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The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 10/2: WWE NXT Takeover, New IC Champ, WWE Draft Dates, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 2nd October 2020

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday daydreaming about a shirtless Roman Reigns and forgot to watch Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday calling your accountant to find out why you pay more in taxes than the President, and missed RAW. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week to catch you up.

10. Dana Brooke Joins Mandy Rose on RAW

Several weeks ago it was reported that The Miz was able to pull some strings and get Mandy Rose moved to RAW. Rose finally debuted (or returned) on RAW this week but did not come alone. When WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler could not defend the titles due to the current health crisis, Lana and Natalya came to the ring and demanded they vacate the titles. WWE Official Adam Pearce interrupted them, however, saying that he will not strip Jax and Baszler, but will give Lana and Natalya a match against the newest tag team on RAW instead. Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke then came to the ring and were able to defeat Lana and Natalya in the match. It is unclear why Brooke was traded to RAW and if Smackdown will get any compensation for her in the future. One thing seems for sure, however, with WWE now just moving superstars from brand to brand, there must not be plans for a draft any time soon. (TJRWrestling)

9. WWE Draft to be Held October 9th and 12th

WWE’s rosters are about to be shaken up once again. WWE announced that they will be holding a draft on both the October 9th episode of Smackdown and the October 12th episode of RAW. It is still unknown at this time what the format for the draft will be, or if NXT wrestlers will be included. Even without knowing the format, WWE fans should still be excited that they may finally get to see that dream match of Bayley vs. Asuka. (TJRWrestling)

8. Randy Orton Attacks Multiple WWE Legends

Things started well, but ended very badly for four WWE legends this week. Christian, Ric Flair, The Big Show and Shawn Michaels all got revenge against Randy Orton in his match against WWE Heavyweight Champion Drew McIntyre at Clash of the Champions. Christian, Michaels and Big Show all interfered in the match, causing Orton to lose the match by being placed in an ambulance that ended up being driven away by Flair. The four legends then appeared the following night on RAW, celebrating with McIntyre before going backstage for a poker game. Randy Orton interrupted the poker game, however, while being dressed in disguise as a janitor. Orton proceeded to turn off the lights and put on night vision goggles, before attacking all four legends with a steel chair. It is unclear if Orton’s actions have put any future Saudi Shows in jeopardy. (TJRWrestling)

7. Robert Roode Returns to RAW

RAW was Glorious this past Monday. WWE Heavyweight Champion Drew McIntyre issued an open challenge for the main event of RAW. After the challenge was made, Dolph Ziggler was shown speaking to WWE Producer Adam Pierce. Ziggler did not campaign for himself for the match, however, with it instead being Ziggler’s former tag team partner Robert Roode returning to face McIntyre. Roode ended up losing to McIntyre, in what was a hard-fought match. Roode, who is Canadian, has been out of the WWE since March due to travel restrictions. Roode will now likely once again team with Ziggler to rejoin a WWE Tag Division that is more of a s**t-show right now than the Presidential Debate was. (TJRWrestling)

6. WWE Continues to Tease a Relationship Between Murphy and Aaliyah Mysterio

A budding relationship between the 32-year-old Murphy and the 19-year-old Aaliyah Mysterio seems to be growing on RAW. The resident expert on age-gap relationships, Jerry “The King” Lawler, hosted the entire Mysterio Family for a segment of the “King’s Court.” The segment ended up being interrupted by Seth Rollins, who had stolen Murphy’s phone earlier in the night. Rollins revealed a text conversation between Aaliyah and Murphy, in which Aaliyah wished Murphy a Happy Birthday. This caused both Aaliyah to storm out of the ring and Murphy to confront Rollins backstage. Murphy was attacked by Dominik Mysterio before he could strike Rollins however, setting up a match between Murphy and Dominik for later in the night. The match ended when Aaliyah stopped Dominik from attacking Murphy with a Kendo Stick, causing him to get caught in the dreaded ROLLUP OF DEATH by Murphy. Aaliyah then proceeded to once again prevent Dominik from attacking Murphy, leading to an argument between the siblings that ended with Aaliyah slapping her brother. Many people have expressed outrage over a romantic storyline between a 19-year-old woman and 32-year-old man, including Lawler who feels that they are just way too close in age. (TJRWrestling)

