Cheap Pops - Wrestling News & Views: May 20, 2015

by Chris Delloiacono, Mike Maillaro and Jeff Ritter

This week!

• Changes in NXT Staffing

• Payback Results

• NXT Takeover Predictions

• Best in Our World: Wrestling Video Games

• NXT Results

• Lucha Underground Results

.  Quick programming note.  Starting next week, we’re moving the column back to the weekend.  That should allow us to get more timely Lucha and NXT results up, as well as making us a little more flexible when it comes to doing PPV Predictions.  WWE seems to favor last minute booking lately, so hopefully this will allow us to address those issues.

This column was running a little late this week.  Jeff and I both had several late nights at work.  

Matt Bloom named New NXT Head Coach, Sara Amato Promoted

From WWE.com: 

STAMFORD, Conn. — WWE today announced that Matt Bloom has been promoted to Head Coach of WWE’s developmental system, NXT, and Sara Amato has been promoted to NXT’s Assistant Head Coach. Bloom previously held the position of Interim Head Coach and Amato was previously an Assistant Coach.

Bloom, a former WWE Superstar and Intercontinental Champion, made his WWE debut in 1999 as Prince Albert. After an eight-year stint in Japan, Bloom returned to WWE in 2012 as WWE Superstar Tensai. Bloom retired from in-ring action in 2014 and was named an NXT Assistant Coach, working at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., where he also spent time as a color commentator for NXT programming on WWE Network. He was named NXT’s Interim Head Coach in March 2015.

Amato joined WWE in 2012 as Sara Del Rey after spending more than a decade working on the independent circuit. Since then, she has been responsible for training, creating and developing some of the most athletic, charismatic and confident Divas, including current WWE Divas Paige, Summer Rae and Emma, as well as NXT Divas Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch and Carmella. In addition to coaching at the WWE Performance Center, Amato will also work with WWE Superstars and Divas on the main roster as both a producer and agent.

Mike: Matt Bloom had been acting Head Coach since Bill DeMott had stepped down.  Obviously, we don’t know exactly what goes on backstage, but NXT’s quality has continued to be terrific, so this seemed like a no-brainer.  Congrats to him...though I will admit, I really miss him on commentary.  He did some excellent work.

We constantly talk in this column how incredible the NXT women’s division is, and many people say that Sara Amato is the one who deserves the credit.  Glad to see the WWE recognizes this!  

WWE PAYBACK RESULTS

• Pre-Show:R-Truth defeated Stardust    

• Pre-Show:The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) defeated "The Mega Powers" (Axelmania and Macho Mandow)    

• Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler    

• The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) (c) (with Xavier Woods) defeated Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (with Natalya) 2-1    2-out-of-3 falls tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship    

• Bray Wyatt defeated Ryback    

• John Cena (c) defeated Rusev (with Lana)    "I Quit" match for the WWE United States Championship

• Naomi and Tamina defeated The Bella Twins (Brie Bella and Nikki Bella)    

• Neville defeated King Barrett by countout    

• Seth Rollins (c) (with Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury) defeated Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Randy Orton

Mike: This show ended up being better than I expected, but the biggest problem was there just wasn’t a lot of memorable matches and moments.  The Cena match was probably the match of the night, but I think we all knew how that would end.  Real disappointing to see Cena win this feud...especially since he basically won every match in the feud too.  Rusev did win the first match, BUT, he needed to use a nut shot to do so.

I also enjoyed the main event, especially the tease of the Shield getting back together.  But again, it wasn’t all that surprising to see Rollins hold on to the title.  It would have been better to get a little bit of a surprise, especially something like Ambrose winning.  NO ONE would have seen that coming.  I did like that Seth won with the Pedigree.  If they aren’t going to let him use the curb stomp, at least that makes sense story wise if he’s Triple H’s protege.  

Chris: The wrestling itself was entertaining but, you said it, there was nothing memorable.  I take that back, the Shield joining forces for that brief time and putting Orton through the announce table was badass!  To be honest, there wasn't a bad match on the card, but creative didn't give us any reason to be invested.  For the most part the predictions were easy, and there weren't any surprises or reasons to be excited. I guess it could be worse, but the show could damn well be a lot better!

Takeover: Unstoppable Predictions

NXT Title Match

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

Chris: I'm still not certain this one is going to happen.  If they do go, I can't see Owens dropping the title.  They did a quick change from Sami to Kevin, but I don't see it happening again.  If this ends up being Owens/Balor/Breeze I still see Owens keeping the strap.

