Most Valuable Elitist #153

Rising Star of the Week

Mali Evans

With a victory over the former Openweight Champion, Andrea Valentine, Mali Evans takes this week’s spot as Rising Star of the Week. Mali is someone who has fallen under the radar. Despite being part of one out of the two stables on Empire, next to Jaded Wolfe Hearts, Mali was someone who was struggling to get out of that particular shadow and get people to pay attention to her. There is no denying that this young woman is talented and has a bright future ahead of her, but a victory over a woman who defeated three of REVOLT!’s finest champions at Pain for Pride, this marks the biggest victory in her career so far. The only way that she can exceed that victory is by being part of the winning team and win the Winner Takes All Match on Empire. There were not many people who expected for Mali to get the victory last week and Mali was able to prove those people wrong. Can it be the same thing this week? We’ll have to see about that.

Beef of the Week

See MOTW

Show of the Week

Empire

I might be sounding like a broken record at this point and there are certain people that are sick with Empire getting Show of the Week frequently than the other brands, but I felt like the last episode of Empire was the most put together and I felt like a lot of angles got the proper time it needed to get people invested in them. The show began with Flannery McCoy and Kendra Shamez praising their efforts at Territorial Invasion, but the biggest thing out of that segment was reminding the crowd and those at home about what was significant about the month of October and it marks a year since the passing of Brody Sparks. It was announced that the next week would be the Brody Sparks Memorial Show and it will be a wonderful way to keep the legacy of Brody alive. One of the most talked about moments on the last week of Empire revolved around rivals, Astraea Jordan and Stephanie Matsuda. The two women made a truce to kill Madison Kaline. :lupe: I did not think we condoned murder in EAW. Another talked about moment was Remi McQueen and the backstage meeting with the rest of The Pride. Constance Blevins was announced as the newest member of The Pride. We also saw tension with Layla Lockhart and Remi McQueen. I am not sure if Layla is going to turn heel or if Remi is just showing frustration with everything that has gone on with her, but Layla better makes the decision of where she stands or else. As for Match of the Week…

Match of the Week

Madison Kaline vs. Raven Roberts

Madison Kaline vs. Raven Roberts takes its spot as Match of the Week! I thought it was a fantastic main event! It was competitive as well. Raven and Madison looked great from beginning to end! I thought these were two competitors that really meshed well. I was kind of sad that we didn’t get a victory in this match, but I thought it was best if left that way. Madison had just returned and she needed to look as scary as ever. Raven had just won the New Breed Championship an needs to be looked like gold in the ring. I love that we got a great main event. The aftermath of this match with Stephanie Matsuda and Astraea Jordan was out of control and I did not see this reaching that point. They took out Madison, but seeing their hatred and begin attacking the officials just made me know that this was very personal and it will continue to be that way. One of the bigger shocks of the night was Flannery McCoy suspending both Astraea and Stephanie which means that they will not take part in the Brody Sparks Memorial Show. That surprised me and it showed that Flannery was not going to take anyone’s shit anymore.

Champion of the Week

Diamond Cage

Diamond Cage successfully retained his EAW Championship against TLA and Cody Marshall at Territorial Invasion and on the last episode of Showdown, he retained against Terry Chambers. I am still amazed at the fact that we are being blessed with these title reigns on typical episodes of Showdown. It makes things a billion times more exciting for me. At the same time, it makes me wonder if Cage will end up running out of opponents by the time this year ends. Just when we thought that we could be running out of competition to face the EAW Champion, we are surprised. Not only do we have Chris Elite using the Gawd Contract to his advantage, but we also have Scott Diamond getting switched onto Showdown? To me, it makes me wonder if Scott will be next in line for an EAW Championship Match at No Regards. I do think that he and Chris will be a major help in making sure that the Showdown brand has the best roster possible. I am looking forward to seeing how the end of 2018 shapes up for Cage. There are only two months of 2018 and before you know it, it will be all over.

Most Valuable Elitist

MarrKade

It should have been obvious. MarrKade takes this week’s spot as the Most Valuable…Elitists? Not only are they Co-National Elite Champions, but they are Unified Tag Team Champions! I knew that this was bound to happen this season. They put on an amazing performance at Pain for Pride and surprised the world by becoming co-champions. They defeated a difficult team to beat in Drillmatic and I was pretty surprised to see them drop the titles. However, I am happy for Daryl Kinkade and Charlie Marr. I don’t know what’s about Rex McAllister, but just being around these two have gotten them fantastic results. However, they are Tag Team Champions, what is next for them? Does Drillmatic get their rematch? If the Tag Team Grand Prix returns soon, I can see this opening the door for a lot of potential matchups. We could use as many teams as possible and it is highly encouraged for people to form teams and alliances, but with MarrKade as champions, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. :krabs: Anyway, congratulations to Daryl and Charlie! You went from NEO boys to double ( or is it one and a half because co) champions. The sky’s the limit for these boys!