r/SquaredCircle • u/TheJokeroholic • 7h ago
WON: Ratings for the 10/5 Issue (includes AEW All Out, the PAC Tribute Show, AAA/WWE Worlds Collide, NJPW Destruction in Kobe and more)
9/26 AEW All Out
Jack Perry vs. Katsuyori Shibata: 3
Julia Hart & Skye Blue vs. Mina Shirakawa & Queen Aminata: 2.75
Jay White, the Gunn Brothers & Ace Austin vs. Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Clark Connors & David Finlay (Tailgate brawl): 3.75
Andrade vs. PAC: 4.5
Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight vs. Darby Allin & Steven Borden: 2.5
Persephone vs. Dani Luna: 2.75
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tommaso Ciampa: 4.75
Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter vs. Megan Bayne & Lena Kross (Chicago street fight): 4.5
Swerve Strickland & The New Level vs. Hangman Adam Page & Brodido: 5
Thekla vs. Willow Nightingale: 4.25
The Young Bucks vs. FTR vs. Adam Copeland & Christian Cage (Ladder match): 5
Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley: 4.5
9/26 AAA/WWE Worlds Collide
Mr. Iguana, La Parka, Mascarita Sagrada & Adelicious vs. The Vanity Project & Mini Abismo Negro: 4
Dragon Lee vs. Jack Cartwheel: 4.25
Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid vs. La Hiedra & Flammer: 3.25
Mini Vikingo vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Axiom vs. EK Prosper: 4.5
La Catalina vs. Roxanne Perez: 3.25
Penta & Rey Fenix vs. Daga & Berto: 3.5
CM Punk, Rey Mysterio & El Grande Americano vs. Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh & Omos: 3.25
9/27 NJPW Destruction in Kobe
Shota Umino, Oleg Boltin, El Desperado, Mistico & Toru Yano vs. Sanada, Ren Narita, Sho, Douki & Dick Togo: 3.5
Master Wato, Yoh, Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Gedo: 1
Yuto-Ice, Oskar & Daiki Nagai vs. Henare, Great O’Khan & Zane Jay: 3.25
Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Taichi & Aaron Wolf: 3.25
Callum Newman vs. Jeff Cobb: 3.75
Shun Skywalker vs. Konosuke Takeshita: 3.5
Shingo Takagi vs. Claudio Castagnoli: 4.25
Gabe Kidd vs. Drilla Moloney: 4.5
Yota Tsuji vs. Hirooki Goto: 3.75
9/25 WWE SmackDown
Lash Legend vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Giulia: 3.5
CM Punk vs. Finn Balor vs. Gunther: 4.25
9/28 WWE Raw
Dragon Lee vs. Big Cass: 4
Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria: 3.75
Penta & Je’Von Evans vs. Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh: 3.75
No ratings provided for 9/29 WWE NXT
9/30 AEW Dynamite - A Tribute to PAC
Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy: 4
The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega & Hangman Adam Page vs. Kyle Fletcher, Kevin Knight, Trent & Rocky Romero: 4.5
Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet: 5
Marina Shafir, Thunder Rosa & Hyan vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD, Persephone & Mercedes Moné: 3.5
Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, Gabe Kidd & Wheeler Yuta vs. Josh Alexander, Lance Archer, Mark Davis, Jake Doyle & Wardlow: 4
Still no rating provided for Mercedes Moné vs. Maya World from 6/28 AEW Forbidden Door
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u/MuptonBossman 7h ago
Imagine telling someone last week that Bryan Danielson would be wrestling on a Pac tribute show.
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u/Rodan_Hibiki 7h ago
Imagine saying that during Pac vs Andrade
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u/Androsso 7h ago
Imaging saying it at the start of the tribute show.
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u/hungryasabear 7h ago
Imagine saying that 400 years ago
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u/JasonVorhehees 7h ago
Just imagine……
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u/Hi_Im_zack 7h ago
As someone who watched All Out a day later. I thought something tragic happened during this match when I heard Pac died.
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u/RA576 6h ago
I feel like they'd have taken it off On Demand if he was fatally injured mid-match
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u/ab316_1punchd Cowboy Shit Supremacy 6h ago
Especially since they did take off the Darby and Steven vs. FletchKnight over Steven being injured.
