Top 5 pro wrestlers of the week (July 28th to August 4th)

This week in pro wrestling featured several key performances from numerous top stars across WWE, NJPW and more, as companies gear up for upcoming, big events.

WWE is currently gearing up for its annual SummerSlam PPV, and this week's episode of SmackDown Live saw the return of Trish Stratus, who will be returning to the ring at the PPV to face Charlotte Flair in a singles match.

On the NJPW side of things, the G1 Climax tournament is in full swing, with names like Jon Moxley, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi and Kazuchika Okada currently racking up points in the annual summer classic.

Following this week's action, let's take a look at the top five pro wrestlers of the week.

#5 Brock Lesnar

The age of Paul Heyman on WWE Raw is in full swing, with this week's show the latest to feature an edgier segment, coming on the heels of Braun Strowman putting Bobby Lashley through the entrance set several weeks ago.

Due to Brock Lesnar's limited schedule in WWE, The Beast rarely has the opportunity to do something big on free TV, but this week, he sent a major message to Seth Rollins en route to their Universal title match taking place next week at WWE SummerSlam.

This week's episode of WWE Raw featured a singles match between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler, and The Beast made a surprise appearance during the match, and proceeded to brutally beatdown his SummerSlam opponent by taking him to Suplex City. After the suplex series, Lesnar set up a chair and slammed Rollins into the weapon via numerous F5's, which left Rollins bleeding from the mouth.

To make matters worse, Lesnar followed the in-ring attack by delivering another F5 to Rollins on a medical stretcher, leaving the challenger laying just days before their match at SummerSlam.

The excellent attack angle done on WWE Raw this week sent a clear reminder to fans that Brock Lesnar can do great things on TV when he wants to.

#4 Will Ospreay

New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax tournament is in full swing, heading into the final third of the tournament which is taking place this weekend.

The annual tournament, which always provides numerous match of the year quality bouts, and standout performances from NJPW's top talent, has not disappointed this year, with names such as Jon Moxley making his tournament debut and wowing fans with very physical performances.

One name who is a clear standout in this year's G1 is Will Ospreay. The British born superstar might only have 4 points in the tournament, and heads into this weekend carrying a 2-4 record in the tournament, however, his tournament match against Zack Sabre, Jr was thrilling, and a reminder that Ospreay is currently one of the best pro wrestlers on the planet.

It remains to be seen how Ospreay's G1 ride will conclude, but he has been amazing to watch thus far into the tournament, despite losing four out of his six bouts.

#3 Pete Dunne

Former WWE NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne made a big impact on the pro wrestling world this week, as he headlined NXT TV on the WWE Network against Undisputed Era's Roderick Strong.

Dunne, who currently holds the record for the most days spent as a Champion in WWE, had a great match against Strong which ended with Dunne getting the victory.

Following the match, Dunne and Strong had a staredown in the ring which also featured NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream.

The segment ended with Dunne hitting Dream with The Bitter End to stand tall as the show went off the air.

Dunne is set to compete in a Triple Threat NXT North American title match against both Roderick Strong and Velveteen Dream at NXT Takeover Toronto next week, and Dunne's impressive performance on NXT this week earns him tons of momentum heading into Takeover.

#2 Ricochet

It's been said that Ricochet is currently on Paul Heyman's radar as an up-and-coming Superstar to push on WWE Raw, and after this week it appears as if The One and Only is poised for much success on the Monday night brand.

This week on WWE Raw, Ricochet competed in a Gauntlet Match that also featured Rey Mysterio, Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Andrade. The bout began with Mysterio and Cesaro battling in the ring, and after Cesaro was eliminated Mysterio next faced Zayn. Mysterio made quick work of Zayn, which brought in Andrade to put a stop to Mysterio.

The bout finished with a singles match featuring Ricochet vs Andrade, and after a great contest Ricochet was able to defeat El Idolo to punch his ticket to WWE SummerSlam.

Ricochet will be challenging AJ Styles at the PPV in an attempt to regain his U.S. title, and the high profile match at a PPV such as SummerSlam is the biggest Ricochet has had in his brief time on the WWE main roster.

#1 Cody Rhodes

Interestingly enough, our number one performer of the week did not wrestle a match this week, and in fact, did not even appear on television at all.

Last week, during his regular quarterly investors' conference call, Vince McMahon directly addressed AEW, saying he doesn't think that TNT will allow the "blood and guts" type wrestling which was on display during AEW's Double Or Nothing PPV.

AEW performer and exec Cody Rhodes noted in an interview with SI that blood is something that will likely not be featured on the weekly television shows in AEW, but might be reserved for special events such as PPV's.

Despite the above, however, Cody and AEW released a fiery new promo, during which Cody responded to the comments made by Vince McMahon, and assured fans that Vince is right, All Elite Wrestling is all about "blood and guts," figuratively speaking.

The heated and passionate promo, which you can watch in full below, makes Cody Rhodes this week's number one performer in pro wrestling.

Tickets go on sale in 1 HOUR! Be part of HISTORY by joining us LIVE at the @CapitalOneArena for the debut episode of @AEWonTNT pic.twitter.com/MNLN9Pifpt
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) August 2, 2019

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