Monday, March 28, 2016

Fave Five 3/21/16-3/27/16

1) Matanza Cueto: This is one of the easiest choices I've ever made around here. In a relatively slow week, one thing stood above all and that was Lucha Underground's Aztec Warfare II. Like the first Aztec Warfare, this was a really fun match that took up the entire episode. After all twenty entrants came out, Dario Cueto showed up and took back his Temple. How did he do that? By debuting the monster that is his brother, Matanza Cueto. And boy was he a monster. He came in and immediately eliminated the reigning champion, Fenix. Matanza followed that up by dominating the rest of the way and eliminating everyone left, from Chavo Guerrero to Texano and finally to Rey Mysterio. Matanza is the new Lucha Underground Champion and did so in the most badass way possible.

2) Rey Mysterio: Another big moment to come during the fantastic Aztec Warfare match came right at the start. After Fenix entered at number one, Rey Mysterio was introduced as the second participant and the roof of the Temple nearly blew off. We as viewers have seen Msyterio in several scenes, but the believers in the Temple didn't. Seeing Rey was a total surprise and the pop for his arrival was incredible. Mysterio went on to eliminate a fair amount of people and last all the way until the end of Aztec Warfare before falling to Matanza. Rey not only lasted the entirety but he looked better than he did in the last few years of his WWE run even. Hopefully, Mysterio has a big season for Lucha Underground.

3) Los Ingobernables de Japon: Outside of Lucha Underground, it was indeed a slow week. In third place is the group of Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and BUSHI. They took on Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHi) in the main event of NJPW's Road to Invasion Attack in Korakuen Hall. As usual, Los Ingobernables was incredibly entertaining throughout and won a strong main event. They hyped Naito vs. Okada well and each guy played their part. BUSHI spitting the mist at Okada, incapacitating him so Naito can pin YOSHI-HASHI was crucial. Naito needs to win the belt at Invasion Attack. Personally, if he doesn't, it'll be the most disappointed I am in the outcome of a match since HHH beat CM Punk at Night of Champions 2011.

            4) Jeff Hardy: It's not often that I put TNA competitors on this list but sometimes they actually do deserve it. Granted it was a week that didn't feature tons of accomplishments, but still. This week on Impact, Jeff Hardy won a gauntlet match to earn a shot at the TNA Heavyweight Championship. I'm glad Matt isn't champion anymore because I was never a big fan of Jeff vs. Matt matches. Hardy vs. Drew Galloway sounds like it could be a somewhat fun TNA Title match. I don't see Jeff winning the belt again (although TNA has done dumber things) but a win over Jeff just months after beating Kurt Angle and now being champion could do wonders for Drew Galloway.

5) Asuka and Sasha Banks: I went with the rare tie for the final spot this week. First, Asuka won the main event of NXT this week, defeating Emma in a solid match. It wasn't quite on the level of their TakeOver: London match but still mostly delivered. On Smackdown, Sasha Banks bested Charlotte in a decent match. While it wasn't as good as Asuka/Emma, she joined a relatively small list of WWE Divas to pin Charlotte since she got called up to the main roster, gaining some momentum heading into her first ever WrestleMania.