10 Match Star Ratings For WWE Survivor Series 2019

9. KICKOFF: Lio Rush Vs. Kalisto Vs. Akira Tozawa

Keith Lee Roman Reigns
WWE.com

Kalisto must be benefiting at this point from Vince McMahon's limited frame of reference.

The COO is at the helm of a larger roster and more content than ever before, at the grand old age of 74, in addition to the burden of the duties shareholders actually expect him to carry out. He's not meant to be in the weeds, you see. And so, faced with the word "Cruiserweight", his mind is invariably drawn to "Kalisto".

Entering his millionth Cruiserweight Championship match, Kalisto was alright. The lucha things he did could be accurately described as "good". That's a snarky sentence and a self-loathing recognises that, but what the f*ck. It was a Cruiserweight Title match on a Kickoff show, with Kalisto in it. After a fairly dire opening, in which he and Akira Tozawa did a poor job of putting over a grudge element, Rush's deceptive rope-running came a cropper to Kalisto on the outside.

The action heated up with a brisk pace and some inventive three-way interactions, but the dead crowd lowered the same old ceiling onto the quality, the occasion, everything. The sheer volume of failed spammed handspring elbow attempts sort of made everybody involved look as dumb as hell, too.

Star Rating: ★★★

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!