Monday, June 27, 2016

Fave Five 6/20/16-6/26/16

1) Jay Lethal: Whoa, what a slow week of pro wrestling. Jay Lethal takes the top spot this time around by virtue of retaining his ROH World Championship. Last year at the Best in the World Pay-Per-View, he dethroned Jay Briscoe to win the title, while being Television Champion. He has since lost the TV Title but at Best in the World this year, he defended the World Title in the rematch against Jay Briscoe. The match was way shorter this time around and Lethal beat Jay again as his title reign has now surpassed the one year mark. The reign has had a lot of ups and downs, and with an impending feud withe Bullet Club, probably has more downs coming, but this is quite the accomplishment.

2) Evie and Heidi Lovelace: For a long time, I followed SHIMMER like a die hard fan and loved the company. Hell, I still own volumes 9-28 on DVD. Over time, my money had to go elsewhere and I fell out of fully following the company. I still keep up with results and can check out the occasional show or match, but that's it. I do want to see their latest tapings, especially with the news that Evie and Heidi Lovelace, better known as Team Slap Happy, won the Tag Team Titles. The took the gold in an elimination match, ending the reign of the Kimber Bombs. I don't know much about Lovelace, but I've quickly become a big fan of Evie after watching her in Stardom, so this was really cool to hear about.

3) Madison Eagles: As is usually the case with SHIMMER, they pack a lot into a small time. This week, they held Volumes 81-85 and the SHIMMER Champion was at the helm for most. I'm not sure what happened on SHIMMER 84, but for volumes 81-83, she held that title tightly. First, she retained against Courtney Rush at 81. On SHIMMER 82, she only won via disqualification, but still beat Arisa Nakajima. Lastly, on volume 83, she kept the gold against Viper, who I recently saw on a Shine show and she was rather impressive. Eagles would eventually drop the title at SHIMMER 85 to the next person on the list, but I'd still say she had the better week overall.

4) Mercedes Martinez: A longtime SHIMMER performer Mercedes Martinez was always booked like a star. From the very first SHIMMER show, she was included in high profile matches. She's had several shots at the SHIMMER Title, but wasn't among the women to hold them. Sara Del Rey, MsChif, Madison Eagles, Nicole Matthews, Saraya Knight and Cheerleader Melissa beat her to the punch. However, Martinez showed up at SHIMMER 85 and dethroned two time champion Madison Eagles to earn her first reign atop the company. It was a milestone victory for the "Latina Sensation" and pretty much the biggest in her entire career.

5) Mike Bennett: Won the TNA X Division Championship