Top Matches I Watched in July 2022

Top Matches I Watched in July 2022

By Alex Kalil

What a month for wrestling! Impact and a few smaller indies had some great showings. Plus AEW, ROH Death Before Dishonor, one of the best PPVs of the year! Summerslam as well as Flair’s Last Match. A lot of great stuff all month long!

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (c) vs. The Street Profits at WWE Money in the Bank 2022: A really solid modern tag match. Street Profits started off hot and controlled the match before the Usos cut off Dawkins. They get some nice heat on him before he makes the big tag but Ford is cut off right away too for a double heat segment. Ford finally makes another hot tag to Dawkins and the Street Profits start rolling. Crowd got super into the finishing stretch and near-falls before the Usos were able to hit The One to get the win, even though Ford's shoulder was up. ****

Impact X-Division Championship Match: "Speedball" Mike Bailey (c) vs. Trey Miguel at Impact Wrestling Against All Odds 2022: An action filled match between these two. Both men start off fast with quick offense. Miguel is the first to go after Bailey's leg to take away his speed and kicking power with Bailey following suit. Both men sell their hurt legs wonderfully as they try to bite the bullet and push through the pain to use their leg to finish their opponent off. Phenomenal chemistry from these two as they exchange big near-falls and some slick counter wrestling. Bailey is able to kick Miguel's leg out from under him while he is on the top and hit a Flamingo Drive to end it. Great stuff! ****¼

"Speedball" Mike Bailey vs. Konosuke Takeshita at West Coast Pro 93 Til Infinity: A solid match of speed vs. power. Bailey is quick to go after the knees of Takeshita to slow him down and allow Bailey to use quick strikes and high flying to take down the bigger man. Some good back and forth with Takeshita looking for the Jumbo Knee all match despite the hurt knees and Bailey landing all his best shots but unable to finish Takeshita off. Takeshita starts throwing huge Lariats at Bailey to counter Bailey's kicks before finally nailing the Jumbo Knee and a German to end it. ****

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi at NJPW New Japan Road 2022 Day 5: A fierce battle between these two rivals. Match starts and right away Hiromu has the speed advantage so Ishimori goes right after the shoulder to set up for a submission. Great job by Ishimori working over Hiromu who sells like his shoulder is out of place. Hiromu finally makes a good comeback and looks to just land big high risk moves and bombs to put away the champion. Ishimori is quick to go back to the shoulder every time he loses control. Great back and forth match with both men surviving the best their opponent can give. Hiromu goes high risk once too many times and Ishimori nails a high risk move of his own before a Bloody Cross ends it. A little too dragged out at times and I wish the shoulder played more of a factor in the finish but very good stuff. ****1/4

Interim AEW World Championship Eliminator Match: Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita at AEW Dynamite 7/13/22-Fyter Fest 2022 Night 1: A very even wrestling match to start off with both men looking on equal ground. Takeshita starts to get some momentum with his power and Moxley is quick to switch up and starts to brawl and fight him. Takeshita gets busted open as Moxley works him over and forces him to fight from underneath. Moxley goes for an armbar and a choke to finish off Takeshita but he is able to power out of it and rally for a comeback. Takeshita goes for a Straight Jacket German but can't lock it with his hurt arm. Moxley is able to slip out, nail a Paradigm Shift and lock in a Bulldog Choke for the win. Takeshita goes down swinging in a very good match. ****

Three Way Match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory vs. Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs at AEW Dynamite 7/13/22-Fyter Fest 2022 Night 1: An action filled 3 way match. The Bucks are the cocky heels going in while Starks and Hobbs are the aggressors and Swerve In Our Glory are the fired up babyfaces. Nice chemistry and back and forth action from all three teams as everyone gets a chance to shine and dictate the pace of the match. As the match progresses, each team takes more and more chances to get the win. The Bucks realize they are outmatched in terms of power with Keith and Hobbs and speed with Starks and Swerve so they try to cheat. Ref bump, belt shots and low blows but they still can't get it done! Match breaks down as every team gets a huge near-fall. Keith Lee hits a big dive to the outside on everyone, leaving Swerve and Starks alone in the ring. A Swerve Stomp from the top gets the 3 and new champions! Huge pop and a huge upset! ****

