Monday, September 7, 2015

Fave Five 8/31/15-9/6/15

1) Team AAA: Similar to Zack Sabre Jr. topping my list recently, another tournament winner on the indies headlines it this time around. Chikara's King of Trios Tournament is usually a fun experience and the team representing AAA won the entire thing. Their unit consisted of Aero Star, Drago and Fenix. I don't watch much AAA, but during my time watching Lucha Underground, I really liked Drago and Fenix, so this is pretty cool. Not only did the trio go through some of the best Chikara has to offer, but they defeated the Bullet Club (AJ Styles and the Young Bucks) to become the first ever non-Chikara group to win the tournament. That is a pretty historic feat for the these three, especially considering the fact that the Bullet Club team they went over featured three of the bigger names on the independent scene.

2) Ethan Carter III: Admittedly, it was a really slow week for the world of pro wrestling outside of Chikara. Ethan Carter III often gets overlooked when it comes to this list. He, like most TNA Champions, consistently defends his title and it's kind of taken for granted. This week, he retained the title against Matt Hardy. Not only was that a successful defense but he also won the services of Jeff Hardy in the process, making him his personal servant. There are a lot of things wrong with TNA, but EC3 remains the best part of the company. He is probably not going to be looked at when considering the guys who have had the best years because of how TNA is run, but EC3 continues to deliver each and every week.

3) Chad Gable and Jason Jordan: Outside of the New Day, there is no tag team that I like more right now than Chad Gable and Jason Jordan. Their matches have been solid, their promos have been fun and their finisher is simple, but I really like it. This week though, they had their breakout match of sorts. Main eventing NXT as part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic against Neville and Solomon Crowe, Jordan and Gable had probably my favorite match all week long. Gable is so enthralling to watch even when he's just working on the mat, while Jordan has the size and does some impressive things. They had a really good match, advanced in the tournament and honestly, should win the whole damn thing.

4) Bobby Roode: Despite the week being a relatively slow one, there was at least one title change. Just a few weeks after the former Justin Gabriel, PJ Black, won the King of the Mountain Championship in TNA, he lost it this week to Bobby Roode. I don't know much about the reasoning behind the King of the Mountain Championship or what it exactly means, but it is a title victory nonetheless. From what I've heard, this was a very good match, even better than the EC3/Matt Hardy one for the World Championship. The win also adds to Roode's very long list of accomplishments in TNA, as he's practically won everything that you could possibly win in the company.

5) Charlotte: It wasn't booked well and it was one of my least favorite things about Raw this past Monday, but Charlotte did win the Beat the Clock Challenge. The match that she won it in was pretty bad and only lasted 1:40, but she is still now the top contender to Nikki Bella and the Divas Championship. Not only this, but on Smackdown, she defeated Tamina and told Nikki that she is trying to get her title shot moved up to before Night of Champions, so she can try and prevent Nikki from breaking AJ Lee's record reign as Divas Champion. I get the feeling that Paige turns on her and stops that from happening, but still, Charlotte seems next in line.