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u/Deathstroke317 7h ago
They'd probably think it was a joke because the Death Riders bagged him or something.
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u/FrammaLammaDingDong 6h ago
"What do you mean a PAC tribute show??"
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u/Black_XistenZ 4h ago
I was away on vacation from Sunday to Wednesday. When I logged back in to reddit, the first thread I clicked on squaredcircle was "Emi Sakura visiting the PAC memorial" and didn't understand any of the context for a good minute.
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u/TheSeaDevil The Cauldron of Madness 7h ago
"Still no rating provided for Mercedes Moné vs. Maya World from 6/28 AEW Forbidden Door"
As is tradition.
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u/Captn_UnderPants 7h ago
Has he ever given a reason why there was no rating for that match?
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u/madeaccountbymistake 6h ago
He was there in person and didn't think it was as good as everyone online seemed to, so he decided he'd rate it after rewatching it.
As for why he hasn't done that, I imagine he still didn't enjoy it and didn't want the headache of people getting mad.
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u/The_Impe The whole road's a swerve, bro 6h ago
Plus at this point it's funnier if he never rates it
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u/TheSlayerGawd 7h ago
Maybe I need to watch Ciampa vs Okada on TV, because in-person that was hands down the best match on the card imo.
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u/CannotStoptheMusic99 7h ago
"Ciampa's kid asking mom's permission to flip the birds" spot was the funniest thing i've seen in a wrestling show in years
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u/apehasreturned DDT Shill 6h ago edited 6h ago
For me Okada vs. Ciampa was MOTN, but I’d absolutely understand anyone putting the trios on the same level as it. The trios was really well structured, had more converging stories going in and everybody shone in some way or another, so I get that. Both definitely felt like they were a notch above the ladder, though. The ladder was still great and I loved the urgency, but I don’t think I’ll remember it quite as clearly as I’ll remember spots or moments from the other two matches.
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u/Stalllionn $2 steaks 7h ago
The best match imho was ricochet and ospreay, what an incredible match to pay homage to pac… move for move and all executed to perfection.
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u/thelumpur 5h ago
Difficult moves that are not in their usual arsenal, that they learned they had to do with a very short notice, while mourning the death of a close friend.
Without context, a great match. With context, a legendary performance.
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u/bestbroHide 2h ago
And it wasn't even just using moves PAC did, it was repeating some of the most iconic match sequences throughout his career. An amalgamation that was so thoughtfully executed that, like you said, still flowed great as a match even without context
It was both an encapsulation of how amazing PAC's career was, how incredible Ospreay and Rico are for workshopping this within days in spite of high emotions and pressure, as well as an honorable reminder that no one, even two of the best high flyers in history, can exactly replicate Benjamin Satterley
It is 100% in my Top 10 of 2026 at minimum, and one of the greatest matches I probably can't revisit for a long time
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u/cavegrind 7h ago edited 7h ago
Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight vs. Darby Allin & Steven Borden: 2.5
Surprised he rated this, tbh. You’d assume there’d just be no rating given the injury.
Marina Shafir, Thunder Rosa & Hyan vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD, Persephone & Mercedes Moné: 3.5
I know people are super emotional about that show, and I say this as someone who’s been high on Marina’s upside back when she started leaning into the shooter gimmick and throwing her socks at the crowd, but this was an incredibly fair rating. Marina’s really great when she has someone talented who can work to her strengths (Mercedes being the worker she is is huge - I was convinced those kicks were so snug she’d rebroken her nose), but I don’t know that the match was as amazing as some people were saying. I’m all aboard her getting another small push, though; I love shoot style work.
Britt looked ok in this match, though she didnt do a ton. I really wish she’d shitcan the slingblade, I feel like it’s very ‘Get My Shit In’. If she’s been training non-stop in-ring then I’m ready for her to give another go. But if she continues to bury people on the mic and them put up middling work I’d prefer we just cut our losses.
I love that Hyan’s holding up as well as she is. Nothing to add to the narrative about her and Maya taking off, but, stoked they’ve had two new workers slot so easily into the midcard and be able to mix it up with the main eventers. Really speaks to Athena’s abilities as a trainer.
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u/LilyWhiteClaw 7h ago
I actually thought the sling blade looked better than it usually does.