5. Cody And Brodie Lee to Compete in a Dog Collar Match

A huge match was announced for next week’s AEW: Dynamite episode. Last week on Dynamite, a new dark-haired Cody attacked Brodie Lee. Lee was so enraged by the attack, that he challenged Cody to a dog collar match for Lee’s TNT Championship. This week on Dynamite, Cody came to the ring and officially accepted the match for next week on Dynamite. After the match was official, Lee came to the ring and brawled with Cody for several minutes before finally being separated by officials and other wrestlers. A Dog Collar Match is a violent and extreme way to settle any dispute, and consequently is also possibly being suggested for the format for the next presidential debate. (TJRWrestling)

Cody Rhodes

4. Female Retribution Members Get Names

Now all five of the core members of Retribution have catchy new names. Last week on RAW, it was announced that the three male members of the group are now going by T-BAR, MACE and SLAPJACK. Not wanting to leave out the female members of the group, WWE gave them fun, clever names as well. The superstar formally known as Mia Yim will now be known as Reckoning and the former Mercedes Martinez is now Retaliation. It is unknown at this time if BEBOP, ROCKSTEADY and SHREDDER will also be joining the group. (TJRWrestling)

https://twitter.com/reckoningrtrbtn/status/1310244968078938119?s=21

3. Current Health Crisis Wreaks Havoc With WWE’s Plans

The current health crisis once again wreaked havoc on WWE’s plans this week. The WWE Women’s Title match at Clash of the Champions had to be cancelled when both Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler were not cleared to compete. The changes did not stop there as the planned match between Bayley and Nikki Cross had to be changed to Bayley vs. Asuka, when Cross could not be cleared. The virus continued to wreck havoc with RAW’s plans as well, with there being no RAW Underground segments or any sign of Retribution on the show. Luckily for RAW, they had big name superstars like Aaliyah Mysterio to fill up three hours of television. (TJRWrestling)

2. Sami Zayn Wins WWE Intercontinental Championship

It did not take long for Sami Zayn to regain the WWE Intercontinental Championship. After being forced to relinquish the championship last May due to the current health crisis, Zayn once again won the title this past Sunday at Clash of the Champions. Zayn won the title by defeating both former champion Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles in an absolutely fantastic ladder match. The finish of the match saw Zayn handcuff both Hardy and Styles, allowing him to climb the ladder to capture the title. To make this even more brutal, Zayn handcuffed Hardy to the ladder through his ear lobe piercing. Losing the Intercontinental Championship in this manner must have been really EAR-itating for Hardy. (TJRWrestling)

1. NXT Takeover 31 to Take Place This Sunday

This Sunday, October 4th NXT will hold their 31st Takeover event. The event has a total of five matches scheduled so far, including four title matches. In the only match not for a title, The Velveteen Dream will go one-on-one with Kushida. The NXT Cruiserweight Championship will be decided when champion Santos Escobar defends against Isiah “Swerve” Scott. Johnny Gargano will once again try to become NXT North American champion when he faces Damien Priest. The NXT Women’s Title will be up for grabs when champion Io Shari defends against Candice LeRae. And finally in the main event NXT Heavyweight Champion Finn Bálor will defend against Kyle O’Reilly. So, tune in this Sunday for what will likely be a night of quality wrestling, or at the very least over two hours of entertainment without a single political ad! (TJRWrestling)

That will conclude another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. As always, if you like what I do, please follow me on Facebook and Twitter @BackseatBookers and listen to my podcast The BackseatBookers. (Please be aware that it is explicit as I swear more then Chris Wallace after the debate.)