By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Gran Metalik def. Akira Tozawa in a Quarterfinal Match

For a guy I wasn't completely aware of coming into the tournament, Tozawa has absolutely blown me away with his three matches, and the same can be said for Metalik. They killed it in this contest with multiple nearfalls and had the crowd on the edge of their seat the entire time. Their styles meshed perfectly and it made for an extremely exciting opener. I was slightly surprised to see Metalik advance over Tozawa, but hey, I can't complain because both of them are fantastic. I clearly underestimated these two because they exceeded my expectations in having one of the best matches all season.


Kota Ibushi def. Brian Kendrick in a Quarterfinal Match

I would have said "Good luck topping that!" to any other two competitors, but this is Ibushi and Kendrick we're talking about here, and both men have had nothing but instant classics throughout the tournament. This was no exception as each of them took the other to their respective limit, although I could have done without Kendrick hitting his finisher so early on (I couldn't buy into that nearfall). There was an amazing emotion about the match from both men that resulted in just a beautiful piece of art. Kendrick did an exceptional job of being built up only to put over the rising star, but I surely hope this isn't the last we've seen of him. Him and Daniel Bryan shedding tears in the middle of the ring afterward was truly something to behold.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Tye Dillinger def. Buddy Murphy
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With so many recent call-ups to the main roster, perhaps Dillinger might finally get his chance at super stardom in NXT. The reactions he receives already indicate he's at that level, yet his shaky win-loss record doesn't. Thankfully, that seems to be changing with wins two weeks in a row. I enjoyed this match much more than Dillinger's outing against Wesley Blake last week, likely because Murphy is a better wrestler than Blake is and has more potential in my opinion. Here's hoping Dillinger can keep this hot streak rolling in the weeks ahead, and I don't think anyone would benefit more from a midcard title in NXT than him.


NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival Attacked Tomasso Ciampa

I don't think we have ever seen someone giving a backstage interview before being attacked and dragged to the ring. I liked the change of pace in that respect, and everyone came out of this looking great. Ciampa was resilient and showed awesome fire in standing up to The Revival, while the tag champs were ruthless in their ambush and cut a great promo. I surely hope this means the feud isn't yet over because their TakeOver match in Brooklyn was too terrific for there not to be a rematch.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews
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Shane Taylor and Keith Lee def. War Machine

I was skeptical how well the match would go considering how green Taylor and Lee are in the ring and how the crowd would react to it, but they ended up producing a much better tag team match than I initially expected. Taylor and Lee are essentially the ROH version of The Authors of Pain in that while they are still early on in their run, they can be carried to a good match with the right opponents, and they definitely had the right opponents in War Machine. Their win allowed them to establish credibility and dominance as well as keep the feud alive a while longer.


Cheeseburger vs. Tim Hughes vs. David Starr vs. Joey "Diesel" Daddiego in a Four Corner Elimination Match Ended in a No Contest

You had to know shenanigans were going to ensue here considering none of these four competitors mean anything at the moment, nothing was at stake in the match, and BJ Whitmer was on commentary. It didn't last long before the lights went out, the video package played and Punisher Martinez surfaced. I know I've heard the name before, and it might have been because he was a part of that Top Prospect Tournament from earlier this year. He's an impressive looking specimen, and although I'm not high on the Whitmer-Steve Corino feud continuing, his involvement should spice things up a bit.

By Graham "GSM" Matthews
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Dolph Ziggler Confronted Intercontinental Champion The Miz

I was fearful that they would completely ignore what happened at the end of Talking Smack last week, and who knows? Maybe it was never designed to do what it did in terms of reinvigorating Miz's character but merely to get the word out about the show. Either way, I was happy they capitalized off the buzz and had Miz kick off the show since he has been the most talked about Superstar in the past seven days. And he once again turned in an excellent performance on the microphone and I loved how he maintained the intensity from last week. Ziggler was also solid on the microphone here, but he cut several good promos in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam and then fell flat. Their matches are always awesome (no pun intended), so while I'm not totally in favor of them rehashing this feud from two years ago, the match should be a treat. As long as Miz walks out of it with the title intact, I'm content.


The Hype Bros def. The Vaudevillians in a SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament Quarterfinals Match

I don't think The Hype Bros get the credit they deserve for being as fun as they are in the ring. As much as I wish Zack Ryder was back to killing it on his own as he was last month, I can't complain about him and Mojo Rawley adding depth to the depleted tag team division on SmackDown. They've faced The Vaudevillians several times before on Main Event and on NXT, so they've had enough practice working with each other, and thus they had an above-average match as a result.