Andrew goes through a few promotions and shows to compile the list. What makes the Top 5 matches this week?

Well we have a more normal week this week. Not a bunch of huge shows, more of a fair assessment of weekly product. Now to address last week’s winner…as if there was any question, Wrestle Kingdom 13: Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, won the first vote of the year.

With the debut of Impact on Pursuit/Twitch, the first Raw of 2019 and a few special events on the weekend for NXT UK and ROH, should be interesting to see what hit the mark.

5. WWE SmackDown Live: #1 Contender Triple Threat – Becky Lynch vs Carmella vs Charlotte Flair

From Mitchell’s Coverage:

The Queen, The Man, and The FABULOUS Princess of Staten Island. These three former champions all want that belt back, but they’ll have to get past the other two to do it! Who will prove themselves the better former champion to then take on the current champion at the Rumble?

The bell rings and fans are strongly behind Becky! Becky makes sure Charlotte and Carmella hear it, Charlotte gets her own fans going with “WOO~!” Becky and Charlotte hit each other, and Carmella takes advantage by throwing Becky down! Charlotte scoops Carmella but Carmella slips out to throw Charlotte into Becky! Carmella then rolls Charlotte up, ONE! Charlotte hits Carmella but Becky returns with EuroUppers for everyone. Becky mule kicks Carmella out then mule kicks Charlotte down. She scrapes Charlotte out of the ring before hitting Carmella with a leaping forearm. Becky runs Charlotte over with a clothesline, then declares “This is MY show!” Becky’s show will return after the break.

SmackDown returns once more, and Becky has Carmella down. Fans fire up as Becky runs into the corner. Carmella dodges but runs into Becky’s boot. Charlotte shoulders in and hotshots Becky back. Charlotte climbs up top, but Becky stops her with forearms. Becky throws Charlotte onto Carmella! Then she drop-sentons them both! Cover on Carmella, but Charlotte yanks Becky off. Charlotte and Becky glare down as they circle. The friends turned enemies are having flashbacks to Summerslam as they brawl with forearms and chops! Charlotte eggs Becky on and the brawling continues. Becky hits, Charlotte chops and back again! Charlotte gets an edge with those knife edge chops! Charlotte runs, but into Becky’s Thesz Press! The two scrap and roll around, but Carmella’s FABULOUS Kick rocks Charlotte!

Becky grabs Carmella but Carmella fights out to hit a complete shot! Carmella goes after Charlotte but Charlotte trips her to get the Figure Four. Carmella resists, Charlotte jackknifes but into the Code of Silence! Charlotte endures, then powers her way up to her feet. Carmella rolls through, TWO! Charlotte knees low, but Becky leaps in! The missile dropkick hits Carmella! Charlotte throws Becky with an exploder! Charlotte baits Carmella in, backbreaker but Carmella slips out, only to get a boot! Fans “WOO~” for the Mad Queen as she drags Carmella around. Charlotte tells the Becky fans to “Shut up and sit down!” before placing Becky in the drop zone.

Charlotte climbs, but Becky springs up! Becky grabs at Charlotte but Charlotte kicks her away. Charlotte adjusts, two for one Moonsault! Cover on Becky, TWO! Cover on Carmella, TWO!! The Queen grows further frustrated, but we go to one more break.

SmackDown returns again, and Becky climbs up after Charlotte on the top rope. The two fight up top and Charlotte saves herself from falling off. The brawling continues, and Becky gets the better of Charlotte. Becky pulls but Charlotte resists the superplex. Carmella comes in to yank Becky down! Carmella hits Charlotte, and then hits the FABULOUS- No, Charlotte counters the steiner into a lift. But Carmella fights through to hit the FABULOUS Steiner! Cover, TWO!! Carmella shouts in frustration, but refocuses. She kicks Charlotte out, then kicks Becky back down. Carmella takes a risk as she builds speed to DIVE! Direct hit on Becky! Carmella drags Becky up, but Charlotte leaps for a SUPER MOONSAULT! Only for both Becky and Carmella to get clear! Charlotte manages to roll through the landing, only for Carmella to kick her down!

Becky gets Carmella with a Becksploder! All three women are down on the outside, but Becky stands up first. She goes over to Carmella and drags her up. Becky throws haymakers, then throws Carmella into barriers! Fans cheer as Becky drags Carmella up and into the ring. Becky and Charlotte both enter, and Charlotte boots Becky down! Carmella rolls Charlotte up, TWO! Charlotte wants the Figure Four but Carmella denies her again. Becky grabs Carmella’s arm but Carmella resists. Charlotte hits Becky with a SUPER Natural Selection! Shades of Summerslam yet again! But FABULOUS Kick hits Charlotte! Carmella covers, but Charlotte breaks it in time! Charlotte covers Becky, TWO! All three women are down from exhaustion, but fans fire up.