Mike: WWE hasn’t really given us any indication how bad Sami’s shoulder injury is.  But, either way, WWE seems to want to keep Owens strong, so I see him winning this one.  The only real X-factor here is they announced Owens is fighting Cena at Elimination Chamber in two weeks.  Is this a one-time thing or is Owens jumping to the main roster?   If he’s moving up, they may want to take the title off him quick.  But I am sticking with Owens on this.

Jeff: I’ll do my usual fantasy booking and say that WHOEVER ends up facing Owens wins the title. Why? “If you want some, come get some.” Owens showed up on RAW and got some. John Cena shows up to screw Owens. This is the rub the WWE has been trying to get from the popularity of NXT. Does it make a whole lot of sense? Not really. It’s the Chewbacca Defense again. But it beats seeing Zayn rag-dolled for half an hour or wasting the build with Balor or Breeze. For my money, I hope it’s Breeze. I’d love to see how they build up his character with the strap.

Chris's Prediction: Owens
Mike's Prediction: Owens
Jeff's Prediction: Other

NXT Women's Title Match

Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks

Mike: This match has huge potential to steal the show.  I don’t think they are going to move the title off Sasha this quickly, but I honestly don’t care who wins this one.  Both women are talented and deserve to be at the front of the NXT women’s division. It should be a great match and the build-up has been pretty damn perfect.  

Chris: I wouldn't be surprised if this was match of the night, either.  Sasha just seems to be getting started on her run, so I can't see her losing.

Jeff: Sasha wins, but maybe not cleanly. I could see this turning into an NXT Diva free-for-all with everyone from Blue Pants to Charlotte getting into it. Amidst all the chaos, Sasha hits that lung buster into the submission for the win.

Chris's Prediction: Sasha
Mike's Prediction: Sasha
Jeff's Prediction: Sasha

NXT Tag Team Title Match

Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Blake and Murphy

Mike:  Blake and Murphy had a nice hot run, but they seem to have reached the peak of what they can do right now.  Enzo and Cass continue to be huge stars in NXT.  I definitely think it’s time to give them the gold.  How ya’ doin?

Chris: Bada bing, Bada boom, time for the straps to go on the realist guys in the room!

Jeff: If you want to see what they got, now’s the time. I love the ringwork of Blake and Murphy, but I’d like to see them evolve a little more and develop a unique persona. I’ll say this, the NXT Tag Champs may be a lot of things, but one thing they aren’t is S-A-W-F-T! It’ll be close, but Cass is seven feet tall, and ya can’t teach that! Say, completely off subject: where did the Vaudevillains go?

Chris's Prediction: Enzo & Cass
Mike's Prediction: Enzo & Cass
Jeff's Prediction: Enzo & Cass

Triple Threat #1 Contender Match

Hideo Itami vs. Finn Balor vs. Tyler Breeze

Mike: Tyler has been close to unstoppable the last few weeks.  Typically I would say that would mean he’s going to lose this one, but with Hideo Itami injured, and Finn already having been #1 contender just a few weeks ago, I think Prince Pretty will take this.  With the injury, I have no idea what to expect from this match, but Breeze and Balor can definitely put on a show.

Chris: So far we are in complete agreement on how the show shakes out.  NXT usually offers us a couple of surprises, but I can't see this going any other way.  Perhaps they'll include someone else in the match?  That could change things up.  Still, Breeze looks to be in the middle of a big push, so I think he wins no matter what.  Although him against Owens is a weird one.

Jeff: FINALLY! I’ve been singing Breeze’s praises for a long time, and HBK2K15 is about to Ascend…ya know what? Forget I even said that. Bad juju. Go Prince Pretty!

Chris's Prediction: Breeze
Mike's Prediction: Breeze
Jeff's Prediction: Breeze

Baron Corbin vs. Rhyno

Chris: What's the point of Rhyno being on the roster if he's not going to make the young-ins look good.  I just hope they get some time to work a match. Corbin needs a chance to get out there and do a non-squash.

Mike: I don’t disagree with Chris on how Rhyno should be used.  BUT, right now, Rhyno is ridiculously hot in NXT.  And the crowd is starting to turn on Corbin.  I’m not saying it’s the right result, but I can definitely see them giving Rhyno the win to keep his momentum going.  Baron needs to be repackaged real quick or he’s going to be done.

