In this weeks Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer revealed his star ratings for the recent matches in the world of wrestling. Most notably, Night 1 and Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 16 was ranked, as was the recent episodes of AEW Rampage and AEW Dynamite. One of these matches managed to gain a 5.75 star rating, breaking the usually 1 to 5 star rating system. However, one match disappointingly failed to gain a five star match rating when many thought it deserved it.
Wrestle Kingdom Match ratings Night 1 and Night 2
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16, Night 1
New Japan Rumble: 2.75
SHO vs. YOH: 3
El-P, Ishimori & KENTA vs. Mega Coaches & Tanahashi: 2.25
BUSHI, Naito & SANADA vs. Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Ospreay: 3
Narita vs. Shibata: 3.5
EVIL vs. Ishii: 1
Dangerous Tekkers vs. Goto & YOSHI-HASHI: 4.25
Desperado vs. Hiromu: 4.25
Okada vs. Takagi: 4.75
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16, Night 2
Fale, Gedo & Jado vs. GBH & Nagata: 1.5
Desperado, Kanemaru & TAKA vs. Kojima, Tenzan & Wato: 3.25
BUSHI, Hiromu & Takagi vs. Dangerous Tekkers & DOUKI: 3.5
El-P & Ishimori vs. Flying Tiger vs. Mega Coaches: 4
Iwatani & Starlight Kid vs. Kamitani & Nakano: 4
CIMA vs. Owens vs. Suzuki vs. Yano: 3
EVIL, SHO & Yujiro vs. Goto, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI: 2.5
Great-O-Khan vs. SANADA: 3.25
Cobb vs. Naito: 3.75
KENTA vs. Tanahashi: 4
Okada vs. Ospreay: 5.75
Will Ospreay’s main event bout against Kazuchika Okada got the highest rating of the two nights. The incredible match between the two claimed IWPG Heavyweight Champions clocked in just over 30 minutes and was rated at 5.75 stars by Dave Meltzer. The match also was rated 9.21 out of 10 on Cagematch.com.
The previous nights main event, also featuring Kazuchika Okada, didn’t manage to break the 5 star mark. The hard hitting bout in which Okada won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship only clocked in at 4.75 stars, slightly under the mark.
Once match with a surprising rating, relative to the expectations prior to the match, was EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii. Ishii is one of the top wrestlers in NJPW, and his matches against Katsuyori Shibata are some of the highest rated in New Japan’s history. EVIL vs Ishii managed a 1 star from Meltzer, in one of the worst, more boring matches in Wrestle Kingdom history.
AEW Dynamite & Rampage Ratings
AEW Dynamite had some blockbuster matches this week. Two new champions were crowned, whilst the opening match of the night was the AEW Championship rematch between Bryan Danielson and Hangman Adam Page. Also on AEW Rampage, The Bunny and Penelope Ford took TayJay (Tay Conti & Anna Jay) in a street fight that turned out to be one of the best women’s matches in AEW history.
The ratings for those matches are as follows:
AEW Rampage: New Year’s Smash
Bunny & Ford vs. TayJay: 4.25
AEW Dynamite, 5/1
Danielson vs. Page: 4.75
Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros: 4.25
Personally I rated Danielson vs Page at 5 stars, the same as their first encounter. I also would have put the women’s street fight tag team match at five stars, as it was one of the most watchable and enjoyable street fights the company has ever put on.
WWE Ratings
WWE had multiple events, including their “Day 1” PPV in recent weeks. The results for these matches are as follows:
WWE Day 1
Cesaro & Ricochet vs. Holland & Sheamus: 2.5
Kingston & Woods vs. The Usos: 4
McIntyre vs. Moss: 2.75
RKBro vs. Street Profits: 3.25
Edge vs. Miz: 2.75
Lynch vs. Morgan: 3.25
Big E vs. Lashley vs. Lesnar vs. Owens vs. Rollins: 3.75
WWE Raw, 3/1
Big E vs. Lashley vs. Owens vs. Rollins: 4
WWE NXT: New Year’s Evil
Hayes vs. Strong: 4
Imperium vs. MSK & Riddle: 3.75
Breakker vs. Ciampa: 4
