Monday, April 6, 2015

Fave Five 3/30/15-4/5/15

1) AJ Styles: Look at that gif. Just look at it. Did you look? Good. The biggest show of the week was NJPW Invasion Attack and it was headlined by AJ Styles defending the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Kota Ibushi. Unfortunately, I have not been able to watch the show except for some highlights like that gif. I'm hearing nothing but good things about the event and the main event. Ever since I first saw Ibushi a few years back in Ring of Honor, I kind of always wanted to see these two go at it. It looks like it not only delivered but that finishing spot is pretty fucking sick. I mean, a Phoenix Splash into the Styles Clash is nuts. Since leaving TNA AJ Styles has been on an absolute tear and it continued this week.

2) Brock Lesnar: Yea, my number two pick is a guy who didn't even wrestle this week. But it's Brock Lesnar dammit. He was the single most entertaining thing about the big post WrestleMania Raw. He opened the show in ring gear, letting everyone know that shit was about to go down. When he found out that Seth Rollins was backing out of the WWE Title rematch, he went ballistic. Not only did he take out a cameraman, but he basically killed the commentary thing. Talk about finding a way to become a top babyfae. Anyone who nearly murders Michael Cole is okay in my book. That F5 alone is enough to make the list. Brock once again proved that there is something different about him. He is captivating television that you simply cannot miss.

3) Roppongi Vice/The Kingdom: I know I'm kind of cheating here. Sue me. And yea, there's no image or gif of the Kingdom but they still get love here. At Invasion Attack there were two title changes and these are the two teams responsible. First, Roppongi Vice, a team consisting of Rocky Romero and Baretta, won the IWGP Jr. Tag Titles from the Young Bucks. I've never been much of a Bucks guy. On the other side, the Kingdom, consisting of Michael Bennett and Matt Taven, captured the IWGP Tag Team Titles from Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. The Bullet Club have pretty much had a stranglehold on the belts for a while, even after losing them earlier this year. The Kingdom took the titles coming off the heels of pinning Anderson at the ROH 13th Anniversary Show.

4) Kalisto: The night after WrestleMania has become a huge yearly event. Last year we had the debut of Paige, who won the Divas Championship. While nobody made quite that impact this year, Kalisto debuted as part of the Lucha Dragons and absolutely stole the show. This was how you debut a new team. Put them in front of a hot crowd? Check. Have them face guys they know how to work with like the Ascension? Check. Work with someone who fits their style like Cesaro? Check. Adrian Neville also made his main roster debut and did fine work against Curtis Axel, but it was Kalisto who made a bigger impact. The crowd was firmly behind him and fans were impressed with some of his incredible athletic displays.

5) Santana Garrett: Again, I'm going to direct you to the image beside this writing. That is a woman holding FOUR different titles. I don't care who you are, that is impressive stuff. A while back, Santana Garrett made this list for winning the NWA Women's Championship. She was formerly known as Brittany in TNA and they seem to have made a mistake letting her go. She seems to be racking up the accomplishments since leaving. Currently, she holds the NWA Women's Title, is one half of the BPW Tag Team Champions and the Ring Warriors Battling Bombshells Champion. This past week, she added the Shine Championship to that list. Besides SHIMMER, Shine has been my second favorite women's promotion. Since its inception in 2013, they've only had four champions (Rain, Ivelisse, Mia Yim and Santana). That's exclusive company. To make it an even bigger deal, it was a double title match. So not only did she win a new title, but she successfully defended the NWA Women's Title. I've heard that she was around some NXT tapings a while back and if the WWE were wise, she's one to snatch up and could add to an already explosive Divas division down there. Whatever she does, Santana is one to watch out for.