Top Matches I Watched in September 2022
By Alex Kalil
Another month and another series of great matches in wrestling. The fantastic Labor Day weekend with Clash at the Castle, NXT and All Out. We also got some good stuff from Dragon Gate in Japan. Only 3 more months to go in 2022!
NXT United Kingdom Championship Tournament Final Match: Tyler Bate vs. Trent Seven at NXT UK 9/1/22: A good match between the friends turned rivals. Bate starts off hot and is able to out-wrestle Seven using his quickness. Seven goes after the leg to slow down Bate and also take away some of his strength. Good back and forth battle as Bate fights through his hurt leg while Seven tries to work him over. Both men are able to nail their finishers for big near-falls as the match picks up. Seven hits a huge slam off the top and a Tyler Driver '97 for a huge near-fall. Seven goes for Pete Dunne's Bitter End but Bate counters out! Seven Star Lariat by Bate and a Spiral Tap only gets 2! Seven counters the Tyler Driver '97 into a Jackknife Pin for a near-fall. Bate nails a punch to the face! Tyler Driver '97 ends it! Tyler Bate becomes the two time champion! ****
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Gunther (c) vs. Sheamus at WWE Clash at the Castle: An awesome hard hitting Hoss battle! Both men come out swinging for the fences. Gunther is able to take control early on and works over the back of Sheamus while unloading chops on him as well. Sheamus does a great job taking everything Gunther throws at him but still keeps fighting back. Match becomes these two men just throwing bomb after bomb at each other trying to take the other down. Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick but his back gives out; Gunther hits a powerbomb but Sheamus won't stay down. A big Lariat finally ends it! This was awesome to watch! ****1/2
Seth Rollins vs. Matt Riddle at WWE Clash at the Castle: A really good back and forth match between these two. Both start off hot and get right to it. The two have a good back and forth battle as both men throw out their best shots but nothing seems to be enough to put the other away. Rollins starts playing mind games with Riddle by mentioning his family and using Randy Orton's offense. Riddle gets heated and gets more vicious in his attacks. Rollins catches him with a Curb Stomp coming into the ring and nails a second one from Bret's rope to end it. Rollins was able to out-smart Riddle to beat him. ****
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Drew McIntyre at WWE Clash at the Castle: A great battle between these two. Both men start off locking up and looking for the early advantage. Drew is able to seemingly out-wrestle Roman early on before a distraction by Kross in the crowd allows Roman to take over. A nice steady pace as both men battle back and forth and start going for bigger and bigger shots. Drew is able to kick-out from a Spear and escape the Guillotine Choke and nails a Claymore Kick but takes out the ref! Theory tries to cash in again but is stopped by Tyson Fury. Crowd is going crazy as Drew hits another Claymore for a huge near-fall! The two go at it again before Drew hits a third Claymore! 1..2.. the ref is pulled from the ring by Solo Sikoa! Drew gets distracted and leveled with a Spear by Reigns to finally end it. A great match that felt like it was building to Drew winning only to have the rug pulled out from underneath us in the end. ****
Zero Hour Match: Eddie Kingston vs. Tomohiro Ishii at AEW All Out 2022: A hard hitting and brutal match. Both men trade chops and hard strikes back and forth like crazy in the opening few minutes. Neither man is willing to give in even as the chops become slaps, forearms and lariats. Ishii and Kingston switch to dropping bombs on each other back and forth before at long last Kingston rocks Ishii with a pair of backfists and a Northern Lights Bomb to end it. This match was two bulls locking horns in the ring and seeing who could last. Kingston avenges his New Japan loss and moves further down The King's Road. ****
AEW World Trios Championship Tournament Final Match: Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks vs. Adam Page, John Silver and Alex Reynolds at AEW All Out 2022: A fantastic finals to the tournament and story-telling match. The match starts off with Page seemingly wanting a clean match before Silver and Reynolds go after Matt's bad back and Page steps in to stop them. Matt isn't having it and goes aggressively after Page before Omega gets in. Page and Omega in the ring for the first time since their title match! Before they go at it, Silver comes in and goes after the previously hurt shoulder of Omega. Nick catches Silver with a superkick to give The Elite control but Dark Order keeps fighting back all match. Dark Order are able to get a few big near-falls before Page and Omega finally clash! Page looks to hit the Buckshot Lariat on Omega just like in their title match but this time the Bucks distract him long enough for Omega to duck and Nick to hit one of his own! Silver and Reynolds make the save before Omega gets Silver alone and looks to end it. Omega goes for a One-Winged Angel but Silver rolls him up for a massive near-fall! Page comes in with the Buckshot but Omega ducks and Silver gets hit! Omega covers and gets the win! Page's own move cost his friends the biggest match of their careers. Amazing in-ring action and layered story-telling! ****1/2
