Monday, March 21, 2016

Fave Five 3/14/16-3/20/16

1) Fenix: There have been some truly great matches so far this year. None, for me at least, have been better than this week's Lucha Underground main event. The tremendous rivalry between Fenix and Mil Muertes came back to the forefront as Fenix cashed in his Gift of the God's Championship for a shot at Mil's Lucha Underground Championship. When these two get into the ring, you can just feel the hatred and it's glorious. Like their Grave Consequences match last year, they had a phenomenal war that just hooked me from the start. Considering their history and the story behind their rivalry, it made for beautiful TV. Fenix was able to dethrone the "Man of 1000 Deaths" to become Lucha Underground Champion.

2) The New Day: The only WWE performers to make the list this week are the New Day, who continue to kill it. After a successful defense of the Tag Team Titles at Roadblock, New Day was back at it just two nights later on Raw. They defended the belts against the other two (and better) League of Nation members, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev. Much like the Roadblock defense, they put on a good match and kept the titles, moving past the 200 day mark of their reign. On Smackdown, Kofi Kingston defeated King Barrett, keeping their hot streak alive. On top of all of that, Kofi himself became the longest reigning Tag Team Champion in the new lineage of the belts, dating back to 2002.

3) Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc: Man, what a great episode of Lucha Underground this week. I feel like I say that every week but this one was special. Besides Fenix winning the Lucha Underground Title, the show opened with a Trios Title match. My favorite team throughout the first season was the unlikely trio of Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc. While they were an uneasy group in season one, you could see their growth in their match this week as they worked as a unit. Gotta love character development. The trio was able to defeat the Disciples of Death and win the belts for the second time. Hopefully, they hold them until the end of the season.

            4) Killer Elite Squad: Gaijins in Japanese wrestling have been pretty successful, especially in recent years. When it comes to Pro Wrestling NOAH, the Killer Elite Squad are pretty much the most successful. They are part of the Suzuki-Gun stable that mostly dominates Pro Wrestling NOAH and this week, they retained their GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Titles against Go Shiozaki and Maybach Taniguchi. It wasn't just a typical win either, as it moved them into second place for the longest reigning GHC Tag Team Champions in history. They now stand just about seventy days shy of breaking that record.

5) Zack Sabre Jr.: This past weekend, Evolve held their 56th and 57th shows. Zack Sabre Jr. has asked to complete a series against some of the best that Evolve has to offer. He went out and succeeded in his two matches this weekend. First, he took on one of Evolve's top stars in Johnny Gargano in a match that some are calling a match of the year contender. Then, at Evolve 57, Sabre defeated Drew Gulak in another match that has gotten some rave reviews. Sabre continues to find winning ways nearly everywhere that he goes. I'm interested in where the rest of this series goes.