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Being a part of the IWC, it’s only natural to criticise everything a wrestling company does. Whether it’s pushing an old timer into the World Championship scene (*cough* TNA *cough*), jobbing their midcard champions every week (*cough* WWE *cough*), or making the most nonsensical World Championship matches possible (*cough* ROH *cough*), us “smart mark” fans enjoy to tear apart the people that reduce our favourite thing to shreds. Well, I thought that I would start to highlight the best part of wrestling: the wrestling. Each week I will give you my top ten matches of the week from WWE, TNA, and ROH. Hopefully I can introduce you to new companies, new characters, and new shows.
#10. Kaitlyn (c) vs. AJ – Divas Championship (WWE NXT – 04/25/13)
On NXT Wednesday, WWE held a miniature Clash of Champions, where we saw a multitude of titles defended. We kicked off the show with the scarcely seen Divas Champion defending her big butterfly belt against AJ. Seeing as this was pre-taped weeks in advance, I wouldn’t worry about this being AJ’s title match from winning the Battle Royale on RAW. Even though it’s kind of unfortunate to see a match that should have been at WrestleMania opening NXT, it was still one amazing match. People like to look down upon the Divas Division for not having a lot of talent, but I personally think they have more talent than TNA’s Knockout Division. It’s just that WWE has no idea how to use them. During the match, we got to see AJ pull out a few moves we haven’t seen in a while, such as a bridging Fujiwara Armbar and a Shining Wizard. Kaitlyn would ultimately retain her championship after a spear, but AJ looked extremely strong and proved why she is one of the best female wrestlers out there. Now WWE just needs to let their Divas have great matches on RAW and SmackDown, instead of regulating them to NXT.
#9. Jay Lethal vs. Rhett Titus (ROH – 04/27/13)
Speaking of AJ, coming in at number nine this week is the man who trained her, Jay Lethal. Lethal, who I personally think is the most WWE-ready indy guy, challenged Rhett Titus to a match during commercial break, and the two duked it out over the course of five or six minutes. The fact that we missed a good chunk of the beginning of this match was unfortunate, but the five or so minutes we got to see from it was pretty damn good. Lethal would take out the S.C.U.M member after a great looking Lethal Injection, but I think that Rhett would’ve benefited more from a win. Still, these two proved why they are so heavily featured on Ring of Honor, and I hope that we get to see both of them (especially Lethal) move up north to the WWE in the future.
#8. Chavo Guerrero & Hernandez (c) vs. Austin Aries & Bobby Roode – TNA Tag Team Championships (TNA Impact – 04/25/13)
First off, I think Aries and Roode should have never lost the tag titles to Chavo and Hernandez. I get that Chavo and Hernandez are probably transitional champions for Garett and Wes, but I still hate the fact that they are champions again. That being said, they had a great match with Aries and Roode. Aries and Roode proved once again why they are two of the best wrestlers in the world, and Chavo and Hernandez (as boring as they are) showed that they can hang with the big boys. Of course, Chavo and Hernandez retained after a Frog Splash from Guerrero, but I wouldn’t expect these two to carry the belts for too long.
#7. Jay Briscoe & Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy & Rhino (ROH – 04/27/13)
Remember how I said that ROH gives us extremely random World Championship matches? Well, this month’s challenger is a prime example of this. After losing the TV Championship and failing to recapture it, Adam Cole was given a shot at Jay Briscoe’s World Championship. Because logic seems to have gone for a toss. Anyway, the champion and challenger teamed up in ROH’s main event to take on two members of S.C.U.M., Matt Hardy and Rhino. The match could’ve been better (especially with ROH standards), but it was still a n entertaining match. The ending where Jay Briscoe got hit with a Super Kick and a Gore, all thanks to Adam Cole, was a great way to add some fuel to a non-existent fire between Cole and Briscoe, and I’m sure their match at Border Wars will be great. I think it would’ve been more logical to have Rhino win after hitting Briscoe with a Gore, but Adam Cole still got a lot of momentum for pinning Rhino.
#6. Undertaker vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE Smackdown – 04/26/13)
If I told you six months ago that Dean Ambrose, the yet to debut Jon Moxley, would be facing Undertaker in his first singles match on free TV in 3 years, would you believe me? Well, it happened, and it was really awesome. That match may not have lasted long (understandable with Taker’s age), but the rub that Ambrose got from the Deadman was immense (even in losing), and seeing the Shield powerbomb Undertaker through the announcer’s table just showed us how much faith the WWE has in all three of these men for the future. Seeing Undertaker whip out the Hell’s Gate was pretty cool too.
#5. Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho (WWE Raw – 04/22/13)
Since their highly anticipated first encounter at SummerSlam last year, Ziggler and Jericho have clashed too many times to count. If it were any other two guys, it would be a bad thing, but Ziggler and Jericho never fail to deliver when they go one on one with each other. This was no different on Raw from England this week, as the two put on another great match. It may not have been as good as their previous bouts, but it was still a treat to see and I think the raucous English crowd would agree.
#4. Sheamus vs. Big Show (WWE SmackDown – 04/26/13)
You can call them stale all you want, but when Sheamus and Big Show are put in a ring together, they put on one great match. WWE revisited the Sheamus/Show feud that occupied the latter part of last year, and even though it gave us all the same spots (Sheamus lifts Show for the Electric Chair and White Noise), the match was still as good as we remembered it. It was nice to see Show get a win over Super Sheamus without a World Title on the line too, and even Mark Henry helped a little bit.
#3. Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger (WWE SmackDown – 04/26/13)
Is it just me, or do Del Rio and Swagger’s matches keep out doing their previous? On this week’s SmackDown, Swagger and Del Rio clashed again in a No Disqualifications match, except this time Swagger got the win over Del Rio. It’s nice to see them trading wins leading up to Extreme Rules instead of having Del Rio always beat Swagger, but the question still remains: Where is Dolph Ziggler!?
#2. Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. Adrian Neville – WWE United States Championship (WWE NXT – 04/25/13)
In a sad reminder that Cesaro is no longer the United States Champion, the amazing pre-taped match of Cesaro defending his title against Adrian Neville was aired on NXT. Cesaro vs. Neville was a prime example of why the IWC always talks about getting huge response on Twitter whenever two indy guys face each other, and for anyone who has never seen Neville before, this match is a perfect way to introduce yourself to the man gravity forgot. Cesaro (obviously) retained the championship after catching Neville with a Neutralizer, but only after getting hit by everything Neville had to throw at him. I can’t stress to you enough that you need to go watch this match. Just another reminder of all the future talent that is brewing around in NXT.
#1. Daniel Bryan, Kane & Undertaker vs. Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, & Seth Rollins (WWE Raw – 04/22/13)
If there was ever a reminder to all of us as to why we love wrestling, it was this match. After 3 long years, Undertaker returned to competition on Raw to face the Shield alongside Kane and Daniel Bryan. The Shield would pick up a huge win over Team Hell No and Undertaker, but every single man in this match showed his worth. Undertaker proved that he could still hang in the ring, and the Shield showed why they are all future World Champions. Every thing in this match delivered, and I could easily say that this was one of the best six man tag team matches I’ve ever seen. Bravo, WWE.
Agree? Disagree? Tell my why in the comments of on Twitter @SmarkInProgress.
WOI BARRUH!