Jay Lethal and The Motor City Machine Guns vs. FTR and Wardlow at AEW All Out 2022: This was a fun, classic wrestling match. Babyfaces start off hot and in control before the Guns are able to use the numbers game to isolate Dax and work him over. Dax makes the tag to Cash who comes in hot only to get cut off when Sabin targets his knees. Heels triple team Cash and his knees for some great heat before finally Wardlow gets in and runs wild and clears house. FTR recovered enough to take out the Guns and left Wardlow alone with Lethal and landed a series of powerbombs on him for the win. This was a ton of fun to watch. ****
AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: Swerve In Our Glory (c) vs. The Acclaimed at AEW All Out 2022: This was The Acclaimed's coming out party! Crowd was super behind them right at the bell. A slow start as both teams feel each other out with Swerve In Our Glory playing the slight heels. A slip on the rope causes Bowens to hurt his knee and now the switch is flipped. Swerve In Our Glory goes full on heel targeting the knee and punishing Bowens. Caster is finally able to get the hot tag and runs wild to the roar of the crowd. The crowd is going wild as The Acclaimed keep fighting back even with Bowens' hurt knee and refuses to give up. Caster is able to pick up and slam Keith Lee for a huge reaction! But Swerve takes out Caster to leave Bowens alone with the champions. Keith Lee tosses Bowens for double team move but Bowens' knee gives out and Swerve kicks Lee! Roll-up by Bowens only gets 2! Lee and Swerve are able to recover and hit their Powerbomb/Stomp combo to finish off the challengers. What a match! This crowd took a great match and took it to the next level. The Acclaimed come off like huge threats and it's a matter of when, not if they win those belts. ****1/2
AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. CM Punk at AEW All Out 2022: An excellent fired up match. Punk is able to catch Moxley off guard early in the match and hits a GTS for a big near-fall as a callback to their match two weeks ago. Moxley rolls out to recover but Punk is on him. Moxley is able to throw Punk into the ring post to bust him open and now Moxley has his opening. He busts open Punk more with punches and stomps to the head and goes to work on him and especially the bad foot. Punk refuses to give up this time. He keeps fighting back and keeps swinging even as Moxley shuts down every hope spot. Moxley hits the Paradigm Shift but only gets a 2 so he starts to look for the choke. Punk rolls out of it and is able to hit another GTS! Moxley bounces off the ropes and lands on Punk, who muscles him up to nail a third and final GTS! Punk reclaims the AEW Championship after a fight! What a babyface performance by Punk. ****1/4
Five Way War Games Match for the GCW Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes (c) vs. The Mega Bastards vs. BUSSY vs. Los Mazisos vs. Mance Warner and Matthew Justice at GCW The Art of War 2022: A brutal and violent match. Staggered entrances allowed each team to come in and get a chance to run wild for a few. Lots of chairs, doors, light tubes and blood! All the teams enter and the War Games begin. Warner and Justice are taken out by the Mega Bastards. Effy is beaten bloody so Allie Katch has to fight to keep her team alive and manages to take out the Mega Bastards. This leaves Effy alone and allows the Briscoes to eliminate BUSSY. Briscoes go back and forth with Los Mazisos before they are able to counter the Doomsday Device and eliminate the champs! New champions will be crowned. Mega Bastards and Los Mazisos go at it including some insane scaffold bumps. In the end, the Mega Bastards are too much and slam both Los Mazisos through doors and glass off the top to win. ****
NXT North American Championship Match: Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ricochet at WWE Worlds Collide 2022: A good back and forth, fast paced match. Both men use their quickness and agility to pull off some crazy sequences early on before Carmelo realizes he is out of his league and tries to slow it down. Lots of back and forth action with both men getting lots of near-falls in. A distraction by Trick Williams allows Carmelo enough time to roll out of the way of a Shooting Star Press and he is able to small package Ricochet for the win. ****
Unification Match: NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate at WWE Worlds Collide 2022: A hard hitting match between two strong lads. Both men are evenly matched in terms of power so Bron tries to use his size while Bate uses his speed and experience to try and out-wrestle Bron. Lots of great back and forth action as both men seemingly have the upper hand and even have the match won at points. Bate's quickness is his downfall as when Bate goes for his rebound Lariat a second time, Bron destroys him with a Spear to get the win. ****
