'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Another week gave fans seven days full of stellar matches from IMPACT Wrestling, WWE, and AEW. While the companies weren't the only ones that kept the shows on this week, they definitely offered some exciting bouts. These promotions featured bouts that delivered exemplary in-ring action and fascinating storytelling. And one match from NJPW was probably the best bout of them all.
Honorable Mentions this week:
- Pretty Deadly defeat Gallus for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship
- IMPACT Wrestling Six-Man Tag: Winners face off in a Triple Threat to determine the X-Division No. 1 Contender
The first match on this list featured a break-out moment for Jake Something, as he battled for a world championship on IMPACT Wrestling.
#5 TNA World Championship: Jake Something vs. Moose (c) on IMPACT Wrestling
IMPACT Wrestling had a lot of fantastic in-ring action this week, and the show focused on the evolution of Jake Something. While the six-man tag was stellar, many fans finished the show with a new view of Jake Something.
The big man battled his former tag team partner Cody Deaner in an exciting Tables Match to open the show. Jake won the match before he got speared through a table by TNA World Champion Moose.
After months of debate, IMPACT Vice President Scott D'Amore subsequently declared that Moose's title is a legitimate world championship, as he reinstated it and set up a world title match between Moose and Jake.
Jake started off by attacking Moose during his entrance, and he stepped into Mr. IMPACT Wrestling's spotlight to take it for himself. The assault gave fans a compelling image, as it hinted that the company views Jake like a star.
Though he was worn down from his match with Deaner, Jake fought his heart out in this war with Moose. He nearly pinned the champion several times over with stiff clotheslines, Michinoku Drivers, and sit-out powerbombs. Jake threw everything he had at Moose, and he more than proved he was worthy of the main event spot.
Unfortunately, Jake didn't have enough left in the tank. Had he not already wrestled an extremely physical match in the opener of IMPACT Wrestling, fans might have seen a new TNA World Champion on Tuesday. Though it wasn't his night, Jake showed the fans exactly what he was made of. Don't be surprised if he's holding a title by the end of the year.
#4 Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs. Nyla Rose on AEW Dynamite
Fans have seen a wild ride in AEW's Women's World Title Eliminator Tournament. Week in and week out, it has delivered some of the best matches in the business and highlighted the star power in this division. This week was no different as viewers saw two top stars, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Nyla Rose, square off in the semi-finals.
Rose dominated the early part as Baker was unable to bring the former AEW Women's Champion down. But Baker escaped and made her way to the crowd, where she threw trash cans and screamed like a spoiled brat. After she regained her composure, Baker returned to the ring, where she was immediately flattened with a Samoan Drop.
Baker managed to turn things around by luring Rose to the floor, and she drove the former champion's shoulder into the post. Baker severely weakened Rose's arm, but this precise offense was never truly enough to take Rose out of the match. She fired up and dropped Baker with a devastating Beast Bomb.
The Good Doctor managed to kick out, and she even trapped Rose in the Lockjaw. Still, Rose broke away and delivered yet another Beast Bomb, the move that finally put Baker down for the count. With the win, Rose clinched her spot in the finals of the AEW Women's World Championship Eliminator Tournament U.S. bracket.
This contest was impressive because the two women gave fans an incredible match that would have been worthy of the finals.
#3 No DQ Match: Karrion Kross vs. Santos Escobar on WWE NXT
On paper, Karrion Kross should not be fighting the WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion because Kross is a heavyweight. But Santos Escobar's mouth wrote a check that he couldn't cash when he insulted Kross and other former NXT Champions a while ago.
Escobar claimed that Kross had it all in the presentation, but when it came time to put up or shut up, he got hurt. Escobar called Kross a glass champion, and the Herald of Doomsday set out to send a message. He wanted to prove himself to the entire WWE NXT locker room by laying waste to Escobar and all of Legado del Fantasma.
Fans of these two competitors know that there's a good bit of history between them. Kross and Escobar, then known as El Hijo del Fantasma, warred with each other in AAA earlier in their careers. With such bad blood between the two enemies, fans were expecting a heated battle on Wednesday.
