Another week, another Will Ospreay match stands above all the rest. It was all more quality than quantity this week as I watched less actual matches than in most weeks but 3 of them hit that coveted 5* or above level and it took a 4* match to make the top 10 with several at that level not even making it.
AEW's Continental Classic took a little while to get going with a slow start but as it goes on, the matches are getting better and better and this past week's Will Ospreay vs Darby Allin match was an instant classic. Both guys took it to the next level with Darby, in particular, putting his body on the line like he always does before pulling out the upset win and the all important 3 points in an attempt to finish at the top of his league.
Another C2 match which took place over a week ago, but I only saw it this past week, was Mark Briscoe scoring a big upset win over Kyle Fletcher who looked to be headed to the top of his table with 9 points coming in. A win would assure him a spot in the semi-finals and a draw would almost get him. The latter is what seemed to be happening as they passed the 19 minute mark of a hard fought match before Briscoe managed to score the huge upset and get himself up to six points and remain in contention.
The third 5* match of the week was from New Japan's Strong Style Evolved show and is a match that some are calling the greatest women's match to ever take place in North America. I definitely have it as my women's match of the year and would have it easily in the top five of all time for women's match in North America. Mercedes Mone's NJPW Strong Women's title defence against Hazuki was like a classic Kazuchika Okada match in that it took a while to get going but once it did, it turned into a masterpiece. As someone not very familiar with the challenger, it means even more that the match got over so well with me and both women deserve a lot of credit.
Overall, I watched 58 matches from December 16-22 including some matches that happened before that time period but I watched during it. This included matches from the following shows with dates outside the time period indicated - WWE RAW, ROH on Honor Club (aired Dec 12), WWE NXT, TNA Final Destination (aired Dec 13), AEW Dynamite, NJPW on AXS (aired Dec 12 with matches from the Historic X-over show on Nov 17), WWE Main Event (aired Dec 13), NXT Lvl Up (aired Dec 13), WWE Smackdown, AEW Rampage (aired Dec 13), AEW Collision (aired Dec 14) and NJPW Strong Style Evolved (aired Dec 15).
Following are my top 10 matches of the week with my score listed first and at the end of each entry is the Cagematch rating and Dave Meltzer star rating, if applicable:
1. 5.25* Darby Allin beat Will Ospreay in a Gold League Match at AEW Dynamite on December 18. 9.21/10 on Cagematch; 5* from Dave Meltzer
2. 5* Mercedes Mone retained her NJPW Strong Women's title at NJPW Strong Style Evolved on December 15. 9.19/10 on Cagematch; 4.75* from Dave Meltzer
3. 5* Mark Briscoe beat Kyle Fletcher in a Blue League match at AEW Collision on December 14. 8.34/10 on Cagematch
4. 4.75* Maya Iwatami retained her IWGP Women's title at NJPW/Stardom Historic X-Over on NJPW on AXS on December 12 (took place Nov 17). 9.09/10 on Cagematch; 4.75* from Dave Meltzer
5. 4.25* The War Raiders (Erik/Ivar) won the WWE World tag team titles from Finn Balor and JD McDonagh at WWE RAW on December 16. 7.30/10 on Cagematch; 3.75* from Dave Meltzer
6. 4.25* Maika and Zack Sabre Jr beat Starlight Kid and El Desperado at NJPW/Stardom Historic X-Over. 7.68/10 on Cagematch
7. 4.25* Jon Moxley/PAC/Wheeler Yuta beat Orange Cassidy/Hangman Page/Jay White at AEW Dynamite. 6.59/10 on Cagematch; 4.5* from Dave Meltzer
8. 4* Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer/Axiom) defended their NXT Tag team titles against Mark Coffey and Wolfgang at WWE NXT on December 17. 7.68/10 on Cagematch; 4* from Dave Meltzer
9. 4* Zane Jay beat Matt Vandagriff at NJPW Strong Style Evolved. 6.35/10 on Cagematch; 3.75* from Dave Meltzer
10. 4* The Hardys (Matt and Jeff Hardy) retained their TNA Tag Team titles over Brian Meyers and Eddie Edwards at TNA Final Resolution on December 13. 6.29/10 on Cagematch
Honorable mentions:
The following matches also received 4*
Bron Breakker retained his WWE Intercontinental title over Ludwig Kaiser on WWE RAW. 7.28/10 on Cagematch; 3.75* from Dave Meltzer
Trick Williams retained his NXT Title over Eddy Thorpe on WWE NXT. 5.15/10 on Cagematch
Joe Hendry beat Steve Maclin, Mike Santana and Josh Alexander in a #1 contenders match to earn a World title shot at TNA Final Resolution. 7.11/10 on Cagematch
