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The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 2/26: The Miz Wins WWE Championship, Paul Wight to AEW, Reigns vs. Edge, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 26th February 2021

Welcome back TJR readers! Did you spend all day Friday trying to find the perfect baby gift for your 71-year-old father, and missed Smackdown? Perhaps you spent all day Monday calling your tax attorney and missed Raw. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of the Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week.

10. Largest Recruitment Class in History Starts at WWE Performance Center

WWE’s roster got significantly larger this week. Eighteen new signees, including 10 female competitors, reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin training. Among these 18 superstars are some notable names including Parker Boudreaux, former Impact Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie, former Impact Heavyweight Champion Eli Drake (now known as LA Knight), and Rick Steiner’s son Bronson Rechsteiner. These 18 superstars will now all hope to live the ultimate dream of having long successful careers in WWE, before then signing huge contracts in AEW when they are past their prime. (TJRWrestling)

9. A&E to Air Ten Weeks of Original WWE Programming Starting April 18th

WWE has officially found a new tag team partner. Starting on April 18th, the A&E television network will begin airing two-hour documentaries every week on WWE Legends. Legends as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and many more will all be getting documentaries. After the documentaries, A&E will also begin airing a brand-new series “WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures,” hosted by Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. This series will show McMahon and Triple H, along with various WWE Legends, searching for lost iconic WWE memorabilia. One legend who is noticeably missing from the documentary list is Eva Marie, but this could just be because they could not fit all her greatness into two hours. (TJRWrestling)

8. WWE Ends Flair and Evans Storyline

Mercifully it seems that WWE has finally put an end to the Ric Flair and Lacey Evans storyline. This week on Raw, Charlotte confronted her father in a backstage segment. Charlotte asked her father to please leave the WWE, as she can’t concentrate when he is around. Ric then explained that he was not the father of Lacey’s baby, and just saw potential in Evans and wanted to help her. Ric then told Charlotte that he loves her and only wants what is best for her. Charlotte then said “then let her be Charlotte Flair”, before telling Ric she loves him and walking away. Hopefully, Charlotte can now get back to what she is known for, squashing people and winning championships. (TJRWrestling)

7. Rhea Ripley Coming to Raw

Monday Night Raw’s women’s division is about to get a huge upgrade. It was announced this week on Raw that Rhea Ripley would be “coming soon”. Ripley is the only women in history to have won both the NXT UK and NXT Women’s Championship, and actually lost the NXT Women’s title to Charlotte at WrestleMania 36. After it was announced that Ripley was going to Raw, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley went on Twitter and pleaded with WWE “not to mess around with Ripley.” Foley asked WWE to not do “50/50” booking with Ripley, and to instead strap a rocket to her back and see how high she flys. Foley most likely wishes that he had said rocket for his 1998 Hell in a Cell Match against The Undertaker. (TJRWrestling)

6. Chad Gable and Otis Turn Heel

Otis’s big babyface push from earlier this year has now completely come to a halt. This past Friday on Smackdown, Otis and Chad Gable faced Rey and Dominick Mysterio in a tag team match. After Gable refused to listen to the officials count, Gable and Otis were disqualified. This angered Otis, who then went to the top rope and splashed a defenseless Rey Mysterio. This is a long way from where Otis was in May, when he was winning Money in the Bank and dating Mandy Rose. This is also the second tag team that Otis has been apart of in his short time in WWE, as his first team Tuckered out as well. (TJRWrestling)

5. Adam Cole Attacks Roderick Strong

Any chance of The Undisputed Era reconciling came to a quick end this week on NXT. During NXT, Adam Cole came out to explain why he attacked Kyle O’Reilly the week prior. Cole said he was ashamed of what he did and that he was dead wrong. This brought out Roderick Strong, who called out Cole for apologizing on television but not to him and O’Reilly personally. Strong then said he shattered the trust they had built, and he doesn’t know if he can stop O’Reilly from doing what he is going to do to Cole. Finn Bálor then came down and attacked Cole. Cole ended up super kicking Bálor and laying him out, before once again ending up face-to-face with Strong in the ring. Cole seemingly was about to apologize before Strong punched him in the face. Cole then started crying on his knees, apologizing to Strong. Strong knelt down next to Cole and told him he loved him, and that they are brothers. Cole and Strong then embraced, until Cole suddenly low blowed Strong. Cole then snatched Strong’s necklace off and told him he was dead to him, before super kicking Strong in the face. On a personal note, getting punched in the groin and kicked in the face is also how several of my relationships have ended in the past. (TJRWrestling)

4. Riddle Wins the WWE United States Championship

Riddle has captured gold in WWE. During Sunday night’s Elimination Chamber PPV, Riddle pinned John Morrison to defeat Morrison and Bobby Lashley in a Triple Threat Match, thus winning the WWE United States Championship. Keith Lee was actually supposed to be in the match instead of Morrison, but had to pull out of the match due to injury. After the win, Riddle stated that this win will finally take him to the next level. Riddle has been trying to reach that level for years without success, by taking a bunch of mind-altering drugs. (TJRWrestling)

3. Edge to Face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37

Edge has finally decided who he will be facing in the Main Event of WrestleMania 37. After Roman Reigns quickly defeated Daniel Bryan at Elimination Chamber this past Sunday, Edge came down to the ring and speared Reigns. Later in the night, it was officially announced that Edge would be challenging Reigns for The Universal Championship at WrestleMania 37. This match will be happening exactly ten years to the date that Edge had to forfeit the WWE Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury. This kind of comeback is truly remarkable at the age of 47, as usually you have to wait another ten years in the WWE to get this kind of opportunity. (TJRWrestling)

2. Paul Wight Joins AEW

Tony Khan wrote another Big check this week. AEW announced this week on Twitter that Paul Wight A.K.A The Big Show will be joining AEW. Show will be doing commentary for the new AEW Dark: Elevation show, as well as competing inside of the ring. The 49-year-old Big Show had been a part of the WWE for over 20 years, appearing just last month at Raw Legends Night. In related news, with Khan’s recent signings more and more retired wrestlers have been seen doing push-ups at wrestling conventions. (TJRWrestling)

1. The Miz Cashes in Money in the Bank Contract to Win the WWE Heavyweight Championship

WWE has its first two-time grand slam champion. After Drew McIntyre successfully defended his WWE Heavyweight Championship in the Elimination Chamber, Bobby Lashley suddenly attacked and laid out McIntyre. Before McIntyre could then stand himself back up, The Miz came down to the ring and cashed in The Money in the Bank Contract. The Miz quickly hit The Skull Crushing Finale and pinned Drew McIntyre to win The WWE Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw it was discovered that The Miz made a deal with Lashley, that if Lashley attacked McIntyre he would get a shot at the Heavyweight Championship. Lashley will be getting that title shot this Monday in Raw, when he faces The Miz in the main event.

With this win, The Miz becomes the first wrestler to ever win all four major championships in the WWE twice. The Miz also made four of The Marine movies, but there was nothing grand about any of them. (TJRWrestling)

That will conclude another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. As always, if you like what I do, please follow me on Facebook and Twitter @BackseatBookers and listen to my podcast The BackseatBookers. (Please be aware that it is explicit, as I swear more than Donald Trump’s accountant.)