Monday, May 16, 2016

Fave Five 5/9/16-5/15/16

1) Matanza Cueto: A relatively slow week is headlined by a good episode of Lucha Underground. A few weeks ago, the "Monster" Matanza Cueto and Mil Muertes went to war and ended in a no contest after falling through the roof of Dario Cueto's office. This week, they met in "Graver Consequences", which was Lucha Underground's second ever casket match, only with more caskets and the Lucha Underground Championship being on the line this time. These two had a battle once again, with some of the coolest and most brutal casket match spots I've ever seen. Matanza was able to retain in a really good match, sending back the only challenge that has actually looked like a threat in his career so far.

2) Dragon Azteca Jr., Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr.: The Trios Champions make the list once again. I couldn't find any pics/gifs from this week. In their first title defense, Dragon Azteca Jr., Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr. successfully sent back the challenge of two-thirds of the former champions. Due to the injury to Angelico, Dario Cueto gave Ivelisse and Son of Havoc a new partner in Johnny Mundo. The new trio didn't work well together, allowing Azteca, Puma and Mysterio to do their thing and retain the belts. I love the chemistry between the champions and seeing Mysterio tag Puma to get the finish in a bit of a passing of the torch moment was great.

3) The Addiction: After a piece of shit PPV ending, I'm mostly done following ROH outside of the occasional match. Still, in a slow news week, one of the bigger stories was the Tag Team Title change. The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) won back the belts from War Machine at a show in Dearborn, Michigan. I am confused by the change. The Addiction haven't really been doing too much of note, while War Machine was really picking up steam, especially after beating the Briscoes in the best match at Global Wars. Oh well, Daniels and Kazarian are champions again.

4) Dana Brooke: When I first heard that Dana Brooke debuted on Raw, I was petty much against the idea. She is the definition of someone that needed more seasoning in NXT. She nails her gimmick but the ring work isn't there. She's like, the opposite of Apollo Crews in that sense. However, the more I think about, I love the idea of Emma mentoring her on the road. After attacking Becky Lynch in her debut on Raw, Dana then defeated the "Lass Kicker" in her first main roster match on Smackdown. It wasn't the most impressive of wins, but a 1-0 start is still pretty damn good.

5) Drew Galloway: Successfully retained the TNA Championship this week.