Opinion

Steve Cook’s Fave Five: June 2021

The News may have been skipped, but Cook never skips leg day! Or…at least his favorites of the month Top 5! Take a look!

Published

4 years ago

June 24, 2021

Steve Cook

Hey guys! Just wanna hit you up with a quick programming note before getting to the June Fave Five. You might have noticed a lack of News From Cook’s Corner this week, and that comes down to me getting tired of reading and writing about wrestling news, rumors & gossip. This happens a lot. Eventually, the repetitiveness, the mindless speculation & nonsense of the wrestling news scene gets to me and I need a break. I’ll get back into it eventually, but for right now the best thing for my sanity is to spend less time scouring various wrestling websites to try and piece together stories that may or may not be true. It’s fun sometimes, but it’s not scratching that itch for me right now. Don’t worry, I’ll find something that does.

You know what is fun? Writing about some of my favorite current wrestlers! Sometimes when I’m in that news grind, or when I’m diving into the issues with the presentation of modern wrestling, or when I’m sorting out which company I’m supposed to stan for this week, I lose sight of the fact that there is a lot about pro wrestling that I still like. Tons of folks out there doing their thing and doing it well.

Here are the five currently rocking it the most, at least in my eyes.

5. Serena Deeb

Malenko approved. pic.twitter.com/8RXszBZaEj

— Serena (@SerenaDeeb) May 31, 2021

Serena’s return from injury has been a successful one thus far, as she’s established herself as the Woman of 1,000 Holds during matches with Red Velvet, Riho & Kamile. The Riho match was especially good, getting the crowd pumped for the Double or Nothing PPV. In the matches with Velvet & Kamille, Deeb was in her element as a player/coach, helping inexperienced competitors through matches that made them look better than they did going in. AEW’s women’s division has benefitted from her arrival, and there are plenty of wrestlers there that can learn from a match with her.

Unfortunately for the NWA, I’m not sure taking their championship off of Deeb was the best idea. I can only assume they meant to take the men’s title off of Nick Aldis and the wires got crossed somehow.

4. Elektra Lopez

I’m happy that Franky Monet has made her way to NXT and gets to work in the same company with her husband again. Good person, talented worker, deserves all the best. However, I must admit that during her World Premiere Encore on Tuesday night, my attention was more taken by her opponent. It was something to hear the entire NXT viewing audience exclaim “WHO IS THAT?” right at the same moment, but that’s exactly what happened. Who was this captivating beauty billed from Puerto Rico taking our viewing devices by storm?

Every single wrestling website immediately jumped on this story, and we found out that Electra previously went under the name of Karissa Rivera while working the Northeast indies. Electra is a second-generation wrestler, being the daughter of late 70s-early 80s WWF enhancement talent Steve King.

She had a brief ROH run in the middle of 2019 where she scored an upset win over Sumie Sakai that unfortunately didn’t lead to much of anything. Also made some previous WWE appearances, including an NXT match with Lacey Evans in 2018 before the show made the USA Network. She also appeared on SmackDown in April 2019 as one-half of the Brooklyn Belles, teaming with Kris Statlander before she became an alien and made some friends. Oh, and she was also Bobby Lashley’s ex-wife in the Lana/Lashley wedding debacle. So let’s just say that she’s been through some stuff, and it’s very fortunate that nobody remembers any of it now! WWE was impressed with her work though, and brought her in full-time back in February.

Hopefully we’ll be seeing more of Electra on NXT television very soon so she can be a regular in this column!

3. Tony Deppen

Deppen has had a pretty impressive string of matches on ROH television lately. It started with an upset victory over Tracy Williams for the World Television Championship, giving his VLNCE UNLTD group its first ROH title. Not too many people would have pegged Deppen to be the first amongst that foursome to get a strap, considering the other members are Brody King, Homicide & Chris Dickinson. Deppen has commented that while people think he’s the least violent of the group, he’s actually the least stable. Littlest dog in the fight, biggest heart, he’s got that stuff going for him.

