There’s a lot of wrestling material to take in. Perhaps too much for any fan. What if the best of the best was consolidated into one article? What if something existed so you never fell behind?
Moving forward on Sports Carolina Monthly, you will be seeing a weekly wrestling recap called “Wrestling Carolina Weekly.” This is a brief recap acknowledging certain aspects from the previous week (Sunday-Saturday). Some of the areas we’ll acknowledge include best match, best segment, and best show overall.
THIS WEEK’S BEST MATCH
The best match from this past week in wrestling perhaps wasn’t seen by many, but it could have main evented any PPV and it would’ve gotten more attention than it actually did.
Our match of the week is Will Ospreay versus Josh Alexander in the main event of TNA Wrestling. This was the first Impact episode under the new re-branding and these two “TNA kids” didn’t disappoint. It received a 4.75/5-star score from Wrestling Republic.
Spoiler alert, Josh Alexander came away with a huge win and this can only propel him to new heights and potentially another world title reign in 2024.
If you have not seen this match, the episode also featured a promo by Nic Nemeth (fka Dolph Ziggler) and a 6-way X-Division showcase. The entire show will be worth your time.
THIS WEEK’S BEST SEGMENT
I was tempted to give the award to Nic Nemeth’s first promo in TNA or Scott D’Amore’s impassioned speech to end the show. Both those promos were exceptional but I want to spread the love around.
This week’s “Best Segment” award goes to the Fatal 4-Way contract signing on this week’s SmackDown featuring Randy Orton, LA Knight and AJ Styles.
The champion Roman Reigns was notably absent, but that was the story. He refused to sign the contract so he had his Wiseman come out.
Supporting actors such as Paul Heyman and Nick Aldis added flavor to this segment. Heyman felt powerless in the grasps of “The Viper” and Aldis threatened to strip Roman Reigns of the title if he didn’t sign the contract by the end of the night.
This segment elevated the ongoing feud between AJ Styles and LA Knight, while hyping up the main event of that night’s SmackDown episode and the Royal Rumble a week away.
THIS WEEK’S BEST MALE STAR
I’m basing this award off several factors. If they had a match and won, if they won me over on the microphone, and if their stock is rising after this week in wrestling.
To me, nobody made better use of their TV time than Ludwig Kaiser.
Ludwig Kaiser is currently aligned with the current and longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion ever Gunther, while Giovanni Vinci is sidelined with a concussion. Ever since that eerie ending to their Day 1 tag team match, Kaiser is on a roll.
Kaiser had a solid singles match with another tag team specialist Xavier Woods and is drawing heat on his own. If anything, this week is one of many that can boost Kaiser to a singles run in 2024.
THIS WEEK’S BEST FEMALE STAR
For the female side, I’m giving this inaugural award to NXT’s Roxanne Perez.
NXT’s main event featured a 20-woman battle royal that once it reached its final four would turn into a Fatal 4-Way match. Roxanne Perez came out victorious over Kiana James, Kelani Jordan, and Fallon Hanley to earn the next opportunity at the NXT Women’s Championship.
There’s speculation this spot was meant for Cora Jade who tore her ACL over the weekend but if Roxanne can take advantage, she will not disappoint and will make the most of her opportunity.
THIS WEEK’S BEST TEAM
I’m basing this award to any tag team, faction, or stable in the wrestling industry. And there’s only one right choice this week.
Bang Bang Gang! Jay White alongside Austin and Colten Gunn (sons of Billy Gunn) won the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championships this past Wednesday on Dynamite over the Mogul Embassy.
Sandwiched between a TNT Championship and AEW World Championship match on the show, nobody saw this title change coming.
Bullet Club Gold finally gets their gold after notable feuds with The Acclaimed and MJF in 2023. And it appears this team is making a face turn as we speak, considering they seem to be joining forces with The Acclaimed to battle Undisputed Kingdom together.
THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT
Whether it’s a monumental moment in wrestling or a feel-good moment, this is the award to highlight one we saw from the week. For the inaugural one, it’s fitting.
One year ago, Jay Briscoe tragically passed away in a car accident. Jay was one-half of the Briscoe Brothers and passed the day before his brother Mark’s birthday. Mark currently wrestles for AEW and was signed to a full-time contract after the incident.
On this week’s Dynamite, Mark Briscoe came to the stage and presented a beautiful speech about the last year and what his brother meant to him. More than that, he gave a platform for Jay Briscoe’s girls to walk out on stage.
What’s the big deal? Jay’s daughters were in the car and were severely injured with the oldest being told they’d never walk again. One year later she walks out to a standing ovation from the AEW crowd.
Now THAT is a moment!
THIS WEEK’S BEST SHOW
Of all the great wrestling on today between Raw, NXT, Dynamite, TNA, SmackDown, Rampage, Collision… the list goes on and on. We didn’t even mention any New Japan, ROH, GCW… well, you get the point.
This award will tell you the best show overall from the week and the one you should make time to go back and watch if you happened to miss it.
This week we acknowledge The Tribal Chief’s show, Friday Night SmackDown!
The show was set up beautifully from the opening segment of the contract signing. This shows an ongoing story throughout the show with the focus on AJ Styles versus LA Knight and culminating in the main event with Randy Orton versus Solo Sikoa. Then to close it with Roman Reigns finally signing the contract before getting hit with the RKO. The storytelling had a nice culmination to the show.
Advancements were made in faction wars between LWO and Legado, as well as The Final Testament and Bobby Lashley with the Street Profits. Now we have three legitimate teams to be invested in moving forward.
The segment I was worried about the most was Logan Paul’s appearance on the KO Show but they had time to develop their story going into the Royal Rumble. Logan Paul appears to break Kevin’s hand after Kevin took off his brace and promised not to wear it at the Royal Rumble. Investing in this feud with a part-time wrestler as United States Champion was vital.
Any other good show invests in the next week as well. Carmelo Hayes from NXT running it back with Austin Theory along with a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship opportunity for the Kabuki Warriors.
Thank you so much for reading our first installment of “Wrestling Carolina Weekly.” Enjoy your shows this week and we will recap it all a week from today.
Watch Drop the Mike Wrestling Podcast on the Tobacco Road Sports Radio’s YouTube channel this week for more breakdown about this week along with a Royal Rumble preview. Here is last week’s episode.