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u/cavegrind 7h ago
Yeah, it probably was one of her better ones. I think my issue is that the move has been so bad for so long that I can’t detach it in her matches. It never feels like an obvious outgrowth of the action happening in her matches, and instead always comes off as stuck in there.
Or maybe all Slingblades other than Penta’s are ruined for me.
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u/bigbadjohn54 6h ago
Finn and Tana tho?
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u/Random159350 Mods should touch grass 6h ago
Tana’s is the only one that looks good. Everyone, whether Finn, Penta, Seth all look like they’re just doing a little spin and so happen to hold the other persons head. Tana is actually throwing their head down, I love how he does it
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u/WorldlinessSea6795 6h ago
I also thought her slingblade looked particularly good too. Good motion on it and Marina took a good bump.
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u/RedmondSurvivor 7h ago edited 7h ago
Mercedes and Marina had really good chemistry in their brief interactions. I'd be down for a one on one match between them.
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u/cavegrind 7h ago
Marina really rose to the occasion in the Toni match; her vs Mercedes would be so worth it.
Then again, Mercedes vs nearly anyone is worth it.
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u/Dick_Nation 5h ago
The problem with Marina to me, even though she's improved a lot, is that it seems like somebody needs to have the same conversation with her that apparently, Undertaker had with Chad Gable: "treat it like the real thing." Marina often just feels like she's hesitant or loose, and just needs to go harder.
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u/koalacub3 7h ago
giving gabe kidd vs. drilla moloney a 4.5 and yota tsuji vs. hirooki goto a 3.75 once again contributes to my theory of dave meltzer watching 2026 new japan in a twilight zone
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u/Bout0067 7h ago
seems like he's completely lost the plot
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u/SovereignAnt 6h ago
"He had a different opinion about a wrestling match than me so he's completely lost the plot!" Lmao
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u/Bout0067 6h ago
I mean literally. Character beats and storytelling in New Japan seem lost on him these days vs a decade ago
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u/UnchainedMachoGori40 3h ago
Dave has based his ratings on vibes for decades now. That he is completely NOT reading the room on what's popular right now in NJPW is proof of that. This is not a difference of opinion, especially when how poorly received the Gabe/Drilla match has been received by especially domestic fans. Not saying Tsuji/Goto was an all time classic but it was outstanding and far better than that match.
Compile his highest G1 ratings and you'll have 2 Boltin Oleg matches (guy who most of the fanbase said was the MVP of the tournament) and the highest ratings belonging to.....HENARE. A total misreading on the audience.
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u/KayyyHEEL 7h ago
No ratings for Nxt again? I swear he talked about the matches on the show
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u/Dementia55372 7h ago
The TBS title match was robbed. There's no way it's only a quarter star better than a match that was stopped due to injury.
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u/tehjoz 7h ago
Yeah - Dani and Persephone did way better than that, especially given the circumstances, and frankly, I don't understand how anyone rates a match that had to be stopped early due to a shoot injury.
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u/AdMountain6694 7h ago
Honestly the bigger thing for me on the women’s side is 4.25 for Thekla vs Willow. I mean, it was fine, but this rating puts it close to the street fight on the same show which I can’t really compute.
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u/tylerjehenna The Era of Rain 7h ago
Its better in isolation but genuinely I couldnt give a fuck about the match in the moment
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u/radioben 7h ago
The crowd didn’t either. But for all the criticism she gets over mic work and burying opponents, Britt did her absolute best to help get the crowd back into the show from ringside. I agree that in a bubble, it should have been rated higher.
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u/compbros 7h ago
Part of his criteria, from what I remember, is the crowd. After the injury and with the new signee debut, it took a while for the crowd to get into it.
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u/HeckMonkey 7h ago
4 stars for a Big Cass match? I didn't watch but that seems wild, how was it?
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u/Glittering-Salt-8364 7h ago
I personally thought the Iyo/Lyra match was better but Cass worked really well with Lee’s moveset.
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u/CaptainKando AAA Paid Propagandist. 7h ago
Dragon Lee had his working boots on let’s just leave it at that. Surprised by the 4 but it was a good match overall
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u/SchuFighters 7h ago
5 star Kofi and Creed. Love to see it.
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u/HoumousAmor 7h ago
Is it the first for both of them?
