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The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 3/5: Lashley Wins WWE Title, Shaq Wrestles on AEW Dynamite, AEW Revolution PPV, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 5th March 2021

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday looking up what it took to impeach a governor in New York, and miss Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday googling the greatest transitional champions in history and missed Raw. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso to Compete in a Cage Match on Smackdown

This past week on Smackdown Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso competed against each other in the main event. If Bryan had been able to defeat Uso, he would then get to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at Fast Lane. Unfortunately for Bryan, the match ended in a double countout, which seemed to mean no Fastlane match for Bryan. After the match, Reigns came down to the ring and attacked Bryan, leaving him laying to end the show. Later on Talking Smack, Paul Heyman announced that Roman Reigns had authorized Bryan to have another match against Uso to earn the title shot at Fastlane. Bryan then asked for this match to be a Steel Cage Match, with Reigns accepting that stipulation. If Bryan loses the match, however, he has to publicly acknowledge Reigns as the best wrestler he’s ever been in the ring with. This will obviously be a very difficult thing for Bryan to do, as he wrestled The Great Khali in 2010. (TJRWrestling)

9. NXT to Have Two Big Title Matches Next Week

NXT is loading up their show for this coming Wednesday. This week it was announced that both the NXT Women’s and NXT Men’s Titles will be defended on the show. On the Women’s side, it will be champion Io Shari defending her title against former NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm. Also former champion and Undisputed Era member Adam Cole will once again try to become NXT Champion when he faces Finn Bálor. Aside from these two huge matches, NXT General Manager William Regal has promised an announcement that will change the landscape of NXT. Clearly, NXT is doing everything they can to try to win the ratings war, without having to cruise the wrestling convention scene looking for prospects. (TJRWrestling)

8. New Japan Pro Wrestling Unifies Championships

When most wrestling federations are creating new titles constantly, New Japan has decided to go a different route. This week it was announced that New Japan would be unifying the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships, creating a brand new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. A new title will be created and given to current IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi. New Japan will now hope that someday the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship can have the same heritage and prestige as the FTW and 24/7 Championships. (TJRWrestling)

7. NXT Takeover to Take Place on April 8th (Two Days Before WrestleMania)

An already jam-packed WrestleMania week has gotten even busier. It was announced this week that NXT will be holding their next Takeover event on Thursday, April 8th, just two days before WrestleMania 37 begins on April 10 and concludes on April 11. These shows will be in addition to the normal Raw, Smackdown and NXT shows that air every week normally. WWE may also do a Hall of Fame ceremony that weekend as well, but that has not been confirmed. What has been confirmed is John Canton’s carpal tunnel appointment on April 14th. (TJRWrestling)

6. Bianca Belair Chooses Sasha Banks for WrestleMania Match

Women’s Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair has finally chosen who she will face at WrestleMania 37. This week on Smackdown, Belair officially challenged Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at the Grandest Stage of them All. This huge match is certain to make history, as it will be the first time two African American women face each other for a major championship at WrestleMania. On Talking Smack, Belair stated that “if she wants to be the best she has to beat the best.” So clearly since Eva Marie has not yet come out of retirement, Belair decided to choose Banks. (TJRWrestling)

5. Paul Wight Debut’s on AEW Dynamite

Paul Wight appeared for AEW for the first time this week on Dynamite, after being employed by WWE for the last 22 years. Wight came out for an interview with Tony Schiavone, wearing his new AEW “No More BS” shirt. Wight then made a big reveal, saying that a Hall-of-Fame-worthy talent would be signing a contract with AEW during the Revolution pay-per-view. AEW CEO Tony Khan confirmed this news, stating that: “A major star in the world of wrestling—a huge, huge star—is going to come and sign a multi-year contract with AEW on Sunday at the pay-per-view.” Upon hearing this news both Eric Bischoff and Dixie Carter both texted Khan to ask him if he really thought it was a good idea to bring in another “big name legend” right now. (TJRWrestling)

4. NXT Possibly Moving to Tuesdays After WrestleMania

The Wednesday Night Wars may soon be coming to an end. It was reported by the MatMen Podcast this week that NXT will be moving to Tuesday nights starting April 13th. As of this writing, this report has not been confirmed, but Dave Meltzer did say there was “lots of smoke to the fire.” Of course, if this report was about either NJPW or AEW, it would have been “lots of smoke to the Blazing Inferno.” (TJRWrestling)

3. Shaq Wrestles on AEW Dynamite and Takes a Big Table Bump

The much-anticipated match pitting Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet against NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill, finally took place this week on Dynamite. Shaq got physical multiple times during the match and even took a table bump outside the ring. In the end, Shaq and Cargill were victorious when Cargill pinned Velvet to pick up the win. With this match, Shaq joins a long list of celebrities who have entered the ring, including Mr. T, Lawerence Taylor, Jay Leno and that guy who played in The Tooth Fairy. (TJRWrestling)

2. AEW: Revolution to Take Place This Sunday

AEW’s next big PPV titled Revolution is set to take place this Sunday at 8pm ET. So far, eight matches have been announced, including three title matches. Hikaru Shida will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against Ryo Mizunami. Also, MJF and Chris Jericho will try to become AEW Tag Team Champions when they face The Young Bucks. And in the Main Event of the evening, Kenny Omega will defend the AEW World Championship against Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match. Along with the title matches, the show will also feature the return to the ring of Sting for the first time since 2015. Sting will team up with Darby Allin to face Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a Street Fight. So tune in this Sunday to a show that will likely have at least three match of the year nominees for the 2021 Wrestling Observer Awards. (TJRWrestling)

1. Bobby Lashley Wins The WWE Heavyweight Championship on WWE Raw

Unfortunately for The Miz, his second reign as WWE Champion did not last long. This week on Raw, Bobby Lashley defeated The Miz in the main event to capture the WWE Title. The match was originally supposed to happen at the top of the 9 PM hour, but The Miz faked a stomach bug to delay the match. The match was then going to take place at 10 PM, but The Miz just ran out of the ring and got himself counted out. When the match finally did take place, it only took Lashley three minutes to defeat The Miz, and become the new WWE Champion. This is obviously the biggest moment in Lashley’s career as well as the greatest thing that a former Donald Trump representative has ever accomplished. (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 even Texas wants to restrict my language.)