Top matches of the week! There aren’t enough hours in the day to watch everything, but see if you agree with what Andrew managed to catch!

Alright, so this is an easier week with not a lot…OH WAIT! Wrestle Circus is back this weekend. I should probably cover that.

ANYWAY!

We have MOTY monthly pools to assess and the first may winner. As for the current Match of the Year pool, this is what won for April.

• January – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
• February – NXT Halftime Heat: Ricochet, Aleister Black & Velveteen Dream vs Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa
• March – Stardom: Wonder of Stardom Title Match: Jungle Kyona vs Momo Watanabe (c)
• April – WrestleMania 35: WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan (c)

So yes, as you can see, Kofi’s victory rang true with many people, and it holds up well in the pool so far. As for the first match of May, AJPW Champion Carnival Finals: Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee, won the weekly vote.

This could be a nice harbinger of things to come this year. Technically, 4 different brands have a match in the MOTY pool, AJPW has a match for May, and we’ve got an interesting smattering of matches this week.

Let’s get to the matches!

5. Wrestle Circus: oVe Rules Match: JT Dunn vs Sami Callihan

From My Analysis:
Callihan makes this a NoDq oVe rules match as soon as he comes out, and this goes as we expect. A lot of chairs, low blows, spitting and not a bad match. It did however irk me that Sami hit Dunn with a Daryl plushie cat, and the commentary thought they were saying Pharaoh, even though they kept saying he hit him with a cat. Also commentary annoyed me because they don’t really call moves and just say “wrestling maneuver” quite often. Get a play by play person who can call moves and maybe watches wrestling. Who doesn’t know who Daryl is? Hell, ROH sent out an apology when Bad Luck Fale “killed” him.

Winner: Dunn via Death by Elbows

Rating: *** 1/2

4. NXT: Matt Riddle vs Adam Cole

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Cole flails and reaches but Riddle drags him away from ropes! But Cole turns and kicks, only for Riddle to reel him into a Bromission! Cole counters to a cover, TWO! Riddle roundhouses Cole! Fisherman Buster and float over, to another! But Riddle goes for another hat trick, only to get Last Shot brainbuster! Cover, TWO!! Riddle survives and Cole is in shock! Full Sail hopes they “Fight Forever!” but this has to end somehow. Cole crawls away to a corner while Riddle slowly sits up. Cole comes back but gets more of those palm strikes! He shoves and fakes Riddle out to mule kick a knee!

Cole hops up, leaps, Panama City Sunrise denied! But Riddle’s Dude Buster is denied with a sunset! Riddle rolls through but misses the kick. Cole rolls him again but Riddle rolls through to powerbomb lift. Cole slips out and ducks a kick to SUPERKICK Riddle in the back! Last Shot shining wizard!! Cover, TWO?! Only Johnny Gargano has done this! Fans cheer for “NXT! NXT!” while Cole has flashbacks to New York. Cole and Riddle slowly stand, and Cole brings down the knee pad. But Riddle reels Cole in, only to get an enziguri. Cole runs but into a Bro Trigger! Bro To Sleep! Powerbomb, to Kami-BRO-ye!

But Cole flops out of the ring! And the Undisputed Era finally arrive to help. Strong helps Cole up despite being dead weight, but Riddle hops on the apron. Riddle Penalty Kicks Strong down, then gets Cole back in. Riddle slingshots, into a SUPERKICK!! Cover, TWO!? BROMISSION!! Cole taps, Riddle wins!!

Winner: Riddle via BroMission

Rating: *** 3/4

3. Wrestle Circus Encore: Sammy Guevara vs Joey Janela

From My Analysis:
The second qualifying match after the intermission, and it’s one with solid names. Both Janela and Sammy have signed to AEW recently, but Janela is trying to re-prove himself coming off his major injury. This match definitely lived up nicely, there was good desperation from both, not a lot of ridiculous moments or excessive near falls. The folding chairs got a workout in the early part of the match, but after that, things were confined to the ring. Really good match.

