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The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 6/4: WWE Releases Wrestlers Including Braun Strowman, Britt Baker Wins AEW Women’s Title, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 4th June 2021

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday worrying about how WWE would bury Okada, and missed Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday remembering our nation’s heroes, and missed Raw. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Impact Wrestling Slammiversary to Have Live Fans

Impact Wrestling will follow in the footsteps of WWE and AEW and begin letting fans return to their shows. On July 17th, Impact will have live fans for their yearly Slammiversary PPV. Tickets will go on sale today at 10PMET, and will all be Super Premium VIP Tickets. Along with getting a ringside floor seat, the tickets come with a number of other perks. Each ticket holder will also get a lanyard, Slammiversary Poster and Shirt, commemorative photo with the X-Divison Title, Impact Swag and some soft drinks and snacks. The show will be held at Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. With all these amazing perks I have no doubt that Impact should be able to get all 12 of their fans to attend. (TJRWrestling)

9. Lio Rush Appears at AEW: Double or Nothing

Another former WWE champion appeared for AEW this week. Former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush appeared at AEW’s Double or Nothing Pay-Per-View as the Joker (wild card) in the casino battle royale match. Rush’s debut for AEW wasn’t overly successful, as he only lasted a short while before being eliminated by Matt Hardy and Private Party. The good news for Rush is he soon may have a lot of former co-workers to create a faction with in AEW. (TJRWrestling)

8. Two Title Matches Planned for Tonight’s Smackdown

Not one, not three, but two big title matches are planned for tonight’s Smackdown. Kevin Owens will attempt to once again become Intercontinental Champion when he faces Apollo Crews. Crews’ enforcer, Commander Azeez, has been banned from ringside for the match. Also, it will be a family affair when the Usos go against Dominik and Rey Mysterio for the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships. This may be the first time a team of twin brothers faces a father and son team in WWE, but honestly, I have not read all of John Canton’s 6 million articles to be sure. (TJRWrestling)

7. Fatal 5-Way NXT Championship Match Announced for NXT: In Your House

Karrion Kross will have to defend the NXT World Championship against four other men this month. During NXT this week, Kyle O’Reilly, Pete Dunne and Johnny Gargano faced off in a number one contender match. The conclusion of the match saw a returning Adam Cole take out all three men. Kross then asked NXT GM William Regal to face all three men and Adam Cole at NXT: In Your House for the NXT Championship. A match like this is risky for Kross because he could lose the title without being pinned. This match may also be risky for WWE in general, as with the way they are going, five guys may be their whole roster. (TJRWrestling)

6. Drew McIntyre to Face Bobby Lashley at WWE Hell in a Cell

KofiMania part II came to a sudden stop this week. This past Monday on Raw, Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre faced each other to see who face WWE World Champion Bobby Lashley at Hell in a Cell. After a great match, McIntyre hit Kingston with the Claymore kick to pick up the win. McIntyre and Lashley will now face each other for the third straight PPV at Hell in a Cell on June 20th. It is unknown if this match will take place inside the cell, with the hopes of finally ending this feud. Of course this feud could continue all the way to SummerSlam, as the only thing Vince likes more than a rematch is the ROLLUP OF DEATH~! (TJRWrestling)

5. SummerSlam to be held on Saturday, August 21st

The biggest party of the summer will be held on a Saturday this year. WWE announced this week that SummerSlam will be held on Saturday, August 21st at a city and venue not yet announced. It is heavily rumored that the event will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Nevada. It is unknown also why WWE chose to do the show on Saturday, especially with it being the same night as the big Manny Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence boxing fight. This is a big risk for WWE as Pacquiao and Spence will be throwing hands, while we now know nobody will be getting hands at SummerSlam.(TJRWrestling)

4. NJPW and WWE Rumored to be Discussing a Partnership

Dave Meltzer may be giving out a lot of 5-star ratings to WWE matches soon. It was reported over the last week by Meltzer that NJPW and WWE have been in discussions about working together. Reportedly, WWE President Nick Khan has been in discussion with NJPW since March or April, and wants WWE to be the exclusive American partner for NJPW. NJPW has recently worked with Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling and AEW, with AEW wrestler Jon Moxley currently holding the NJPW United States Championship. AEW CEO Tony Khan responded to these rumors, calling out Nick Khan. Tony Khan stated that “there’s only room for one Khan in the wrestling business, Nick, and it’s me. It’s Tony Khan, it’s not some con-man from Connecticut. Have a fun show tonight, Nick. See you on Dynamite.” Upon hearing this promo, Chaka Khan immediately ceased her plans to enter the wrestling world. (TJRWrestling)

3. Mark Henry Signs with AEW

Another aging Attitude Era star was able to find work with AEW this week. During AEW Double or Nothing, it was announced that WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry had joined the promotion. Henry is set to be a coach for the promotion, as well as do commentary on the new Rampage show on Friday nights. “The World’s Strongest Man” will appear this Friday on Dynamite, to give his first promo for the company. Henry will join a number of other past stars from the 1990’s who are now a part of the AEW roster. Hiring past-their-prime-wrestlers to large contracts may seem like a poor business decision until you realize how much money Tony Khan is going to make from a Blue Chew sponsorship. (TJRWrestling)

2. Britt Baker Wins the AEW Women’s Championship

Dr. Britt Baker is finally filling her destiny in AEW. This past Sunday at AEW: Double or Nothing, Baker faced AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida. At the finish of the match, Baker was able to apply her Lockjaw submission and make Shida tap out. Shida was actually just rewarded a brand new AEW Women’s Title belt this past Friday on Dynamite after holding the belt for over a year. This is without question the biggest accomplishment of Baker’s career, as before this all she has ever got was a little plaque. (TJRWrestling)

1. WWE Releases Multiple Superstars Including Former Universal Champion Braun Strowman

Another week, another set of releases for WWE this week. Although WWE making cuts is not shocking anymore, who they released certainly was. This week WWE came to terms with the releases of former Universal Champion Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Lana, Ruby Riott, Buddy Murphy and Santana Garrett. Many of these superstars had been used in storylines recently, with Strowman wrestling for the WWE Championship at the last PPV, WrestleMania Backlash. WWE, who made record profits last year, reportedly blamed the releases on budget cuts. Although WWE may be having financial issues, I on the other hand have made a cool 12 cents on my Hefty stock! (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 a call from John Laurinaitis then feel free to listen to my brand new podcast The Smark And The Noob and follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1.