Monday, June 13, 2016

Fave Five 6/6/16-6/12/16

1) Will Ospreay: Over the past number of weeks, NJPW's Best of the Super Juniors Tournament has taken up most of my wrestling viewing. After starting 0-2 and 1-3, Will Ospreay reeled of a bunch of wins in a row to make it to the Finals. On Monday June 6th, he defeated Volador Jr. to officially win his block. Then, on the 7th, he faced Ryusuke Taguchi in the finals. I wasn't expecting anything special since Taguchi is normally a drag to watch. However, they went out and had a match that far exceeded expectations. Ospreay won to become the first English wrestler to won the BOTSJ and he earned a second shot at KUSHIDA and the Jr. Heavyweight Title at Dominion.

2) The Revival: To be totally honest, I have a tough time picking a favorite or even best match for this week. It was either Ospreay/Taguchi or the NXT Tag Team Title match at TakeOver: The End. Much like in Dallas, the Revival and American Alpha put on one of the best tag team matches I've seen all year long. American Alpha entered as champions and I was almost 100% sure they would retain the straps. Instead, we got a surprising finish as the Revival regained the gold to become the first two time Tag Team Champions in NXT history. I didn't expect it and don't agree with it but it happened and the Revival deserve some love.

3) Bobby Lashley: I don't watch TNA much anymore. Actually, I pretty much don't at all. However, from all of the reviews I've heard about their Slammiversary PPV, Bobby Lashley won a very good main event. He bested Drew Galloway to become TNA Champion for the second time I believe. There were certainly some other rather big matches this week and big wins, but becoming the top champion of a company, even if it's one in the state of turmoil that TNA is in, is still definitely worth a spot on the list for the week. Congrats to Bobby Lashley.

4) Timothy Thatcher: So far, 2016 has been a very rough year for Evolve Champion Timothy Thatcher. Injuries and disappointing matches have plagued it. This weekend though, he seemed to turn it around. His title defense against Chris Hero at Evolve 62 was great and easily his best showing of the year. I've heard good things about his match with Tracy Williams at Evolve 63 as well, though I haven't seen it yet. Hopefully, this means things turn around for a man who was so, so good in 2015.

5) Tony Nese: Qualified for the WWE Cruiserweight Cassic.