Best of the Week 7/31/16- 8/6/16
It was an interesting week for wrestling. The New Era and Brand Split are still new, TNA is gearing up for Bound for Glory, NXT saw the debut of a former World champion, and Ring Oh Honor continues to have Bullet Club problems. But what was the best out of all of it? There's a lot to look at, from promos to matches and everything in between. By the way, this list is in no particular order. Let's get started.
10. The Bullet Club and Jay Lethal- The Bullet Club has been getting involved in the ROH World title for a while, but things are really heating up now. Following Nigel McGuinness's proclamation that BC member (and former ROH Champion) would never get another shot at the World title again, the Bullet Club attacked ROH World Champion Jay Lethal and shaved his head. It's clear where this is going: Lethal is going to demand McGuinness give Cole a title shot so they can settle things in the ring. Either way, this whole storyline is pretty exciting and Lethal is slowly turning babyface. This is currently one of the best stories in all of wrestling, and I can't wait to see what's happening next.
9. Dolph Moving on Up- When Dolph Ziggler became #1 Contender to the WWE Championship last week, it was quite a shock. Ziggler was nowhere near the level of being a World title contender. This week on Smackdown, Ziggler was built up a little stronger. He beat Bray Wyatt in the show's main event while also delivering an excellent promo while looking Dean Ambrose in the face. He's not at the level of Ambrose yet, but he's getting closer.
8. Crews Wins- Apollo Crews has been in a bit of a rut ever since he debuted in April. But now, after being drafted to Smackdown, he finds himself with a IC title shot at a Big 4 PPV. He might just be the new Intercontinental Champion, which is a huge upgrade from his spot a few weeks ago.
7. Finn & Seth Square Off- Last week, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins became the #1 Contenders for the new WWE Universal Championship. On Raw, the two of them faced off for the first time in a great segment. Rollins may be a better talker than the recent NXT call-up, but Balor impressed during this segment. He really looks like a future World champ.
6. EC3 Headed to BFG- On this week's episode of Impact, Ethan Carter III beat Michael Bennett to become the #1 Contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory. BFG is TNA's biggest show of the year, and EC3 is the perfect choice to headline. He's arguably the promotion's biggest star and their biggest babyface.
5. The Return of Hideo- The last time we saw Hideo Itami was in early 2014 before he went down with an injury. Thanks to complications, he only recently returned to action a few weeks ago. On this week's episode of NXT, he made his televised return. It was great to see him back and the NXT fans gave him a great ovation.
4. A Glorious Promo- After weeks of waiting, we finally saw the NXT debut of former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode. The former Beer Money member is one of the biggest stars in TNA history. Now that he's in NXT, the possibilities of feuds are endless. Just imagine matches against the likes of Hideo Itami, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Andrade Almas. His debut involved a fantastic promo that had the NXT crowd eating out of his hand. He started by praising NXT and then turned heel, immediately solidifying himself as a top three heel in the brand.
3. Lashley Going for all the Gold?- Lashley won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Drew Galloway at Slammiversary. Then, on an episode from Impact he beat Eddie Edwards to win the X-Division title. Now, it looks like he's going after James Storm's King of the Mountain Championship. The two should have a great match and it's making Lashley look like a total monster. The man who finally beats him will get a tremendous rub. In the meantime, this storyline is very interesting.
2. Johnny Gargana and Tommaso Ciampa in NXT- Gargano and Ciampa haven't had the most successful of careers in NXT thus far, but they've managed to stay very over with the fans. In recent weeks, they've earned wins over teams like The Revial & TM-61 and are getting more mic time. On this week of NXT, they cut two great promos and solidified themselves as the next #1 Contenders to the tag titles. Their promos might be a little cheesy, but they fit their characters well (especially Gargano's) and are tremendously entertaining. Furthermore, they can get serious when necessary (as shown by Gargano's fantastic line of not catching Pokemon because he was focused on the tag titles).
1. Gargano and Ciampa in the CWC- As great as the two of them were in NXT, Gargano and Ciampa were far better in the CWC. Their match was the last of the first round and the main event of the fourth episode. These two put on the best match of the week and the best match of the CWC so far. It was full of incredible storytelling with some impressive-looking action. Although Gargano picked up the win, both men looked incredible.