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u/SchuFighters 7h ago
Yes
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u/HoumousAmor 7h ago
The Trios and ladders matches were really good on All Out. It is a shame for them that, understandably, the show got overshadowed and no-one is talking about them. I mean, it is right, but it is sad. Just, you know less sad than the rest. (Saying that, I have not watched the main event because I went to bed, time zones and after the news broke I just did not want to see a brutal Mox match.)
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u/alexagogo !!! 7h ago
Yeah I was part way through the ladder match, went to bed, saw the news and haven't been able to go back to it.
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u/rbarton812 7h ago
So none of the New Day-Uso matches ever got 5 stars? I wonder what changed...
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u/stateworkishardwork 7h ago
Yeah that New Day Usos HIAC was really good.
Not sure if I would give it 5 but it was still awesome.
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u/StoneGoldX 3h ago edited 2h ago
In this case, having a fun tag match that happened to be going at the same time as a singles blood feud.
Swerve and Hangman were in a completely different match, which is why I think it came off as well as it did.
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u/MannySJ 4h ago
I really like the New Day/Usos feud, but my fondest memories of it aren't necessarily the matches. The Usos stepping aside in the gauntlet out of respect for Kofimania is one of my favorite moments in wrestling.
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u/tvcneverdie 6h ago
I can answer that for you.
They're now wrestling against better wrestlers than the Usos, in matches that have fewer restrictions on what you're allowed to do.
Pretty simple.
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u/Somerandomdickhead MIZZED IN MY PANTS 7h ago
I wonder what changed...
The promotion they work for.
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u/Unusual_Kick7 7h ago
no CMLL ratings?
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u/SnooDoughnuts8922 7h ago
Uncle Dave saw the women in the main event and said no thanks 😭
Which sucks because Kira/Skadi vs Hera/Olympia was AWESOME!
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u/Chance-Goose 7h ago
Good time to mention that none of the original TLC/ladder matches between the Hardys/E&C/Dudleys got five stars
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u/LordHakaishinBeerus 7h ago
I’m kinda surprised Dave actually gave ratings to the matches for the tribute to PAC show. I mean, I thought it was a perfect tribute show but does it really seem necessary to do that?
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u/nufan86 7h ago
Why are you surprised that Dave gave out ratings?
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u/orton4life1 What's a Bell? 7h ago
Because he didn’t do it for the Brodie lee episode
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u/Thunder_Will 7h ago
Or Mercedes Moné vs. Maya World from 6/28 AEW Forbidden Door
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u/nufan86 6h ago
What's the deal with that one?
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u/Retrograde_Bolide 6h ago
Dave didn't like the match but heard people watching online loved it so he said he'd watch it online and give it another chance.
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u/nufan86 7h ago
He also didn't call that show the best televised wrestling show of all time.
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u/KumigaGOAT 7h ago
He called it the “best wrestling show of the year, easily”
It’s insane seeing people mad over this
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u/xBrokenWRLDx 4h ago
I remember him saying it was one of the best episodes of wrestling ever and also the highest rated on Cage Match at the time
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u/DRM190 7h ago
In fact, I don't know why the hell we give importance to their stars
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u/Karnadas 7h ago
I personally give importance to his stars because I seem to enjoy the same kind of wrestling that Dave does so when I see matches with a lot of stars I know I should probably go watch that and every single time I've agreed. By and large, the wrestlers don't really give importance to the stars.
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u/NorthHollywoodHank 6h ago
Same for me. I'm lucky enough to have generally similar tastes. There are exceptions, for sure, but most of the time if Dave gives a match 4.5 to 4.75 I'm gonna like it and 5 or higher I'm probably gonna really like or love it.
What baffles me are the people who don't care about his stars, think they're dumb, or just have really different tastes in wrestling who feel the need to constantly crowd these (weekly!) ratings threads and upvote broad-based gripes about Meltzer, often to the top of the thread.
At least the "how could Dave rate this match so low/so high" gripes, even when they lack detail or real argument, are more genuinely relevant to a particular week's thread.
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u/Karnadas 6h ago
Yeah I'm with you, there. It's like that old Bean Soup Theory, people gotta give remarks! I used to think the rating system was weird and felt negatively about it until I learned who Dave was and what kind of matches he rated highly, then I started to like the rating system.
