Opinion: Match & Show Ratings for January 26 to February 1

Welcome to TPWW’s Emperor Smeat’s Match and Show Ratings for the week of January 26th to February 1st.

Match and show star ratings (out of 5):
WWE
WWE Royal Rumble (Jan. 26)
* Pre-show – Sheamus vs. Shorty G – 2.5
* Pre-show – United States Championship – Humberto Carrillo vs. Andrade (c) – 3.0
* Falls Count Anywhere match – Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin – 2.0
* Women’s Royal Rumble match – 3.5
* SmackDown Women’s Championship – Lacey Evans vs. Bayley (c) – 1.5
* WWE Championship Strap match – Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend (c) – 3.5
* RAW Women’s Championship – Asuka vs. Becky Lynch (c) – 3.0
* Men’s Royal Rumble match – 4.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – Brock Lesnar’s rampage during the Men’s Rumble match. Worst – SmackDown Women’s title match.
Show Notes – Falls Count Anywhere match dragged on way too long. Ending to the Women’s Rumble match was bad but the match itself was very good. SmackDown Women’s title match was horrible. Bryan vs. Fiend strap match was very good overall. RAW Women’s title match was good. Men’s Royal Rumble match was great. This year’s Royal Rumble was good overall.

WWE RAW (Jan. 27)
* 2-on-1 Handicap match – Drew McIntyre vs. The O.C. – 2.0 (Squash)
* Rey Mysterio vs. MVP – 2.0
* Aleister Black vs. Kenneth Johnson – 1.0 (Squash)
* RAW Tag Team Championship – Kevin Owens & Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy (c) – 3.0
* United States Championship – Humberto Carrillo vs. Andrade (c) – 2.5
* Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka – 3.5
* 24/7 Championship – No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley (c) – 0.5 (Squash)
* Lana vs. Liv Morgan – 1.0
* Erick Rowan vs. Branden Vice – 1.0 (Squash)
Overall – 3.0
Best – Edge and Randy Orton show closing promo and segment. Worst – 24/7 Championship match.
Show Notes – McIntyre’s opening promo and match were decent. Rollins and Owens & Joe promo segment was good. RAW Tag Team title match was good overall. U.S. title match was decent at best but the ending was bad. Charlotte vs. Asuka was very good. 24/7 title match was terrible even by the belt’s standards. Lana vs. Liv match was boring. Edge and Orton’s main event segment was pretty great. This week’s RAW was good overall despite the third hour being mostly dull.

NXT (Jan. 29)
* Finn Balor vs. Trent Seven – 3.0
* Shotzi Blackheart vs. Deonna Purrazzo – 2.0
* Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic – 3.5
* Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai – 2.5
* Chelsea Green vs. Kayden Carter – 2.0
* Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals match – Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle vs. Grizzled Young Veterans – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals match. Worst – Green vs. Carter match.
Show Notes – Balor vs. Seven match was good. Blackheart vs. Purrazzo match was decent. North American title promo segment was decent at best. Priest vs. Dijakovic was very good overall. Nox vs. Kai was decent despite the questionable booking decisions. The finals of the Dusty Tag Team Classic tournament was very good. This week’s episode of NXT was good but also pretty weak in terms of women’s match quality.

NXT UK (Jan. 30)
* Danny Birch & Oney Lorcan vs. The Hunt (Wild Boar & Primate) – 2.5
* Nina Samuels vs. Isla Dawn – 2.5
* Tyson T-Bone vs. Ridge Holland – 2.5
* Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, “The Bomber” Dave Mastiff vs. Imperium – 3.5
Overall – 2.5
Best – Six-Man Tag Team match. Worst – T-Bone vs. Holland match.
Show Notes – Andrew, Webster, & Mastiff vs. Imperium match was very good while the rest of this week’s episode was average at best.

WWE Friday Night SmackDown (Jan. 31)
* #1 Contender for SmackDown Tag Championship Fatal Four-way match – Heavy Machinery vs. The Revival vs. Lucha House Party vs. The Miz & John Morrison – 3.0
* Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville) – 2.0
* Intercontinental Championship – Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – 2.5
* Shorty G vs. Sheamus – 2.5
* Loser Eats Dog Food match – Roman Reigns & The Usos vs. King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, & Robert Roode – 3.0
Overall – 2.5
Best – Loser Eats Dog Food match. Worst – WWE actually doing a Loser Eats Dog Food match.
Show Notes – Opening promo segment was boring. Fatal Four-way tag team match was good. Women’s tag team match was somewhat bad. Intercontinental title match was decent at best. Bayley’s promo was poor but a feud with Naomi should be way better than her feud with Lacey Evans was. Six-man tag team match was pretty despite the dumb stipulation. This week’s episode was average at best overall.

AEW
AEW Dark (Jan. 28)
* Tables match – Nyla Rose vs. Shanna – 3.0
* Kip Sabian vs. QT Marshall – 2.0
* Dark Order vs. Sonny Kiss & Brandon Cutler – 2.5
Overall – 2.5
Best – Tables match. Worst – Kip Sabian vs. QT Marshall match.
Show Notes – Women’s Tables match was pretty good overall. This week’s episode of Dark was decent at best.

AEW Dynamite (Jan. 29)
* The Butcher & The Blade vs. The Young Bucks – 3.0
* Nyla Rose vs. Big Swole – 3.0
* Kip Sabian vs. Cody – 3.0
* SCU vs. The Hybrid 2 – 2.5
* Private Party & Darby Allin vs. Chris Jericho, Santana, & Ortiz – 3.5
Overall – 3.5
Best – Brit Baker’s promo. Worst – Arn Anderson’s coaching gameplan.
Show Notes – Jon Moxley and Inner Circle opening segment was very good overall. Butcher & Blade vs. Young Bucks match was very good. Rose vs. Swole was pretty good. Sabian vs. Cody was good despite going overboard with the shenanigans. Britt Baker’s heel promo was great. PAC’s promo video was good. Main event’s 6-man tag team match was very good. This week’s episode was entertaining overall.

Various Wrestling
NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2020 Night 1 (Feb. 1)
* Yuya Uemura & Tiger Mask vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori – 3.0
* Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma, & Togi Makabe vs. Yota Tsuji, Manabu Nakanishi, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 2.0
* Ryusuke Taguchi, Roppongi 3K, & Will Ospreay vs. DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, & Zack Sabre Jr. – 3.0
* Robbie Eagles & Ryu Lee vs. BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi – 3.5
* Jay White & KENTA vs. SANADA & Tetsuya Naito – 3.0
* Jon Moxley & Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki & Taichi – 4.0
* Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL – 3.5
* NEVER Openweight Championship – Shingo Takagi vs. Hirooki Goto (c) – 4.0
Overall – 3.5
Best – Takagi vs. Goto match. Worst – Henare, Honma, & Makabe vs. Tsuji, Nakanishi, & Tenzan match.
Show Notes – The undercard matches were good overall. Eagles & Lee vs. BUSHI & Takahashi match was very good. White & KENTA vs. SANADA & Naito match was good. Moxley & Okada vs. Suzuki & Taichi and post-match stuff was fantastic. Moxley vs. Suzuki next weekend is going to be great. Ishii vs. EVIL was a very good hard hitting match. Takagi vs. Goto was very good overall. Night 1 of New Beginning in Sapporo was very good overall.

Week awards:

• Best match of the week – Men’s Royal Rumble match (WWE Royal Rumble 2020)
• Worst match of the week – 24/7 Championship – No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley (c) (WWE RAW)
• Best show of the week – NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo 2020 Night 1
• Worst show of the week – AEW Dark