Winner: Guevara via Shooting Star Press

Rating: *** 3/4

Honorable Mentions:

SmackDown Live: WWE Championship Triple Threat: Kofi Kingston (c) vs Sami Zayn vs AJ Styles
Winner: Kofi via Trouble in Paradise
Rating: *** 1/2
SmackDown Live: SmackDown Tag Team Championship: Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs The Usos
Winner: Rowan via Iron Claw Slam
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE Raw: Seth Rollins & AJ Styles vs Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin
Winner: Corbin via End of Days
Rating: *** 1/4
ROH War of the Worlds: 4 Corner Survival TV Title: Shane Taylor vs Jeff Cobb (c) vs Brody King vs Hirooki Goto
Winner: Taylor via Greetings from 216
Rating: *** 1/4
IMPACT: Josh Alexander & Moose vs LAX
Winner: LAX via Tandem Reverse Slam
Rating: ***
WWE RAW: Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre
Winner: Reigns via DQ
Rating: ***
Wrestle Circus: Puma King vs Jake Atlas
Winner: King via Avalanche Drop
Rating: ***
IMPACT: Desi Hit Squad vs The Deaners vs Brent Banks & Aiden Prince vs Dez & Wentz
Winner: Desi Hit Squad via Roll-Up
Rating: ***

2. WWE Raw: WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston (c) vs Daniel Bryan

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Raw returns once more, and fans rally for Kofi as he and Bryan slowly stand. Kofi throws haymakers then whips, but Bryan reverses. Kofi kicks Bryan away then runs, but Bryan tosses him out hard! The referee checks on Kofi but he’s somehow okay to continue. Bryan fetches Kofi and whips him at barriers! Kofi slumps down while Bryan refreshes the count. Bryan drags Kofi up to whip him at steps. But Kofi climbs up quick and LEAPS onto Bryan! Kofi wipes Bryan out but also himself! Kofi gets up to put Bryan in the ring then climbs up again. Bryan stands and Kofi crossbodies to Bryan’s back! Cover, TWO! Kofi keeps his cool while he brings Bryan up again. Kofi whips Bryan but Bryan reverses, to reel Kofi in for another Lebell Lock!

Bryan pulls back hard while fans rally for Kofi! Kofi endures but he’s stuck in the middle of the ring! Bryan rakes the eyes and nose but Kofi rolls around. Kofi gets a ropebreak with his legs! Bryan lets go at 4 but he grins because the damage is done. Fans rally again but Bryan gives Kofi more No Kicks! Bryan targets that arm with each one, but Kofi wills himself to his feet. Kofi throws haymakers and kicks of his own! He backs Bryan to a corner but backs off to run in. Bryan dodges the splash and back suplexes, but Kofi lands on his feet. Kofi dodges and hits a leaping lariat! Kofi drops the Boom Drop!

Fans fire up as Kofi takes aim from a corner. “New! Day Rocks!” echoes out as Kofi runs and spins, but into a dropkick! German Suplex with a bridge! TWO, and Bryan can’t believe it! Bryan takes aim from the corner now, mocking the Yes Movement he killed. Bryan runs but misses, but then dodges Kofi! He goes after the arm again but Kofi fights the hold off. Tilt-o-whirl, into Trouble in Paradise!! Cover, Kofi wins!!

Winner: Kofi via Trouble in Paradise

Rating: *** 3/4

1. IMPACT: oVe Rules 8 Man: oVe vs Tommy Dreamer vs Fallah Bahh vs Rich Swann vs Willie Mack

From My Coverage:
This was a hell of a spectacle. A great hardcore style match with personality. All of the weapons made sense, hell even the usage of Legos was funny since Fallah wrestles in bare feet so he basically toughed it out fire walker style to run across the ring for a splash. Fallah also had a great counter. Madman Fulton jumps off the ladder and Fallah catches him for a big Samoan Drop. This was a spot fest of course, but it was fun. It was ECW style and not death match style, so I enjoyed it a quite a bit. Just wow, lots of fun and oVe picking up the win is actually a good thing.

Winner: Callihan via Piledriver

Rating: ****

Thoughts:

Well, it’s hard to argue Sami Callihan’s impact on this week. Two hardcore matches against a smattering of different opponents and he made quality matches of both of them. As much as I really did enjoy Sammy Guevara’s match, the match that main evented IMPACT this week, is my choice. The oVe rules 8 man, played so well into the story, it was a well executed match and definitely shows that hardcore matches can have personality and don’t need to be bloody death matches. Definitely reminiscent of ECW.

As always, let us know what you think! Pick your favorite from the list, or admonish us on leaving something out!