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Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 6/10: CM Punk and Cody Rhodes Injured, Cena Returning to WWE, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 10th June 2022
cm punk aew cody rhodes wwe

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday regretting a stupid stage dive, and missed WWE Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday looking at your purple chest, and missed Raw.

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

10. Apollo Crews Returns to NXT

Nigerian Royalty is once again in NXT. This past Tuesday on NXT 2.0, Apollo Crews returned to confront NXT Champion Bron Breakker. Crews, who spoke without his Nigerian accent, then told Breakker he would see him soon. Later in the evening, Crews also teamed with Solo Sikoa to defeat Carmelo Hayes and Grayson Waller. Crews along with his former bodyguard Commander Azeez have been moved to the NXT roster permanently, although Azeez did not appear on NXT this week. Crews is reportedly excited to return to NXT and work with none of his former co-workers. (TJRWrestling)

9. Will Ospreay Debuts on AEW Dynamite

NJPW continued to invade AEW this week. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, NJPW Star Will Ospreay and his United Empire stablemate Aaron Henare along with the Aussie Open team of Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis appeared on Dynamite. The four men appeared during a segment between FTR and Trent Beretta and ended up leaving Beretta and FTR laying in the ring. Osprey and the Aussie Open will now wrestle FTR and Beretta tonight on Rampage. The British, French and US Open are currently not scheduled to appear for AEW at this time.

8. New Champions Crowned at NXT: In Your House

New champions were crowned this past Saturday at NXT: In Your House. For the first time in their young careers, the Creed Brothers are NXT Tag Team Champions. Julius and Brutus Creed were able to defeat Pretty Deadly to capture the titles. Also, Carmelo Hayes is once again the NXT North American Champion. Hayes defeated Cameron Grimes to capture the title for a second time. Toxic Attraction, Mandy Rose and Bron Breakker were all able to defend their titles in their respective matches. Mandy Rose was also once again able to defend her title of number one in John Canton’s heart. (TJRWrestling)

7. Rhea Ripley to Face Bianca Belair at WWE Money in the Bank

Rhea Ripley will not have to retrieve a briefcase to get a match against Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. This past Monday on Raw, Ripley defeated Alexa Bliss, Doudrop and Liv Morgan to become the new number one contender. Ripley will now go on to face Belair at Money in the Bank on July 2nd for the Raw Women’s Championship. This should be an exciting and new match for Money in the Bank, assuming John Laurinaitis can keep his office door locked till then. (TJRWrestling)

6. Roman Reigns Not Appearing at WWE Money in the Bank

WWE fans are going to have to wait a little bit longer to see Roman Reigns wrestle again. This week it was reported that Reigns will not be competing at Money in the Bank on July 2nd. Reigns has not competed in a singles match since defeating Brock Lesnar to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania 38. Reigns was victorious in a six-man tag match with the Usos against RK-Bro and Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania Backlash last month. Reigns has recently signed a new contract that cut down his WWE schedule immediately, and WWE is reportedly positioning him as the “new Brock Lesnar.” Despite this report, there is not expected to be any interaction between Reigns and former WWE superstar Sable at this time. (TJRWrestling)

5. AEW Adds a New Championship

Tony Khan got tired of adding new wrestlers, and decided to add a new championship instead this week. This past Wednesday on Dynamite it was announced that a tournament will be held to crown the first All-Atlantic Champion. Four qualifying matches will be held in the first rd of the tournament, with the winners of those matches going on to compete in a 4-Way Match at Forbidden Door on June 26th to crown the first champion. PAC has already moved on to the finals by defeating Buddy Matthews this past Wednesday on Dynamite. The other qualifying matches will feature Ethan Page vs. Miro (tonight on Rampage), Penta Oscuro vs. Malakai Black and two unannounced Japanese Wrestlers from NJPW. The title will be unique as only international competitors can compete for it, and is meant to represent the fans watching around the world in over 130 countries. Upon hearing the news, most Americans responded by saying “there are 130 countries?” (TJRWrestling)

4. Judgment Day Turns on Edge

Judgment Day is now under new management. This past Sunday at Hell in a Cell, Judgment Day Members Rhea Ripley, Edge and Damian Priest were able to defeat AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan in a Six-Man Tag Match. The following night on Raw, Edge, Ripley and Priest did a promo in the ring. Edge then introduced the newest member of Judgment Day, bringing out Finn Balor. Balor then stated that he finally sees clearly, and is tired of being told what to do. Priest then said that they are ready to shed the last bit of limitations holding them back, which is Edge. Priest then proceeded to shockingly clothesline Edge. Balor, Ripley and Priest then brutally beat Edge, including putting him threw a table and giving him a Conchairto. Getting ousted out of something you created must be really hard for Edge, but at least he can call Triple H for advice. (TJRWrestling)

3. John Cena Returning to the WWE

You will finally be able to see John Cena on June 27th. This week it was announced that Cena will be returning to Raw on the 27th to celebrate his 20 year anniversary with the WWE. As of this time Cena has not been announced for any matches, although he has had some interaction with United States Champion Theory on social media with rumors of a potential match at SummerSlam. Twenty years is truly an incredible accomplishment in the WWE, and usually only occurs if John Laurinaitis loses your phone number. (TJRWrestling)

2. Cody Rhodes Beats Seth Rollins Inside Hell in a Cell with a Torn Pectoral Muscle

No one will ever be able to say that Cody Rhodes is not tough as hell. This past Sunday it was announced that Rhodes had suffered a torn pectoral muscle while working out. Nevertheless, Rhodes decided to go on with his Hell in a Cell Match with Seth Rollins later that night. A very bruised Rhodes would then defeat Rollins after a grueling and incredible 20-minute match. Rhodes will now likely be out for up to six months and will require surgery. This was unquestionably one of the most painful and courageous feats in wrestling history, perhaps only seconded by facing Goldberg. (TJRWrestling)

1. AEW World Champion CM Punk Injures Foot and Will Miss Time While an Interim AEW World Champion is Crowned

The Summer of Punk is going to have to wait. Just three days after winning the AEW World Championship from “Hangman Adam Page”, CM Punk injured his foot during a stage dive on Dynamite. Punk would go on with FTR to immediately defeat The Gunn Club and Max Caster, and even chased MJF later in the evening. Punk would then appear on Rampage this week and announce the injury. Punk had surgery on his leg this week.

It was then announced that an interim champion will be crowned, with that champion facing Punk when he returns to crown an undisputed AEW World Champion. This Wednesday on Dynamite, a Casino Battle Royal was held to start the show. Kyle O’Reilly won that Battle Royal and faced number one contender Jon Moxley at the end of the night. Jon Moxley won that match and now will face the winner of the NJPW Dominion Match between Hirooki Goto and Hiroshi Tanahashi, to crown the interim champion. Tony Khan considered making a huge announcement to announce all of this, but even he couldn’t understand it. (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 a torn pec, then follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1.