Awarding the Top WWE, AEW, Impact Performances for Week of January 9

A classic wrestling match for the All Elite Wrestling world title and a fantastic Hard to Kill pay-per-view from Impact Wrestling threatened to take over this week's edition of B/R Belts and shut out WWE.

The world's biggest company in sports entertainment did manage to net one or two belts, but its opposition across the industry stole the spotlight with superb performances, jaw-dropping matches and outcomes that proved fairly popular among fans.

Who was at the heart of those performances, why did they earn belts and what does the particular match or moment mean for the companies in question?

Find out with this stroll through the week that was professional wrestling by way of B/R Belts.

Introducing the Belts

Before we get to the performers who defined the past seven days in WWE, AEW and Impact Wrestling, these are the B/R belts at stake and what they represent.

The Steamboat Championship

Named after consummate good guy Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, this belt is awarded to the top babyface of the week.

The Piper Championship

When he was bad, he was oh-so good. Named for the late "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, this belt is awarded to the best heel of the week.

Hitman Hart Championship

Arguably the best to ever do it, Bret "Hitman" Hart is defined by his in-ring excellence. This belt is awarded to the best male wrestler of the week.

Stratus Championship

A revolutionary performer who bridged the gap between generations of female performers, Trish Stratus is the namesake of this belt, presented to the best female wrestler of the week.

Jarrett Championship

Named for the founder and face of the company, this B/R belt celebrates the best in Impact Wrestling over the past week.

Dusty Championship

The legendary Dusty Rhodes had the gift of gab and the ability to captivate an audience with his words. This belt goes to the star(s) responsible for the best promo of the week.

Gooker Championship

Pro wrestling has a long and, um, dubious history of WTF moments. This belt is awarded to the stars, match or moment that had you asking "huh?!"

5-Star Championship

Lastly, this title is awarded to the best match of the week.

Men and women are eligible for every title except Hitman Hart and Stratus.

Steamboat Championship: Jurassic Express

When it comes to the best pure babyfaces in wrestling today, one would be hard-pressed to find any better than Jurassic Express' Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. Together since just about day one in AEW, they have competed in some of the biggest tag team matches in company history against every great team to walk through the door during that time.

They have almost always had passionate fan support to back them up, even when they proceeded to lose the big ones, with the tag team titles just out of their grasp.

Feeling a renewed sense of urgency and excelling thanks to invaluable input from Christian Cage, the team finally got over the proverbial hump by defeating Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix in an explosive main event on Wednesday's episode of Dynamite to claim the AEW world tag team titles.

The post-match celebration and the crowd roaring in approval of the victory accentuated just how beloved the team is and how much the audience had invested in seeing the young Jack Perry and the masked big man finally overcome adversity and win the big one.

In a company full of industry giants, revolutionary performers and overcomplicated booking, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus are great old-school babyfaces who avoided Lex Luger syndrome and finally captured the gold before fans grew tired of the chase.

In the process, they take home this week's B/R belt as the top good guys in the business.

Piper Championship: Sonya Deville

Over the past decade, the role of the heel authority figure has been greatly diminished. In some cases, it has been eliminated altogether as companies like AEW prefer not to have an on-screen authority figure, while others, like Impact Wrestling, opt to go in a more impartial direction.

For a while, WWE didn't have anyone on the show consistently making decisions until Adam Pearce all of the sudden saw his role expand exponentially. The return of Sonya Deville as his fellow WWE official, though, reintroduced that particular trope to the show in earnest.

Deville has thrived in it, taking considerable exception to Naomi's request for opportunities personally. She has made it her mission to torment the former SmackDown women's champion, making her life a living hell by repeatedly moving the proverbial goal post and making it nearly impossible for her to secure a win.

We saw it again Friday night, when Deville first outlawed count-outs and then disqualifications directly affected the outcome of the match. The glee with which she announced Naomi as the loser of her showdown with Charlotte Flair only served as further evidence of how great Deville has become in her role as the vindictive, scheming, megalomaniacal power-that-be.

One day, Naomi is going to get that one-on-one match with Deville, and the crowd will eat up the opportunity to see the official get what's coming to her. For now, Deville can continue to adversely affect those who stand up to her.

Hitman Hart Championship: Bryan Danielson

Credit: All Elite Wrestling

You are probably stunned that the best wrestler on the planet, coming off a Match of the Year candidate against "Hangman" Adam Page for the AEW world title, is the recipient of this week's Hitman Hart Championship.

It's hardly the first time he's captured it. In fact, there's probably an argument to be made that it one day be relabeled the Danielson Championship just based on the fact that anytime he sets foot inside the squared circle, he is a threat to steal the show, remind the audience of his excellence and be rewarded for it at week's end.

Wednesday night on Dynamite, Danielson may have lost the much-anticipated sequel to his 60-minute time-limit draw against Page for the world title, but The American Dragon again delivered a performance the likes of which only he can.

He was intense and aggressive, at times violent and at others defensive as he faced a gutsy, resilient Page.

Part of Danielson's greatness is his ability to kick his opponent's ass and then appropriately sell the ass-kicking he gets in return. His body wrecked, blood pouring from a laceration on his forehead, Danieslon threw everything he had at Page in a losing effort and still walked away from Dynamite with his reputation as the finest wrestler on the planet intact.

