Oh, where do we even begin? Bumps (and mumps) on the road caused a handful of crazy detours this past week.
But first...
10. WWE 2K18 release
Wrestling gamers rejoiced on October 17 when WWE 2K18 was finally released. Here's what our resident Smark Henry gamers have to say, in 5 words or less:
Lance: Improved gameplay, filled with bugs.
George: What the hell is happening?!?
Stan: Tangina, so many fucking characters!
Stan has more where that came from in his upcoming WWE 2K18 review, so stay tuned!
9. A bunch of trolls
The first thing ex-backstage producer Jimmy Jacobs did after being fired by WWE for a "petty" reason? Show up at ROH and rub elbows with the "cause" of his departure, the Bullet Club!
Speaking of the Club, they debut their new "One Sweet" hand gesture to counter WWE's cease-and-desist order on the use of the "Too Sweet" sign.
Also at ROH Global Wars, Bubba Ray Dudley aka Bully Ray announced his retirement from wrestling.
8. #NevilleWatch, #NiaWatch
Neville's status remained up in the air last week, and according to the Grapevine, he was still pushing for his WWE release.
Nia Jax was also reported to be taking a "leave of absence" for still-unclear reasons. As a result, Sasha Banks's TLC opponent was changed to Alicia Fox.
7. PWR wrestlers show there's #NoStoppingTheHungry
Yellow Cab also sponsors PWR's November 5 event, Vendetta.
6. Mahal vs. Lesnar
(No, not our lovable cutie-cute-cute Mahal...)
So they pulled the trigger on champion vs. champion at Survivor Series: WWE Champion Jinder Mahal vs. Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.
Let's see how it develops, but I would have to agree with our SmackDown Live reviewer Ricky: No one will benefit from this match-up.
5. Women's wrestling
The past week was a banner week for Asian women wrestlers.
On Monday, WWE announced its signing of Indian wrestler Kavita Devi and Arabian wrestler Shadia Bseiso, the first from their respective descents to receive a WWE contract. Our very own KP wrote about why these acquisitions matter.
The same day, Singapore Pro Wrestling (SPW) announced the creation of the Wrestling Queen of Asia Championship, with 5 ladies—including PWR's own Crystal—competing for the prize in an elimination-style match.
WrestlingCity.Asia: Reload hosted the inaugural battle on Friday, but it ended with no champion being crowned. Crystal and Singapore's Alexis Lee were the last 2 ladies when Russian wrestler "The Queen of Scream" Kasey interrupted the proceedings.
4. SAnitY vs. Undisputed Era
NXT's warring factions faced off for the first time on Wednesday. Eric Young and the gang looked to prevail over the trifecta led by Adam Cole, but SAnitY got the short end of the stick. Former NXT Tag Team Champions Authors of Pain returned from hiatus and attacked SAnitY!
Also on Wednesday, Ember Moon earned a spot at the NXT Women's Championship match at TakeOver: WarGames, while Aleister Black and Kassius Ohno made their impact. Jocs also wondered in Smark Hen-XT: Is a McIntyre/Almas feud in the works?
3. Ultima Lucha Tres, ultima parte
The fourth and final part of Ultima Lucha Tres featured more twists than a Lucban pilipit.
I'll leave the review to Anthony, but just to wrap up: two Lucha Underground Champions were forced to end their careers, Vampiro assisted Pentagon Dark to LU Championship gold, Mil Muertes won the Gauntlet of the Gods but didn't have the last laugh, and Matanza destroyed El Dragon Azteca Jr.
2. BFFs
The Sami Zayn-Kevin Owens reunion isn't so awkward anymore. They proved it at SmackDown Live last Tuesday, when the duo brilliantly burned GM Daniel Bryan on the mic. "If you were D-Bry, how the hell can you even respond?" asked Ricky on his SmackDown RunDown Live.
Sami-KO then snuck in a victory over Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura at the main event.
Other SmackDown developments include Dolph Ziggler winning over Bobby Roode, and US Champion Baron Corbin squashing Sin Cara.
1. TLC shake-up
As if RAW wasn't head-scratching enough, wait 'til the end of the week.
Odds were stacked further against the Shield, when the returning Kane made his way to RAW to join Intercontinental Champion The Miz, Sheamus, Cesaro, and Braun Strowman. This makes their Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC a 5-on-3 affair. Lots of unanswered questions all around, said Nicole on her RAW Report.
Meanwhile, it was announced that Sister Abigail (the alter ego of Bray Wyatt) will face "The Demon King" Finn Balor at TLC. Yep, they went there.
Then, "mumps" (or a viral infection, as acknowledged by WWE) happened. As the week wrapped up, the sickness downed multiple wrestlers, vastly affecting the TLC card. On Sunday, we're getting AJ Styles instead, replacing Bray, to face Finn Balor! Two ex-Bullet Club leaders face off.
But the biggest blockbuster of all: Kurt Angle's replacing Roman Reigns! The RAW GM returns to action in a WWE ring for the first time in 11 years... and it's not even a singles match!
Read Nicole's TLC predictions here.
*****
And finally this: Impact Wrestling in 45 words:
Johnny Impact beat Chris Adonis; Global Champion Eli Drake joined post-match attack, but Garza Jr made the save. American Top Team's Dan Lambert challenged Moose and Stephen Bonnar to a match against Lashley and King Mo at BFG. Taya defeated Rosemary at the main event.
*****
Michael Bueza (@mikebueza) is a researcher for Rappler.com, a Managing Editor of Smark Henry, and a huge trivia geek. A post-Attitude Era wrestling fan, he caught up with what he had missed by literally reading through all WWE (and some WCW) pay-per-view results on the Internet. He posts PPV results for the site, and is in charge of Smark Henry's weekly wrestling recap.
