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Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 4/7: Endeavor Acquires WWE, Roman Reigns Wins Again, Title Changes, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 7th April 2023
roman reigns cody rhodes wrestlemania punch

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday combing your sweet mustache, and miss WWE Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday figuring out how to spend 9 billion dollars and missed Raw.

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

Before starting the Top Ten List this week, I would like to send my condolences to the friends and family of WWE Hall of Famer “Bushwhacker” Butch Miller. Miller passed away this week at the age of 78 after being hospitalized shortly before. Miller and his former partner “Bushwhacker” Luke were a fan favorite tag team in the WWE in the 1980s and 1990s. Although we unfortunately lost Miller this week, his contributions to the wrestling world will continue to live on for generations to come.

10. Shane McMahon Returns and Then Gets Injured at WrestleMania 39

Shane McMahon has at least one thing in common with his father. This past Sunday at Night Two of WrestleMania 39, The Miz and Snoop Dogg gave an in-ring promo. During the promo, The Miz started berating Snoop. Snoop then called out a returning Shane McMahon to take care of The Miz. Unfortunately for McMahon, he suddenly dropped to the mat after attempting a leapfrog. Snoop then punched The Miz and hit him with a People’s Elbow, while McMahon was looked at by medical staff. Triple H later revealed that Shane McMahon had suffered a torn quad, while Vince McMahon was left asking, “Shane was here?” (TJRWrestling)

9. New NXT Women’s and Men’s Champions Crowned at NXT Stand and Deliver

The biggest weekend of the year in professional wrestling started out in a big way this past Saturday afternoon. NXT Stand and Deliver took place this Saturday, with both the Men’s and Women’s Championship Titles changing hands. First Indi Hartwell was able to defeat Gigi Dolin, Lyra Valkyria, Tiffany Stratton, and Zoey Stark in a Ladder Match to capture the NXT Women’s Championship. The finish of the match saw Dexter Lumis emerge from under the ring to help Hartwell capture the title. Later in the main event, Carmelo Hayes was able to defeat Bron Breakker to capture the NXT Championship. Breakker’s day actually got worse after the loss, as it was later revealed that Breakker’s father Rick Steiner bullied and made bigoted comments to transgender Impact Wrestling star Gisele Shaw at WrestleCon. Breakker, however, decided to still continue in his father’s footsteps, and turned heel this past Tuesday on NXT. (TJRWrestling)

8. AEW to Hold AEW All In at Wembley Stadium in the UK

AEW is planning on making their debut in the United Kingdom in the biggest way possible. This week on AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan and Nigel McGuinness appeared with another huge announcement. It was announced that on Sunday, August 27th, AEW will make their United Kingdom debut when they present AEW All In: London at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Wembley Stadium has a capacity of over 80,000 people, making it very likely that this will be the largest AEW crowd in history. Wembley Stadium was also the home of SummerSlam 1992, with the memorable main event between Bret Hart and The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith. AEW could have potentially used Bret Hart to try to draw 80,000 people once again, but as Hart has continuously reminded us Goldberg ended his career years ago. (TJRWrestling)

7. Jay White Signs With AEW

One of the biggest free agents in wrestling is officially All Elite. This past Wednesday during the opening of AEW Dynamite, Ricky Starks came to the ring to face Juice Robinson. Before the match could begin however, a debuting Jay White attacked Starks. White and Robinson then attacked Starks to end the segment. Speculation has been rampant about where White would end up since leaving NJPW, with WWE reportedly being interested as well. White however clearly decided he would rather work with children than with a creepy old dude with a mustache. (TJRWrestling)

6. FTR Captures the AEW Tag Team Championships

It looks like FTR will not be leaving AEW anytime soon. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, FTR challenged The Gunns for the AEW Tag Team Championships, with the stipulation of being that if FTR lost they would have to leave AEW forever. FTR’s contracts were reportedly up this month, with many speculating that they might return to the WWE. Those speculations proved to be incorrect however, as FTR was able to defeat The Gunns to capture the AEW Tag Team Championships. In the end, FTR must have decided that it was better to stay with AEW than risking going to WWE and a future with Endeavor. (TJRWrestling)

5. Rhea Ripley Captures the Smackdown Women’s Championship

Rhea Ripley made history during Night One of WrestleMania 39. Ripley was able to defeat Charlotte Flair to become the WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion. With the victory Ripley also became the youngest male or female WWE Grand Slam champion ever at the age 26, having held the WWE Women’s Raw, Smackdown and Tag Team Titles as well as the NXT Women’s Champion. If that accomplishment was not impressive enough, Ripley was also the inaugural NXT UK Women’s Champion. Although all of these accomplishments are unquestionably impressive, Ripley still has not one the big one and captured the Best Female Wrestler WWE Johnny Award. (TJRWrestling)

4. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Capture the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championships

For the first time in over 600 days, The Usos are not WWE Tag Team Champions. This past Saturday in the Main Event of Night One of WrestleMania, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were able to defeat The Usos to become the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions. The match itself more than lived up to expectations, and will go down as one of the greatest tag team matches in WWE history. The following night on Raw, Zayn and Owens had their first successful title defense against The Street Profits. The Usos week on the other hand continued to go poorly, as their own cousin Roman Reigns refused to meet with them the following night on Raw. Personally, I completely get where Reigns was coming from, as I have several cousins that I try to avoid at all costs. (TJRWrestling)

3. Roman Reigns Defeats Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, Brock Lesnar Turns on Cody

Cody Rhodes’s American Dream became a Nightmare this past Sunday in the main event of Night Two of WrestleMania 39. The finish of the anticipated match saw Roman Reigns successfully defend his Undisputed Universal Championship against Rhodes, thanks to outside interference from Solo Sokia. Rhodes attempted to get some redemption the following night on Raw, teaming with Brock Lesnar to face Reigns and Sikoa. Unfortunately for Rhodes, Lesnar decided to brutally attack him before the match could even begin. Clearly, this is not how Rhodes envisioned his week going, as he attempted to become the top Star but ended up in the dust. (TJRWrestling)

2. Vince McMahon Takes Back Over Creative of WWE…At Least On Raw

Less than nine months after “retiring” from the WWE, Vince McMahon is once again running the show. This past Monday at Raw, it was reported that McMahon was “personally and heavily involved.” Coincidentally it was also reported that several last-minute rewrites to the show occurred, with the final version of the show being widely hated by many wrestling fans. The show was so widely disliked that both #WorstRawEver and #FireVince were trending on Twitter. It is unclear what Vince’s return means for Triple H, as his days of being the head of creative may be different now. How things run on Smackdown tonight will be very telling about who is in charge. As for McMahon, he is likely hoping that just like his facial hair that his ideas will grow on you. (TJRWrestling)

Vince McMahon

1. WWE Acquired By Endeavor in 21 Billion Dollar Deal

For the first time since 1982, Vince McMahon is not the primary owner of the WWE. After months of speculation and rumors, WWE was officially sold to Endeavor in a deal that is valued at $21 billion. The deal will merge the UFC and WWE into a new yet-to-be-named company, and saw Endeavor value the UFC at $12.1 Billion and the WWE at $9.3 Billion. Endeavor will own 51% of the new company, with WWE stockholders holding the other 49%. McMahon will stay on as the Executive Chairman, while Nick Khan will serve as the President of WWE. Ari Emanuel, the Endeavor CEO, will oversee it all. This past Monday on Raw, Triple H opened the show promising the WWE Universe that nothing was going to change, before going and sitting in a corner while Vince ran the show. (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 getting replaced by a 77-year-old with a mustache, 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.