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The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 9/4: Roman Reigns Wins WWE Universal Title, Free Agent Lesnar, AEW All Out, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 4th September 2020

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend Friday taking one last trip to Wakanda, and missed Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday trying to figure out how many title changes there have actually been in the last ten days, 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. Sami Zayn Returns on Smackdown

There are now two men carrying around Intercontinental Titles on Smackdown. After being away for almost five months due to the current health crisis, Sami Zayn made his return to Smackdown return last Friday. Zayn came out and confronted WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy, after Hardy successfully defeated Shinsuke Nakamura. Zayn was carrying his Intercontinental Title that was stripped from him on May 12th. Later in the show during a backstage interview, Zayn promised to right the wrong of Hardy pretending to be a champion. Zayn stated that he is from Montreal and therefore a real Intercontinental Champion in every sense of the word. WWE now has several title issues to fix, as they have one too many Intercontinental and 24/7 champions. (TJRWrestling)

9. Rey Mysterio Suffers a Torn Tricep

WWE will likely be down to just one Mysterio for the next couple months. Rey Mysterio and Dominic Mysterio were successful in defeating Seth Rollins and Murphy at Payback. Unfortunately for Rey however, he suffered a torn tricep during the match. Dominic ended up taking Rey’s place this week on Raw, losing in a match to Rollins. The injury luckily will not require surgery, but will put Rey on the shelf for the next two months. With Rey’s recent history of recovering from serious injuries however, he may be eyeing a quicker return. (TJRWrestling)

8. MauroRanalloLeavingNXT

NXT is going to have to find a new voice. NXT Commentator Mauro Ranallo announced this week on Facebook that he would be leaving WWE. Ranallo stated that he now wants to focus on other projects, as well as his family (his mom has been ill recently and we wish the family all the best) and himself. Ranallo has a well-documented history of battling Bi-Polar disorder, with there even being a documentary on Showtime about it called “Bipolar Rock N’ Roller.” It is unknown who will be tasked with trying to fill Ranallo’s spot on NXT, but Wade Barrett filled the role again this week and could become the permanent replacement along with Vic Joseph and Beth Phoenix. I have no doubt Barrett will do a great job in the role, but Mamma Mia will Ranallo be missed. (TJRWrestling)

7. Randy Orton to Face Drew McIntyre at Clash of Champions

Randy Orton will have another chance to win his 14th WWE World Championship later this month. This week on Raw, Orton was able to defeat Kevin Owens to qualify for a triple threat number one contender’s match later in the night. Orton defeated both Keith Lee and Seth Rollins in that match (he pinned Rollins), and will now face WWE Heavyweight Champion Drew McIntyre at Clash of Champions on Sunday, September 27th. McIntyre recently defeated Orton at SummerSlam, only to be the recipient of three punts from Orton the following night on Raw. These punts caused McIntyre to have a “fractured jaw”, putting him out of action for less time than a torn Tricep, but more time than losing an eyeball. (TJRWrestling)

6. New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Crowned

It was a great week for all those Nia Jax fans out there. The unlikely duo of Jax and Shayna Baszler were able to defeat Sasha Banks and Bayley at Payback this past Sunday, for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. This was Banks’ second title loss in a week, as she lost the Raw Women’s Championship to Asuka at SummerSlam the previous Sunday. With this win, Jax and Baszler will now be able to compete on Raw, Smackdown and NXT, because the one thing 2020 needs is more Nia Jax matches. (TJRWresting)

5. Bobby Lashley Captures the WWE United States Championship

Bobby Lashley is once again the WWE United States Champion. Lashley was able to defeat Apollo Crews at Payback this past Sunday to capture the title. This is actually Lashley’s second reign as US Champion, with him previously holding the title way back in 2006. The year 2006 was actually a memorable year for me personally, as my first son was born on September 3rd, 2006. So Happy birthday Ethan. Luckily for my wife, he did not have as big of a head as Lashley does. (TJRWrestling)

4. Brock Lesnar No Longer Under WWE Contract

A huge name in the world of professional wrestling is now a free agent. Brock Lesnar’s contract with WWE has run out, and the two sides have not been able to come to a new agreement at this time. WWE even went as far as removing all of Lesnar’s merchandise from WWEShop as well this week. Lesnar has not appeared for WWE since losing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36. Lesnar is now free to work for whomever is willing to sell their Kidney and first both child to afford him. (TJRWrestling)

3. NXT Title Still Vacant

One hour was not long enough to decide a new NXT Champion. A 4-way 60 minute Iron Match between Adam Cole, Finn Balor, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano was held this week on NXT to decide a new champion. The match ended in a tie between Adam Cole and Finn Bálor with each having two falls. Cole and Balor will now compete this Tuesday to crown a new champion. Hopefully we can finally get a new champion next week as I for one am tired of Vacant getting pushed so much and constantly shoved down our throats. (TJRWrestling)

2. AEW All Out to Take Place This Saturday

Just in case you haven’t had enough wrestling over the last few weeks, AEW All Out is scheduled to take place this Saturday night at 8pm ET. The show will feature matches including an AEW Women’s Championship match between champion Hikaru Shida and NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa. The AEW Tag Titles will be defended when champions Kenny Omega and Adam Page defend against FTR. Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy will try to settle their feud in the first-ever Mimosa Mayhem Match. And finally, the AEW World Championship will be on the line when Jon Moxley defends against MJF. So wrestling fans you can watch even more wrestling this weekend for a mere $49.99, or maybe actually spend time with the family instead and just let John Canton tell you what happened for free on TJRWrestling.net. (TJRWrestling)

1. Roman Reigns Turns Heel and Wins WWE Universal Championship at Payback

Bray Wyatt’s Universal Championship reign ended up being a short one. Roman Reigns was able to defeat Braun Strowman and Wyatt at Payback this past Sunday when he pinned Strowman to win the Universal Championship. With this win, Reigns was able to capture the very title he had to vacate due to leukemia (a form of cancer) two years ago. Reigns did not sign the contract to enter the match until it was well on its way, and both Strowman and Wyatt were both beaten down. Once in the match, it took Reigns less than four minutes to spear Strowman and win the title. Reigns was accompanied to the ring for the match by his new advocate Paul Heyman, who was shown with Reigns on last Friday’s Smackdown. Reigns will now be the top heel on Smackdown with Heyman by his side, as nothing says heel more than overcoming cancer to achieve your goals. (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 Mamma Mia I swear a lot.)