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Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 9/17: Big E Wins WWE Title, Omega Vs. Bryan, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 17th September 2021

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday preparing to remember thousands of heroes who lost their lives 20 years ago, and missed Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday trying to find out if you can just host Jeopardy instead of playing football, and missed Raw. Worry not for I have returned with another Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Adam Cole Makes In-Ring Debut for AEW

This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Adam Cole competed in his first match for AEW. Cole was successful in his debut, defeating Frankie Kazarian with the Panama Sunrise into The Last Shot knee. After the match, Cole went on to challenge Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Christian Cage to a six-man tag on the September 24th episode of Rampage, where Cole will team up with The Young Bucks. The September 24th episode of Rampage will be a special two hour episode from Arthur Ashe Stadium in NYC. Cage responded to the challenge by saying to Cole: “Since you’re used to losing the Wednesday Night Wars, you better add Friday to that list as well.” With that statement Cage not only accepted the match but helped meet the quota of mentioning WWE at least five times during an AEW show. (TJRWrestling)

9. Three Second Generation Wrestlers Debut on NXT 2.0

Along with a new arena and a fancy new logo, NXT 2.0 also saw the debut of three second-generation stars. In the opening match, LA Knight was defeated by a debuting Bron Breakker. Breakker’s actual name is Bronson Rechsteiner, and he is the son of former WWE Tag Team Champion Rick Steiner. Later in the evening, Brooks Jensen debuted in a losing effort with tag team partner Josh Briggs. Jensen is actually the son of former WWE superstar Bull Buchanan. Also later in the evening, Kyle O’Reilly was attacked by Pete Dunne and Ridge Holland, before being saved by a debuting Von Wagner. Wagner, who later took O’Reilly’s place in the fatal 4-way NXT title match, is actually the son of former Beverly Brother Wayne Bloom. Although all three had impressive debuts, many fans wondered why WWE decided to use generic create-a-wrestler names instead of using their family heritage. Personally, I think this is great news for these young superstars , because now they won’t have to worry about WWE trademarking their names when they eventually go to AEW.

8. WWE Draft to Begin on October 1st

WWE will soon be switching up the brands once again. It was announced during Raw this week that the annual WWE Draft will begin on the October 1st episode of Smackdown. The draft will then continue on October 4th on Raw. With the number of rematches that WWE has been presenting lately, this shakeup is sorely needed. This draft should not be confused with the draft that AEW has been doing to the WWE roster over the last year. (TJRWrestling)

7. Brock Lesnar to Face Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel

The Beast returned to Smackdown this week. This past Friday’s Smackdown opened with a promo by Roman Reigns and the bloodline. Reigns then asked the crowd at MSG to acknowledge him, before he was interrupted by Brock Lesnar. Lesnar dressed like a farmer and sporting a man bun, then came down to the ring. Lesnar then asked Paul Heyman: “Why didn’t you tell Roman I was going to be at SummerSlam?” An angry Roman then left with The Usos, leaving Heyman in the ring with Lesnar. Heyman then did his classic introduction of Lesnar, with Lesnar laughing and saying it was just like old times. Lesnar’s mood then suddenly changed however, with him getting in Heyman’s face and demanding that Heyman accept a match between Lesnar and Reigns. Lesnar then gave Heyman five seconds to respond and picked him up on his shoulders. The Usos and Reigns then came back in the ring and tried to attack Lesnar. Lesnar was able to get the upper hand however, hitting a German Suplex on both Uso brothers. It was announced on Thursday that Lesnar and Reigns will now meet at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on October 21st in what is likely the main event. Unless of course, WWE can somehow get Yokozuna or The Ultimate Warrior to appear as well. (TJRWrestling)

6. The “Demon” Finn Bálor Appears on Smackdown

The “Demon” has finally returned to WWE. This past Friday after the main event of Smackdown, Roman Reigns gave a promo stating that he will face Brock Lesnar after he is done smashing Finn Bálor. That led to the lights suddenly going out in the arena before coming back on with red lights. “Demon” Finn Bálor then came down to the ring and confronted Reigns. It was then announced that at Extreme Rules on September 26th it will be Roman Reigns defending the Universal Championship against the “Demon” Finn Bálor. The “Demon” has never lost a match on the main roster, but was defeated by Samoa Joe in NXT in June of 2016. These stats would seemingly bode well for Bálor, but I am afraid that nothing is going to paint a better picture for the “Demon” in this match. (TJRWrestling)

5. Bray Wyatt Teases Return to Ring

According to Bray Wyatt, he should be seeing us all very soon. This week on Twitter, Wyatt responded to a fan who said that he missed him with this.

Rumors have been circulating that Wyatt could be appearing for AEW as soon as September 29th in Rochester, NY. Rochester is significant for several reasons, the first being that it is the hometown of the late Brodie Lee. Rochester is also only an hour from my home, and I personally have had tickets for the AEW show since its original scheduled date in March of 2020. So on that note, I would like to make a personal plea to Shahid Khan to please get his son Tony one more early Christmas present this year. (TJRWrestling)

4. Daniel Bryan to Face Kenny Omega on September 22nd

AEW is wasting no time in giving fans a match they have dreamed about for years. This week on Dynamite, Daniel Bryan and Kenny Omega met face-to-face in the ring. Bryan then challenged Omega to a non-title match at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium in NYC on September 22nd. After a moment of hesitation, Omega accepted the match. Omega and Bryan is just one match on a ridiculously stacked card for this Wednesday’s Dynamite, which should have the biggest live crowd in AEW history. Clearly, AEW has no plans on slowing down and wants to continue the positive momentum that they have been building over the last few weeks. This is both great news for all wrestling fans and bad news for Dave Meltzer’s pants budget. (TJRWrestling)

AEW grand slam

3. Samoa Joe Relinquishes the NXT Championship

Samoa Joe’s third reign as NXT World Champion came to a disappointing end this week. This past Sunday, Joe posted a video on Twitter. Joe explained that WWE’s medical team had advised him to step away from the ring for a brief, yet still indeterminate, amount of time” due to “certain injuries.” Joe just recently captured the NXT World Title from Karrion Kross three weeks ago, in his first match since February of 2020. It is unknown what is keeping Joe from competing, but it is believed not to be the same thing that kept Becky Lynch out of the ring for over a year. (TJRWrestling)

2. Tommaso Ciampa Wins the NXT Championship

NXT 2.0 started with the crowning of a brand new champion. The new, more colorful NXT saw a fatal 4-way between Tomasso Ciampa, Pete Dunne, LA Knight and newcomer Von Wagner for the vacant NXT World Championship. In the end, it was Ciampa who was victorious to become a two-time NXT champion. Ciampa predicted his win by promising to get “Goldie” back, which either meant winning the NXT title or trying to win back the heart of 75-year-old Goldie Hawn. (TJRWrestling)

1. Big E Cashes In Money in the Bank to Capture the WWE Championship

This week’s Raw ended with a Big Ending. The main event of Raw saw WWE Champion Bobby Lashley defeat Randy Orton, after being hit with a spear. After the match, Lashley then proceeded to put Orton through a table. After the table spot, Lashley appeared to hurt his knee, which led to Big E coming out with the Money in the Bank Briefcase. Big E then cashed in the Money in the Bank contract, and defeated Lashley with the Big Ending in under two minutes.

Big E finally winning a World Championship after almost ten years on the main roster was met with an unusual amount of positivity by the WWE universe, with only 78% of them complaining about it. (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 a world without Norm McDonald, then feel free to listen to my brand new podcast The Smark and the Noob and follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1 as well.