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The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 7/16: WWE Money in the Bank, Bayley Injured, Paul Orndorff Passes Away, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 16th July 2021

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday trying to find more women for your dwindling roster and miss Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday mourning someone who was Wonderful and missed Raw. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox Debut on Smackdown

NXT’s Women’s division lost two big names over the last week. This past Friday on Smackdown, Shotzi Blackheart (now going as just Shotzi) and Tegan Nox debuted in a match against Natalya and Tamina. Shotzi and Nox were then victorious in their debut match, defeating the champions in about four minutes. We will have to wait and see if Shotzi and Nox can continue their dominance even though they have lost their Heart. (TJRWrestling)

9. AEW Changes Design of TNT Title

Miro is carrying a brand new title belt in AEW. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, AEW showed a pre-taped promo of Miro. During the promo, Miro referred to himself as “The Redeemer” as he showed off a newly designed TNT Title. The new title belt has a white strap with green on the main plate. This is actually the fourth iteration of this title in a little over a year, meaning that Tony Khan will probably soon form a TNT Title belt faction. (TJRWrestling)

8. Toni Storm to Debut on Smackdown

Smackdown is about to get a much-needed addition to its women’s roster. This past Friday on Smackdown, a teaser vignette was aired for former NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm. There is no word on when Storm will be debuting, but the vignette did say “coming soon.” It may take a while a while for WWE to figure out how to debut Storm, as there is no one on the main roster she can have a rematch against. (TJRWrestling)

7. Ricky Starks Wins the FTW Title

The one title possibly worse than the WWE 24/7 championship changed hands on AEW Dynamite. During the FTW Title match between Ricky Starks and champion Brian Cage, Team Taz Members Powerhouse Hobbs and Hook (Taz’s son), turned on Cage costing him the win. Taz was on commentary for the match and was thrilled with the outcome. The FTW Title was resurrected and given to Cage by Taz a little over a year ago, and was defended a total of one time on Dynamite and three times total before this match. On a similar note, I would like to declare myself the TJR Wrestling Columnist World Champion and will announce when and if I defend the title on a later date. (TJRWrestling)

6. Mandy Rose Returns to NXT

Dana Brooke is going to have to find a new tag team partner. This past Tuesday, Mandy Rose made a surprising return to NXT. Rose appeared on the ramp during a match between Sarray and Gigi Dolin, causing both competitors to stop wrestling. After Sarray won the match, Rose quickly left up the ramp. Rose then appeared later in a segment with the Robert Stone Brand. Rose walked up to Franky Monet, Jessi Kamea and Robert Stone, and stated that it looked like the Robert Stone Brand is under new management. Monet laughed at this as Rose walked away. It is unclear why WWE choose to move Rose to NXT, but with Eva Marie now on Raw, WWE may have felt that Rose’s ASSets were better used somewhere else. What we do know is TJRWrestling’s John Canton suddenly likes NXT even more now. (TJRWrestling)

5. Karrion Kross Attacks Samoa Joe

It looks like we may finally get to see Samoa Joe wrestle once again. This past Tuesday on NXT, Joe was the special guest enforcer for the NXT World Title Match between Johnny Gargano and Karrion Kross. After Kross was victorious in the match, tensions rose between Joe and Kross. When Joe went to walk away, Kross attacked him and choked him out. Joe has not competed in a match since February 2020 after suffering a concussion during a commercial shoot. Although tragic, as you can see in the video below it was not the worst thing to ever happen in a wrestling commercial. (TJRWrestling)

4. WWE Holds its Final Show in the Thunderdome

The Thunderdome era is finally over in the WWE. The Thunderdome began almost a year ago in August of 2020, as a way for WWE to have virtual fans in attendance during the pandemic. This past Monday’s Raw was the last show from the Thunderdome. Tonight’s Smackdown, and every show hopefully from then on, will have live fans in attendance. So finally wrestling fans do not have to watch WWE for a computer screen, and can instead stare at their phone screens while attending it live like the good old days. (TJRWrestling)

3. “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff Passes Away at the Age of 71

The wrestling world lost a legend this week. This past Monday, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff’s son Travis posted that his father had passed away at the age of 71 after a long battle with dementia. Orndorff wrestled throughout the 80’s and 90’s, and memorably was in the Main Event of WrestleMania I when he teamed with Rowdy Roddy Piper against Mr. T and Hulk Hogan. Orndorff would continue to be a star in the WWF for several years, before moving to WCW where he is a former TV and Tag Team Champion. Orndorff’s career was immortalized in 2005 when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. I would like to personally send my condolences to the entire Orndorff family and thank Paul for helping to make my childhood truly Wonderful. (TJRWrestling)

2. Bayley Sidelined Nine Months Due to Knee Injury

Although the Smackdown women’s roster gained some talent this past week, it lost a big one as well. This past Friday during a training session at the NXT Performance Center, Bayley suffered a torn ACL. Bayley is expected to miss nine months due to the injury, meaning that she may miss WrestleMania next year. Bayley was supposed to face Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship this Sunday at Money in the Bank. Belair will now defend the championship against Carmella tonight on Smackdown, with no Smackdown Women’s Title Match now scheduled for MITB. Bayley posted a video and actually blamed the fans for her injury. Although maybe upsetting to some, this did not bother me personally at all, as I am used to women blaming me for things. (TJRWrestling)

1. Money in the Bank to Take Place This Sunday

WWE’s Money in the Bank is scheduled to take place this Sunday at 8pm ET. Six matches have been announced, including Omos and AJ Styles defending the Raw Tag Team Championships against The Viking Raiders. Rhea Ripley will defend the Raw Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair. Kofi Kingston will try to become WWE World Champion when he faces Bobby Lashley. Roman Reigns will try to continue his dominance when he defends the Universal Championship against Edge. The Women’s Money in the Bank Briefcase will be on the line when Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Nikki ASH (Cross), Liv Morgan, Zelina Vega, Natalya and Tamina face off in a ladder match. Finally, the Men’s Briefcase will also be decided in a ladder match when Ricochet, John Morrison, Riddle, Drew McIntyre, Big E, Kevin Owens, King Shinsuke Nakamura and Seth Rollins face off. Last year’s Men’s MITB winner Otis is not on the card this year, as he is too busy trying to find the personality he lost. (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 Otis’ career trajectory, then feel free to listen to my brand new podcast The Smark And The Noob and follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1.