In another busy week of pro wrestling, including catching up on some shows from previous weeks, a match from the the New Japan Fighting Spirit Unleashed show on November 8th topped my personal list of matches watched over the last week. The show took place on November 8th and I finally got to it this week and it was worth the wait.
Kidd retained his NJPW Strong title in the main event over Kosei Fujita, fresh off his win in the New Japan Super Junior Tag league the week before. It was a, pardon the pun, strong show that had two matches in my top 10 and two more that just missed the cut.
Overall I watched 70 matches in the week of November 10th-17th which includes the following shows which either took place during the week or were recorded in previous weeks with the dates indicated: WWE RAW, ROH on Honor Club (aired Nov 7), WWE NXT, NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed, AEW Dynamite, TNA Impact, AEW Rampage (aired Nov 8), WWE Smackdown, NXT Lvl Up (aired Nov 8), WWE Main Event (aired Nov 8), AEW Collision (aired Nov 9) and this week's ROH on Honor Club.
The top 10 matches for the week, as well as honorable mentions, are included below. My rating is listed first with Cagematch scores and Dave Meltzer star rating at the end, where applicable.
1. 4.25* Gabe Kidd beat Kosei Fujita to retain his NJPW Strong title at Fighting Spirit Unleashed on November 8. 7.74/10 on Cagematch
2. 4.25* Knights of the Black Throne (Malakai Black/Brody King) beat FTR (Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler) to qualify for the 4 way Full Gear title match on AEW Dynamite November 13. 7.45/10 on Cagematch. 4* from Dave Meltzer
3. 4.25* Claudio Castagnoli/PAC/Wheeler Yuta retained their AEW Trios titles over Mark Briscoe/Kyle O'Reilly/Tomohiro Ishii on AEW Collision November 9. 6.86/10 on Cagematch. 3.75* from Dave Meltzer
4. 4.25* The Armoury (Josh Alexander/Judas Icarus/Travis Williams) beat Jonathan Gresham/Eric Young/Steve Maclin on TNA Impact November 14. 7.20/10 on Cagematch
5. 4* Wes Lee beat Cedric Alexander to qualify for the Iron Survivor Challenge on WWE NXT November 12. 6.99/10 on Cagematch. 3.5* from Dave Meltzer
6. 3.75* Swerve Strickland beat Lio Rush on AEW Dynamite. 6.81/10 on Cagematch. 3.5* from Dave Meltzer
7. 3.75* Nia Jax retained her WWE Women's title over Naomi on WWE Smackdown November 15. 7.24/10 on Cagematch.
8. 3.75* Shota Umino and Tomohiro Ishii beat Zack Sabre Jr and Bad Dude Tito at Fighting Spirit Unleashed. 7.07/10 on Cagematch.
9. 3.5* Jack Perry retained his TNT title over Action Andretti on AEW Collision. 6.07/10 on Cagematch
10. 3.5* Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer beat Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend on WWE NXT. 7.38/10 on Cagematch. 4* from Dave Meltzer
The following three matches also got a 3.5* rating from me:
Je'Von Evans beat Lexis King on WWE NXT. 6.29/10 on Cagematch.
Grizzled Young Vets (Zack Gibson/James Drake) won the NJPW Strong titles over former champs TMDK (Mikey Nichols/Shane Haste) on Fighting Spirit Unleashed. 6.03/10 on Cagematch.
Konosuke Takeshita retained his AEW International title over TJP on Fighting Spirit Unleashed. 6.85/10 on Cagematch.
