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Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 11/18: AEW Full Gear, New WWE Survivor Series Matches, The Usos Make History, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 18th November 2022
aew jon moxley mjf

Welcome back, TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday trying to figure out who to blame when your endorsed candidates did so badly, and missed WWE Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday checking Justin Jefferson’s glove for Super Glue and missed Raw.

Worry not for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Paul Wight Appears as Captain Insano on AEW Dynamite

If you are a fan of movies from nearly 25 years ago, boy do I have some good news for you. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, The Acclaimed debuted their new music video titled “A Hand for a Hand.” Featured in this video was Paul Wight, playing his character Captain Insano from the 1998 Adam Sandler movie Waterboy. For those of you who may have not been alive when this movie came out, it featured Sandler going from being a “waterboy” to a star Linebacker for a college football team. It is unknown if Tony Khan is going to try to find a giant diaper, so Wight can rehash some of his other former gimmicks as well. (TJRWrestling)

9. Sarah Logan Returns to Smackdown

Yet another return happened this past Friday on Smackdown. After several weeks of vignettes of a mystery woman appearing with The Viking Raiders Tag Team of Erik and Ivar, it was officially revealed to be a returning Sarah Logan this week. Logan and The Viking Raiders made an immediate impact on Smackdown, attacking both Hit Row and Legado del Fantasma. Logan and Erik have actually been married since 2018, and recently had a baby boy together. Logan’s appearance was not met with all positivity however, as she was accused by some of the internet wrestling community to have stolen her new look from indy wrestler Max the Impaler. Interestingly, most of the people complaining had seemingly stolen their new look from Bastion Booger. (TJRWrestling)

sarah logan viking raiders wwe

9. Mia Yim and Rhea Ripley Join Women’s WarGames Match

Two more women have decided to compete in WarGames at Survivor Series on November 26th. This past Monday on Raw, Damage CTRL attempted to recruit Mia Yim to be the final member of their WarGames team. Later in the evening, Yim announced that she will compete in WarGames, but for the other team made up of Asuka, Bianca Belair, and Alexa Bliss. Damage CTRL did not have to wait long to find the fifth member of their team, however, as Rhea Ripley approached them in a backstage segment to tell them she would join their team. Yim, Asuka, Bliss and Belair still need to find a fifth member for their team, but likely can wait to see who Triple H decides to bring back next week. (TJRWrestling)

7. First Ever Iron Survivor Challenge Match to Take Place at NXT Deadline

A brand new match concept is set to debut on December 10th at NXT’s next PLE Deadline. This past Tuesday on NXT, Shawn Michaels announced that there will be both a Men’s and Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge Match at NXT Deadline. The matches will start with two competitors in the ring, with a new competitor entering the match every five minutes until there are five competitors in the match. There will be a 25-minute time limit for the match, with the goal being to score the most pinfalls or submissions in the match before the time ends. If a superstar loses a fall, they will be put in a 90-second penalty box before then reentering the match. Whoever wins the matches will become the new number-one contender for the NXT Men’s and Women’s Championships. Vince McMahon did his own personal Survivor Match in 2021, but that had more dire consequences for the 80+ superstars who lost. (TJRWrestling)

6. Kevin Owens Suffers Knee Injury

The year 2022 started out on a real high for Kevin Owens, with him facing “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the Main Event of WrestleMania 38 night one. Since then however, things have not been as great. Owens has only been featured on one PLE match since then, defeating Ezekiel at Hell in a Cell in June. This year seemingly got worse for Owens this week, as he reportedly suffered a knee injury at a live event this past Sunday. Interestingly, Owens is heavily rumored to be the fifth man on Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and The Brawling Brutes WarGames team facing The Bloodline at Survivor Series. It is unclear at this time how severe the injury is, and if will be able to compete in that match. Hopefully when Owens does return he will get the push he deserves, and won’t have to be fired by Vince McMahon before Triple H will feature him. (TJRWrestling)

Kevin Owens

5. Shotzi to Challenge Ronda Rousey for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Survivor Series

There is a new number-one contender for Ronda Rousey’s Smackdown Women’s Championship. This past Friday on Smackdown, Shotzi defeated Xia Li, Lacey Evans, Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and Sonya Deville in a Six-Pack Challenge match. With the win, Shotzi has earned the right to face Rousey for the title at Survivor Series on November 26th. It likely will not be all good news for Shotzi however, as her match with Rousey will probably be a Tankless Job. (TJRWrestling)

4. AJ Styles to Face Finn Balor at Survivor Series

The leaders of The OC and Judgement Day are set to go one-on-one at Survivor Series on November 26th. This past Monday on Raw, AJ Styles Challenged Finn Bálor to the match, with Bálor accepting later in the night. Bálor and Styles have a long history with each other, with both men being former leaders of The Bullet Club faction in NJPW. Incredibly, it has been over three years since Styles has won a singles match at a PLE, which is almost as bad of a fall from grace as the LA Rams. (TJRWrestling)

3. The Usos Become the Longest Reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in History

The Usos added another incredible milestone to their already Hall of Fame career this week. This past Friday on Smackdown, The Usos successfully defended the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championships against The New Day, to officially become the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions in history. With the win, The Usos have now held the WWE Tag Team Championships for an incredible 488 days and counting, surpassing The New Day’s record of 483 days. The Usos have actually held the Tag Team Championships an incredible eight times in their career, with them seemingly being unstoppable as long as they actually made it to the arena. (TJRWrestling)

2. The Elite to Return This Saturday at AEW Full Gear

After being forced to vacate the AEW World Trios Championship in September after the now infamous AEW backstage melee, The Elite will get a chance to regain their titles tomorrow night. This week on Dynamite it was revealed that Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks will return to challenge Death Triangle for the Trios Titles at Full Gear. It is unclear at this time if Omega and The Bucks will continue to be EVP’s for the company, and also if they have found a blind referee yet to officiate all their matches. (TJRWrestling)

1. AEW Full Gear to Take Place This Saturday Night

AEW’s next PPV titled Full Gear is scheduled to take place this Saturday at 8PM ET. A staggering 11 matches have been announced for the show (so far), including Wardlow defending the TNT Championship against Samoa Joe and Powerhouse Hobbs. Death Triangle will defend the AEW Trios Titles against The Elite. Luchasaurus and “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry will try to settle their differences inside a steel cage. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal will face Sting and Darby Allen in a tag-team match. Saraya will have her return match against Dr. Britt Baker. Jade Cargill will defend the AEW TBS Championship against Nyla Rose. Chris Jericho will defend the ROH Championship in a Fatal-Four Way Match against Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli and Sammy Guevara. Toni Storm will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against Jamie Hayter. The Acclaimed will defend the AEW Tag Team Championships against Swerve in Our Glory.

Finally, MJF will try to capture the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley. This will obviously be a very long show with a lot of matches, and that is before you include the Buy-In and post-media scrum matches. (TJRWrestling)

That concludes another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. Although I often joke, I have recently started refereeing with NYCW and FCWA, and respect more than ever what wrestlers do every week. I wrote an article all about it all right here. If you like what I do, despite my jokes being almost as bad as another four years of Trump as president. Then follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1. Thank you for taking the time to read this each week.