Weekly Wrestling Viewing Guide: March 11 - 17, 2018

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.

Sunday

New Japan Cup (NJPW World)

The New Japan Cup will continue throughout this week. Here’s the full list of the first round matches, of which March 12 is the last day. Then the second round matches will start up. Obviously, the deeper in the tournament we go, the more exciting the matches will likely be.

ReverendKain will have an results post daily.

Verdict: Personally, this hasn’t been making my watchlist just due to time/all the other wrestling. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t make yours of course. I think I’ll be picking up as the tournament goes on when the matches look more enticing.

WWE FastLane (WWE Network)

Well it’s finally here. The PPV that it feels like SmackDown had no plans for so threw a bunch of stuff together.

Here’s the card:

• AJ Styles (c) vs. John Cena vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens in a six pack challenge for the WWE championship
• Charlotte (c) vs. Ruby Riott for the SmackDown women’s championship
• The Usos (c) vs. the New Day for the SmackDown tag team championships
• Bobby Roode (c) vs. Randy Orton for the US championship
• Rusev vs. Nakamura
• Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. Natalya & Carmella

Verdict: If there’s ever been a WWE PPV to skip, I’d say this one. But WWE does this thing where there’s no enthusiasm for the card whatsoever and somehow they pull out a fun one. With this setting up SmackDown’s road to WrestleMania, it’s possible they pull out the stops. In that sense, it’s worth keeping an eye on. But by no means am I giving it any “Must Watch” tag.

Monday

Raw (USA Network)

This week, Roman Reigns will finally go face to face with Brock Lesnar... if the Universal champion can be bothered to show up. This has been an intriguing title build and I look forward to what they have in store here.

Ronda Rousey is advertised for every show until WrestleMania as they build her tag match with Kurt Angle against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Rousey is still obviously very new to the business and it will take time for her to find her rhythm, but they’ve been doing a great job working with that and putting on fun segments.

Verdict: Raw is worth keeping an eye on the road to WrestleMania

Tuesday

SmackDown Live (USA Network)

This will be your Fastlane fallout and the official beginning of the build to WrestleMania.

Verdict: I’m not going to be recommending SmackDown until they prove they can put on a couple good episodes in a row. But if any episode has the chance to show improvement, it’s this one. With Fastlane in the rearview mirror, they may be able to right the ship as the focus on the big one.

Mixed Match Challenge (Facebook Live)

This week, Bob Roode and Charlotte will face Rusev and Lana.

If I had to describe the style of this show, it’d be silly fun. It’s pretty much a silly house show match and the participants have been focusing on the character aspect more than the match given the limitations of a mixed tag bout.

Verdict: It’s worth checking out if you’re not doing anything at 10 pm and you have a Facebook account. It’s not must watch overall with no impact on any greater storylines, but it’s fun.

205 Live (WWE Network)

The first semi-final match up will air this week when Roddy Strong faces Cedric Alexander

It’ll be interesting to see what they do with the rest of the time. Last week DRAKE MAVERICK teamed Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa together and with rumors of possible tag titles for the brand in the future, maybe that will continue.

Verdict: This show has pretty much been great matches on their way to crown a new champion. I’ve been enjoying it since the changes.

Wednesday

NXT (WWE Network)

There will be two Dusty Classic tag matches this week. Heavy Machinery will face the Street Profits while SAnitY goes against Sabatelli & Moss.

The big match is the United Kingdom title match though. Pete Dunne will defend his title against Adam Cole.

And while not advertised, they continue to tell the story of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano, which is always a treat.

Verdict: This is a consistently a good wrestling hour. I’m pretty excited to see Cole vs. Dunne.

Thursday

Impact Wrestling (Pop TV)

Crossroads is in the bag and it was a fun episode.

This week, they bring back an old gimmick - the Feast or Fired match. Men will compete for four different briefcases. Three have title opportunities while a fourth is a pink slip.

EC3 has declared himself for this match - I wonder which briefcase he’ll grab. You know, since there’s a possibility he’ll be on TV Wednesday night as well.

Verdict: Impact has been getting better. Plus this looks like it’ll be EC3’s last episode, which is worth keeping an eye on.

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

Raw

Tough call this week. I’m always excited for NXT and Impact has been proving to be consistently entertaining. But I’m really into the story they’re telling with Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. Plus I’ve really been enjoying the over the top segments with Rousey, Angle, Triple H, and Stephanie. That’s what’s interests me most this week.

Let us know what you’d choose below.

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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!