Carmella is furious. She SLAPS Charlotte, and again, and again! She hammers away on Charlotte from all sides, but Charlotte slaps he back! Charlotte goes for the Figure Four, and puts it on! She bridges, Figure Eight! But Beck drops a leg on Charlotte!! Cover, TWO!? But right into the Disarm-Her!! FABULOUS Kick!! Carmella tells Becky “You Suck!” before throwing Charlotte out of the ring. Carmella goes to Becky as fans say “This is Awesome!” Becky resists the suplex, but gets a SPEAR from Charlotte! Another FABULOUS Kick! Carmella goes back to Becky, but into the Disarm-Her!! Carmella taps, Becky wins!!

Winner: Becky via Disarm-Her

Rating: *** 1/2

4. NXT UK Takeover Blackpool WWE UK Championship: Pete Dunne (c) vs Joe Coffey

Now I know there’s a bunch of people who will disagree and cry foul that I didn’t rank this higher, but really, why? Dunne and Coffey had obvious issues as early as Dunne trying to lay in a forearm, but Coffey falls back too early. Just a lot of double pumps in moves that made the match look clunky…staccato would probably be a better word. Plus there’s the two awful spots at the top rope where they just lost balance and crashed.

The match was very solid, we all know Dunne is a great performer, but just because someone is liked doesn’t mean so many bad spots get to be ignored. Plus the finish though it made some sense that it seemed like The Bitter End wasn’t working to put Coffey away, but how sloppy the finish was and then the quick tap was weird. Everything about this match screamed either nerves or a lack of chemistry, but it was decent, just not the spectacular clinic people made it sound like on Twitter.

Winner: Dunne via Triangle Choke w/ Finger Break

Rating: *** 3/4

3. ROH Honor Reigns Supreme: Marty Scurll, Brody King & PCO vs Silas Young & The Briscoes

From My Coverage:

Okay now this was the first match to really catch my attention. Mark Briscoe tried out his Redneck Kung Fu on PCO, and that was a fun battle. A lot of car crash style moments, and Young tried to Canadian Destroyer PCO on the apron and that didn’t work correctly, but no one got hurt, so it was just a hold your breath moment. Villain Enterprises established themselves nicely and PCO pinning Jay Briscoe most likely lines up a tag team title shot in the future. So between Brody King pulling off an Arabian Moonsault Arm Wringer Toss…thing…it was quite cool since Brody is like 6’5″. Damn good match though.

Winner: PCO via PCO Moonsault

Rating: *** 3/4

Honorable Mentions:

NXT UK Takeover Blackpool: Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin
Rating: *** 1/2
ROH Honor Reigns Supreme: 4 Corners Survival Instant Rewards Proving Ground Match: Rhett Titus vs Shane Taylor vs Jonathan Gresham vs Jeff Cobb
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SmackDown Live: Andrade Almas & Samoa Joe vs Rey Mysterio & Mustafa Ali 
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE Raw: Bobby Lashley, Dean Ambrose & Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins, Finn Balor & John Cena
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SmackDown Live: The Bar vs The Usos
Rating: ***
Impact Wrestling: Willie Mack vs Sami Callihan
Rating: ***
NXT UK Takeover Blackpool UK Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs Toni Storm
Rating: *** 
Impact Wrestling: No DQ Match: Johnny Impact vs Killer Kross
Rating: ***
ROH Honor Reigns Supreme ROH World Championship Match: Jay Lethal (c) vs Dalton Castle
Rating: ***

2. Impact Wrestling: Wentz & Dez vs Pentagon Jr & Fenix

From My (Brian Cage approved!) Coverage:

Well now, if anyone had questions about The Rascalz, this stopped those questions. Match was basically run like a Lucha Rules match since I don’t remember a clean tag the whole time, but there were quick, crisp and great moves. Dez started off mirroring Pentagon for amusement, and the Rascalz continued their stoner/playful gimmick, while looking impressive as hell. As Dez and Wentz were trying to set up for Hot Fire Flame, Fenix shows up to turn the tides, Pentagon has Dez in a Gory Special, picks up Wentz for the Fear Factor, and drops down, while Fenix hits a cutter on Dez. Could easily have been a PPV match, all four were tremendous.

Winner: Pentagon Jr & Fenix via Gory Bomb/Fear Factor/Cutter combination

Rating: *** 3/4

1.  NXT UK Takeover Blackpool NXT UK Tag Team Championships: Moustache Mountain vs Grizzled Young Veterans

From Mitchell’s Coverage:
Trent Seven and Tyler Bate have been tag team champions everywhere they’ve been, and that includes the American NXT! But Zack Gibson and James Drake want to put a stop to that here and now! Are Gibson & Drake soon to be recognized as the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions? Or will Seven & Bate be the first to hold tag titles on both sides of the pond?