Brody King vs. Darby Allin at AEW Dynamite 7/20/22-Fyter Fest 2022 Night 3: Darby goes right after Brody at the bell, but Brody's size and power quickly shuts him down. Brody tosses Darby around like a rag doll and looks like a beast doing it. Darby keeps fighting for any opening he can find; using his speed and quickness as well as his willingness to throw his body at Brody just to try and take the monster down. Brody is too big and powerful for Darby to stay in control long. Brody locks in a sleeper and drops Darby to the floor in a nice callback to the Royal Rampage but Darby beats the count into the ring. Brody grabs Darby and drops him with a Gonzo Bomb for the dominate win! Match put over Brody huge while making Darby the "never say die '' babyface he is. ****

Jonathan Gresham vs. Konosuke Takeshita at Terminus 3: A nice even wrestling match. Both start off trying to out-wrestle the other with Gresham having the advantage. Takeshita starts to use his superior size and power to land hard strikes and hit power moves on Gresham to take control. Gresham immediately goes to the arm of Takeshita to neutralize his strikes and power while creating a body part to target with his submission work. Takeshita sells the arm well while also trying to battle back against Gresham's offense. A great spot is Takeshita faking going for Gresham's chin only to target the midsection to try and wear down the faster man. Match picks up as both try to finish the other off as time ticks away. Gresham is able to lock in the Octopus Stretch with a minute left. Takeshita fights it off as lock as he can before Gresham rains down hammer fists to get the referee stoppage with seconds to go. Finish didn't come off as smooth as they wanted it but the match itself was very good. ****

ROH World Championship Match: Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli at ROH Death Before Dishonor XIX: A nice battle of the smaller wrestler vs. the larger wrestler. Gresham looks to use his technical skills to work over the bigger Claudio but Claudio's strength stops Gresham's momentum every time. Gresham starts to target the legs of Claudio to take away his size and some of his power. Gresham gets Claudio down and starts to unload Bayonet shots to try and knock him out but Claudio recovers and nails a Swiss Death. Gresham tries once more to out-wrestle Claudio to get the win but Claudio is too strong still and a Ricola Bomb ends it. New champion! ****

ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Daniel Garciaat ROH Death Before Dishonor XIX: A beautiful display of technical wrestling. Both men start off even with back and forth holds. As the opening few minutes pass, Yuta clearly has the advantage in straight up wrestling so Garcia nails a headbutt to take over. The story of the match becomes Garcia being more vicious and taking cheap shots to counter Yuta's superior wrestling. Great moment with Garcia biting the ear on Yuta and then targeting it to try and take out his equilibrium. Garcia and Yuta trade submissions and counters with both men even showing off their ability to use the submissions of their opponent's mentors. Garcia goes for the Danielson Stomps which Yuta lets him use and suckers him into a roll-up to get the win. Garcia was too busy trying to play mind games with Yuta and he got sloppy and used a move that Yuta would obviously know how to counter. Brilliant stuff. ****¼

Rush vs. Dragon Lee at ROH Death Before Dishonor XIX: A nice heated battle between brothers. Both start out working at an even pace before Rush starts to get vicious and more violent in his attacks on Dragon Lee. In response, Dragon Lee takes more chances and risks; nailing a huge dive to the outside, taking both men through a table. Match becomes the brawler, Rush battling the high risk taker, Dragon Lee as both dish out a ton of crazy moves. Rush nails The Bull's Horn for a big near-fall before Dragon Lee rallies and nails a series of moves on Rush to seemingly rock him. Rush looks out on his feet and his brother checks on him only to be nailed with a Superkick and a second Bull's Horn to get the win. Rush couldn't match his brother's skills and had to outsmart him to get the win. ****

ROH World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Jay Lethal at ROH Death Before Dishonor XIX: Joe and Lethal brawl on the floor before the match and the crowd gets into the match right away! Singh runs out to help Lethal out and go after the hurt arm of Joe before the bell rings. Lethal looks to wrestle Joe and work him over while Joe just unloads big shots and power moves to try to finish off the younger and better wrestler. Nice back and forth battle as both men try to keep the match in their wheelhouse to get the win. When Lethal's best shot isn't enough, Sonjay Dutt runs out to distract the referee. Belt shot by Lethal but only 2! Huge pop! Lethal Injection but Joe gets the choke in instead! Lethal counters out and tries for a roll-up but Joe gets the choke back in and has to tap! Very fun match that leaves room for a rematch down the road. ****

