WWE - The Week that Was: Sasha Banks, Goldberg and Tim Wiese
Dean Ambrose ends Smackdown on a high note
Monday 10 October 2016 03:56, UK
A new Women's Champion, the return of the Spirit Squad, and a potential Goldberg-Lesnar rematch - check out this week's WWE headlines.
MONDAY
Not since December 6, 2004 had a women's division match main-evented WWE Raw - but that all changed this week as Charlotte put her Raw Women's Championship on the line against Sasha Banks in a superb encounter. Ric Flair's daughter used every move in her armoury, including a corkscrew moonsault off the turnbuckle, to keep Banks down, but the Boss withstood the assault before forcing the champion to tap out to the Bank Statement to claim the title.
In doing so, the 24-year-old matched the exploits of Lita in that aforementioned main-event bout 12 years previous, Lita ending Trish Stratus' fifth reign as Women's Champion on that occasion. Elsewhere on this week's Raw, Ashton Kutcher mocked Chris Jericho, a Hell in a Cell United States Title scrap between Roman Reigns and Rusev was made official for October 30 and Brian Kendrick and Tony Nese secured wins in the cruiserweight division.
TUESDAY
Smackdown's next pay-per-view, No Mercy, comes your way on Sunday night - live on Sky Sports Box Office from 1am - with the main event seeing AJ Styles defend the WWE World Title against John Cena and Dean Ambrose. The three men met in the ring to discuss their weekend scuffle but, unsurprisingly, their chinwag descended into fisticuffs. It was Ambrose who came out on top, though, The Lunatic Fringe dropping Styles with a Dirty Deeds after the champ had jumped Cena.
Cena will be targeting a record-equaling 16th world title in WWE on Sunday night - a win will see him match Flair's tally - so we asked you to test your knowledge of The Cenation Leader in a tricky 10-question quiz. Can you remember what he was called in Ohio Valley Wrestling? Back to Smackdown, Bray Wyatt was seemingly assisted by Sister Abigail as he escaped Randy Orton's clutches, while The Miz orchestrated a Spirit Squad reunion, of sorts, for No Mercy foe Dolph Ziggler.
WEDNESDAY
Alexa Bliss will challenge Becky Lynch for the Smackdown Women's Championship this weekend and ahead of that bout we caught up with the former NXT starlet to chat about her title shot, her switch to the blue brand, her wrestling inspirations and whether her Harley Quinn look is here to stay. Sticking with the No Mercy theme, and YouTube gaming guru Delzinski used WWE video game, 2K16, to simulate whether Cena, Ambrose or Styles would prevail in California.
Wednesday was also a day of big announcements - Samoa Joe insisted things "would escalate" if he was not handed either the brand's title or the brand's champion, Shinsuke Nakamura; Brie Bella revealed that she and her husband, Smackdown General Manager, Daniel Bryan, were expecting their first child; and Goldberg said there was a possibility he could return to the WWE ring for the first time since 2004 - and possibly even hand Brock Lesnar a WrestleMania XX rematch!
THURSDAY
Speaking of rematches, The Usos will get one at No Mercy when they tackle Smackdown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno, the duo they lost to at Backlash on September 11. Earlier in the week, the newly-mean Jimmy and Jey had vowed to win the twin titles but Slater and Rhyno sent out a stark reminder that they will be hard to topple when they knocked off The Ascension on WWE Main Event, Rhyno's picture-perfect Gore on Viktor sealing the victory for his team.
We also took a trip down memory lane to the last time No Mercy was staged, way back in 2008 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. The night was certainly rosy for then WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jericho, who beat Shawn Michaels in a Ladder Match to retain his title, and Rey Mysterio, who beat Kane via disqualification to avoid being unmasked. There were also mixed fortunes for the Hardy Boyz, Jeff and Matt, as well as a knockout blow for The Undertaker.
FRIDAY
Jeepers keepers, Tim Wiese is coming to a WWE ring! The former Germany, Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim goalie has been targeting a wrestling career since he quit the football pitch and, as announced on Friday, the 34-year-old will compete in the WWE squared circle for the first time in Munich on November 3, when he teams up with Cesaro and Sheamus to tackle The Shining Stars and Bo Dallas. Looks like Cesaro was right when he said Wiese had the tools to make it in the industry.
Whether Ziggler is still a WWE employee come the date of Wiese's maiden match remains to be seen, as The Show-Off will be forced to retire if he loses his bout against Intercontinental Champion The Miz at No Mercy. With that in mind, we thought it appropriate to celebrate Ziggler's career highlights in WWE, including his two world title wins and stellar display at Survivor Series 2014, especially as The Miz had focussed on his lowlights during a chaotic-edition of MizTV on Tuesday.
Watch WWE No Mercy, live on Sky Sports Box Office (channel 491) and Sky Sports HD Box Office (channel 492) from 1am on Monday.
The show is priced £14.95 for customers in the United Kingdom and €21.95 for viewers in the Republic of Ireland.
You can also follow the pay-per-view on skysports.com and Sky Sports' mobile and iPad apps with our live blog.
WWE No Mercy booking details
ONLINE: Visit this link: https://my.sky.com/orderboxoffice/
PHONE: UK viewers can call 03442 410 888 to book WWE No Mercy, while customers in the Republic of Ireland should call 0818 220 225. (There may be an additional charge for telephone bookings).
REMOTE
Sky+: Press the box office button on your remote, then click the sports tab followed by WWE No Mercy.
Sky Q: Press Home on your Sky Q remote, select TV guide, then Box Office and the WWE No Mercy. Enter your TV Pin if prompted. (Only bookings via Sky TV remote are recordable using Sky Plus).
Sky TV residential customers only. Commercial customers contact Sky for price and to order. Sky Box Office terms apply. Cable customers should contact their local cable operator.
