Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 12/12: Rollins Heel Turn, WWE Hall of Fame Announcements, More
Welcome back TJR readers. Were you too busy wrapping Christmas presents to watch Smackdown? Maybe you were waiting in a long line to see Santa Claus and missed RAW. Well, have no concern as I am back with another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.
10. Primo Colon and Robert Roode Both Suspended 30 Days for Wellness Policy Violations
The WWE announced this week that both Robert Roode and Primo Colon have been suspended for 30 days for violating WWE’s Wellness Policy. These violations caused Robert Roode to miss Smackdown last week, and for Primo Colon to miss a pretty good meal back in catering. (TJRWrestling)
9. Multiple Women Make History
Multiple women made history this week in WWE. Former NXT Referee Jessika Carr made history on Friday Night Smackdown when she joined the Smackdown roster full time, refereeing the match between Mandy Rose and Alexa Bliss. Carr debuted as the first female referee on the NXT brand during the Mae Young Classic in 2017 and it was announced last month that she was being called up to the Smackdown roster. Also, Becky Lynch, Charlotte and the Kabuki Warriors are set to make history this Sunday when they all compete for the Women’s Tag Titles in a Tag Team TLC Match. After both Charlotte and Becky Lynch were attacked by the Kabuki Warriors this week on RAW, they finally agreed to team up and face the Warriors this Sunday at WWE TLC. Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Asuka already made history last year at this event when they competed in the first Women’s TLC match, and will now do it again in a tag match. The legendary TLC tag matches of the past have set a very high bar, luckily for these women at least they will no longer have to go through a glass ceiling to reach it. (TJRWrestling)
8. Lana and Rusev Sign Divorce Papers on RAW
The Lana and Rusev saga continued during an in-ring segment on RAW this week, with resident divorce expert Jerry “The King” Lawler moderating the signing of the divorce papers between the once happy couple. After Lana signed the papers, Rusev informed Lana and her boyfriend Bobby Lashley that he would only sign if Lashley agreed to meet him in a match. Eventually, Rusev did sign the papers before putting Lashley through a table, setting up a tables match between the two for this Sunday at WWE TLC. Lashley has promised to ask Lana to marry him once this whole thing is over. Jerry Lawler may have also considered pursuing the now single Lana, before deciding that she was a little too old for him. (TJRWrestling)
7. Angel Garza Wins NXT Cruiserweight Title
NXT started out fast and furious this week, with Angel Garza defeating Lio Rush to win his first NXT Cruiserweight Championship. During the commercial break after the match, Garza’s incredible night continued as he brought his girlfriend into the ring and asked her to marry him, with her then saying yes to the proposal in front of the live NXT crowd. With how WWE has recently treated marriages, you can probably pencil in a TV segment with these two signing divorce papers sometime in late 2020. (TJRWrestling)
6. The Miz vs. Bray Wyatt to Take Place at WWE TLC This Sunday
WWE finally got around to announcing who will be facing Bray Wyatt this Sunday at TLC. After being viciously attacked by “The Fiend” last week, Daniel Bryan failed to appear as scheduled on Smackdown this week as the guest for Miz TV. The Miz instead came to the ring alone, stating that no one had seen Bryan since the attack, but he will not rest until he found out what happened to him. Bray Wyatt then appeared on the Titantron and told The Miz not to worry about Bryan before challenging The Miz to come play with him at TLC. When The Miz initially refused the challenge, Wyatt then showed a picture of Miz’s family before challenging him again to come play. Later in the night, Miz was seen walking into a room with a red light on. Inside the room was a camera and a picture of The Miz’s family with Bray Wyatt photo edited into it. Suddenly Wyatt, while not dressed as The Fiend in the segment, hit The Miz with Sister Abigail before telling him “there’s no place like home for the holidays.” Bray Wyatt, wrestling as himself and not The Fiend, will now compete against The Miz in a non-title match at TLC. The Fiend is not scheduled to appear on the show, possibly due to him having to work a second job that night to help pay for his custom title belt. (TJRWrestling)
5. King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler Smear Dog Food all Over Roman Reigns on Smackdown
King Corbin humiliated Roman Reigns ahead of their scheduled Tables, Ladders and Chairs match this Sunday at WWE TLC. After Reigns defeated Ziggler this past Friday on Smackdown, King Corbin attacked Reigns and, with the help of Ziggler, handcuffed him to the ring post. Corbin and Ziggler then proceeded to rub cans of dog food all over “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns face. This showed that possibly the only thing worse than being handcuffed and having dog food smeared on your face, is having to watch someone get handcuffed and have dog food smeared on their face. (TJRWrestling)
4. AEW Announces Their Next PPV Event
After stating weeks ago that AEW would be doing four PPV events a year, AEW finally announced the name of their fourth event. AEW Revolution will join All Out, Double or Nothing and Full Gear as the fourth PPV for AEW. Revolution will take place on Saturday, February 29th from Chicago, Illinois, the same city that All Out occurred although it’s a different arena in Chicago. The WWE Women’s division have already been having a “Revolution” for years, let’s all hope Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley don’t have to wrestle in a series of Bra and Panties matches before AEW has theirs. (TJRWrestling)
3. WWE Announces Several Members for the 2020 Hall of Fame Class
Wrestlemania weekend may still be almost four months away, but WWE already has a jumpstart on announcing who will be going into the WWE Hall of Fame next year. WWE officially announced on their website that Batista will be inducted as well as Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan and X-Pac all getting their second inductions together as the NWO. Hall, Nash and Hogan are all getting recognized for being the founding members of the legendary NWO faction, while X-Pac is getting recognized for his extraordinary job of carrying all those guys bags. Batista is a no brainer for the Hall of Fame due to his multiple world championships and years as a top guy, and most recently and perhaps most impressively convincing the much younger Dana Brooke to go on a date with him. (TJRWrestling)
2. WWE Releases Several Wrestlers
WWE lightened their roster a bit this week by releasing Luke Harper, Sin Cara and The Ascension. In the case of Harper and Sin Cara they had both publicly asked for their releases on Twitter, it is unknown if The Ascension asked to be released as well or was let go by the WWE. As is standard, WWE wished all of them the best in their future endeavors, unless those endeavors are AEW of course in which then the WWE hopes they fail miserably. (TJRWrestling)
— Brodie Lee (@ThisBrodieLee) April 16, 2019
1. Seth Rollins Finally Turns Heel on RAW
After weeks of teasing and speculation, Seth Rollins finally turned heel on RAW this week. Kevin Owens spent the majority of this week’s Raw searching for AOP to try to get revenge for the attack on him last week. Owens finally located AOP’s van and began smashing it with a lead pipe before opening the door to find a man in a hooded sweatshirt and a steel chair. AOP then showed up and began attacking Owens, beating him down. The mystery man in the sweatshirt then revealed himself to be Rollins and he joined AOP, curb-stomping Owens on the cement. Rollins then went to the stage with AOP, and with a great heel promo informed the audience that himself and AOP are now together. It is unclear why Rollins had a steel chair with him in the vehicle, but with his prior history, AOP may want to keep an eye on their backs. (TJRWrestling)
That wraps up this week’s edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. Like always, if you like what I do then please follow me on Twitter @BackseatBookers and listen to my podcast The BackseatBookers (be forewarned it is explicit as my use of four-letter words is already in the Hall of Fame.)