Introductions are made, and Johnny Saint himself raises up those title belts. The teams sort out as fans chant for the “Big Strong Boys!” Bate starts against Gibson at the bell and fans only get hotter. Gibson tunes the fans out as they boo him and sing for Bate. Bate grins as he and Gibson circle. They tie up and are even in power. Gibson gets a chinbar to bring Bate to the mat. Gibson goes after the wrist but Bate kips up. Bate tries to get Gibson down, but Gibson uses the wristlock to bring him back down. Gibson wrenches as fans boo. Bate kips up and gets the headscissor takedown. Fans say “If you hate Gibson, shoes off!”

Gibson pops out and has the wrist but Bate brings him back down into the headscissors. Bate squeezes but Gibson moves around. Gibson pops out and covers, TWO as Bate gets one shoulder up. Gibson tries the other, TWO. He tries both, but Bate bridges! Bate manages to power up and stand, but Gibson drives him back down. TWO with another bridge, and the Big Strong Boy rolls it up and over into a straitjacket! Gibson arm-drags Bate off but Bate lands on his feet! Fans applaud but Gibson talks strategy with Drake. Gibson and Bate tie up and go around. Bate gets the wristlock but Gibson powers him to the corner. Drake tags in but Bate gets away! Gibson backs off and Drake waits as Seven tags in. Mr. Mayhem and the artful dodger circle and fans sing “Trent Seven Army!”

Seven and Drake tie up and push each other around. Drake puts Seven on the ropes then turns him around for clubbing forearms. Drake wrenches and brings Seven over but Seven breaks free. Seven chops away on Drake! That third one knocks Drake off his feet! Cover, ONE, so Seven drags Drake over. Tag to Bate and Bate climbs. Wastleland slam to knee-board senton! Bate brings Drake up for European Uppercuts. Bate whips Drake but Gibson bails Drake out. Fans boo as GYV regroups. Drake runs in but Bop goes up. He won’t let Bang hit, so Bate baits him with a test of strength. Drake falls for it, so Bate goes up, over, around and under to roll Drake up. TWO, and a dropkick drops Drake!

Bate handsprings and brings Drake back over. Drake breaks free and gets a headlock. Bate powers out but Gibson tags in. Bate sees Gibson coming and huricanranas! Seven tags in and gets the hand-off. Gibson throws forearms and goes after Seven’s arm. Seven powers out but Gibson runs him over. Things speed up and Seven hits a crossbody! Cover, TWO! Seven goes right after Gibson’s arm! Fans rally but Gibson whips out. Gibson swings but Seven ducks to scoop. Gibson slips out and tags Drake. Seven CHOPS away on both Grizzled Young Veterans! Seven hip tosses Drake down, then gets him in a waistlock. Gibson tags back in as Seven rolls Drake. Seven rocks Gibson with a right, then DIVES onto Drake! Drake backs away as Seven pursues. Drake suckers Seven into Gibson’s throat chop!

Gibson drags Seven up and into the ring to ground ‘n’ pound. Fans boo but Gibson tags in Drake. The GYV stomp Seven down, then Drake throws hands. Seven crawls but can’t get the tag. Fans rally up but Drake gives Seven a backbreaker. Cover, TWO! Drake wraps on a half nelson and chinbar. Seven endures and feeds off the fans’ energy. Seven fights his way up but Drake wrangles him back down. Fans sing again and Seven stands. Drake throws him out hard then tags Gibson. Gibson drags Seven up, and GYV combine for the slingshot stomp backbreaker! Bate comes over to check on Seven but Gibson tells him to back off. Gibson puts Seven in the ring and drags him back over. Drake tags in and Gibson feeds Seven to Drake’s forearm! Cover, TWO! Seven continues to survive but his arm and back are problems.

Drake drags Seven up but Seven fights back. Drake puts Seven in the corner but Seven fights out! GYV mug Seven, but Seven throws Drake at Gibson! Seven scrambles but Drake drags him back. Gibson tags in and he stomps Seven out. Seven has blood from his head, that’s from Drake’s sharp elbow. Fans sing “If you hate Gibson, stand up~!” but Gibson suplexes Seven and floats to a cover. TWO, but Gibson is right on Seven with a cobra clutch. Seven endures and gets his second wind, but Drake tags in. Drake slingshots but Seven bumps Gibson into him. Drake goes down and Gibson lets go since he’s no longer legal. Gibson throws Seven out and Drake goes after him. But Seven CHOPS Drake back! Drake forearms, Seven CHOPS! They go back and forth, but there’s also the ring count.

