3 AEW/WWE matches from this week worth a rewatch

What a time to be a pro wrestling fan! We are now on week two of the Triple H era of WWE, and for the most part, the new regime has produced quality television on Raw and SmackDown as the promotion builds to September’s Clash at the Castle pay-per-view (or premium live event).

As for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), it continues to push toward the eagerly-anticipated All Out show with its usual consistency on Dynamite and Rampage. That excitement has only intensified now that AEW World Champion CM Punk has returned to the company’s airwaves.

When it comes to both promotions’ in-ring products, there’s plenty of good to discuss. For the sake of brevity, though, we’ll discuss the matches that stood out the most this week.

These are three WWE and AEW matches worth a rewatch.

Jon Moxley (c) vs. “Lionheart” Chris Jericho- Interim AEW World Championship Match (AEW: Dynamite, Aug. 10, 2022) (****)

With every interim AEW World Championship defense, Jon Moxley’s case for 2022 Wrestler of the Year gets stronger and stronger. On the Aug. 10 episode of AEW: Dynamite, he added another violent banger to his ever-growing list against Chris Jericho.

As impressive as it was to see Jericho turn back the clock aesthetically, watching him turn in arguably his best in-ring performance in AEW was definitely the greater feat. Yes, we got the usual shenanigans with the Jericho Appreciation Society, but AEW kept those to a minimum (relative to recent JAS matches) and allowed the focus to remain on the challenger and Moxley.

As expected, both men bled in this match, but this was about Moxley withstanding Jericho’s signature offense — including becoming the first man to kick out of the Judas Effect — to retain his title, continuing the story of Mox taking the best from every opponent on a weekly basis.

Given how everything played out after the match, a super showdown with CM Punk to determine the undisputed AEW World Champion is on deck.

Roderick Strong vs. Apollo Crews (NXT 2.0, Aug. 9, 2022) (****)

These days, NXT 2.0 exists to give national television experience to young, green talent, but the roster still houses a few good workers, and those folks can deliver some gems in the haystack of rehearsed “closely following the manual” matches. Apollo Crews vs. Roderick Strong.

Even though the match lacked any sort of stakes outside of Strong’s grasp on the leadership role of Diamond Mine, the two worked a crisp, exhilarating 15-minute match that showcased both men’s technique, athleticism, and stamina.

Crews picked up the win with a Ron Simmons-esque spinebuster, giving Strong’s character more the gripe about as his stranglehold over the Creeds, Damon Kemp, and Ivy Nile continues to loosen.

GUNTHER (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura- Intercontinental Championship Match (WWE SmackDown, Aug. 12, 2022) (****)

If nothing else, Triple H deserves credit for redressing the credibility of WWE’s midcard championships, between the video packages highlighting the United States and Intercontinental Championship’s respective lavish history and heavily promoting matches for those championships prior to and throughout the shows that broadcast those contests.

He kept the momentum going on the Aug. 12 episode of SmackDown by placing the IC Title match between GUNTHER and Shinsuke Nakamura in the show’s main event spot, and the two lived up to the hype. The finish — GUNTHER powerbombing Nakamura and pinning him to retain — felt a little abrupt, but the action that preceded it kept the Raleigh, N.C. crowd invested in every move and nearfall.

Hopefully, we get to see these two go at it again in the near future.