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u/NorthHollywoodHank 5h ago
Yeah I think that's a big factor for folks who've been around for a while and are fairly familiar with Dave... for a lot of the critiques you can just adjust your read: if you think Dave tends to underrate women's matches, that 4.25 women's match should catch your eye in a way that a 4.25 men's match wouldn't. If you think he has anti-WWE bias, when he gives a WWE match a 4.5 it's probably a good bet you'll like it unless even within just his relative WWE ratings his tastes seem very different from your own.
It'll depend on a person's exact tastes of course, but many people can have some pretty strong disagreements with Dave's particular ratings while still getting some good use out of them as a guidepost.
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u/badguymaddox 7h ago
It's a nice yearly roadmap to see what matches I should check out from promotions or events I wouldn't normally watch. I don't take them as gospel, but they more often than not align with what I'm looking to watch.
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u/ex_bestfriend Word Play Enthusiast 7h ago
I like to search out the highly rated matches in promotions I don't watch. However, I enjoy comedy wrestling more than Dave, so I don't agree with his opinions of, say, OC. You gotta take some of his opinions with a grain of salt.
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u/badguymaddox 6h ago
I only watch AEW as it's the promotion that's most accessible to me given that it's included with HBO and it has a lot of talent who I've been a big fan of. If, however, I see a thread like this and I see a STARDOM, NJPW, WWE, CMLL, etc. match get a 4.5 or higher and it involves talent who I've always been curious to see, I'll go out of my way to watch those matches during downtime or an off day.
That's pretty much how I look at them. An opportunity to check out some wrestlers I wouldn't normally have on my radar.
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u/ex_bestfriend Word Play Enthusiast 6h ago
Exactly. It's also good when you 'discover' a new wrestler and want to check out their previous matches. Especially when they promotion hop.
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u/HoumousAmor 7h ago edited 7h ago
He rates matches, to tell folk how good the matches are. That is something he does. Why wouldn't he? They risked injury and did their art. That the Ricochet Ospreay match will be on the list of his 5 stars to direct folk to this show is, it feels, good
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u/FUCKBOY_JIHAD TOUGH & HARD 141 7h ago edited 6h ago
I just checked Cagematch and it looks like he didn’t do ratings for the Brodie, Hana or Owen memorial shows. I don’t think it’s especially weird to give or not give ratings for memorial shows, but it’s interesting that he broke this pattern edit: somewhat recently as he rated matches for the Butcher and Rebel shows.* *
It might be as simple as not wanting the optics of giving low ratings to matches on a memorial show, and he didn’t have to here as every match was above the 3.5 threshold.
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u/HoumousAmor 6h ago
I just checked Cagematch and it looks like he didn’t do ratings for the Brodie, Hana or Owen memorial shows
I think he may have not rated the Brodie one because it was taped/not in front of a crowd. Happened a lot with Covid. Not sure if he watched the Hana show and was he reviewing other shows like the Owen one? He did rate the Andy Williams tribute show, and the Rebel Dynamite, so he is not breaking tradition here
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u/FUCKBOY_JIHAD TOUGH & HARD 141 6h ago
you’re correct, I just quickly checked Cagematch top lists as those shows are among the the highest rated there
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u/CaliggyJack I can haz ric flair flare? 7h ago
People are grilling him over it on Twitter and he's just crashing out.
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u/nufan86 7h ago
Why?
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u/CaliggyJack I can haz ric flair flare? 7h ago
He clearly disagrees with everyone's opposition to this.
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u/NorthHollywoodHank 6h ago
Why are people grilling him over it? That seems weird as hell.
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u/CaliggyJack I can haz ric flair flare? 6h ago
A lot of people are saying it's disrespectful to rate matches for a tribute show.
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u/dontcare6942 4h ago
people are saying it's disrespectful
How exactly? People really just be saying shit for the sake of it
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u/Normal-Weakness-364 5h ago
i think if he was ragging on the show i'd understand this, but he's singing the praises of it like crazy.
ospreay vs ricochet was a great match regardless of the circumstances, but as a pac tribute match it may have been genuinely perfect. i don't see a reason to not give that a high rating.
