Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 3/6: New AEW Champion, Big WrestleMania Matches, Orton Attacks Beth Phoenix, More
Welcome back TJR readers, did you spend all day Friday trying to pawn your “Fiend” replica belt and missed Smackdown? Perhaps you have a terrible case of arachnophobia and couldn’t watch RAW. Worry not, as I have returned with another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week to catch you all up.
10. Two Cage Matches Take Place on NXT
If you are a fan of wrestling matches taking place inside of steel cages, then this has been a big week in wrestling for you. Four days before WWE holds their Elimination Chamber event, NXT had two steel cage matches of their own. In the opening match of the night, Dakota Kai defeated Tegan Nox inside of the cage with the help of Raquel Gonzalez. The main event of the evening saw Roderick Strong and The Velveteen Dream also face off inside of the cage. Strong ended up getting the win when Dream actually pushed Strong out of the cage so he could lock himself in with NXT Champion Adam Cole. Dream ended up laying out Cole and celebrating on the top of the cage with the NXT Championship to end the show. NXT giving away such big matches for free is a cagey move to try to take viewers from AEW. (TJRWrestling)
9. Matt Hardy Officially Becomes a Free Agent
After months of speculation, Matt Hardy’s contract officially expired with WWE on March 1st. Hardy and WWE thanked one another on Twitter, as WWE wished Hardy the best in his future endeavors. Hardy is already heavily rumored to be going to AEW to be revealed as “The Exalted One” for their Dark Order faction. Jeff Hardy will not be joining his brother Matt anytime soon, as WWE has not yet Deleted his contract due to it being extended for injuries and legal issues. (TJRWrestling)
8. Jake “The Snake” Roberts Appears on AEW Dynamite
After losing to MJF at AEW: Revolution, Cody Rhodes called MJF down to the ring on Dynamite this week. MJF did not answer Cody’s call, however, as instead, it was WWE Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts who came to the ring. Roberts informed Rhodes that he has a new “client” known as the Dark Side, and that he is coming to take Cody’s share of the pie in AEW. We do not yet know the power of the Dark Side, but it is a safe bet that Cody will use all of his Force to stop it. (TJRWrestling)
7. The Street Profits Win the RAW Tag Team Championships
After failing to win the RAW Tag Team Titles from Seth Rollins and Murphy at Super Showdown, The Street Profits were given another opportunity this week on RAW. After Kevin Owens hit Rollins with the Stunner, The Street Profits were able to get the win to become the new champions. “The Monday Night Messiah” Seth Rollins will now try to Rise Up to the tag team division once again this Sunday, when Rollins and Murphy face The Street Profits for the titles at Elimination Chamber. (TJRWrestling)
6. AEW to Hold a “Blood and Guts” Match on March 25th
AEW is going to hold their first-ever “Blood and Guts” match on the March 25th episode of AEW Dynamite. The match will consist of a giant covered cage surrounding two rings, very similar to the match that Cody Rhodes father Dusty Rhodes invented known as War Games. WWE owns the name “War Games” however, so AEW is calling their match “Blood and Guts.” “Blood and Guts” is actually a shot at Vince McMahon, who used the term to describe AEW in a conference call last July. If “Blood and Guts” is deemed to be a success then you can expect AEW to introduce other new matches such as the “What a Maneuver” Match and the “Genetic Jackhammer” Match. (TJRWrestling)
5. Randy Orton Attacks Beth Phoenix
Beth Phoenix appeared on RAW this week, to confront Randy Orton on why he brutally attacked her husband Edge five weeks ago on RAW. Orton explained to Phoenix that he attacked Edge because he loved him and his family (Edge and Beth have two daughters) including her, and wanted to make sure Edge was home with them and not risking his life in the ring. Orton then claimed that he cared for Phoenix’s husband and children more than she does, causing Phoenix to slap him. Orton then proceeded to call Phoenix a “bitch” leading to Phoenix kicking him in the ribs before Orton finally dropped her with an RKO. It is truly unfortunate that Randy Orton does not have the same love and admiration for Goldberg and his family, as stopping Goldberg from further competing would have been doing the whole WWE universe a favor. (TJRWrestling)
4. John Cena Versus “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt to Take Place at Wrestlemania 36
After losing the Universal Championship to Goldberg at Super Showdown, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt set his eyes on a new opponent for Wrestlemania. John Cena appeared on Smackdown this past Friday and stated that he will not be competing at Mania this year, as he feels that he has not earned a spot on the show. Wyatt interrupted Cena, however, and performed the obligatory Wrestlemania sign point, causing Cena to look at the sign and nod his head yes. For any wannabe wrestlers out there let this be a lesson to you, if you want to earn a spot at Wrestlemania then go stand by the sign until someone else points to it. (TJRWrestling)
3. Elimination Chamber PPV to Take Place This Sunday
Elimination Chamber will take place this Sunday at 7pm ET on the WWE Network. With Super Showdown just being held last week, the build for Elimination Chamber has felt rushed and thrown together. The card as of this writing consist of six matches including two that will be held inside the chamber. The Smackdown Tag Titles will be defended in an Elimination Chamber match as Miz and Morrison defend the titles against The New Day, The Usos, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party. Also Shayna Baszler, Asuka, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott will also face off inside the chamber with the winner getting the opportunity to face Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania 36 for the RAW Women’s Title. It is unclear what match will close this show, with the good news for WWE being that this event is not held in Saudi Arabia so they will not have to worry about an age requirement for the main event. (TJRWrestling)
2. Roman Reigns to Challenge Goldberg for The Universal Championship at Wrestlemania 36
Cena against Wyatt was not the only big Wrestlemania 36 match booked on Smackdown this week. WWE Universal Champion Goldberg gave an in-ring promo in which he asked the question “Who’s Next?” on Smackdown. Reigns came down to the ring and answered Goldberg’s challenge and was granted the title match for WrestleMania. One has to feel bad for other wrestlers such as Curtis Axel, perhaps if they hadn’t been stuck in the line at catering they would have been able to beat Reigns to the ring and accept Goldberg’s challenge. (TJRWrestling)
1. Jon Moxley Wins the AEW Heavyweight Championship
Jon Moxley was able to pop a little bit of the bubbly himself this week, as he defeated Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship at AEW Revolution. Moxley won the title in the main event of a card that also featured MJF defeating Cody Rhodes and Adam Page and Kenny Omega defeating The Young Bucks in an incredible match that John Canton gave five stars in his review. Moxley won the match after removing the eye patch he was wearing revealing his sight was now fine. Paul Burchill was said to be upset by this, as his hopes of forming a pirate tag team with Moxley were now crushed. (TJRWrestling)
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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 I drop more F-Bombs then Michael Bloomberg got Delegates.)