Features

The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 6/25: WWE Money in the Bank Qualifiers, Diamond Mine Debuts, Superheroes, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 25th June 2021

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday trying to pick out the perfect tie for your father, and missed Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday trying to figure out what a Doudrop is, and missed Raw. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Arn Anderson’s Son Brock Debuts on AEW Dynamite

Arn Anderson got an early Father’s Day present this past Friday on AEW Dynamite. Arn’s son Brock Anderson made his AEW debut, teaming up with Cody Rhodes to face QT Marshall and Aaron Solow. Brock ended up pinning Solow for the win in the match while his father watched from ringside. Having your son follow in your footsteps is every father’s dream, and why I have already bought both my sons the “1001 exceptionally bad jokes” book. (TJRWrestling)

9. WWE to Return to Madison Square Garden on September 10th

WWE is scheduled to return to the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” It was reported this week that the September 10th episode of Friday Night Smackdown will take place in Madison Square Garden in NYC. Interestingly, it was reported last week that AEW would be holding Dynamite 12 days later in Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY. We will have to wait and see which show will be better and draw the most homeless people and scalpers outside of the arena. (TJRWrestling)

8. SummerSlam Almost Sold Out

WWE is going to have their biggest crowd in over a year on August 21st. Tickets for SummerSlam at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas went on sale on June 18th and reportedly are almost sold out. WWE is hoping to have over 41,00o fans in attendance for the event, and are reportedly have some big plans for the show. Names such as John Cena, Edge, Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar have already been rumored for the show. It is unknown who these huge names would face, but knowing WWE it will most likely be someone they have wrestled multiple times already. (TJRWrestling)

7. Cody Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes Announce Birth of Daughter

The Nightmare Family got a brand new member this week. Cody and Brandi Rhodes announced on Instagram this week, the birth of their daughter Liberty Iris Runnels. Liberty was born just a few days after fellow AEW Superstar Jon Moxley and his wife Renee Paquette gave birth to their daughter Nora. With two births, this must have been the most exciting week for AEW in at least nine months. (TJRWrestling)

6. Piper Niven’s Name Changed to Doudrop

Suddenly, Chad Gable is probably thinking that Shorty G was not that bad. This week during a backstage interview on Raw, Eva Marie introduced the former Piper Niven as her new protege with the name of…Doudrop. Doudrop could be seen mouthing “Piper” before Marie introduced her, and was noticeably upset over the name. Later in the evening, Doudrop ended up leaving Marie during a tag match against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, causing Marie to get pinned. Hopefully, this means that the name is going to be temporary, as just writing the word Doudrop makes me question my life choices. (TJRWrestling)

5. Nikki Cross Gets a New Superhero Gimmick

The Avengers may be getting a new teammate real soon. This week during a backstage promo on Raw, Nikki Cross debuted a new superhero persona. Dressed in a mask, cape and full spandex costume with a butterfly on it, Cross gave an inspirational speech. Cross stated that she wanted to share the spark in her heart, and that this new look embodies everything we all have inside of us – spirit. Cross then went on to team with Alexa Bliss and defeat Eva Marie and Doudrop later in the night. With this win, both Cross and Bliss qualified for the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match on July 18th. Cross’s new persona was instantly compared to the Mighty Molly persona that Molly Holly portrayed in 2001. Cross reportedly came up with this idea on her own, as the Raw writing team was too busy trying to figure out the most clever way to spell Doudrop. (TJRWrestling)

Nikki Cross

4. The Diamond Mine Debuts on NXT

After weeks of MMA-themed vignettes, The Diamond Mine finally debuted during this week’s NXT. The Main Event of the show saw Kyle O’Reilly defeat NXT Cruiserweight champion Kushida. After the match, a masked man attacked Kushida. The masked man then removed his mask, to reveal that he was a returning Roderick Strong. Tyler Rust, Hideki Suzuki and Malcolm Bivens then joined Strong in the ring, as the group stood over Kushida. Bivens then introduced themselves as The Diamond Mine, to boos from the crowd. The group’s hatred is likely due to their actions as well as the fact that many men in the audience have had to work a second job due to diamonds in the past. (TJRWrestling)

3. Kenny Omega Defends AEW World Title vs. Jungle Boy This Saturday on AEW Dynamite

Jungle Boy will finally get his AEW World Championship Match against Kenny Omega. Jungle Boy earned the title opportunity by winning the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing last month. Dynamite is being held on Saturday this week due to the NBA Playoffs and will be the first live Dynamite in several weeks. Jungle Boy is famously the son of the late actor Luke Perry. Most people are not giving Jungle Boy much hope, but if he is as good at taking belts as his father was at taking my high school girlfriend’s attention I think he has a chance. (TJRWrestling)

2. Raw Women’s and Men’s World Championship Matches Set For Money in the Bank

Both Bobby Lashley and Rhea Ripley found out their opponents for Money in the Bank on July 18th. This past Sunday at Hell in a Cell, Charlotte Flair defeated Ripley via disqualification. Due to this, Charlotte will now have another opportunity at Ripley’s Raw Women’s Title at Money in the Bank. As for Lashley, he was successful in defeating Drew McIntyre at Hell in a Cell, meaning that McIntyre can never challenge Lashley for the WWE World Championship again. Due to this, Lashley needed a new opponent for Money in the Bank, with Kofi Kingston stepping up to the challenge. Kingston will now once again get a chance to become WWE Champion when he faces Lashley at Money in the Bank. This will be the first time that two African American men have competed one-on-one for the WWE World Championship on PPV. Charlotte and Ripley will actually also be historic, as it will be the 6,874th rematch that WWE has put on this year. (TJRWrestling)

1. Wrestlers Qualify for Both Men’s and Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Matches

With Money in the Bank just around the corner on July 18th, several men and women qualified for the Money in the Bank Ladder Matches on Raw. On the Women’s side, Asuka and Naomi defeated Doudrop and Eva Marie in a tag match to qualify. Also in another tag match, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defeated Shana Baszler and Nia Jax to also qualify for the match. The men’s side saw Ricochet get the upset victory over AJ Styles to qualify. John Morrison also upset Randy Orton to qualify for the match. And finally, Riddle defeated Drew McIntyre to earn his spot. Orton, McIntyre and Styles will actually face each other this week on Raw in a second chance qualifier match. We also still do not know who will be representing Smackdown in either the Men’s or Women’s match. Whoever is victorious in the qualifying matches will then hope to do better then the last guy who won the briefcase, and not lose just the briefcase but his beard and girlfriend as well. (TJRWrestling)

That will conclude another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. Thank you for taking the time to read this each week. I will be back next week with even more bad jokes! If you like what I do, despite my jokes being as bad as naming your kid Doudrop, then feel free to listen to my brand new podcast The Smark And The Noob and follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1.