THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING

October 10, 2018

This week in wrestling saw the announcement that many thought we would never hear.  Shawn Michaels is set to return to in-ring action for the first time in more than eight years, when he teams up with Triple H to take on The Undertaker and Kane at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 2.

The blockbuster announcement was made on RAW, following a successful WWE Super Showdown event in Melbourne, Australia, on October 6.  In the main event, Shawn Michaels helped Triple H defeat The Undertaker; but suffered the consequences post-match, feeling the wrath of the Deadman by being choke slammed through the announce table.

The return of Shawn Michaels over shadowed another major announcement.  Daniel Bryan is the new number one contender for the WWE World Championship after beating the Miz in Australia; setting up a dream match against AJ Styles.  The champion successfully defeated Samoa Joe by submission in Melbourne, in perhaps the best match of the night.  The other highlight for the fans was local wrestler Buddy Murphy, who has featured mostly on 205 Live and NXT, winning the Cruiserweight Championship from Cedric Alexander.

Apart from the reformation of DX, RAW saw the continuing rivalry between Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and The Shield.  Drew McIntyre picked up the pinfall win, reversing the result from Melbourne.  The show ended with Dean Ambrose walking away dejected, leaving Roman Reigns and Seth Rolling looking perplexed in the ring.

Bad news for Kevin Owens, with a knee injury that may see him miss Wrestlemania.  Owens requires surgery, and will be out for at least three months.  On the show, the injury occurred at the hands of Bobby Lashley, who seems to have turned heel.

Kurt Angle returned to in-ring competition.  Dressed as the masked Conquistador in a gimmick battle royal match, Angle eliminated Baron Corbin to win, before unmasking.  Angle will be in a WWE World Cup tournament at Crown Jewel.

A major announcement was made on Smackdown, with Rey Mysterio taking on Shinsuke Nakamura in another World Cup qualifier on the show next week.  It marks Rey Mysterio’s first match on Smackdown in four years, and will be a major feature of the show’s 1000^th episode.  Smackdown 1000 will also see the reuniting of the famous Evolution stable.

You can read more about wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, The Undertaker, Kane, Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles, and Daniel Bryan here.