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Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 8/27: CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, Becky Lynch, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 27th August 2021

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday trying to order 16,000 Ice Cream Bars and missed Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday icing your bruised chest and missed Raw. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Damian Priest Captures the WWE United States Championship

Damian Priest has won his first title on the main roster. This past Saturday at SummerSlam, Priest was able to defeat Sheamus to capture the WWE United States Championship. Priest’s successful week then continued on Raw when Priest defeated WWE World Champion Bobby Lashley via disqualification after Sheamus interfered. Priest and Drew McIntyre then went on to defeat Bobby Lashley and Sheamus in a tag team match. Unfortunately, Priest is 38 years old and therefore is eight years past the cut-off date to be a box office star in the WWE. (TJRWrestling)

9. Title Changes in NXT

NXT Takeover 36 ended up being a very significant event. Besides the NXT World Championship Match that I will cover in a little bit, there were two other title changes. Cameron Grimes was able to finally defeat LA Knight to become the Million Dollar Champion. Also after an incredible 870 days, we finally have a new NXT UK Champion. In a match that was as good as their 2020 Johnny Award Match of the Year, Dragunov was able to defeat Walter to capture the title. Walter had held the title for an amazing 870 days before finally losing it on Sunday. To say this match was brutal would be a huge understatement, as Dragunov’s chest looked like it had been forced to watch Raw for a year straight. (TJRWrestling)

8. The Miz Turns on John Morrison

The team of The Miz and John Morrison ended badly this past Monday on Raw. During Raw, John Morrison had “celebrity” Logan Paul out in the ring for Moist TV. After a couple of minutes, The Miz came down to the ring, and was unhappy with Morrison for not introducing him. Miz and Morrison then started arguing while Paul left before Xavier Woods came down and interrupted them. This all led to Woods and The Miz having a match, while Morrison watched from ringside. Morrison then tried to interfere and help The Miz, but it backfired costing The Miz the match. Morrison then tried to apologize to The Miz, before The Miz snapped and hit Morrison with the Skull Crushing Finale. The Miz and Morrison will now face each other this week on Raw, with Morrison promising to end the relationship when he gets “that son of a bitch in the ring next week.” The Miz and Morrison’s breakup should not have been a surprise to anybody, as this is actually the 7,964th thing that Logan Paul has ruined. (TJRWrestling)

7. RK-Bro Captures the Raw Tag Team Championships

WWE’s odd couple are now champions. This past Saturday at SummerSlam, Riddle and Randy Orton were able to defeat AJ Styles and Omos to become Raw Tag Team Champions. Riddle then continued the momentum on Raw, by defeating AJ Styles in the Main Event. Before defeating Styles, Riddle gave Orton his very own specialized scooter. Orton did not seem very excited about this gift however, perhaps because it was not the rolling he expected to be doing with Riddle. (TJRWrestling)

6. Chris Jericho Puts His Career on the Line

September 5th may be the end date for a legendary wrestling career. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Chris Jericho challenged MJF to one more match. Jericho then stated that if he loses the match, his in-ring career will be over. MJF then came out and accepted the match for All Out on September 5th. Jericho has been wrestling for over 30 years and has held 36 different championships between ECW, WCW, NJPW, WWE and AEW. Clearly, if Chris Jericho does retire it will be a huge deal and will be just as important as when Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Terry Funk did it. (TJRWrestling)

5. Samoa Joe Captures the NXT World Championship While Karrion Kross Gets A New Look On Raw

Samoa Joe’s first match in over a year ended up being a very successful one. This past Sunday at NXT Takeover 36, Joe was able to defeat Karrion Kross with the Muscle Buster to capture the NXT World Championship. With the win, Joe is the first three-time NXT World Champion. It was not all bad for Kross however, as he defeated Ricochet fairly easily the next night on Raw. Kross also debuted a new demolition-like mask and red gladiator outfit on Raw. This new look was met with criticism from a lot of wrestling fans. I personally think it was a brilliant change by Kross, as hopefully John Laurinitis will not recognize him when he makes his next round of phone calls.

4. Charlotte Flair Captures the Raw Women’s Championship

For an incredible 12th time, Charlotte Flair is once again a World Champion in WWE. This past Saturday at SummerSlam, Charlotte was able to defeat Nikki A.S.H and Rhea Ripley to capture the Raw Women’s Championship. With this win, Charlotte is now a 6 time Raw Women’s Champion a 5-time Smackdown Women’s Champion and a former Divas champion. Charlotte is also a two-time NXT Women’s Champion, but recently WWE has stopped counting those championships towards her total title wins. This was of course upsetting to Charlotte, as now it is going to take her an extra three weeks to surpass her father Ric Flair’s 16 title reigns. (TJRWrestling)

3. Becky Lynch Captures the Smackdown Women’s Championship

The Man is back in the WWE. This past Saturday at SummerSlam, Bianca Belair was supposed to defend the Smackdown Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks. When Banks could not compete for undisclosed reasons, however, Carmella was announced as Belair’s opponent for the match. Before the match could begin, Becky Lynch returned to a huge pop. Lynch then quickly disposed of Carmella, before challenging Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Belair quickly accepted the challenge to the excitement of the live crowd. The crowd’s excitement quickly turned to disappointment, however, as Lynch then went on to defeat Belair for the title in 26 seconds. I personally do not understand why everyone was so upset, as I have been told by several women that 26 seconds is very satisfying. (TJRWrestling)

2. Brock Lesnar Returns To WWE At SummerSlam

Vince McMahon backed up the Brinks truck once again to Brock Lesnar’s house. This past Saturday at SummerSlam, Roman Reigns defeated John Cena in the main event. After the match was over and Reigns was celebrating in the ring, Lesnar’s music suddenly played. Lesnar then came down to the ring sporting a man bun and beard, and confronted Reigns. A shocked Paul Heyman and Reigns then walked away, leaving Lesnar in the ring to end the show. After the show went off the air, Lesnar then proceeded to attack Cena, perhaps because he told him how stupid his man bun looked. (TJRWrestling)

1. CM Punk Debuts for AEW

With both SummerSlam and NXT Takeover taking place this week, you would have thought that the top story of the week would have come from WWE. That most likely would have been the case if it wasn’t for a certain “Best in the World” debuting for AEW. This past Friday on Rampage, in front of 20,000 Chicago fans, CM Punk came out to open the show to one of the biggest pops in the history of wrestling. After the crowd finally calmed down, CM Punk gave one of his patented promos. Punk stated that he has heard the chants from the fans for the last seven years, but had to leave the WWE because he couldn’t “get better in the same place that made him sick.” Punk then said when he left ROH on August 15th, 2005 he knew he was leaving wrestling, but now on August 20th 2021 he is returning. Punk then stated he is back full time and challenged Darby Allin to a match at All Out on September 5th. If witnessing this incredible moment was not enough for the fans in attendance in Chicago, Punk also gave everyone a CM Punk Ice Cream Bar. Upon hearing of this gesture Vince McMahon was not impressed, as he has been giving every wrestling fan a Rocky Road for years. (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. Although I often joke, I have recently started training to get in the ring at The Institute of Professional Wrestling and respect more than ever what wrestlers do every week. If you like what I do, despite my jokes being as bad as an ice cream headache, then feel free to listen to my brand new podcast The Smark and the Noob and follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1 as well.