Weekly Wrestling Viewing Guide: Sept. 3 - 9, 2017

There’s a ton of wrestling content nowadays and unless you’re a hardcore pro-graps fan, you have to decide what to watch when and what to consider leaving out. That’s where we come in to help.

Every week, we are going to run down the big in-ring happenings for the easily accessible US wrestling. This won’t cover your indie needs, but ReverendKain always has you covered in his weekly Sermon on the Mat for that.

Bear in mind, matches could be added after this posts that would definitely change how worth a show is to watch.

Monday

Mae Young Classic (WWE Network)

Last week, I unintentionally left the MYC off the viewing guide. But I won’t make that mistake twice.

On Monday, WWE will drop the second four episodes of the women’s tournament, covering all the way through the semi finals.

I’ve greatly enjoyed the MYC thus far. And that was just the first round. The first round is often a get to know you round, setting up the major players for the later rounds. If those were really good, I have very high hopes for the latter rounds.

Verdict: You can watch it anytime. And you probably should.

Ring of Honor television (FITE.TV or any time on Demand at ROHWrestling.com)

As usual, here’s its999maggle with what’s this week:

WITH JAY BRISCOE OUT OF ACTION THANKS TO THE KINGDOM…

HIS BROTHER AND BULLY RAY HAVE TO GO IT ALONE!

THEY TAKE ON THE BULLET CLUB IN A HUGE TAG TEAM MAIN EVENT – THIS WEEK ON RING OF HONOR WRESTLING!

Verdict: Well...., not 'not skippable', certainly not a must watch episode.

Monday Night Raw (USA Network)

Raw has gone out of the way to book some worthwhile happenings for their Labor Day episode.

They’ve booked Jeff Hardy vs. the Miz for the intercontinental title. Hardy has held the IC title plenty himself so a win is definitely not out of the question. Though with the Miztourage by his side, Miz has the tools to retain.

We also get a big main event of Big Show vs. Braun Strowman in a steel cage. This is the third time Strowman and Show have hooked up this year and they last two have been wild fun (including the ring break). Will the cage be strong enough to hold all this meat?

And of course there’s the follow up from that big promo between Roman and Cena last week.

Verdict: Braun and Show are great fun together and the IC title match is worth keeping an eye on.

Tuesday

SmackDown Live (USA Network)

SmackDown also has a big match planned, this one with title implications.

Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura will go one on one to find out who will face Jinder Mahal for the WWE title. It’s entirely possible we’re going to see Nakamura go over John Cena and Randy Orton within a month of each other. If both guys are motivated, it could be a blast. If both guys are lazy, not so much.

Natalya will also face Carmella and if the Ms. Money in the Bank plays things right, perhaps she can walk out of this non title match with the title.

In announcing news, JBL has stepped down from announcing SmackDown. As of writing this, we don’t know who will be taking his place.

Verdict: SmackDown is still trying to find its footing, but this seems like a big episode.

205 Live (WWE Network)

Enzo Amore is a member of the cruiserweights now and my colleague Sean Rueter thinks they could be telling an interesting story with him.

Verdict: If you like the cruisers or certified g’s, check it out.

Wednesday

NXT (WWE Network)

Things aren’t calming down this night with all the wrestling happenings as NXT is stacked too.

This big thing this week is Asuka addressing her title. Since WWE announced it, we know that she relinquishes the title here, but now’s the time to see how it’s done. It should be a big moment.

Also, Kassius Ohno will face Hideo Itami in a no DQ match. These dudes hit hard and this should be enjoyable.

To round out this episode, Andrade “Cien” Almas will face Cezar Bononi and Lars Sullivan will compete in a 3 on 1 handicapped match. (I think it’s against the three tag partners he’s betrayed but I’m not 100% on that.)

That’s not to mention the Adam Cole led ROH crew gunning for Drew McIntyre, though I don’t know if there’s enough time on this show for that to get much spotlight.

Verdict: There’s a lot of interesting stuff to look for here. It’s worth checking out.

Lucha Underground (El Rey Network)

We learned last week that Ultima Lucha Tres will be a four week event starting a few weeks from now. That means they’re going to quickly set up all the matches for that.

This week, they’re finally pitting dirty cop Joey Ryan against his former partner Cortez Castro in a 5-0 Street Fight.

Verdict: Lucha Underground continues the road to Ultima Lucha Tres tonight. If you’re curious on where they are, check it out. Though with an uncertain future after this season ends in a couple months, I’m not sure how worth it is jumping on if you’ve never watched it before.

Thursday

GFW Impact Wrestling (Pop TV)

This week, Eli Drake has his first title test when he defends against Matt Sydal.

It will also be the GFW debut of Taya Valkyrie! Also, there will be a women’s tag between Sienna & Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim & Allie.

They are also advertising footage of their time at Triplemania and are playing up some footage/info on what happened between Rosemary and Sexy Star. My bet is it won’t be as much as they’re making it out to be.

Verdict: Title match is something worth keeping an eye on and I have a feeling that could be a really good match. Plus, I’m pumped to see Taya come into GFW.

Sunday

NJPW Destruction (NJPW World)

While this technically is out of the range of the guide, if you want to watch it live, it will air prior to this posting next Sunday.

This is one of four September shows for New Japan. Here’s the line up for all of them.

The main event is Michael Elgin challenging for the NEVER Openweight title against Minoru Suzuki. Elgin picked up a win over Suzuki during the G1. The rest of the show are tag matches.

Verdict: Of all the September shows, this has the weakest main event. But it’s still your fix of Japanese wrestling.

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If I could only watch one thing this week, it’d be:

The Mae Young Classic

What a packed week and there was so much to choose from. Luckily I don’t have to choose just one thing. Because I really want to see caged beef on Monday, Asuka’s farewell on Wednesday, and the GFW title match on Thursday.

But the MYC is different. WWE does these tournaments really well and this is no exception. Outside a few of the women, I haven’t actually seen many of them wrestle prior to this, but I’m already excited for potential match ups as we get deeper into this.

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There’s a ton of other wrestling out there and we can’t cover it all on here. So if there’s something you’re particularly excited for this week, let your fellow wrestling fans know in the comments.

See ya next week!