It’s time to Break It Down once again, taking a look at the six major shows from the wrestling world over the past week, ranking them. It was a strong week once again, with all six shows having some positives to take away from them.

It’s a busy time of year for wrestling and that’s shown in the quality of the weekly content here, which is a good thing for all the fans involved. But out of each show, which was the one that stood out the most?

6. Impact Wrestling

IMPACT Wrestling was a fun show this week, and it being at the bottom of this list doesn’t reflect it as a bad show. However, there was only one real high-quality match on this show, with the main event between Sami Callihan and Trey Miguel being fantastic.

The opening match was a standard victory for Finn Juice, but the post-match promos with The Good Brothers felt a little too lighthearted to me for that serious topic of the Tag Titles. Rhino’s victory was simple enough as well, while the 12 knockouts tag bout was a chaotic one, but a fun showcase of the talent.

But the best moment of the night really came between Rich Swann and Don Callis. Building up to the Title vs. Title match he will be having with Kenny Omega was great to see, with both men getting their points across in terrific style.

5. WWE Raw

WWE Raw might not be for everyone, but it did just edge things against IMPACT this week. The show had its flaws, as ever, with the promos between Shane McMahon and Braun Strowman still being awkward, and him beating down the Monster Amongst Men singlehandedly seems a little odd to me.

However, the show felt like it was direct and had a clear purpose this week, which was a big improvement. The focus on Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley throughout the night was great, while the main event bout between Lashley and Sheamus was an excellent hard-hitting encounter.

Asuka returning and showcasing her aggressive side again was welcomed, and that is something people want more of. But the match of the night was the Tag Team Championship match, which saw The New Day win the titles in a very fun bout, while AJ Styles and Omos becoming a team is something that should spark interest.

4. WWE NXT UK

This show was well structures this week with a nice mix of in-ring action and promos/backstage segments. Nathan Frazer and Ashton Smith had a nice opening contest which was kept to a high energy and served its purpose of putting over Frazer.

While the continuation of Ilja Dragunov’s storyline of anger issues was done well. Sam Gradwell trying to wind him up only to talk himself into a NoDQ match is good work, while Amir Jordan still not being overly happy with Kenny Williams’ cheating tactics but wanting that titles is an interesting and unique story.

Rampage Brown coming out and challenging WALTER is certainly interesting and building Rampage to that level is always a good idea. Meanwhile, the main event between Trent Seven and Jordan Devlin was a fantastic bout for the Cruiserweight Title.

3. WWE NXT

In comparison to the usual standard for the black and gold brand, this was a slight step backward, with the focus on putting rivals into tag team storylines hitting this brand too. The promos with Karrion Kross and Finn Balor built their match nicely, but putting having them challenge for the NXT Tag Team Titles was a situation nobody needed.

The build with Jordan Devlin and Santos Escobar was excellent, with that storyline really writing itself, yet the promos only injected more passion. Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly’s storyline got a little too silly for me, with the incident on the road involving the police, but there’s no doubt some fans who would have enjoyed that.

Tommaso Ciampa potentially facing WALTER is something that does bring a lot of interest though, and that could be an amazing match. While the best in-ring match on this show was between Zoey Stark, who continues to impress, and Dakota Kai.

2. WWE SmackDown

WWE SmackDown was heavily focused on WWE Fastlane this week, with almost every segment on the show pushing the PPV, which is what a go-home show should be doing. While Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair being involved in the Women’s Tag Title picture isn’t a great idea, Banks and Nia Jax did have a nice opening match, and throughout the show, they worked hard to push the story they’re telling.

The blue brand continues to push the tag team division well and the direction is seemingly a four-way at WrestleMania, which is being built nicely. SmackDown also has great mid-card storylines with Seth Rollins/Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn seemingly being set for a feud with Kevin Owens, which is always a recipe for success.

Apollo Crews and Big E added great heat to their rivalry with the promos being intense and the brawl furthering that. Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns had a great segment and the note about Reigns having never tapped is an interesting one to add into their Universal Title match. Plus, this show had Edge competing in the main event, which was certainly a nice finish to what was an excellent episode of the show.

1. AEW Dynamite

AEW really is on a roll at the start of 2021, and it continued with this terrific episode of the show. Right from the start, this began with a bang as Cody and Penta had a nice opening contest, although, the work with QT Marshall is something that just isn’t that interesting.

The Pinnacle promo was strong and introduced the group well, while the 10 men tag was as chaotic as expected. I will write about not wanting Tony Schiavone to interview Sting every week until I’m blue in the face but having Lance Archer continue to tease the rivalry was good, and cracks appearing in Team Taz is an interesting twist.

However, when it comes to this show there is really only one thing that everyone will talk about, which is the Lights Out match between Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa. This was an amazing match between two women clearly trying to make a point, leaving it all in the ring in a brutal, yet incredible encounter.

Sixth place= 1 point
Fifth place= 2 points
Fourth place= 3 points
Third place= 4 points
Second place=5 points
First place= 6 points

2020 results (each week, the points tally will be added up below):

WWE Raw- 20
IMPACT Wrestling- 35
WWE NXT- 48
AEW Dynamite- 57
WWE NXT UK- 32
WWE SmackDown- 34