The bout began in the dreaded WWE NXT parking lot where Kross launched Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde into the grill of a truck. Eventually, the pesky numbers game pinned Kross down as the trio took control of the fight.
Once the match entered in the arena, Kross rallied by sending Mendoza and Wilde through the plexiglass barricade. In this stunning moment, the look on Escobar's face was priceless.
Throughout the match, Escobar's cronies helped him escape serious harm. They even managed to weaken the former WWE NXT Champion's shoulder. Escobar drove his opponent's arm, wrapped in a steel chair, into the ring post. The devastating blow only served to anger Kross. He ran wild and drove a chair into Mendoza's face with his boot.
Mendoza saved Escobar from disaster as Kross nearly crushed his skull between the stairs and a chair. Kross then launched Legado Del Fantasma into the plexiglass barrier again, and this assault took them out of the match for good. With his allies removed from the bout, Escobar was left in a one-on-one situation with one of the most destructive Superstars in WWE NXT.
A Doomsday Saito drove Escobar through the broadcast table and another one spiked him on his neck in the middle of the ring. That move probably could have sealed the deal, but Kross wanted more. A nasty forearm to the back of the head finally took Escobar down and gave Kross a hard-fought win.
#2 IWGP United States Championship: KENTA vs. Jon Moxley (c) on NJPW Strong
The wrestling world, especially NJPW fans, had been looking forward to this match for a long time. In August, KENTA earned a chance to challenge for the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship when he won the New Japan Cup USA tournament. Since then, KENTA has been trash-talking the champion Jon Moxley, and been salivating at the opportunity to knock the Death Rider off his throne.
Shortly after he appeared on AEW Dynamite to meet Moxley, fans finally got to see this long-awaited war. The anticipation was absolutely worth it for this blockbuster NJPW match.
It didn't take long for these two warriors to take their fight to the floor, where KENTA dropped Moxley with a suplex. Mox blocked a shot with the briefcase and nearly spiked KENTA onto it with a piledriver. But the Bullet Club member eventually used the weapon by planting Moxley with a DDT on top of the unforgiving case.
KENTA battered the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion as Moxley took some brutal kicks. The enemies fought away from the ring once again, and the challenger bashed Moxley with the championship. KENTA then placed him on a table and hit a flying elbow drop to drive Moxley through the wood.
Both men barely made it back in the ring before the twenty count. KENTA hit his basement dropkick and diving double stomp, but he still couldn't put Moxley away. Moxley escaped the GTS and responded with a German suplex.
Both men traded submission holds, an exchange that led to KENTA locking in Game Over. Moxley managed to break the hold before he blacked out and spiked KENTA with the Death Rider for the thrilling win.
The violent match pleased NJPW fans and wrestling enthusiasts alike. The victory marked Moxley's return to the NJPW ring after he had been absent for several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His strong performance against KENTA left fans eagerly waiting for another title defense.
#1 Rey Fenix vs. Lance Archer on AEW Dynamite
Is Rey Fenix the best wrestler in AEW? Maybe. It's fair to argue that his name is near the top of the list. On AEW Dynamite, Fenix battled the Murderhawk Monster Lance Archer in a qualifying match for the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match.
This bout featured a tale as old as time as it pit an underdog high-flyer against a monstrous giant. With this fascinating clash of size and in-ring style, these two men delivered quite an incredible main event on Dynamite. Fenix wasted no time by flying full-speed at the big man.
Archer turned things around and launched Fenix into the guard rail. Of course, rising like a phoenix out of the ashes, Fenix refused to stay down. Back in the ring, he avoided certain doom several times over, and he hit an eye-popping top rope Spanish Fly on his massive opponent.
Unfortunately for Fenix, that stunning move wasn't enough to put The Murderhawk Monster down. Archer responded with a nasty pounce that rocked Fenix. A powerbomb into the turnbuckle and a chokeslam set Fenix up for the decisive Blackout. Fenix may not have won the bout, but he earned the respect of Archer. This show-stealing match was everything fans could hope for from these competitors.
Fenix constantly defied the odds and narrowly avoided defeat time and time again. Any time Archer connected, he nailed a home run shot that was supposed to put Fenix away. These two athletes are top stars, and they were treated as such in an excellent match on AEW Dynamite.