Stratus Championship: Mickie James

First, Mickie James was announced as a surprise entrant into the 2022 women's Royal Rumble. 

Then she generated a ton of buzz when she was announced as the "Impact Knockouts champion" by the commentary team Friday night on SmackDown, making her the first female to step through the forbidden door and represent Impact Wrestling during an appearance with Vince McMahon's company.

She finished her monumental week by proving she has never lost it, defeating Deonna Purrazzo in a demanding, violent Texas Death Match at Hard To Kill to retain her title.

And that match? It was the main event.

James is a future Hall of Famer. She has accomplished things most women could only dream of. Now preparing to break down barriers and make more history, the world champion, main eventer and all-timer is on the road to making 2022 one of her most momentous years to date.

If that week isn't worthy of the Stratus Championship, named after the woman with whom she had her first breakout storyline some 16 years ago, what is?

Dusty Championship: CM Punk

MJF found out Wednesday that his arms are too short to box with God.

Throwing around not-so-vague threats of a bidding war for his services in 2024, MJF thought he would get one over on rival CM Punk by reminding him he never competed in a WrestleMania main event, unlike his hero, Roddy Piper.

The scarf-wearing bad boy even suggested that if things don't improve for him in AEW, he might take his services elsewhere and main-event 'Mania himself.

Had it ended there, MJF's passion and conviction may have won him this week's Dusty Championship. Except Punk had a retort: "If you think the grass is so greener on the other side, be my guest. Go ahead. Leave. Main-event Night 4 of a buy-one-get-one-free extravaganza, and then get released faster than you last in the sack."

And that, friends, is an exclamation point.

MJF, shown up once more by The Straight Edge Savior, instead accepted a match on behalf of Wardlow.

Punk has long made a name for himself by meshing reality with fiction. While the disdain for MJF is a manufactured storyline, the sarcasm directed at his foe and the verbal gut punch dealt to WWE all at once helped make his microphone performance the best of the week.

With no real competition to speak of.

Jarrett Championship: Josh Alexander

Credit: Impact Wrestling

Josh Alexander went to war with Jonah on Saturday night at Impact Wrestling's Hard To Kill pay-per-view, wrestling a great, uber-physical match against the Australian that ended with The Walking Weapon tapping out his opponent.

The win kept Alexander in the hunt for a shot at Moose, who stole the Impact world title from him at Bound For Glory.

Alexander is the guy around whom Impact is building its future, and this hiccup, the result of Moose's strategic cashing in of his Call Your Shot Battle Royal briefcase, is hardly changing that.

The Ontario native has evolved from tag team wrestler into a singles star and all the way to main event talent in rapid fashion. It is only a matter of time before he regains a title he never lost fairly and resumes his run atop the Impact Wrestling mountain.

Matches like the barn-burner he had against Jonah on Saturday night only make it that much more obvious that Impact management has chosen the right guy to lead the company entering what has a potential to be a game-changing 2022.

Gooker Championship: Von Wagner Thinks He's Everyone's Favorite Wrestler

NXT 2.0's New Year's Evil was a mostly good episode of the Tuesday night staple. It saw Carmelo Hayes defeat Roderick Strong in a damn good match to unify the North American and Cruiserweight Championships, Mandy Rose retain her women's title over Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade and Bron Breakker tap out Tommaso Ciampa to become NXT champion.

Among the good was a head-scratching moment that made the audience wonder whether Von Wagner has a hearing problem or a reality problem.

With the crowd audibly booing his mere presence, Wagner grabbed the microphone and insisted that he was the NXT Universe's favorite wrestler. Not in some over-the-top heel way, but he delivered his response in a manner that suggested he was oblivious to everything and everyone around him.

"When I step in this ring, all of a sudden, I'm your new favorite Superstar," he said while addressing his issues with the NXT fanbase.

Except, you know, there has never been a single instance when the crowd treated him that well.

Sure, Wagner is like every other young star trying to get over his on-screen persona with audiences while essentially learning on the job. Still, it doesn't take much in the way of common sense to see that Wagner will not be winning any People's Champ awards in the foreseeable future.

5-Star Championship: Hangman Page vs. Bryan Danielson

Danielson. Page.

Those two names mentioned in any sort of proximity to one another are certain to inspire excitement among fans. Their first encounter in December at Winter Is Coming shook the wrestling world to its core, a 60-minute draw that captivated fans and created a sense of intrigue as to which man earned the right to be called champion.

On Wednesday night, the better man was determined in another will-testing world title war.

Page was put on the defensive, forced to overcome a focused attack by Danielson if he wished to retain the AEW title that he spent two years chasing. Fighting through a bloodied forehead and a body ready to give out at any point, Page recovered and threw everything he had at The American Dragon.

With both men wearing the crimson mask, Page obliterated his opponent with the Buckshot Lariat to score the win.

The match was yet another brilliant display by two wrestlers meshing perfectly every time they share the ring. Danielson was great, sure, but there should be no one at this point who is questioning Page's ability, especially now that he has cleanly vanquished the industry's most celebrated in-ring performer.