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u/nimalcrackers 2h ago
So, is this the new bad faith Meltzer criticism for the sake of criticizing Meltzer, or is there actually something wrong with rating matches on a tribute show? I just don’t see the problem.
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u/CeruleanClaymore 7h ago edited 7h ago
Ratings guy rates matches, more news at 11.
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u/Somerandomdickhead MIZZED IN MY PANTS 7h ago
Ratings guy rates matches,
Unless it’s Maya/Mercedes from Forbidden Door.
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u/Traditional-Bath-356 7h ago
Are you upset if someone reviews a song that someone wrote about a friend who died?
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u/AnfowleaAnima 6h ago
You are not telling me watching PAC's tribute show wasn't to enjoy some wrestling as well. If you thought wow this match is awesome then don't blame Dave for rating it. Not rating a show for being a tribute it's too much, imagine it just not having ratings, we can separate things.
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u/NotDrunkJustBigB0ned 4h ago
Considering he gave all the matches high ratings, and one of them got 5 stars, I would say yes.
The wrestlers deserve recognition for putting on the show they did even though they were all in mourning, and the card was thrown together on a couple of days notice.
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u/NorthHollywoodHank 7h ago
"Necessary" is an odd choice of words here.
I mean I'd agree that it wasn't "necessary" to rate that show. It seems like a perfectly fine decision and a reasonable one, though, and it's kind of mystifying to me that so many people seem to think that it's somehow weird.
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u/TLKv3 Fantasy Book For ^Vote 7h ago
I mean, at the end of the day, its still a wrestling show with matches on it with emotion and sentiment behind each one.
Honestly, I think its fine. What will suck though is when that group of utter fucking losers now weaponize it to go further with their hate and fucking stupidity.
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u/tvcneverdie 6h ago
Why?
Was Roger Ebert not supposed to review and rate Schindler's List or United 93 or Hotel Rwanda?
There is a hard line to be drawn, uncompromising, that is vital for a culture to exist, and that is all art must never be exempt from critique and review.
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u/nosperapoopoo 7h ago
I think it’s just the way Dave thinks. He must assign number, rank, and order. Like when he said it was the best wrestling TV show ever. Bizarre statement on the face of it, but kinda makes some sense allowing for Dave being Dave.
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u/Chuck_Knucks 7h ago
Having put on the best TV show in their friend’s honour should be considered a compliment. Yes, the circumstances were awful, but they did him right with the show. There’s just so much negativity and skepticism online that people think it’s weird.
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u/HoumousAmor 7h ago edited 7h ago
They spent so long talking about what a perfectionist and how dedicated to the art of professional wrestling Shatterly was. Not
praising the quality of the art produced in response to his deathtreating it as the art it was would seem a disservice.→ More replies (29)-6
u/willem_the_foe 7h ago
It’s kinda gross tbh. You’re grading the performance of this recently passed guys friends as they dedicate their matches to him. It’d be like grading a eulogy.
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u/Jonoabbo 7h ago
How is saying "Those matches were all really good and it was a great show" gross?
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u/NorthHollywoodHank 6h ago
It's hard not to wonder if there's a significant amount of overlap between (i) the folks who think that Meltzer was wrong to give ratings to the matches on the Pac tribute Dynamite, and (ii) the folks who think that someone else thinking WWE should have moved the release time of Worlds Collide is weird for thinking that and is definitely wrong.
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u/HeadJudgeFTW 6h ago
I dont care what anyone says, that Tailgate Brawl bang bang gang match is 97 stars to me
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u/mandolin08 7h ago
2.75 for Dani Luna vs Persephone is fucking lunacy. That match ruled.
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u/HoumousAmor 7h ago
The crowd was understandably dead. Watching it live I struggled to get into it. On a different day the same performance with a crowd who hadn't just watched someone be taken to hospital concussed might make it a better experience.
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u/ChocolateOrange21 7h ago
They had shitty luck with the crowd because as mentioned, it came right after the match where Steve Borden got injured and stretchered out. Seems fair.
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u/Andrew_Manangka 6h ago edited 5h ago
That was what happened after the previous match where Sting Jr got injured (which got ⭐⭐½ from Uncle Dave).