Thanks for reading everyone.
10. The Bullet Club and Jay Lethal- The Bullet Club has been getting involved in the ROH World title for a while, but things are really heating up now. Following Nigel McGuinness's proclamation that BC member (and former ROH Champion) would never get another shot at the World title again, the Bullet Club attacked ROH World Champion Jay Lethal and shaved his head. It's clear where this is going: Lethal is going to demand McGuinness give Cole a title shot so they can settle things in the ring. Either way, this whole storyline is pretty exciting and Lethal is slowly turning babyface. This is currently one of the best stories in all of wrestling, and I can't wait to see what's happening next.
9. Dolph Moving on Up- When Dolph Ziggler became #1 Contender to the WWE Championship last week, it was quite a shock. Ziggler was nowhere near the level of being a World title contender. This week on Smackdown, Ziggler was built up a little stronger. He beat Bray Wyatt in the show's main event while also delivering an excellent promo while looking Dean Ambrose in the face. He's not at the level of Ambrose yet, but he's getting closer.
8. Crews Wins- Apollo Crews has been in a bit of a rut ever since he debuted in April. But now, after being drafted to Smackdown, he finds himself with a IC title shot at a Big 4 PPV. He might just be the new Intercontinental Champion, which is a huge upgrade from his spot a few weeks ago.
7. Finn & Seth Square Off- Last week, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins became the #1 Contenders for the new WWE Universal Championship. On Raw, the two of them faced off for the first time in a great segment. Rollins may be a better talker than the recent NXT call-up, but Balor impressed during this segment. He really looks like a future World champ.
6. EC3 Headed to BFG- On this week's episode of Impact, Ethan Carter III beat Michael Bennett to become the #1 Contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory. BFG is TNA's biggest show of the year, and EC3 is the perfect choice to headline. He's arguably the promotion's biggest star and their biggest babyface.
5. The Return of Hideo- The last time we saw Hideo Itami was in early 2014 before he went down with an injury. Thanks to complications, he only recently returned to action a few weeks ago. On this week's episode of NXT, he made his televised return. It was great to see him back and the NXT fans gave him a great ovation.
4. A Glorious Promo- After weeks of waiting, we finally saw the NXT debut of former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode. The former Beer Money member is one of the biggest stars in TNA history. Now that he's in NXT, the possibilities of feuds are endless. Just imagine matches against the likes of Hideo Itami, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Andrade Almas. His debut involved a fantastic promo that had the NXT crowd eating out of his hand. He started by praising NXT and then turned heel, immediately solidifying himself as a top three heel in the brand.
3. Lashley Going for all the Gold?- Lashley won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Drew Galloway at Slammiversary. Then, on an episode from Impact he beat Eddie Edwards to win the X-Division title. Now, it looks like he's going after James Storm's King of the Mountain Championship. The two should have a great match and it's making Lashley look like a total monster. The man who finally beats him will get a tremendous rub. In the meantime, this storyline is very interesting.
2. Johnny Gargana and Tommaso Ciampa in NXT- Gargano and Ciampa haven't had the most successful of careers in NXT thus far, but they've managed to stay very over with the fans. In recent weeks, they've earned wins over teams like The Revial & TM-61 and are getting more mic time. On this week of NXT, they cut two great promos and solidified themselves as the next #1 Contenders to the tag titles. Their promos might be a little cheesy, but they fit their characters well (especially Gargano's) and are tremendously entertaining. Furthermore, they can get serious when necessary (as shown by Gargano's fantastic line of not catching Pokemon because he was focused on the tag titles).
1. Gargano and Ciampa in the CWC- As great as the two of them were in NXT, Gargano and Ciampa were far better in the CWC. Their match was the last of the first round and the main event of the fourth episode. These two put on the best match of the week and the best match of the CWC so far. It was full of incredible storytelling with some impressive-looking action. Although Gargano picked up the win, both men looked incredible.
Thanks for reading everyone.
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