Deppen’s win streak continued with an 8-man tag team match win for VLNCE UNLTD over The Foundation, who consist of Williams & fellow sticks in the mud Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham & Rhett Titus. Then he had his first TV title defense against Williams & Dragon Lee…since Williams was the one pinned it’ll be Dragon Lee getting the title shot at the Best in the World PPV. Deppen will be the underdog, but we should probably quit picking against him in these matches.

2. Miro

The sound of thunder at the end of this is actually my ovaries popping #GodofThunder https://t.co/U3IRz2e1Mm

— CJ “Lana” Perry (@LanaWWE) June 10, 2021

After a few months of video game playing & Mickey Mouse shirt wearing, Miro has finally become the badass we all hoped he would be when he came to AEW. The switch has flipped, and the Best Man is running over everybody in his path. He decimated Darby Allin to take the TNT Championship, and it’s anybody’s guess who will eventually take the title from him.

It was nice to see Miro having fun early on. He was doing what he wanted to do. But some people are just meant to be asskickers. As fun as video games are, and as over as Rusev Day was, Miro is at his best when beating the living crap out of people. Fortunately, there are plenty of people in AEW that he can beat the living crap out of.

1. Eva Marie

Allow me to introduce my protege @viperpiperniven
–@WWE @WWEonFOX @USA_Network #EVALution #WWERaw #ALLEverything pic.twitter.com/AgR8cBclub

— Eva Marie (@natalieevamarie) June 15, 2021

If you’ve been keeping up with my work here at The Chairshot, you knew who would be #1 with a bullet this month. After all, Eva was a large reason why I got back into the whole Internet wrestling writing thing after a lengthy absence, and columns I wrote about her led to a couple of paying gigs at the time. Sadly, the Eva gravy train only led so far, as she left WWE not long after I got back in the game.

So what is it about Eva, you might ask? Given my reputation as a bit of a horndog, I won’t deny the looks factor. There’s a bit more to it though. I’ve always felt bad for wrestlers that get hate from Internet fans for no other reason than simply existing. Fans got mad at Eva Marie because WWE wanted to put her on television before she was ready. That was the fault of WWE decision makers, not Eva. She doesn’t write the shows or decide who warrants being featured on them. The decision makers saw something in her they thought merited inclusion on TV over other talents that had been around longer. The Internet disagreed, and took it out on Eva Marie instead of the people making the decisions. Eva’s not the first person this happened to, she won’t be the last, and folks like me will be annoyed by people that blame wrestlers for the decisions of a billionaire in his seventies & his yes-men.

No matter what Eva Marie did during her first run with the company, it was going to be seen as a failure by a certain segment of the fanbase. I’m not saying she was the best technical wrestler of all time or the greatest interview, but even if she had been…those people wouldn’t have accepted it. They pre-judged Eva Marie before she could really become Eva Marie.

Of course, the Internet reacted to Eva’s return the way you would expect. Trashed it and villified it without giving it a chance. “How dare Eva Marie come back when Mickie James, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce & others are fired”, they say.

Eva. Did. Not. Fire. Them.

But to hear these people tell it, you would have thought she handed all the released wrestlers their papers. So no, I wasn’t surprised when the mass outrage over Piper Niven being introduced as Eva Marie’s protege without a name happened. We know darn well that at least 75% of the people whining about the announcers ignoring Piper’s NXT UK lineage during that match never watched her on NXT UK. WWE wanted to tell a story of Eva bringing in this new girl to fight her battles for her, and the details could either be told later or swept under the rug depending on what worked best.

The Internet bitched & moaned, and Monday’s show seems to indicate they’re getting their way, as Eva & “Doudrop” already lost a match after Eva’s protege walked out on her. Which would have been fine if it wasn’t in their very first tag team match. I guess they’re taking a lesson from recent AEW booking, starting with the blowoff and going backwards from there. I don’t think it’s what Greg had in mind when he talked about booking backwards.

Anyway, I’m happy Eva’s back. Also happy you read this! Join me on the Twitter, let me know who you’re digging, and I’ll be back next month to do this thing again.