Jeff: I agree that they need to slow Corbin down and let him work a little, but let’s be honest here. This match’s outcome can be put quite simply like this: GORE! GORE! GORE! Say, completely off subject, I miss Monty Brown. He wasn’t around long, but I loved the POUNCE!

Chris's Prediction: Corbin
Mike's Prediction: Rhyno
Jeff's Prediction: Rhyno

Emma and Dana Brooke vs. Bayley and Charlotte

Chris: Let me say, this match really is nothing special, but how awesome is it that NXT has enough women they can book two matches and highlight six women on a show.  Usually the only time this many ladies make a main roster PPV is when there's a lingerie battle royal or something else demeaning. Kudos to NXT for continuing to make the ladies important!

As for the match, I'll go with the faces because Emma never wins.  

Mike: Dana Brooke doesn’t do much for me, but I love that we’re getting two serious women’s matches on this card.  I think WWE wants to continue moving Dana up the card, so the heels will take this one.

Jeff: I guess I should read the whole card before doing my pie-in-the-sky booking, but hey, I’ve been known to be right before. I think Dana Brooke gets the pin, Bayley turns on Charlotte, and Emma laughs like it all part of her plan. I don’t particularly like it—Emma could get her Future Endeavors for all I care—but that’s how my Magic Eight Ball says it will go down.

Chris's Prediction: Bayley & Charlotte
Mike's Prediction: Emma and Dana Brooke
Jeff's Prediction:  Emma and Dana Brooke

Best in Our World: Wrestling Video Games

Mike:  For me, video games have always been a social event, so that is really where I am focusing my list.  There might be better “wrestling” games out there that capture the spirit of pro wrestling better, but there are the wrestling games I’ve enjoyed playing with my friends and family.  Also, we try not to overlap, so I intentionally left Pro Wrestling (NES) off my list, just assuming it would be on someone else’s...

1. WWF No Mercy - Building off of the brilliant engine used in the WCW/NWO games, WWF No Mercy to me was the best wrestling game ever created.  Everything about the game just felt right.  The characters looked good, they played true to their TV counterparts.  Jericho could do a springboard off the middle rope (which was a hell of an innovation at the time).  My sister and I loved this game so much we created a whole stable of wrestlers that I still make in wrestling games to this day.  And we would even write newsletters featuring the PPV storylines we wrote out for this great game.

Fun little side note about this game that I’m not sure most people know about.  The models in the video when you turned the game were tied into the costumes the characters were wearing.  So, if you edited the costumes, the video would adjust to match.  So I was able to have a lot of fun with that by subbing in my created characters over the real wrestlers so they would show up in the game video.

2) WWF Wrestlefest - Man, I used to pump a lot of quarters into this one.  As far a I remember, this was the first wrestling game I ever played where WWE wrestlers had their own finishers programmed into the game.  Before that, we had more generic games like Wrestlemania and Wrestlemania Challenge for NES.  Wrestlefest was tag-team based where you had to bring a team of wrestlers through the ultimate challenge...beating the Road Warriors.  I actually got to play this game not that long ago with my friend Josh in a local arcade, but the controls weren’t working too well.  They actually did an updated version with some current wrestlers for IOS a few years ago, but it never made X-Box Live or Android, so I never played it.

3) WWE ‘12 - I actually like quite a few games of this series, but I ended up picking ‘12 just because it had my favorite story mode.  I especially liked that Sheamus ends up forming a faction called “The United Kingdom” with William Regal, Drew McIntyre, and Wade Barrett.  I wasn’t really watching WWE at the time, and was real disappointed to find out that this never really happened.  Whoever came up with that should have been part of the WWE writing staff!

4) WWF Attitude - The control scheme on this game was way over complicated, but I loved that the game included a ton of voice work, and the entrances were pretty spot on (even if Gangel’s chalice was so big we used to refer to it as the Stanley Cup).  Chris and I used to play this game and Warzone a lot back in the day.

5) WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game - This game was actually kind of awful in many ways.  It was more of a fighting game than a real wrestling game, where wrestlers did special moves like throwing skulls.  Really, the only way this game made the list was because we had it set up as a demo when I worked at K-B Toys (which is where I met Chris), and the staff used to play it all the time.  This is also why I have a great love for the T2 Arcade Game, even if I can’t ever get past the stage where you have to protect John Conner’s truck from getting blown up.