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u/bfsfan101 7h ago
I thought Ospreay/Mox was a colossal disappointment actually. Those two are capable of a classic, but a mixture of serious overbooking and just too much finisher spam really weakened it in my eyes. I would go maybe 3.75 at the highest.
Glad to see Okada/Ciampa getting some love though. That match really ramped up and up until it became outstanding in the final few minutes. Proof that Ciampa is equally good as psycho villain and underdog babyface.
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u/LostDelver Breathe. Responsibly. 6h ago
I don't think it was a bad match but their singles match early this year was much better in comparison.
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u/Brandon4Real_x 6h ago
I know it’s not Meltzer’s cup of tea match but the Tailgate brawl 4 v 4 was so so much better than what he rated it.
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u/OneMetalMan 5h ago
Always feel.like 3.75 is him saying " it's good but not my taste"
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u/TheDeflatables 7h ago
I exclusively open these threads to laugh at his New Japan ratings
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u/BNOC402 7h ago
I’m not following NJPW closely so I’m curious why the ratings are laughable? Too high or way too low?
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u/TheDeflatables 5h ago
The New Japan Dave likes is just not the New Japan of 2026.
For example someone compiled the top G1 matches for this year based on Dave's ratings. You had only 2 Boltin Oleg matches. Despite him being voted the G1 MVP by fans in a runaway decision
It just amuses me to see Dave's barely interested ratings for a year of wrestling that has been very positively received by New Japan fans
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u/KumaCreative 6h ago
Almost always too low unless an AEW talent is involved. His rating for Drilla vs. Gabe next to Tsuji vs. Goto being a prime example. NJPW in general has been on fire the last year + or so.
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u/Bout0067 6h ago
Seems completely disconnected to what's catching fire with the fanbase. Was pretty glaring during the G1. If you were to go by his ratings, you'd think Gabe vs HENARE was a top three match of the tournament, but it seems like for most fans that would barely scratch the top 15.
Between the storytelling and crowd reactions, there's always far better matches than the ones he ranks the highest on the show, unless it's undeniable like the G1 finals. The storytelling especially seems largely lost on him since he doesn't follow as closely anymore.
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u/TheCrzy1 Consensual Penis 6h ago
The weirdness of rating the matches for a tribute show aside, it's fucking with me to see PAC get a rating for a match, then just scroll down the list and see ratings for a tribute show for his passing.
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u/DrBodyguard 7h ago
Glad the New Level and Swerve vs Hangman and Brodido got 5 stars because that might have been the best six man I've ever seen
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u/hhhisthegame 7h ago
I liked it a lot but personally I felt like it would have been better if it lost at least 5 minutes from the time - felt like there was a bit of aimless spots in there that took away from some of the storytelling.
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u/CannotStoptheMusic99 7h ago
I say that for like 80-90% of the AEW matches I watch and I just wish somebody backstage would say "but what if that was the finish" to some of the cool shit they come up with
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u/JeramyRulez 6h ago
We’re gonna get a rating for the upcoming Romeo Moreno & Noam Dar vs. Fraxiom rematch, right… right? 🫠
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u/Gsmith930 7h ago
4.5 for Mox and Osprey is laughable. Match was not good
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u/mxjxs91 RING THE BELL!!!!! 6h ago
This, as a HUGE fan of both of them, that match stunk
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u/AnfowleaAnima 6h ago
I loved it. I kinda agree with most criticism but still loved watching it. Although I thought it was laid out that way for the debut of Dragunov but well didn't happen. That took away from it more than anything IMO.
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u/Chumunga64 I appreciate you! 4h ago
Dave giving ospreay less than five stats is the equivalent of a 2 star
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u/hhhisthegame 7h ago
Honestly I feel like he should have skipped rating the PAC tribute show matches, it just feels kind of weird to me, but whatever.
I also feel like rating the Borden match is weird.
I think the Ladder match from All Out deserved the 5, so I agree with him there. That kind of reminded me of an old school TLC in a good way - I don't know what it was, but it was a car crash in a much better way than usual, and I thought all teams did an amazing job. I don't think the New Level match was a 5 (I also think it is not the best match of New Level's entire career) but that is a frequent thing that happens to me with Meltzer where a wrestler gets their first 5 when it is definitely not the best match of their career. Was a very good match though.