Grand Slam Tournament of Champions Quarter-Final Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Adam Page at AEW Dynamite 9/7/22: The third match in their series and once again these two have their strategies. Page is a hammer looking to just use brute strength and will power to win while Danielson is a chisel that picks apart Page and targets his Buckshot arm. Excellent back and forth wrestling as both men give it their all and get a lot of near-falls. Danielson looks for the LeBell Lock but Page is able to keep powering out of it. Danielson lands the Running Knee but Page rolls to the floor. Danielson goes for a dive but his legs catch on the ropes and Page is able to catch and powerbomb him. Page sets up for the Buckshot Lariat but Danielson ducks it and gets an O'Connor Roll to get the win! ****1/4
ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Daniel Garcia at AEW Dynamite 9/7/22: Another match in these two's feud. Both men go right after each other with hard lock-ups and strikes. A very even back and forth battle as neither man is able to maintain the advanage long. Yuta lands a series of German Suplexes before Garcia reverses him and does the same. Garcia locks in the Dragon Slayer but Yuta gets to the ropes. A closed fist by Yuta to rock Garcia but he recovers and locks in the Dragon Slayer again! Yuta counters out into a Crossface and looks for the Backpack Pin but can't grab the leg of Garica to fully lock it in and only gets 2. Yuta makes the same mistake Garcia made in their last match by making it personal and goes for a Dragon Slayer of his own, but Garcia knows how to counter it into one of his own! Yuta tries to fight out but he has to tap out! Great simple wrestling match! ****
ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Dax Harwood at AEW Rampage 9/9/22: A solid back and forth wrestling match. Claudio uses his power to pick up Dax with ease while Dax looks to try and out-wrestle the larger man. Great back and forth action as both men have control of the match at times. Great hard shots and selling all match. Both men look for the Sharpshooter and counter out of it and into one of their own. Claudio is able to counter and get Dax on the ground and land a series of elbows and forearms to knock him out. Claudio locks in the Sharpshooter again deep and Dax has to tap. ****
Grand Slam Tournament of Champions Final Match for the AEW World Championship: Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley at AEW Dynamite 9/21/22: Dynamite Grand Slam: A very good wrestler vs. brawler match. Danielson is able to out-wrestle Moxley all match and even when Moxley starts to lay in strikes and starts trying to brawl, Danielson is quick to change up the match and ground Moxley. Danielson goes after the arm of Moxley to set up the LeBell Lock. Moxley is able to catch a top rope dropkick into a powerbomb and goes after the hurt ankle of Danielson. Nice limb work by both men as well as selling. The two go back and forth as both go for the finishing blow. Moxley is able to lure Danielson to the outside and hits a Paradigm Shift on the ramp for a big near-fall. Moxley grabs a choke right away. Danielson tries to escape by attacking the arm and rolling up Moxley but Moxley has it locked in too tight and Danielson passes out. Moxley reclaims the championship! ****
Open the Dream Gate Championship Match: Yuki Yoshioka (c) vs. Eita at Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate 2022: A good back and forth match between these two. Yoshioka has the edge in terms of speed and power but Eita is able to use his experience to out smart and out-wrestle him to stay in control. Eita goes to work on the arm to set up for the Numero Uno. Nice storytelling of Yoshioka fighting back time and time again only for Eita to cut him off and ground him. A lot of big near-falls back and forth before Eita tries to go high risk to end it. Yoshioka is able to counter this and land a top rope Darkness Buster. A pair of Frog Splashes finally ends it as Yoshioka retains! ****
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs. David Finlay at NJPW Burning Spirit 2022: A good heated start to the match as Finlay has the early advantage until Ospreay throws a table at Finlay's head! Ospreay works over Finlay, who keeps fighting back and making it a fight while Ospreay keeps it a wrestling match. Ospreay gets cocky on the outside and Finlay responds by smashing his hand with his shillelagh. Ospreay's hand is destroyed and Finlay goes to work on him. Ospreay tries to keep mounting a comeback but his hand prevents him from doing his offense as smoothly. Finlay drives Ospreay through a pair of tables and looks to end it but Ospreay keeps kicking out. Ospreay gets desperate and goes for multiple flash pins to steal it but can't keep Finlay down. Finlay goes for an Acid Drop but Ospreay counters and finally hits an Oscutter! Ospreay can't lift him for the Stormbreaker so he hits a Pedigree and a Hidden Blade but only gets two! Ospreay finally muscles Finlay up and hits Stormbreaker to end it. Great match! ****1/4
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