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Top 10 Wrestling Stories of the Week 6/9: The Iron Sheik Passes Away, New Undisputed WWE Universal Title, CM Punk Return, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 9th June 2023
the iron sheik wwe champion

Welcome back, TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday trying to sell two ring-worn title belts and missed WWE Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday working on your new Twitch Stream and missed Raw.

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

10. WWE Enters Into a Partnership With Twitch

WWE superstars will be Twitching once again. This week WWE announced that they have entered into a multi-year partnership with streaming platform Twitch, that will see the return of the official WWE channel as well as WWE superstars channels. Also, it was announced that a Monday Night Raw sidecast will also be launched on the platform, which promises to bring the WWE Universe behind the scenes and closer to the action. Unfortunately, however, for WWE fans, no deal with OnlyFans has been announced as of this writing. (TJRWrestling)

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9. Bron Breakker Challenges Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins got a surprise challenger this week. This past Tuesday on NXT, former two-time NXT champion Bron Breakker challenged WWE World Champion Seth Rollins to prove he was “the workhorse of WWE” by facing him on the developmental brand. Rollins has not appeared on NXT in many years but was the brand’s first champion way back in 2012. As of this writing, Rollins has not accepted the challenge, but I would say there is a 141 and 2/3% chance he does. (TJRWrestling)

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8. More Superstars Qualify for WWE Money in the Bank

This week several more male and female WWE Superstars qualified for the chance to climb the ladder and retrieve the Money in the Bank Briefcase. This past Friday on Smackdown, Zelina Vega became the first woman to qualify for the match by defeating Lacey Evans. Vega was joined by two more women this past Monday on Raw, with both Becky Lynch and Zoey Stark qualifying for the match. This past Friday on Smackdown also saw LA Knight punch his ticket for Money in the Bank, by defeating Montez Ford. Knight will now join Ricochet and Shinsuke Nakamura, who have already qualified for the match. More qualifying matches are scheduled for tonight on Smackdown, as well as Monday on Raw. Whoever wins Money in the Bank will get to challenge for any current WWE championship or any other new title they decide to make in the next few weeks. (TJRWrestling)

la knight wwe ladder

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7. Adam Cole to Face MJF

MJF did not have to wait long to get another challenger to his AEW World Championship. This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, Adam Cole came out to interrupt an in-ring promo from MJF. At first, MJF praised Cole calling him worthy competition. MJF’s tone changed quickly, however, with him even saying that Vince McMahon was right to believe that Cole did not have top-guy potential. Cole then responded by telling MJF that no one respected him and he was a coward. MJF then told Cole he would face him at any time, with a match eventually being made for this Wednesday on Dynamite. If Cole is victorious in his match with MJF, he will then earn a title shot at a date that Tony Khan will announce with a huge announcement. (TJRWrestling)

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6. CM Punk’s Return Match Announced

After nine months, wrestling fans will finally get to see CM Punk compete inside a wrestling ring once again. This past Wednesday on Dynamite, Tony Khan gave another of his infamous announcements. Khan announced that on the debut episode of AEW Collision on June 17th, Punk will be teaming with FTR to face Samoa Joe, Jay White and Juice Robinson. This will be the first time Punk has wrestled since the infamous brawl after AEW All Out last September. Reports that Punk, who doesn’t want to work with children, asked for IDs from all of his opponents on the 17th to make sure they are over 18 has not been confirmed. (TJRWrestling)

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5. Braun Strowman Has Major Neck Surgery

It will unfortunately be a long time before anybody gets Braun Strowman’s hands again. This week on Instagram, Strowman announced that he had to have Level 1 fusion done on his c4/c5 vertebrae. This obviously is a very major surgery, with Strowman likely being out of action for the rest of the year. Strowman did assure fans that he will be back, as not even a major injury is going to ever control his narrative. (TJRWrestling)

braun strowman wwe monster

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4. Two Huge Matches Announced for Forbidden Door

Shockingly, two huge announcements were made this week for AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door, and Tony Khan was nowhere to be found. First Bryan Danielson issued a challenge via video message to NJPW legend Kazuchika Okada at NJPW’s Dominion PPV. Okada then grabbed a microphone at the event and accepted the match for Forbidden Door. Also at NJPW Dominion, Will Osprey defeated Lance Archer to earn the right to challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at Forbidden Door. This will be a rematch of the two men’s match at Wrestle Kingdom 17 that Dave Meltzer gave 6.25 stars and went through two tissue boxes while watching. (TJRWrestling)

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3. The Bloodline Implodes Further on Smackdown

The situation went from bad to worse for The Bloodline this week. This past Friday on Smackdown, The Usos decided to crash Roman Reigns 1000 day celebration. This led to a tense exchange between Jimmy Uso and Reigns, with Jimmy calling Reigns a bad brother. The Usos biological brother and fellow Bloodline member Solo Sikoa would then go and stand by his siblings, seemingly siding with them against Reigns. Sikoa would then shockingly turn on his own brothers however, attacking Jimmy. Sikoa and Reigns then left the ring, while Jey checked on his brother. The storyline is set to continue tonight on Smackdown, with Jey now having to decide to side with his twin brother Jimmy or his other brother Sikoa and cousin Roman Reigns. No matter which side Jey chooses, this likely means the end of The Bloodline for good. This has been one of the best storylines in the WWE in years, likely because Vince McMahon has based it on his own family experiences. (TJRWrestling).

The Bloodline WWE Roman Reigns

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2. New Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Revealed on Smackdown

It has been a busy couple of weeks for WWE belt collectors. This past Friday on Smackdown, Roman Reigns celebrated holding the WWE Universal Championship for an incredible 1000+ days. To commemorate the occasion, Triple H appeared and gave Reigns a brand new Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The new title is almost identical to the old Universal Championship belt, but now has gold instead of blue behind the WWE logo. This title currently has the lineage of both the WWE Universal and WWE Championship, with the two belts now being combined into one title. This is the second new title that WWE has revealed this month, with Seth Rollins just winning the new WWE World Championship less than two weeks ago. WWE may want to make several other new title belts, but they have to wait for the belt maker to make the other eight titles that Tony Khan has ordered first. (TJRWrestling)

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1. The Iron Sheik Passes Away at the Age of 81

The top story this week is unfortunately a sad one. This week we lost WWE Hall of Famer The Iron Sheik at the age of 81. Sheik’s accolades are too many to be named here, including capturing the WWF Championship in 1983. Sheik continued staying relevant far after he retired from in-ring competition as well, with his social media presence. I would like to personally send my condolences to his friends and family, as Sheik has now gone on to break many backs and make many men humble in heaven. (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. If you like what I do, despite my jokes being almost as bad as that Jabroni Hulk Hogan, 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.

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