Honorable Mention: Extreme Warfare Revenge/Total Extreme Wrestling: For those looking to book their own wrestling shows, EWR is for you.  I have always had a lot of fun with these games, though they are a lot of work to get right, so I typically end up giving up after just a few months of playing.  But I will always come back at some point.  This game is basically purely text-based, but gives users a real thorough experience of what it’s like to book and write your own wrestling shows.  Definitely worth checking out.

Chris: I just don't play very much in the way of video games anymore.  The last game I remember getting was WWF Attitude for PS1 and it was a frustrating mess.  

1. Pro Wrestling - I'll have to take Mike's offering and go with Pro Wrestling.  It was definitely my favorite game of all time in the genre.  The characters aren't "real" yet Starman, Kin Corn Karn, The Amazon, Giant Panther, and all the rest have really stood the test of time.  The music was repetitive, but so catchy, and each wrestler had their own moves.  What a fun game!

2. World Championship Wrestling for NES - I don't remember much of how good this game was, but I absolutely loved playing it.  Using the Road Warriors, Steve Williams, Sting, Ric Flair, Eddie Gilbert and so many others was beyond cool.  There just wasn't much WCW merchandise at the time, so this one blew my mind.

3. WWF Wrestlefest - Unfortunately, I've got nothing else to offer here, so I have to reuse one of Mike's.  This was a great game that I also poured lots of quarters into.  Sure, the tag team aspect was fun, but I loved using Mr. Perfect and playing the Royal Rumble.  Scratch that, WINNING the Rumble!

Jeff: I don’t mind overlap, because there have bene plenty of truly forgettable wrestling games over the years. But I have a few different ones to share as well

1. All Star Pro Wrestling – I had a modded PS2 just for this game. Brief segue: Why in Hell did they ever invent regional coding? Why wouldn’t Altus or SquareEnix or whomever want American money for games where the text is all in Kanji? It’s bad enough the consoles have system exclusive titles, but maybe if Americans had a chance to appreciate the sublime controls and graphics of Japanese-only Games. The thing is, ASPW was criticized for having weird controls and a languid pace—button mashing would get you absolutely nowhere, and Americans are impatient. We mash buttons even if it’s just Pong. End rant. There was a wrestler in this game that had Starf*cker on his tights. That always cracked me up, but not as much as seeing the late Shinja Hashimoto hack a guy down with his repeated chops to the neck. Strong Style Forever!

2. MicroLeague Wrestling – Kickin’ it old school, yo! Commodore 64 time! This game came out in 1987 wishing that it was 2025 or whenever videogames will cease to look like animation and look exactly like television footage. It featured The Macho Man vs the Honky Tonk Man or Hulk Hogan vs The Million Dollar Man. It was menu driven, and your selection triggered a quick flip-book like procession of digitized pictures from actual WWF matches. The matches were “turn based strategy” whereby you’d pick your move, the PC would pick it’s move, and based on a number of factors one selection would win out. You also had the option to block, which returned a little of your superstar’s hit points, or cheat but run the risk of a DQ. One of the neatest attempts at a wrestling game that was way ahead of its time.

3. FirePro Wrestling – A tough 2D sprite-based wrestling game that packed a lot of wallop into its modest package. Mostly a revered Japanese game but a few versions have been made available in America, notably on the PS2 and the Nintendo Game Boy. I haven’t played the whole spectrum of the series, but Fire Pro Wrestling Returns has logged some serious hours in my PS2. The character creation is surprisingly deep. The menus, even in the American versions, do take a little getting used to as the Japanese games seem to be laid out 90 degrees from their American counterparts. X might be O for example. Once you train yourself to get the hang of it, you can have some incredibly fun bouts in the game.

4. Taito Pro Wrestler – Here’s an arcade classic that I dropped a  lot of quarters into. The game featured imaginary wrestlers based on real life—there was a character who lokoed a bit like Hulk Hogan with a moveset like Terry Funk, there was a Superstar Jimmy Snuka analog, there was a Great Muta/Great Sasuke type ninja, and even Taito’s own barbarian Rastan was a playable character. What I enjoyed the most was playing a cooperative tag match, where I could throw an opponent out of the ring and my partner could run over to him and lock him in the figure four for the count out, not a disqualification. There were even managers like a Mr. Fuji type who’d throw stuff at your opponent. Was it deep? No. Storylines? No. Licensed characters? No. Fun as all get out? I certainly thought so!