About Chairshot Radio Network

Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

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TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

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Classic POD is WAR

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Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Related Topics:AEW Featured Featured Big NXT ROH Top 5 WWE

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Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Money In The Bank

Extra, extra read all about it… Chairshot Staff picks are in!!!

Published

3 weeks ago

June 6, 2025

PC Tunney

Sing it with me… money money money money moneeeeeeeeeyeeeeee… everybody’s got a price! MONEY IN THE BANK is here!!! How money will our staff picks be?!?

AJ – Roxanne Perez
Andrew – Stephanie Vaquer – *Bubba Sparxxx Impression* I don’t tell stories, I let them tell theyself.
Dave – Guilia – A stacked field but I just like her here.
DJ – Naomi
DPP – Roxanne Perez
Jason – Alexa Bliss
Patrick – Roxanne Perez
Rey – Naomi – If Naomi loses, we riot!
Rob – Naomi
Greg – Alexa Bliss – Bliss has had huge reactions since returning and is moving a ton of merch. While I can see them wanting to build Roxanne Perez, Giulia, or Stephanie Vaquer, I think Alexa Bliss.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – I’ll make my case short and sweet… Mami in the Bank! You can’t leave that money on the table.

Chairshot Pick – Tie – Naomi 3 & Roxanne Perez 3 (Alexa Bliss 2, Giulia 1, Rhea Ripley 1, Stephanie Vaquer 1)

AJ – LA Knight
Andrew – El Grande Americano – Feels correct given his push and the fact he’s over.
Dave – Seth Rollins – Got to push that new faction.
DJ – LA Knight
DPP – El Grande Americano
Jason – LA Knight
Patrick – Solo Sikoa
Rey – LA Knight – Looks like another push, and he does have history with Cena.
Rob – Solo Sikoa
Greg – Seth Rollins – This company is extremely high in the El Grande Americano gimmick, but this match comes down to Seth Rollins or LA Knight. Given the Rollins storyline, it’s his briefcase to win.

Tunney’s Take: El Grande Americano – Picture this: Chad Gable wins the AAA Mega Championship and El Grande Americano wins MITB! WHAT A SATURDAY in LA!!!

Chairshot Pick – LA Knight 4 (El Grande Americano 3, Seth Rollins 2, Solo Sikoa 2)

AJ – Becky Lynch – Sadly
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I still don’t care about Lyra.
Dave – Lyra Valkyria – Starting to warm up to her and Becky has a lot to do with that.
DJ – Lyra Valkyria
DPP – Becky Lynch
Jason – Becky Lynch
Patrick – Lyra Valkyria
Rey – Becky Lynch – Put some fire on the Irish Beef.
Rob – Becky Lynch
Greg – Becky Lynch – I don’t think you do a rematch here just to have Becky lose again. Unless Bayley shows up to help Lyra.

Tunney’s Take: Becky Lynch – A big part of me feels that winning this title checks off a major box for Becks in her HOF career.

Chairshot Pick – Becky Lynch 8-3

AJ – Cena & Paul
Andrew – Rhodes & Uso – Easy way for Cena to lose without eating the pinfall.
Dave – Rhodes & Uso – Get the QB back on the winning track.
DJ – Rhodes & Uso
DPP – Rhodes & Uso
Jason – Cena & Paul
Patrick – Cena & Paul
Rey – Rhodes & Uso – Heels usually lose these kinds of matches. Logan takes the pin.
Rob – Cena & Paul
Greg – Rhodes & Uso – I hope Jey isn’t an afterthought here like Cody was last fall when he was paired up with Roman. I think Cody pins Cena to set up Cody-Cena 2 at SummerSlam.

Tunney’s Take: Cena & Paul – I don’t think Cena is involved in another loss until he loses the WWE Championship. I also think Logan Paul is NOT done trying to capture Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship. …Travis Scott in the house?

Chairshot Pick – 6-5 Rhodes & Uso

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

About Chairshot Radio Network

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FRIDAY – DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY – The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

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About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

2 months ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1