Best Two Out of Three Falls Match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship: FTR (c) vs. The Briscoes at ROH Death Before Dishonor XIX: The rematch to the dream match! Both teams start off working at a slow and deliberate pace while looking for openings to take the advantage. We get some nice back and forth action from both teams as they each control the match at points. Briscoes are able to isolate Dax as he gets dropped on the turnbuckle and his bell rung. Doomsday Device is enough to get the first fall for the Briscoes. Second fall starts off with the Briscoes in control. They work over Dax and get a bunch of heat on him while just chopping and beating the hell out of the man. Dax makes the big hot tag to Cash and here we go! Match picks up as Cash runs wild. Briscoes pick up the intensity and even nail Cash with the ring bell to try and get the sweep. Cash kicks out! Dax is able to sucker Mark into going after him and throws him into the steps. FTR hit The Big Rig out of nowhere to tie it up! Third fall starts with a bloody Cash and Mark going at it! The referee gets taken out right before the Briscoes hit a second Doomsday Device for the phantom 3 count. FTR is able to recover and hit a second Big Rig right after this for a huge near-fall! Both teams start going for broke to finish each other off but neither team is willing to give in. Briscoes goes for the Doomsday once too many as Mark is at the top and Cash takes both out with a back drop through a table! Dax and Jay are all alone. Jay Driller isn't enough and only gets 2! Jay goes for another but Dax counters and sets him up on the top. Dax fights him on Bret's rope and is able to nail a piledriver! Dax is barely able to roll over to cover Jay with just his legs and gets the third fall and the win! What a battle! What a war! What a fucking match! This was pro wrestling perfection! *****

#1 Contendership Match for the Impact World Championship: Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley at Impact Wrestling 7/21/2022: A good matchup between two teammates. Nice mat wrestling to start out with Shelley having the advantage while targeting the arm. Sabin ups the intensity by going after the neck of Shelley to take control, only for Shelley to do the same by going after Sabin's previously injured knees. Nice limb work by Shelley while Sabin sells well. Sabin gets a good comeback before the two start trading near-falls. Shelley nails the Shell Shocked and after the near-falls goes right into the Border City Stretch to get the submission win. Great showcase of what both men can do. ****

Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia at AEW Dynamite 7/27/22-Fight For The Fallen 2022: Danielson dropkicks Garcia in the face right at the bell and here we go! Danielson is all over Garcia with hard strikes and kicks. Garcia tries to fight back but Danielson is far more experienced and able to quickly shut down any momentum Garcia has. Danielson hits a top rope dropkick and lands on the back of his head badly. He's hurt. And Garcia knows it. Garcia immediately goes right after Danielson's head with strikes and even a DDT on the concrete floor! Danielson is bloody and hurt but he keeps fighting back. Danielson slowly mounts a comeback as the two trade submissions and moves in an awesome display of pro wrestling, ending with Danielson hitting the running knee but unable to get the LeBell Lock in. Danielson looks to finish off Garcia when Jake Hager grabs his leg from under the ring for the distraction. Garcia takes the opening and hits a piledriver before locking in the Sharpshooter deep on Danielson, who passes out! Huge upset win for the young Garcia! ****¼

Last Man Standing Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar at WWE Summerslam 2022: A chaotic match! Lesnar jumps Reigns at the bell and takes the fight to him by just tossing him around and using everything he can find to inflict pain on Reigns to keep him down. Reigns battles back when he has an opening and looks to throw everything he has at Lesnar to stop him. Lesnar gets pissed at Reigns fighting back and flips the ring with a fucking tractor! OH MY GOD! The Usos run in to try and take out Lesnar but are stopped by the beast. Heyman tries to stop Lesnar only to get hit with an F5 through a table! Theory tries to cash in his Money in the Bank but is taken out! The Usos nail Lesnar with dual superkicks and Reigns spears Lesnar to death! But he is still alive! Briefcase shots, belt shots and finally Reigns and the Usos bury Lesnar in wreckage to keep him down for the 10 count. Sweet Jesus! This was madness! ****

Four Way Match: Laredo Kid vs. Taurus vs. Rey Fenix vs. Bandido at Jim Crockett Promotions Ric Flair's Last Match: A crazy action-filled lucha spot-fest! All four guys went balls to the wall and worked their asses off to show what they could do and get the win. So many great highlights especially by Bandido and Taurus with his power and strength. Rey Fenix is able to eventually lift up Taurus to hit a driver and get the 3 count. Very fun match. ****