5 TNM 7 Wrestling Simulator – Here’s the competitor to Extreme Warfare Revenge. In the early days of the Internet when I used to participate in Wrestling Roleplaying Leagues via primitive message boards, this was the system most leagues used to simulate match results, with the winner decided by the quality of their roleplaying. I eventually downloaded my own copy just to run sims privately for fun. And oh baby was it ever fun! I ran completely made up leagues, old school leagues like Verne Gagne’s AWA, leagues with international stars like Tiger Mask or El Hijo Del Santo. The original creator hasn’t made any major changes in some time, and I had issues with running it on new computers because DOS prompts just ain‘t what they, but man what a blast I had in those halcyon days of my youth!

NXT Results May 13, 2015

- Baron Corbin def. Solomon Crowe with End of Days after Solomon misses a springboard move.  After the match, Rhyno comes out.  He is looking for an answer to his challenge for Takeover.  Corbin punches him.  They have to be separated. Rhyno ends up Goring several NXT staff in frustration.

- FInn Balor talks about triple threat match at Takeover.  He will become #1 contender, and whoever is champion, the Demon is not far behind.

-Tyler cuts almost an identical promo.  He promises to bring the title back to Cuteville where it belongs.

- Sasha Banks def Nameless Jobber (Crowd called her Black Boots) with Bank Statement.  Sasha is taunting Becky Lynch before the match.

- Charlotte and Bayley are backstage. Charlotte says Dana Brooke is jealous of her.  Bayley rants some about Emma.  They challenge Dana and Emma to a match at Takeover.

- Uhaa Nation has a great video about wanting to be NXT champion.  He talks about studying WWE history and wanting to make his own.  Very good video...but they continue to give him no name.  It’s just “here’s unnamed black guy, he’s important.  And he’s coming soon.” This is getting awkward…

-Alexa Bliss def.  Carmella with Sparkle Splash.   Blake and Murphy come out during the match distracting Carmella and giving Alexa the win.  They get in the ring afterwards, getting a “No means no!” chant from the crowd.  Carmella promises that Enzo and Big Cass will be the next Tag champs after Takeover.

-Hideo Itami gives his thoughts on the title situation.  He says he wants to fight Kevin Owens because he’s a bad person with no respect for the NXT title.

- Dana Brooke and Emma accept Charlotte and Bayley’s challenge.  Emma promises to slap some more sense into Bayley.  Dana is doing Charlotte a favor by warning her before she passes her by.

- Adam Rose/Tyler Breeze def. Hideo Itami/Finn Balor.  There is friction between Itami and Balor, which allows Tyler to steal a win with a roll up.  After the match, Itami and Balor square off, and Tyler takes them both out.  Adam Rose tries to celebrate, and Tyler hits the Supermodel Kick on him too.

-They talk about Sami Zayn injuring himself fighting Cena a few weeks back.  

-Sami and Kevin Owens have a face to face in the ring.  It starts with a real bad overdub of Sami talking about being injured by Cena, but still planning to wrestle at Takeover.  Same demands Owens tell him “Why?”  Sami rants for a while, and Owens stands silent.  Sami says, “Is this about your son preferring to wear a Sami Zayn shirt than a KO shirt?”  Owens finally just walks away.  As he gets towards the top of the ramp, he finally says, “Everything you said here tonight is irrelevant.  I know I hurt you, and I will do it again...but this time, you won’t be coming back.”

Mike: Wow, the crowd has really turned on Baron Corbin...which I predicted weeks ago.  Constant squash matches get tired real fast.  I did like the finish for this match though.  It was nice to see Corbin do something different at least.

Chris: Corbin was enjoyable for a while but it has been the same old shtick.  At least this finish freshened things up a bit.  I guess WWE doesn't have much planned for Crowe if he's doing the honors without much offense.  He could be the new CJ Parker!

Mike: I love that we got two Divas matches and two Divas segments hyping next week’s Takeover special.  WWE can’t make me care about 1 Divas segment in a 3 hour show.  NXT can make me care about 4 in an hour.  And we will have two Divas matches at the Takeover show, both matches I really want to see.  That says everything you need to know about how well NXT is booked.

Every time I see Sasha Banks, I love how far she has come along in a very short time.  It is amazing how good she is.  Even in a squash match, she puts on a great show.  

Chris: The key Divas are probably better than the men at this point.  I know I'm enjoying just about everything the ladies are doing right now.  It's just unreal!

