Wrestling Inc's Top 5 Matches Of The Week: 12/29/2023

Welcome to another edition of Wrestling Inc.'s top five matches of the week. It's been an eventful seven days in the world of pro wrestling, with AEW finally determining finalists in the first-ever Continental Classic tournament. Three matches from the tournament have made their way into this week's picks, and one fan-favorite performer was featured in two of those bouts.

Of course, WWE also produced some great matches this week, two of which comprise the rest of our top five. One of those contests occurred on this week's "WWE NXT," and the other stole the show on the previous installment of "WWE SmackDown."

As always, this isn't a ranked list, so every match is listed chronologically. So, without further ado, here are our top five matches of the week. However, please let us know your favorites in the comments, as we were spoiled with lots of great in-ring action in WWE, AEW, and beyond over the past few days.

While last week's episode of "WWE SmackDown" was pre-taped, it still managed to deliver an exciting volume of in-ring action, including a fast-paced, hard-hitting battle between Butch and "WWE NXT" North American Champion Dragon Lee.

Following a successful title defense against Charlie Dempsey and Joe Coffey on "NXT," Lee put the "NXT" North American Championship on the line against one-third of The Brawling Brutes -– Butch. This bout marked only the second meeting between the two, with their first encounter taking place during a three-way independent match in 2018. Though two of WWE's smaller competitors, Butch and Lee provided an explosive sequence of moves throughout this "SmackDown" match. In between the flurry of suplexes, powerbombs, and elbow strikes, Butch also showcased his technical abilities as he gradually weakened Lee's hand and wrist area with a series of submission holds.

As the crowd continued their "This is awesome" chants, Butch and Lee worked their way to the corner turnbuckle, where Lee nailed Butch with a double stomp to his chest. In response, Butch landed a thunderous strike to the side of Lee's head. When Butch then sought out The Bitter End, Lee countered with a Destroyer before following up with an Operation Dragon to finally secure the win on his resilient challenger. 

Despite his loss, Butch then shook hands with Lee as an acknowledgment of respect and of their impressive performances.

Written by Ella Jay

While it's now known that this upcoming Saturday at AEW's next pay-per-view, Worlds End, Eddie Kingston will be facing Jon Moxley in the finals of the AEW Continental Classic tournament, last Saturday, things were different. Kingston had to go through Andrade El Idolo in a Blue League match on "Collision."

One might think it an obvious booking decision that Kingston would be in the finals since he put both the ROH World Title and the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship on the line. However, the road wasn't always an easy one. In last Saturday's match, it would be fair to be shocked that he won against Andrade El Idolo. Andrade was not an easy opponent and there was a lot of frustration between the two throughout the match, with each man annoyed that the other wouldn't stay down. At one point, Kingston hit an exploder suplex after hitting some of his infamous hard chops to Idolo, only to get a two-count, while Idolo fired back with both a moonsault and a standing moonsault. The tension and drama were high, which made for a great match. 

Toward the end, Kingston was limping from Andrade working over his knee for most of the match. Once it was announced that there were five minutes left, Kingston gave everything he had left — hitting Andrade twice with a backfist and then the Northern Lights Drive for the win.

Written by Kellie Haulotte

The final episode of "WWE NXT" in 2023 may have been pre-taped before the holidays, but that did not mean there was a shortage of quality in-ring work for which the brand is known. Particularly, the NXT Underground main event between Dijak and Eddy Thorpe may have stolen the entire week in pro wrestling.

This was the culmination of a months-long feud that began in August after Dijak scored back-to-back victories over the newcomer. Thorpe got his win back in a Strap Match in September, but their beef continued to show up backstage and eventually at NXT Deadline, in which Thorpe cost Dijak the opportunity to win the Men's Iron Survivor Challenge. When they tried to face off again, it quickly ended in chaos and ultimately disqualification. As a result, there was only one way to end it — by knockout or submission.

Dijak once again proved why he's one of the best and most versatile "big guy" wrestlers out there today as he managed to land on his feet and pull out offensive maneuvers that guys his size don't typically pull off. Meanwhile, Thorpe proved himself worthy of hanging in the main event spotlight with a relentlessness that constantly wowed the audience and the ringside bystanders.

After hitting his Manifest Destiny DDT in various places in and out of the ring, Thorpe had no choice but to send Dijak crashing through the announcer's desk in order to keep him down for the count. Thorpe may have scored the technical victory, but Dijak certainly looked strong in defeat.

Written by Colby Applegate

As our readers have certainly noticed, many of our favorite matches over the last month have been part of AEW's Continental Classic tournament. Unfortunately for us, that tournament comes to an end this week, culminating at AEW Worlds End on Saturday. Before wrapping up, the C2 left us with some more excellent matches, including the Gold League finals, pitting Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, and "Switchblade" Jay White against one another.

The match opened this week's "AEW Dynamite," lasting over 20 minutes before Moxley pinned White for the win. Things started out playing to one of Moxley's strengths, brawling, before the performers eventually worked their way back into the ring. It was in the latter minutes of the match that things started to take off, with very strong attention to detail from the three competitors, making this an excellent example of the kind of storytelling the C2 has been built around.

The key to a "sports-based" wrestling style is convincing psychology and logic from the performers. Rather than storylines revolving around drama outside the ring, the stories are usually centered on the clash of similar or different styles, the in-ring history between participants, or the personal motivations of each competitor as they come to a head in the ring. This match had all of these elements, in combination with the stakes of advancing to the finals.

As the bout went on, the crowd was firmly behind Strickland, who seemed to have the upper hand against Moxley. Despite nearly winning with a roll-up, the same way Moxley pinned him, Swerve came up short when White pushed Strickland out of the way, looking for a chance at some offense on Moxley. However, White ate a Death Rider from the former AEW World Champion, cutting off Swerve's momentum and earning himself a spot in the finals this weekend.

Written by Nick Miller

Eddie Kingston and Bryan Danielson are the measuring stick against which many of today's stars are tested, so when the two titans of independent pro wrestling were given carte blanche to have the slappingest, fightingest, King's Roadiest match they could possibly have, the results were simply electric. Kingston is seemingly destined to hoist the AEW Triple Crown Championship, but if there was ever someone that could crush dreams and end destinies, it's a wounded, desperate Bryan Danielson, and that's exactly who Kingston faced in the Blue League Finals of the Continental Classic.

The two men punished each other for the better part of 20 minutes, with one exchange of chops lasting for an entire commercial break. It was, quite simply, everything that I love about professional wrestling: Ttwo ornery, violent men testing their mettle against the other, with no regard for their own health and safety, chopping, kicking, and punching away at each other with reckless abandon. It was sweaty, bruising poetry and at the end, Kingston struggled to lift Danielson for a powerbomb, but through Kingston's sheer grit and the will of the enraptured fans, Kingston's destiny manifested and "The King of the Bums" slayed "The American Dragon." It was a match that could've closed any PPV or even served as a fitting finale for the tournament, but on its own, it was one-of-a-kind.

Written by Ross Berman