Cook’s Top 5: Fave Five for June 2020

Steve Cook is here with the five things that bring a smile to his face today–and we can all use that.

I’m going to level with you guys.

There are plenty of things I could write about. Thing is, they’re all pretty serious in nature and I’m kind of tired of writing about serious stuff right now. I just want to write one thing right now that isn’t about death or despair or the general nonsense that has consumed 2020 thus far.

I wanna do a Fave Five!

You might remember the Fave Five from back in the day when Booker T used to commentate on SmackDown. He would put people over as being part of his Fave Five. Sometimes he’d have more than five people on the list, and the list was constantly changing. I think most of us are like that, to be honest. We have our favorites, and they’re constantly changing.

So, in an attempt to be positive and temporarily forget about everything going on in the world right now, here are my Fave 5 of June 2020. This list will probably change by the time it gets posted, but it’s how I’m feeling right at this very moment.

5. Timothy Thatcher

I remember Larry Csonka endlessly praising Thatcher in EVOLVE during some podcasts we did back in the day, and since I never watched EVOLVE I just kinda let Larry go on while I was filling a beverage. Now that Thatcher’s finally on a show that I can watch, I get the hype. He’s a bad motor scooter that can take a licking & keep on ticking. You had a feeling he wouldn’t put up with Matt Riddle’s silliness for too long, and their battle in the Fight Pit on last week’s episode was pretty good. Thatcher lost a couple of teeth, didn’t care. That’s a bad man right there, and I feel for anybody that wants to get in his way.

4. The SuperBad Death Squad

HBO Max is Now Streaming! If you wanna know what the SuperbadDeathSquad will be watching, check this out… #HBOMax @hbomax pic.twitter.com/RTONfcdBHb

— Jimmy Havoc (@JimmyHavoc) May 27, 2020

Individually, Kip Sabian & Jimmy Havoc were still looking to find their place in AEW. Sabian & his girl Penelope Ford were getting spots on Dynamite from time to time & were pretty good at being annoying, but hadn’t really broken through & become regulars. Havoc was mostly confined to AEW Dark, and nobody was really sure how to take him. Apparently he was a good guy, but he also seemed pretty creepy & dangerous.

Sabian & Havoc both came over to AEW from England, and have been living together since making the move to America. Penelope joined them soon after, and the three would often post things on social media with them out and about. So somebody at AEW finally figured out “Why not put them together?” during the pandemic shows, and it’s been a perfect fit. I don’t expect them to take the tag belts off of Kenny Omega & Hangman Page, but it speaks to Sabian, Havoc & Ford’s success as a group that they managed to get the spot. I like to see people figure things out and make their way up the ranks.

3. The IIconics

I wrote about Billie Kay & Peyton Royce last week, so I don’t want to belabor the point. I’ll just add on to it by gushing over Billie’s victory over Nikki Cross this week on Raw, and marveling at their EXCLUSIVE WWE Network promo after the match:

EXCLUSIVE: The team of @BillieKayWWE & @PeytonRoyceWWE are looking for a certain IICONIC title victory in the near future! 😏#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/4n5U4eDCqC

— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) June 2, 2020

They’re both way too much and it’s awesome. Bayley & Sasha Banks better hope they don’t win the Tag Team Championship on Friday night. They don’t want more of that IIconic smoke.

2. Shotzi Blackheart

COOLEST entrance of the decade right here! 💚💚💚

Everyone's talking about @Shotziblack on #WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/VApZ7JtRD9

— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2020

Shotzi just arrived on NXT programming not too long ago, and her win-loss record isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. As you might be noticing, wins & losses don’t mean diddly poo for Fave Five consideration. It’s all about entertainment value, and Blackheart provides that more than anybody else on NXT right now for me. Her matches have been very good, she was starting to form a connection with the audience when there was an audience, and yes I have a thing for her neon green hair, tattoos & general look, what about it? Shotzi’s got a ton of potential, and hopefully she can overcome the log jam that the NXT women’s division can be and can get to a high level.

She also rides around in a little tank! Who doesn’t like that?

1. Sammy Guevara

I had a nightmare…

turns out it’s my life! 😭 #runsamrun pic.twitter.com/5NCtNzF3ic

— sammy guevara (@sammyguevara) May 30, 2020

Sammy has to be in contention for MVP of AEW in 2020. Talk about a guy that will do anything to get something over. Dude gets killed on a weekly basis, occasionally with golf carts, more often with super kicks and other wrestling moves, and he just keeps coming back for more. He’s a solid talker, but his cue card promos during commercial breaks are even better. Guevara is learning the lessons from Chris Jericho, and stands to be one of the top stars of AEW in five years. If not sooner.

He just needs to avoid actually getting crippled.