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The 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 8/5: Ric Flair’s Last Match, Bayley Returns to WWE, Becky Lynch Injured, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 5th August 2022
ric flair last match robe

Welcome back, TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday tractor shopping, and missed WWE Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday trying to figure out what you are going to do after not dying in your last match, and missed Raw.

Worry not for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. AEW Battle of the Belts III to Take Place This Saturday

AEW’s third Battle of the Belts event is scheduled to take place this Saturday night at 8 PM ET on TNT. So far three title matches are scheduled for the event including Jay Lethal’s attempt to capture the TNT Championship from Wardlow. Also, Thunder Rosa will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against Jamie Hayter. Finally, Claudio Castagnoli will defend his newly won ROH World Championship against Konosuke Takeshita. It is unknown when AEW will have the other 12 Battle of the Belts that they’ll need in order to feature every title. (TJRWrestling)

9. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance Capture the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships

Kayden Carter and Katana Chance are finally champions. This past Tuesday on NXT 2.0, Chance and Carter defeated Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne), Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon, and Ivy Nile & Tatum Paxley to capture the vacant NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Carter and Chance have been teaming together since 2018, with this being their first time as champions. The NXT Women’s titles became vacant when Cora Jade turned on her partner, Roxanne Perez, and proceeded to throw her title in the trash. Hopefully WWE can now keep their women’s titles out of trash cans and off of desks, and actually defend them in the ring. (TJRWrestling)

8. The Undisputed Elite Implodes on Dynamite

It was not a good reunion for the Undisputed Elite this week. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Adam Cole returned and did an in-ring promo with his other Undisputed Elite members, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly and The Young Bucks. Shockingly, after discussing the upcoming Trios Tournament, Cole, Fish and O’Reilly attacked the Bucks. Also shockingly, this brought out “Hangman” Adam Page to make the save and reunite with the Bucks. Page and The Bucks will now likely be favorites to win the Trios Tournament or any of the five other tournaments Tony Khan will likely have this year. (TJRWrestling)

7. Chris Jericho to Challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW Interim Championship

Chris Jericho will have a chance to become a two-time AEW World Champion. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Jericho defeated Wheeler Yuta to earn a title shot against interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley. Jericho will not have to wait long for his shot, as he will be facing Moxley this Wednesday on Dynamite at Quake at the Lake. Unfortunately despite the false advertising, John Tenta passed away years ago and will not be appearing at the show. (TJRWrestling)

6. Drew McIntyre to Face Roman Reigns at Clash at the Castle

Drew McIntyre is going to have the opportunity to capture the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship in front of his home crowd. This past Friday on Smackdown, McIntyre defeated Sheamus to earn a match against WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns at Clash at the Castle on September 3rd. Clash at the Castle will take place from Cardiff, Wales and is expected to have over 65,000 people in attendance. McIntyre will likely have all 65,000 of those fans on his side, with the possibility of a riot almost as bad as the average soccer game if he loses. (TJRWrestling)

5. Edge Returns at SummerSlam

The Rated R Superstar returned this past Saturday at SummerSlam. During the tag team No Disqualification match between Rey and Dominik Mysterio and The Judgment Day members Finn Bálor and Damian Priest, Edge made his return. Edge would go on to Spear both Priest and Bálor, allowing The Mysterios to get the win. At the end of Raw on Monday, The Judgment Day would come out to attack The Mysterios. This would cause Edge to come out again, to attack The Judgment Day. Edge would then try to spear Bálor again, but accidentally hit Dominik Mysterio instead. Edge has promised to end The Judgment Day for good, with no word if he will go after Bragging Rights, Bad Blood and Great Balls of Fire next. (TJRWrestling)

4. Becky Lynch Separates Shoulder

WWE fans are going to have to wait a little longer to see “The Man” return to the ring. This past Saturday at SummerSlam, Becky Lynch lost a hard-fought match against Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. After the match, Lynch surprisingly shook Belair’s hand before standing beside her against a returning Bayley, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY. Lynch then opened Raw the following Monday, but was unfortunately wearing a sling on her right arm. Lynch then gave a great babyface promo, before introducing Belair to the crowd. To literally add insult to injury, Lynch was then attacked backstage by Bayley, Kai and SKY. Lynch reportedly had a separated shoulder and will be out for several weeks (or perhaps months), which at least is a lot better than her last injury of getting pregnant. (TJRWrestling)

3. Bayley, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY Form a Faction

Bayley made her long-awaited return this past Saturday at SummerSlam, and she brought two other superstars with her. After Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch, Bayley, along with Dakota Kai and IYO SKY (Io Shirai), came down to the ring. Bayley, Kai and SKY then tried to attack Belair, but backed down from the fight when Lynch shockingly stood beside Belair. Bayley, Kai and SKY were not done however, as they would go on to attack Lynch as well as Alexa Bliss and Asuka this past Monday on Raw. Bayley promised that herself, Kai and SKY would soon be in full control of the WWE, which after all the recent changes, honestly would not be that shocking. (TJRWrestling)

2. Sasha Banks and Naomi Reportedly Agree to Return to the WWE

WWE Women’s Tag Team Division may have hope after all. This week it was reported that both Sasha Banks and Naomi have agreed to return to the WWE. Banks and Naomi memorably walked out of Raw on May 16th, after being disgruntled with how they were being booked. Now that Triple H has taken over creative duties in the WWE however, Banks and Naomi are reportedly ready to return to work. It is unknown when Banks and Naomi will be brought back, and if they will be bringing the Women’s Tag Titles with them. What is known is that Shahid Khan is now going to have to figure out something else to get his son for his birthday. (TJRWrestling)

wwe sasha banks naomi Women's Tag Team Championships

1. Ric Flair Wrestles His Last Match

One of the greatest wrestlers of all time laced up his boots for the final time this past Sunday night. In his last match, Ric Flair teamed with his son-in-law Andrade El Idols to face Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett. The 73-year-old Flair ended up bleeding and taking a suplex in the match, before defeating Jarrett with the Figure Four. WWE Legends The Undertaker, Mick Foley and Bret Hart all watched the match from ringside. After watching Flair’s performance, they were all probably very happy that they retired when they did. (TJRWrestling)

That concludes another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. Thank you for taking the time to read this each week. Although I often joke, I have recently started refereeing with NYCW and respect more than ever what wrestlers do every week. I wrote an article all about it all right here. If you like what I do, despite my jokes being almost as bad as passing out during your last match. Then follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1.