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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 ReverendClaire always has you covered in her 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.
All Week
G1 Climax (NJPW World)
New Japans month long round robin tournament continues.
Take a peek yourself here to decide which matches interest you.
Verdict: This is the last week of the G1. The finals are technically next week, though if you want to watch them live, you’d be watching before this drops next week. (Rey Mysterio will also be at the finals.) The winner of the G1 will be main eventing the Tokyo Dome in January so it’s significant.
Monday
Raw (USA Network)
Ronda Rousey will have her first Raw match this week when she goes against Alicia Fox one on one. Alicia is a good veteran hand, making her a good opponent for Ronda, who while very impressive, is still new to the business.
Last week, Brock Lesnar cemented himself as a heel, though that probably isn’t going to make the SummerSlam crowd in Brooklyn cheer for Roman much more. (I don’t think anything will get that specific crowd to cheer Roman, but we’ll see.)
Another match advertised for this week is Mojo Rawley vs. Bobby Roode.
Verdict: Ronda wrestling has become somewhat of an attraction, but not in the way Lesnar had been presented. It’s an attraction because she’s still really new but at the same time, has impressed every time she’s locked up.
However, the rest of the show doesn’t have anything to really hang its hat on. Mojo/Roode is them advertising a match for a cool down segment. And with the SummerSlam build rather lackluster, there’s nothing on this episode of Raw outside a brief Rousey match I’m that interested to see.
Tuesday
SmackDown Live (USA Network)
This week, AJ Styles returns to SmackDown to address Samoa Joe. Last week, Joe said some things about AJ as a family man that the champ is not going to be pleased with. Now he responds.
We also learn who faces the Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam when the Bar and New Day square off.
Last week, Charlotte returned after some time off and immediately received the opportunity to be part of the SummerSlam women’s title match, much to the chagrin of her friend Becky Lynch who was already part of that match.
Verdict: SmackDown continues to be a consist two hours of wrestling on Tuesday nights. The women’s title story really got interesting when they added Charlotte, which could strain her relationship with the Lass Kicker. Bar/New Day should be a fun time as well.
205 Live (WWE Network)
They will continue to build to Drew Gulak vs. Cedric Alexander, which will be the first cruiserweight match on a pay-per-view since WrestleMania.
Verdict: This show always has some good matches, though for me, the pretty basic storytelling doesn’t draw me in as much as I’d like.
Wednesday
NXT (WWE Network)
This week, Keith Lee makes his NXT debut.
Also, Ricochet is in action.
And of course, the big hook for this show is the continued fallout of the Tommaso Ciampa NXT title win. Johnny Gargano is pissed at himself for accidentally facilitating it. And Aleister Black is pissed at Johnny for the same reason.
Verdict: This continues to be a consistently good wrestling show.
Lucha Underground
Wrestling meets telenovela continues.
Verdict: This is a generally fun show. It’s not really a show to pick and choose episodes though. Given the way they tell their stories, this show is more “Watch it all or don’t” than other wrestling programs.
Thursday
Impact Wrestling (Pop TV)
Austin Aries defends his title against Eddie Edwards this week, which is the big match for this show.
Also, Matt Sydal will go one on one with Pentagon Jr.
Verdict: I don’t think we’ll see a title change here because they haven’t built the match much at all. It’ll probably be part of a bigger story. But it’s still a championship match between two talented workers that is worth keeping an eye on.
If I could only watch one thing this week, it’d be:
NXT
For another pretty quiet week, I’m going to go with my fallback pick of NXT. I just haven’t been watching the G1 much at all (and technically the finals are next week anyway) which is why that hasn’t been making my list. SmackDown has been very solid as of late and also was in consideration as has Impact.
NXT is firing on all cylinders right now and TakeOver (and the build towards it) is looking great. The beats in the women’s title story last week were really good. Mustache Mountain and Undisputed ERA are going to tear it down once again. As are Adam Cole and Ricochet. Velveteen Dream and EC3 have a ton of personality for their rivalry.
But this main event angle is the tops right now. Aleister Black was always overshadowed by how hot the Gargano/Ciampa feud was. But now he’s part of it, with a reason to dislike both men right now. The inevitable triple threat is going to be bonkers.
Let us know what you’d choose below.
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!