Four weeks into 2024, New Japan Pro Wrestling is dominating my Match of the Week listings. Three of the first four weeks that promotion has taken that spot and the latest one was the main event of the January 23rd Road to The New Beginning show. I wasn't expecting much from what I believe was Ryohei Oiwa's first singles match main event but he and Hashi delivered exactly what I like in a pro wrestling match. It was hard hitting and felt more like a fight than a match. In the end, the veteran Yoshi-Hashi won but Oiwa proved he belonged as he continued his ascent up the card from the young lion status he had not that long ago.
It was another busy week for me including one "big show", which would be Saturday Night's Main Event from WWE. In total I watched 71 matches, so more than 10 a day, in the January 20-26 time frame. This included matches from the following shows, some of which occured prior to January 20th but that I didn't watch until this week - WWE RAW, Women of Wrestling (aired Jan 18), WWE NXT, NJPW Road to New Beginning Nights 1 and 2, Wrestling Revolver Vybe Check 2025 (aired Jan 9), AEW Dynamite, TNA Impact, ROH on Honor Club, OVW Rise, WWE Smackdown, AEW Collision and WWE Saturday Night's Main Event.
The following are my top 10 matches of the week, along with some honorable mentions. First in each entry is my personal star rating with the Cagematch rating and Dave Meltzer star rating if available.
1. 4.5* Yoshi-Hashi beat Ryohei Oiwa at NJPW Road to the New Beginning on January 23. 6.52/10 on Cagematch.
2. 4.25* Bron Breakker retained his WWE Intercontinental title against Sheamus at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event on January 25. 7.15/10 on Cagematch.
3. 4.25* Konosuke Takeshita retained his AEW International title against Katsuyori Shibata at AEW Collision on January 25. 8.01/10 on Cagematch.
4. 4.25* Seth Rollins beat Drew McIntyre at WWE RAW on January 20. 7.46/10 on Cagematch; 3.75* from Dave Meltzer.
5. 4* Gunther retained his WWE World Heavyweight title against Jey Uso at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event. 6.82/10 on Cagematch.
6. 4* Kevin Owens beat Jimmy Uso at WWE Smackdown on January 24. 6.19/10 on Cagematch.
7. 3.75* Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer/Axiom) retained their NXT Tag Team titles against The Rascalz (Trey Miguel/Zachary Wentz) at TNA Impact on January 23. 7.66/10 on Cagematch; 3.75* from Dave Meltzer.
8. 3.75* Rhea Ripley retained her WWE World Women's title against Nia Jax at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event. 6.42/10 on Cagematch.
9. 3.75* AJ Francis beat BDE in a NO DQ match at Wrestling Revolver Vybe Check 2025 on January 9. 6.45/10 on Cagematch.
10. 3.75* El Desperado and Hirooki Goto beat Zack Sabre Jr and Kosei Fujita at NJPW Road to the New Beginning on January 22. 7.45/10 on Cagematch
The following matches also received 3.75* ratings but didn't crack the top 10:
Rey Mysterio beat Kofi Kingston at WWE RAW. 5.83/10 on Cagematch.
Penta beat Pete Dunne at WWE RAW. 7.07/10 on Cagematch.
Oba Femi retained his NXT Championship against Eddy Thorpe at WWE NXT on January 21. 6.23/10 on Cagematch.
Robbie Eagles and Zack Sabre Jr beat Hirooki Goto and YOH at NJPW Road to New Beginning on January 23. 6.56/10 on Cagematch.
Cope beat PAC at AEW Dynamite on January 22. 5.09/10 on Cagematch.