Drake forearms and Seven chops again. Seven chops and chops then gets back in at 7! Drake scrambles after to stop Seven from tagging Bate! Gibson tags in and the GYV isolate Seven all over again. Gibson brings Seven up for a forearm, but Seven hits Drake and boots Gibson! Seven runs but Gibson catches him, Bate still tags in! Bate fires off with haymakers and keeps Gibson from running away! Drake comes in but Bate whips and back drops him! Gibson runs but into Bate’s knee! Bate hops up, flying uppercut! Fans fire up with Bate as he grabs Drake for the airplane spin! Around and around he goes, but then he throws him at Gibson. Bate then suplexes Drake onto Gibson’s shoulders, and then lifts them both! Bate does a double spin!

Drake slips off but Bate keeps spinning Gibson until he’s too dizzy. Bate goes at Gibson on the apron but Drake gets him first. But Bate brings Drake out to join him. They brawl on the apron, and Bate exploders Drake at Gibson! Bate kips up as fans reach a fever pitch, then shooting star tackles both Gibson and Drake! Bate puts Gibson in, double underhooks, but Gibson resists. Gibson back drops but Bate lands on his feet. Bop up, BANG hits! Seven tags in and scoops Gibson for a running powerslam! Bate adds a headbutt! Seven covers, TWO!! Mustache Mountain can’t believe their tribute to The British Bulldogs didn’t get it done! Bate DIVES onto Drake! Seven brings Gibson up, Burning Hammer!! Cover, but Drake breaks it just in time!

Fans rally up as Gibson and Seven crawl. Seven hammers Gibson but Gibson kicks Seven. Fans know “This is Awesome!” as Seven grabs Gibson’s foot. Gibson kicks Seven’s bad leg, hot tags to Drake and Bate! Drake tries to roll but Bate sits on it. ONE, Drake sunset flips, ONE, Bate high stacks, ONE! Drake sunset flips again, TWO! Rolling kick from Bate! Bate tags Seven again and Seven picks Drake up. Bate runs and rebounds, but Gibson hits a code breaker! Seven chops Gibson, but Gibson puts him in a corner, and Drake makes Seven #GritYourTeeth! Gibson hits Helter Skelter and Drake adds a 450!! Cover, TWO!? Gibson and Drake can’t believe it, but fans are thunderous! The Grizzled Young Veterans regroup, and Gibson tags back in.

Gibson drags Seven up and feeds him to Drake’s scoop. Seven slips out to throw Drake at Gibson. Seven chops everyone, but gets caught into the enziguri and Shankly Gates! Gibson hammers away and sinks it in deep! Seven endures but Bate is slowly returning. Drake intercepts with a facelock, but Bate powers up. Drake puts Bate in his own Shankly Gates! Mustache Mountain reach for each other as they endure the holds. Bate powers up again, to lift Drake and Death Valley Drive him onto Gibson!! All four men are down but the Empress Ballroom is all but exploding! They chant “UK! Woop Woop!” for “British Wrestling!” Both teams regroup, and tags to Bate and Drake. Bate fires off a strike fest! Bate gives some to Gibson! Drake hits a forearm, but Bate hits a DOUBLE rolling kick!

Seven’s back and tags in again. Mustache Mountain want it, Rebound Snap Dragon! Cover, TWO!?! Drake survives, but Mustache Mountain has one more thing to try. Seven drags Drake up as fans hope they “Fight Forever!” Gibson lurks, and anchors Bate! Seven lifts Drake but Drake slips out. Drake shoves Seven into Bate, and Bate’s in an electric chair. Seven Star Lariat misses, Drak DIVES to Doomsday Bate! Fans lose their minds over that one. Seven is furious, he DIVES but into Drake’s shotgun kick! Gibson drags Seven up and in, and GYV coordinate. Drake scoops, Ticket to MAYHEM!! Cover, Grizzled Young Veterans win!!

Winner: Gibson via Ticket to Mayhem

Rating: **** 1/4

Thoughts:

This is actually a hard choice for me because the Women’s Triple Threat was really good and Carmella stepped up nicely. She may not have done a lot, but she filled in her spots, it all looked good and she wasn’t a liability. The ROH match was the highlight of that show, I wanted to just smash my skull in and fall into a coma with how bad that was, but Brody is impressive, PCO is tremendous and you can’t hate the Briscoes. Moustache Mountain, my only issue ever is with Tyler Bate, that Bop and Bam thing is dumb and his Double Airplane Spin always annoys me with how dumb and illogical it is.

So you see I boiled it down to three at least…ugh…which one.

Screw it, I’m gonna pick, ROH Honor Reigns Supreme: Villain Enterprises vs Silas Young & The Briscoes, purely for being the highlight of an awful show. Everyone else, do the damn thing, vote and Always Use Your Head!