For the second week in a row, Kyle Fletcher had the best match I saw in all of professional wrestling. This time out, he was in his home country of Australia for AEW's first show there and, as expected, he was part of a match of the year candidate. In fact it was the best match I've seen since Kenny Omega, who was also in this match, had an all time classic with Gabe Kidd on January 4th.
It was the Dream Team, or the Omega Powers if you will, of Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay teaming up to face Don Callis Family members Kyle Fletcher and AEW International champion Konosuke Takeshita in a tag team match that kicked off Grand Slam Australia on February 15th. With the benefit of a lead-in from the NBA All Star Skills competiton, this incredible match was probably viewed by more people than most AEW matches in recent memory and the placement of it wasn't be accident. It was an awesome display of athleticism and every move you could possibly think of (and some you probably wouldn't have) and ended up wowing those in attendance and those watching on TNT and MAX.
It was a banner week overall with 15 matches hitting the 4* level on my scale as in addition to that Grand Slam show, NXT had a PLE and New Japan Pro Wrestling had their annual New Beginning show which had several excellent matches and an all time great "moment" with Hirooki Goto finally winning the IWGP title in the main event after a long and storied career and coming up short in many previous chances.
In all, I watched 67 matches between February 10-16 including some that took place before that time frame. This included the following shows which took place during the week unless otherwise noted: WWE RAW, NJPW New Beginning, Wrestling Revolver Square Game (aired Jan 31), OVW Rise (aired Feb 6), WWE NXT, AEW Dynamite, TNA Impact, ROH on Honor Club, WWE Smackdown, AEW Grand Slam Australia and WWE Vengeance Day.
The following are my top 10 matches as well as honorable mentions that tied for 10th. At the start of each entry is my personal star rating with the Cagematch rating and Dave Meltzer star rating, where available, at the end of each entry.
1. 5.5* WIll Ospreay and Kenny Omega beat Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher at AEW Grand Slam Australia on February 15. 8.72/10 on Cagematch.
2. 4.75* Hirooki Goto won the IWGP World Heavyweight title from Zack Sabre Jr at NJPW New Beginning on February 11. 9.47/10 on Cagematch; 4.75* from Dave Meltzer.
3. 4.5* Gabe Kidd and Yota Tsuji were both counted out in an IWGP Global Heavyweight title match at NJPW New Beginning. 9.12/10 on Cagematch; 5* from Dave Meltzer.
4. 4.5* Giulia retained her NXT Women's championship over Bayley, Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez at WWE Vengeance Day on February 15. 7.98/10 on Cagematch.
5. 4.25* Konosuke Takeshita retained his Never Openweight title against Boltin Oleg at NJPW New Beginning. 8.44/10 on Cagematch; 4.5* from Dave Meltzer.
6. 4.25* MJF beat Dustin Rhodes at AEW Dynamite on February 12. 7.12/10 on Cagematch; 4* from Dave Meltzer.
7. 4.25* Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky beat Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez at WWE RAW on February 10. 8.08/10 on Cagematch; 4* from Dave Meltzer.
8. 4.25* Eric Young beat Josh Alexander at TNA Impact on February 13. 6.19/10 on Cagematch.
9. 4* Drilla Moloney beat Shingo Takagi at NJPW New Beginning. 7.29/10 on Cagematch; 4* from Dave Meltzer.
10. 4* Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer/Axiom) retained their NXT Tag team titles over Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inimura at WWE Vengeance Day. 8.42/10 on Cagematch
The following matches also received 4* ratings but didn't crack my top 10:
Bayley beat Lyra Valkyria in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match on WWE RAW. 6.6/10 on Cagematch.
Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta and PAC retained their AEW Trios titles over Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong at AEW Dynamite. 6.86/10 on Cagematch; 3.75* from Dave Meltzer.
Toni Storm won the AEW World Women's championship from Mariah May at AEW Grand Slam Collision. 7.12/10 on Cagematch.
Eddy Thorpe beat Trick Williams in a strap match at WWE Vengeance Day. 5.42/10 on Cagematch
Oba Femi retained his WWE NXT championship over Austin Theory and Grayson Waller at WWE Vengeance Day. 7.64/10 on Cagematch
