AEW in October. It wasn't her night, but fans should keep an eye on her, as she's destined for great things.
Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Ace Austin, Chris Bey, Daivari, and Blake Christian vs Willie Mack, Josh Alexander, Trey Miguel, and Suicide
IMPACT Wrestling has a tendency of starting their show off with an incredible opening match. This week's show was no different. With standouts like Chris Bey, Ace Austin, Willie Mack, Josh Alexander, and Trey Miguel in the match, it's going to be anything but boring. Along with the inclusion of newcomer Blake Christian and veterans of the brand Suicide and Daivari, it was stellar and total nonstop action.
What was great about this one was all the feuds from the past year that were reignited for a few moments. Chris Bey and Willie Mack had a phenomenal feud over the X-Division Championship in 2020, as did Trey Miguel and Ace Austin.
Josh Alexander was a monster in this contest, and The Walking Weapon moniker was truly earned. The former IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team Champion dominated Christian and Austin early on before tagging out to long-time rival Trey Miguel, who worked with Alexander for some impressive tag team offense.
Later on in the match, the two powerhouses in Willie Mack and Daivari went head to head, with the former Shiek Abdul Bashir laying out the big man with a hellacious clothesline. Mack was left on the wrong side of the ring for several minutes before getting Trey Miguel back in the ring.
Miguel, who returned to IMPACT Wrestling recently, was a house of fire on this hot tag. He's stepped his game up quite a bit since coming back to the company, and in this match, he kicked his speed up another notch.
Trey won the bout with a new submission finisher, tapping out Blake Christian to end a wild tag team match. These men will compete at No Surrender in the Triple Threat Revolver Match, with the winner assured a match at the X-Division Championship. It's sure to be a stellar contest and may be worth the price of admission alone.
NXT Dusty Cup Semi-Final Match: Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher vs The Grizzled Young Veterans
The final match in the men's NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will take place at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day. On NXT, the last semi-final match took place with four hard-nosed in your face competitors vying for the trophy. The Grizzled Young Veterans were in the finals of last year's tournament before being knocked off by The Broserweights.
On this night, they refused to come up short, even though they were facing two of the toughest brawlers, not just in NXT, but in the company. Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa weren't even in this tournament originally, but after earning one another's respect in the Fight Pit, managed to enter after Karrion Kross injured another team. Since then, these two have been putting their opponents' faces to the mat and pounding them into the dirt.
It's been a wild ride for the unlikely duo, but it, unfortunately, ended for them when they faced off against the former NXT UK Tag Team Champions. Thatcher and Ciampa obviously had a size advantage, but no matter what they were able to accomplish in that ring, they couldn't overcome the tag team chemistry between Zack Gibson and James Drake.
This was an in your face, bare-knuckle brawl. A serious fight of a match. Every inch was earned, and there's not much else you can ask for in a tag team match. The Grizzled Young Vets nearly won it with the Doomsday Device, but a last-second save from Timothy Thatcher kept the match going.
Ciampa couldn't catch Drake with the Fairy Tale Ending, though he tried on three separate occasions, and the Veterans were always able to withstand and break away from Thatcher's "Thatch-as-Thatch-Can" submissions. In the end, we got to see why the Veterans are as good as they claim to be. Clearly, the boys watch the tape.
Tommaso Ciampa has a tendency of winning a match by catching his opponents climbing through the ropes and spiking them with Willow's Bell. Drake was nearly caught by this, but Gibson pulled his partner out of harm's way before the two men dropped the former NXT Champion with Ticket to Mayhem.
It wasn't just the best tag team match of the week, and there were too many to count this time around, but it was without a doubt the best match we saw this week. Heading into NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day, the main event match really sold the importance of the finals. Grizzled Young Veterans will face newcomers MSK this Sunday.