Mike: WWE needs to stop having commercial breaks during their matches.  During the tag match, a commercial came on, and I ended up wandering away to vacuum, missing most of the match.  When they interrupt matches that way, I always find it hard to get back interested.

And it was not a good sign that Adam Rose came out without any Rosebuds.  Definitely getting the sense the WWE is just running on the clock on his contract.  Real shame, I think there is a lot of talent there that they could use far better.

Chris: The commercials are so ridiculous on WWE shows.  You're right, they just yank you out of the moment.  Adam Rose looks to be in trouble but Tyler Breeze sure isn't.  Remember I said he looked done after losing on the last special, but since then he's gotten a killer instinct and is running roughshod.  I'm glad too, because he's one of the best guys NXT has.  I'll be interested to see where he goes after this week's Takeover.

Lucha Underground Results May 13, 2015

- Dario tells his brother Matanza (who is still in a cage) that he spent half the family fortune in order to recover the seven medallions of the Aztec tribes.  Together, they can make one man as powerful as the gods.

- Aerostar def. Jack Evans with rolling piledriver from top rope.

- The Mack runs into his cousin Big Ryck backstage.  Ryck is counting a big pile of money.  The Mack tries to ask him about it, but Big Ryck kind of blows him off.  He says that he’s in this business for the money...and for this much money, he’d even beat up his own family.

- The Mack, Sexy Star, Killshot, Fenix, Pentagon Jr, Cage, and King Cuerno are in the ring.  Dario comes out and says this will be a seven man match is for one of the Aztec medallions.  The medallions will give one wrestler a chance at immortality.  

-Fenix def. Pentagon Jr with an inverted hurricarana to win the first Aztec medallion.

- Dario is in office with Son of Havoc, Ivelisse, and Angelico. Since the Crew won a tag match against Son of Havoc and Angelico last week, Dario feels they deserve another shot at the Trios titles.  Ivelisse’s leg is broken, but she is certain she can beat them with just her hands.  Dario makes it a ladder match.  He offers them the chance to just drop the titles without a fight, but they are all determined to fight.

- Fenix is backstage.  The lights go out.  Katrina appears.  She says Fenix fell right into her trap.  By burying Mil Muertes, Fenix enabled him to be reborn even stronger than before.  She calls Fenix a pawn for death.  He reaches for her, but she vanishes.  Ghostly masked figures appear all over the locker room, and the scene fades to black.

- #1 Contender’s Match - Hernandez def. Alberto El Patron.  During the  match, Johnny Mundo came down to the ring.  He attacked Alberto and threw him through the window of Dario’s office.  He then tossed his unconscious, bloody body back into the ring to give Hernandez the easy win.

Mike: You know what is amazing about Lucha Underground? We have segments about masked ghosts and ancient Aztec medallions promising immortality.  But, in the context of Lucha Underground, it all makes sense and it’s damn entertaining television.  So much of Lucha Underground could be lame, but they do it so well every week.

Chris: It seems every time WWE adds elements like you mentioned, the whole segment collapses.  Somehow Lucha remains serious but is very successful mixing in the occult.  

Mike: Loved the debut of Jack Evans. He has a terrific presence him him, and I love that Lucha Underground keeps adding big name indy talent to their already deep talent pool.  Both Aerostar and Jack Evans put on a hell of a show  During the match, they mentioned that Jack Evans is AAA Tag champion with Angelico, which makes sense, their outfits and styles are real similar.   This was a great match….but wasn’t even the match of the night.

That honor has to go to the ridiculous seven way match for the first Aztec medallion.  There was just so much star power in that match.  Really just about anyone could have won.  Fenix grabs the win tonight, but it was such a great match.

Chris: The seven way was out of this world.  The flow back and forth kept everyone involved and allowed each person to get their spotlight maneuvers. The Aztec medallions look to be a fun element as season one moves towards its conclusion.  

That's an element that I really like too, the idea that we are building toward a season finale and a break.  I know the guys are all working year round, but maybe this is the first step towards getting these guys some time off each year.

Mike: Hey, is Alberto becoming John Cena?  He seems to have a new shirt every week.  

Johnny finally turned heel.  Chris has been teasing me with that for a while from the spoilers, and it finally happened.

Chris: Considering how far ahead they tape Lucha, I always hear some spoilers.  I knew about Johnny's turn and Jack Evans debuting but I had no clue how or when.  Glad both things happened, because I only know of a few other spoilers the rest of the season.