POLL 4/22-4/28/2023- WHAT WAS THE BEST FREE TV MATCH OF THE WEEK? Here we go!

[DEAN]

Man oh MAN!  They crammed some quality wrestling into last week.  NXT battled it out with Zayn/Owens vs the Usos.  The influx of awesome fucking luchadores made AEW amazing this week- starting with a GREAT Dralistico/Vikingo match, carrying on with a great Jay White versus Komander match and ending up with what I'll prolly vote for- Orange Cassidy/Bandido.  NWA came on strong this week with the GREAT old school tagteam of Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoch.  The best lucha involved the totally underrated Valodor Jr and the Pandemoniums.  A lot three ways- including Aussie Open winning the Strong Style belts.  OH YEAH!  Masha Slamovich/Jordynn Grace fucking RULES. 

 

CUT LIST: Astral/ Robin vs Grako/ Nitro- CMLL; Audaz/ Fuego/ Hombre Bala Jr vs Los Cancerberos del Infierno (Cancerbero/ Luciferno/ Virus)- CMLL; X-Devil vs Sol- IWRG; Astor Boy/ Puma de Oro vs León Dorado/ M. Leo- IWRG;  Tonalli vs Aramis- IWRG

[Boydy]

Not many good matches this week but Orange Cassidy Vs Bandido was probably the best match of the week so I voted for that.

 

[Greggulator]

Three really great bangers this week. I don’t watch a lot of NXT. I did this week and loved Melo vs. Waller. Both of those guys rule so hard. OC/Bandido was predictably great and in 90 percent of weeks would be the best match of the week. But KO/Sami and The Usos had a great rematch in an all-time storyline, so that gets the nod.

[Eivion]

Dralistico/Vikingo was good. Kind of dug it being more of a showcase for Dralistico while Vikingo showed off his bumping and selling. Probably as good as the Gringo Loco match though less flashy.

Raw had a bunch of solid matches but nothing super standout. 

NXT was more or less a mini Takeover. The mixed tag was so much better than I was expecting and ended up legit good by the end. It was nice to see the story they worked over th emonths pay out this way. That said, Hayes/Waller was easily MOTN. The two just gel so damn well.This was the best NXT title match on tv in I don't even know how long.

Dax/JJ & Sammy/Darby were both good with the latter in particular impressing me far more than expected as I'm not into Sammy. But we all know it was OC/Bandido that was MOTN here. 

Smackdown had some fun stuff, but it was all about the Usos vs. Sami/KO. That match was damn good with KO playing FIP and a hot crowd behind everything. 

Still need to catch NJPW, CMLL, and Grace/Masha. Debating on AAA. Sadly missed out on Rampage from last night. I think the Usos vs. Sami/KO match is MOTW with Waller/Hayes & OC/Bandido not too far behind it. That said, if I were voting now I would definitely be voting for Waller/Hayes as its the least likely to get appropriate love out of the three. 

[DEAN]

37 minutes ago, Eivion said:

Still need to catch NJPW, CMLL, and Grace/Masha. Debating on AAA. Sadly missed out on Rampage from last night. I think the Usos vs. Sami/KO match is MOTW with Waller/Hayes & OC/Bandido not too far behind it. That said, if I were voting now I would definitely be voting for Waller/Hayes as its the least likely to get appropriate love out of the three. 

Hey! IMPACT! posted Masha vs Jordynn!

The AAA is good it just doesn't seem to be as good as traditional versions of those matches would be.

[HarryArchieGus]

Sammy v Darby was bound to be criminally underrated for thee insatiable need for pinfalls or submissions. I have a soft spot for AEW's well placed DQs and countouts and I particulary liked this one. There have been a shit ton of proper pinfall/submission finishes that featured far more nonsensical bullshit than this DQ. Dax-Jarrett on this same show for example. Bandido-OC was fun and on another week it'd certainly be my pick (even if it was a few hairs below expectations). Sammy v Darby was smooth as fuck and full of awesome meaningful spots. The 630 was unreal, but so was the incredible Asai moonsault and slick tope into the cutter. Is Sammy Guevara the most underrated wrestler in the world right now? Or is Darby? Speaking of underrated, this match might be the most underrated nationally televised bout thus far in 2023. And after a second viewing, it is easily my pick for the week.

Another angle on the 630
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tax9pPESi8

[DEAN]

This got good.

[Marcel]

Torn between Vikingo/Dralistico and OC/Bandido.  Went with Vikingo/Dralistico, but totally expect OC/Bandido to win the week.  

(LFI vs. House of Black could be a fun heel matchup.)

[Eivion]

Edwards/Kenta did little for me. Did end you digging the 3-way tag titles match much more than expected. All three teams performed well though I particularly dug the character/drama bits with Fletcher in the later stages of the match. Aussie Open continues to impress though after this and the six-man tag form last week I really want MCMG/Time Machine to just go on a general tag team/trios tear of NJPW and AEW. 

Jordynn/Masha built into a pretty solid match. 

Surprised DEAN left out the Mistico/Rocky/Atlantis Jr. 3-way. That was way better than the streaming matches that made the poll. It had good action, drama, and blood. Gran Guerrero/Volador was pretty fun with GG being different formt he norm as a power based wrestler. Panterita del Ring/Templario/Titan vs Angel de Oro/Dragon Rojo Jr/Niebla Roja was so darn good. Panterita & Titan busted out plenty of neat high flying with Angel and Roja playing solid bases. Meanwhile Dragon Rojo and Templario provided the tension/drama with their ongoing feud and masking ripping. Such a joy to watch. Easily up there with OC/Bandido & Waller/Hayes for me. Still ended up voting for the latter as I said I probably would earlier.

[The Natural]

Voted for Zayn/Owens vs. Usos II. I'm really going to miss the late great @DEAN and this weekly tradition. Love you, my friend xxx.