The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 4/10: WrestleMania 36, WWE Keeps Taping, Another “Deletion” Match, More
Welcome back TJR readers, did you for some strange reason feel that it was more important to watch the news instead of Smackdown this week? Perhaps you spent all day Monday trying to analyze the Firefly Funhouse Match and missed Raw. Worry not, for I have returned with another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week to catch you up.
10. New Interim Cruiserweight Champion to be Crowned
The health crisis caused even more havoc to the wrestling world this week. NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin is presently stuck in the UK, and was not able to travel to the US for the TV tapings this week. Due to this NXT General Manager William Regal has announced that a tournament will be held to crown an Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion. Devlin is actually not the only NXT champion stuck in the UK, as one half of the NXT Tag Team Champions Pete Dunne is also stuck across the pond. Regal has promised to address the tag title situation in the upcoming weeks. After the tournament, NXT will theoretically now have two Cruiserweight Champions that most of the WWE Universe can now completely forget about. (TJRWrestling)
9. Mystery Man Shown on Smackdown
This week we were finally shown who is behind the mysterious glitches that have affected the Smackdown broadcast for weeks. After another set of glitches, a mystery man appeared in the production truck as “TRUTH WILL BE HEARD” flashed on the screen. The mystery man then showed us security camera footage that proved that Sonya Deville and Dolph Ziggler sabotaged the Valentine’s Day date between Otis and Mandy Rose. The mystery man was never identified and it is still unknown who he might be. Due to his affinity for Mandy Rose however, John Canton is a strong possibility. (TJRWrestling)
8. Nia Jax Returns to Raw
After having surgery to repair both her ACL’s that kept her from WWE for a year, Nia Jax finally made her return this past Monday on Raw. Jax made quick work of NXT Superstar Deonna Purazzo, using a Double Arm DDT as her new finisher. Former WWE’s Divas Champion Paige actually gave Jax permission to use the DDT as her finisher, as she used a similar maneuver when she competed. It is unknown if Paige also taught Jax how to take on multiple opponents at the same time as well. (TJRWrestling)
7. Matt Hardy Invites Chris Jericho to the Hardy Compound for an “Elite Deletion” Match
This week on AEW: Dynamite, Matt Hardy invited Chris Jericho to his Compound for an “Elite Deletion” Match. Matt Hardy’s compound previously has been featured in matches for TNA/Impact with “Final Deletion” and WWE with “Ultimate Deletion.” If the previous “Deletion” matches are any indication of what AEW has planned, then “Elite Deletion” is certainly going to be a unique experience. Hopefully, AEW won’t start using some of TNA’s other gimmick matches, as I personally don’t want to see Kenny Omega compete in a Reverse Battle Royal or Blindfolded Cage Match. (TJRWrestling)
6. Rob Gronkowski wins 24/7 Championship at WrestleMania 36
It only took a few weeks for Rob Gronkowski to win gold in the WWE. During night one of his hosting duties at WrestleMania 36, Gronkowski attempted to pin R-Truth to win the 24/7 championship. Gronkowski’s close friend Mojo Rawley broke up the pin and then pinned Truth himself, winning the title. During night two of mania, Rawley was chased into the arena by a multitude of wrestlers all trying to defeat Rawley for the title. Gronkowski then proceeded to dive on all the wrestlers including Rawley, pinning Rawley to become the new 24/7 Champion. The former New England Patriot will now try to prevent his momentum from deflating as he joins the main roster. (TJRWrestling)
5. Both AEW and WWE Tape Content for the Rest of April
With things being shut down more every day, both AEW and WWE rushed to tape as much content as possible. Due to Florida initiating a Stay at Home Order allowing for only essential businesses to operate, AEW moved their production to Georgia last week and reportedly taped enough content to get them to the middle of May. As for WWE, they were somehow able to get permission to continue taping in Florida this week, taping content for all their programming through the end of the month. Exactly how WWE was allowed to circumvent the Stay at Home Order is unknown at this time. Apparently in Florida a wrestling match is deemed more essential than a child going to school to learn to read. (TJRWrestling)
4. Charlotte Wins NXT Women’s Title
A new NXT Women’s Champion was crowned this weekend at WrestleMania 36. Charlotte Flair was able to make NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley tap out with her Figure Eight Leg Lock, to once again become claim the championship. Charlotte will now go on to face Io Shari, who won the Six Women’s Ladder Match to become the new number one contender for the title this week on NXT. Charlotte’s win adds to the already long list of accolades that she has already accomplished that includes 1 Divas Championship, 2 NXT Championships, 4 Raw Women’s Championships, 5 Smackdown Women’s Championships, 3 Engagements and 2 Divorces. (TJRWrestling)
3. Braun Strowman Wins The Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36
Braun Strowman had an unexpected WrestleMania moment this past Saturday. Due to Roman Reigns dropping out of the match, Braun Strowman suddenly saw himself facing Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36. Strowman, who wasn’t even originally booked in a match at WrestleMania, defeated Goldberg to become the new Universal Champion. The entire match only lasted a little over two minutes meaning that Goldberg was only completely gassed for about 1:45 of the match. (TJRWrestling)
2. WWE Gets Creative With Some of Their Match Presentations
With all that has been going on in the world lately, WWE has been forced to think out of the box on how they are going to present their product going forward. This was most evident this week in three matches in particular. The “Blackheart vs. Rebel Heart: One Final Beat Match” between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa saw Gargano and Ciampa wrestle in an abandoned warehouse without any commentary. Gargano ended up getting the win after an absolutely brutal match, thanks to an assist from his wife Candice LeRae. The Firefly Funhouse Match between John Cena and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania did not bumping like a regular wrestling match, as it was more of a strange psychedelic career retrospective for both men then an actual match. The “match” ended with Wyatt counting the pin to give “The Fiend” the win. The Boneyard Match between AJ Styles and The Undertaker was presented with a cinematic presentation, looking more like a 90’s horror movie than an actual wrestling match. Taker ended up getting the win when he buried Styles alive, leaving only Styles hand sticking out of the dirt. Personally, I am all for WWE doing more matches with a cinematic feel as long as they don’t have The Miz in a Marine 7 match. (TJRWrestling)
1. Drew McIntyre Wins WWE Championship at WrestleMania
The culmination of a nearly 13 year journey was recognized for Drew McIntyre this past Sunday at WrestleMania 36. In a little over four minutes, McIntyre was able to defeat Brock Lesnar and become the new WWE Champion. With this win, two of the three members of the former 3MB faction have went on to become WWE Champion. This proves that in at least Heath Slater’s case that having children can hold your career back. He’s got kids! Congrats Drew. (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 have deemed four letter words essential.)