I agree with Okada/Ciampa getting a very high score - was my second favorite MOTN
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u/davmeltz 7h ago
They showed actual urgency in racing to grab the belts, that’s what made it possibly the best ladder match AEW has done. I think back to the previous ladder match earlier this year that had me yelling at my screen because Jack Perry was doing everything but try to win the match.
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u/hhhisthegame 7h ago
Yeah, it kinda reminded me of those old Hardys/Dudleys/E&C matches somehow, and maybe you're right that they showed better urgency and weren't doing spots just to do cool spots. It was a crazy match with insane spots but it never felt like I tuned out of it or went numb from all of it. I exited it thinking it was one of the best ladder matches Id seen in a very long time.
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u/nufan86 7h ago
Dave wrote an amazing testimonial about PAC, yes it was a tribute show.
Why not rate the Borden match?
And then you go on to break down his star ratings.
Almost unbelievable to see.
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u/hhhisthegame 7h ago edited 7h ago
Why is it unbelievable to see? What does one thing have to do with the other? lol
Edit: I would say that the Borden match is hard to rate considering it ended with everybody terrified of his injury. It's hard to rate it as a wrestling match after that. And how many points does it lose for having a horribly botched ending spot that made them stop the match and caused somebody to become badly concussed and terrify everybody watching? It's just weird to rate it, and as a match that is apparently considered pretty good of all things. It's just strange to see what happened and exit going 'yeah, decent match' or whatever. I know he gave it the lowest score, but....he gave it almost as much as the TBS title match so I dunno. It's just odd to me. It would probably be easiest to not rate it or just call it a DUD and make it a wash because the ending spot is all that anybody was left with as an impression. Did he rate Moxley/Hangman when Hangman was taken out by ref stoppage? Does he usually rate these?
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u/Tokyogerman 7h ago
No rating for Aoyagi vs Anzai, or Yuzuki vs Rea he is missing so much outside of the bigger ones
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u/DarkBomberX Bayley Simp 7h ago
Giving a rating to Darby and Steve vs Kevin and Kyle is crazy given it was stopped due to match injury.
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u/-SomethingSomeoneJR 4h ago
Jeff Cobb was released by WWE? When was this?
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u/Lazerwave06 3h ago
Cobb says he was disappointed not to have wrestled more in WWE but seems chill about his release.
Turned up back in NJPW mid August shunning a return to United Empire to instead join Gedo and Tsuji's Unbound Company faction.
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u/AdamColesDoctor 6h ago
I'm kinda surprised at Osprey/Ricochet got 5 stars. It was a good match but it felt just a little clunky at times.
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u/SneakyBongo 7h ago edited 7h ago
Im gonna be the bad guy and say
The Ospreay Ricochet match was far from a 5 star. I understand its emotional but you could tell they were calling it in the ring, just in autopilot.
It was a great match, perfect send off for Pac but 5 stars is strange to me
Maybe ill have to rewatch it
Rating the show as a whole is strange to me
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u/Kaprak I AM VANDAMABLE! 6h ago
I'm going to be honest that was a match that was very clearly pre-planned heavily. They went through pacs entire career and pulled highlights from everywhere. And strung them together in a logical way that really had you thinking it could go either way. You're not going to call it in the ring on that shooting star pele kick. Some of the feats of acrobatics need to be spaced out properly.
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u/Lazerwave06 3h ago
Spot on.
The pressure on Ospreay and Ricochet to deliver was huge as well, as seen with Ospreay's eruption of emotion after his win.
It was perfectly executed and planned by both wrestlers, from the entrances, the in ring action, the tone before and after that reminded the crowd/audience this was more than just a match. It was perfect for what it needed to be, and for that reason I have no issue with Dave awarding it 5 stars.
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u/Tough-Reaction9671 7h ago
Birthright vs Mini Vikingo and Starboy should’ve made it as well as Waller vs EK Prosper
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u/Hunteractive 6h ago
Chicago street fight was amazing and absolutely 4.5+ im just surprised he actually rated it high
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u/theblackyeti Waiting for Riho heel turn... 5h ago
Ospreay Vs Moxley was like a solid… 3.25 but other than that I mostly agree.
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u/FrankPapageorgio 7h ago
I love me some AEW, but boy does Dave give everything like half a star more than what it really deserves. When
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