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Top 10 Stories of the Week 4/14: WWE Draft Returning, CM Punk-AEW Comeback, Jeff Hardy Returns, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 14th April 2023
triple h wwe promo point

Welcome back, TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday shopping for hair dye, and miss WWE Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday stuck at the airport, and missed Raw.

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

10. Dark Side of the Ring to Return on May 30th

After a two-year hiatus, Dark Side of the Ring is set to return on May 30th to VICE TV. The hit documentary has helped bring some of wrestling’s most controversial stories back into the spotlight, including “The Plane Ride From Hell”, Chris Benoit and The Montreal Screwjob. So far announced for the new season are Tammy Sytch & Chris Candido, Magnum TA, Abdullah the Butcher, and Marty Jannetty. At this point, Dark Side of the Ring and VICE TV have decided not to do a special on Vince McMahon, likely because they do not want to take up 36 hours of TV time to air it. (TJRWrestling)

Dark Side Of The Ring Logo

9. WWE Night of Champions Replaces King & Queen of the Ring

WWE is going to have to wait a little longer to crown new royalty. This week it was announced by WWE that instead of holding a King & Queen of the Ring tournament on May 27th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, they will be holding Night of Champions instead. Night of Champions historically has every title on the WWE Main Roster on the line. It is unclear what this will mean for WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, as they do not work the Saudi shows. Also interestingly this show will be crammed between WWE Backlash on May 6th and Money in the Bank on June 1st. This will clearly make for a very busy few weeks for the WWE and also will mean that John Canton better start icing his hands now. (TJRWrestling)

wwe night of champions ple

8. Vicky Guerrero Taking Daughter to Court Over Sexual Assault Claims

The sad and disturbing story between Vickie Guerrero and her daughter Sherilyn Guerrero, unfortunately, continued this week. Last week Sherilyn went on her Tik Tok account to share the details of an alleged sexual assault she suffered on her family holiday from her stepdad:

“Come 2020 before COVID, there was a cruise that my family had went on. And basically on this cruise, I got sexually assaulted. And the unfortunate part was that it was by my stepdad. Yeah, it was by my stepdad. And was I the only one? No, but that’s not my business to put their story out there. But it happened to me. The fact that I protected somebody who doesn’t give a sh*t about me, is beyond me, but growth and maturity right? I lived with them, so I didn’t know what to do.

Basically fast forward the following year when I got injured on my knee, my mom was the only one out there in Houston that’s family and she was helping me with that. There was basically a conversation, and granted let me tell you I have told my mom how uncomfortable I am with him after it happened and basically she was always telling me it was a mistake. It’s not who he is.”

This led to Vickie Guerrero publicly attacking her youngest daughter, before deactivating all of her social media accounts. Vickie decided to reactivate her Instagram account this week, sharing that her and her husband will be taking Sherilyn to court. Obviously, this is one of those stories that is just depressing with no jokes to be made, so instead let’s all take one more look at Vince’s new look. (TJRWrestling)

Vince McMahon

7. Logan Paul Signs New Contract With the WWE

One of the most controversial YouTube stars of all time will be staying with the WWE for at least a little while longer. This week on Twitter, Logan Paul announced that he has re-signed with the WWE. Paul did not reveal for how long he has re-signed for, or how much the new contract is worth. Paul has had an impressive rookie year with the company, recently having a marquee matchup with Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 39. Despite Paul’s success, WWE is not expected to try and sign PinkiePie or Mr. Beast anytime soon. (TJRWrestling)

6. Cody Rhodes Challenges Brock Lesnar to Match at Backlash

Just a week after losing to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 and getting brutally attacked by Brock Lesnar the night after on Raw, Cody Rhodes has made a new goal. This past Monday on Raw, Rhodes challenged Lesnar to a match at WWE Backlash on May 6th. Lesnar is scheduled to appear this coming Monday on Raw, and will likely accept the challenge to make the match official. Personally, I like Rhodes’ attitude here, as, just like I always tell my kids: “If you fail to achieve your dream, just give up and do something else.” (TJRWrestling)

5. Jeff Hardy Returns to AEW

For the first time in almost a year, Jeff Hardy returned to AEW. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Hardy came down and saved his brother Matt Hardy, Hook and Isiah Kassidy from a beat down by Ethan Page, Big Bill, and Lee Moriarty. Jeff had not been seen on AEW television since being arrested for DUI and driving without a license last June. Hardy went to rehab after the incident, and also recently had eye surgery. Hopefully Hardy can stay out of trouble this time, as, unlike his brother, no one wants to see him be “Broken”. (TJRWrestling)

4. Trish Stratus Turns Heel on Raw

For the first time since 2005, Trish Stratus is a heel. This past Monday on Raw, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Lita and Becky Lynch were scheduled to defend the titles against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. Before this could occur however, Lita was brutally attacked backstage. Stratus then agreed to take Lita’s place in the match, becoming Lynch’s partner. The finish of the match saw Stratus get rolled up by Morgan, with Morgan and Rodriquez winning the match and the titles. When Lynch then attempted to console Stratus after the match, Stratus then shockingly attacked Lynch. When asked why she attacked Lynch, Stratus gave no explanation for her sudden change of attitude; although she could have just realized how much money she could have made if OnlyFans was around in the 2000s. (TJRWrestling)

3. WWE Forced to Change Raw Plans Due to Travel Issues

For once WWE could not blame an old man with a mustache for last minute changes to its show. This past Monday on Raw, it was reported that about 33% of the roster had to miss the show due to travel issues. WWE announcer Corey Graves mentioned the travel issues on Raw, with a significant amount of the show having to be rewritten because of them. Raw reportedly also had a lot of last-minute rewrites last week, with those all being caused by a returning Vince McMahon. McMahon was reportedly not in attendance at either Raw or Smackdown this week, although that could just have been due to him running out of hair dye. (TJRWrestling)

Sami Zayn Matt Riddle attack Solo Sikoa

2. CM Punk Reportedly Returning to AEW

The ongoing saga between CM Punk and AEW took several turns this week. First, it was reported that Punk wishes to return to AEW, and is willing to work with The Elite. Punk then added to the speculation on Instagram by trolling Jon Moxley by posting a photo of his face photoshopped on Sylvester Stallone’s body from Rocky III. Punk then also posted a picture of a bingo hall with “welcome” balloons. Later, it was then reported that Punk and AEW have come to an agreement, and Punk will be returning around the June 21st episode of Dynamite in Chicago, Illinois. With AEW attempting to fill Wembley Stadium in August, they could clearly benefit from having Punk back on the roster. We will have to see if Punk can get along with everyone and convince them that “If I Can Change…And You Can Change….Everybody Can Change.” (TJRWrestling)


1. WWE Draft to Take Place on May 8th

It is once again time for WWE to pretend that the roster split matters for a few weeks. This past Friday on Smackdown, Triple H announced that the WWE Draft will be returning in a “few weeks”. It was later reported that the planned date of the draft is May 8th, two days after WWE Backlash is scheduled to take place. Every WWE superstar will be eligible to be drafted, with some speculating that this could finally lead to the WWE Tag Team and World Championships being split. Upon hearing the news, most of the WWE roster immediately responded by asking, “Which brand am I on?” (TJRWrestling)

That concludes another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. Although I often joke, I have recently started refereeing with GroundZero and training at the Institute of Professional Wrestling, and now 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 bad dye job then follow me on Twitter @Fowlerwrestlin1 and listen to my Podcast The Smark and the Noob. Thank you to all of those who read this every week.