6 biggest and best moments in wrestling for August 2017

As the summer comes to an end, so does another month in the world of sports entertainment/professional wrestling. A variety of different wrestling stories stood out and caught the attention of wrestling fans throughout the world, with WWE taking centre stage.

Through social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, along with television and pay-per-view, these stories were at the forefront of fans attention.

One story focused on an injury and departure of one Superstar, while two others made debuts for the Smackdown Live brand. Two other stories focussed on recent prominent events and the subsequent fallout from those events.

Who walked away as champions and who simply walked away -- it was a month filled with several title changes after all. Which stories caught fans' attention? Here are the six biggest and best moments in professional wrestling for August 2017.

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#6 Summerslam

Summerslam featured a number of different title changes.

Hot on the heels of Takeover, Summerslam once again took place at the Barclays Centre. The brand extension was prominent, as both the WWE Universal Championship and WWE Championship were among the focal points of the program. Over the course of the six-hour showcase, with four hours being dedicated to the main show, fans witnessed a number of title changes.

Neville regained the Cruiserweight Championship after defeating Tozawa, The Usos defeated The New Day to recapture the WWE Smackdown tag team championships, Sasha Banks defeated Alexa Bliss to recapture the WWE Raw Women's Championship, and Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to capture the WWE Raw tag team championships.

The main event of Summerslam included a massive fatal four-way match between Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. The biggest moments of the match included Strowman putting Lesnar through two different announce tables and throwing another one onto Lesnar.

Lesnar retained his championship and will have a championship match versus Strowman at No Mercy.

#5 John Cena goes to Raw

The addition of Cena to Raw has also seen a shift in match possibilities as well for the Raw brand

"Let's go, Cena, Cena sucks" -- these two phrases will follow Cena from Smackdown Live to Monday Night Raw. Cena's debut on Raw now changes some things, as he will be confronted with a number of different opponents.

His addition allows him to engage in new and different match ups with talent on the Raw roster. Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe present a number of interesting and exciting opportunities.

On Monday, August 21st, Cena's return to Raw was also met with mixed reactions from the live audience, as was to be expected because many of the fans didn't necessarily want to see him. Still, his addition creates an interesting dynamic that wouldn't otherwise have been seen in his absence from the program.

Cena and Reigns will face off for the first time in the ring at No Mercy later this month. While his time on the roster may be limited, Cena's time will see a number of fantastic match possibilities.

#4 Mae Young Classic debuts

The all-women's tournament began to air on the WWE Network

On Monday, August 28th, WWE aired the first four episodes of the Classic, which will see 32 women vie to become the winner of the inaugural event. The bracketology episode helped educate fans on the entrants in the tournament, and a number of notable names were mentioned, as well as a number of names fans weren't familiar of.

Some of those mentioned have generated a following on the independent scene and in other promotions, such as Candice LaRae, Abbey Laith (who competed as Kimber Lee), Mia Yim, Santana Garrett and Tessa Blanchard.

It also included a former WWE Superstar in Serena Deeb, who was part of CM Punk's Straight Edge Society. However, two names that fans should be keeping an eye out for is MMA star and Four Horsewomen member Shayna Baszler, and Japanese sensation Kairi Sane.

The tournament has been a long time coming and is a labour of love for all those who worked to have it finally happen.

#3 Asuka breaks her collarbone; out 6-8 weeks and relinquishes title

Asuka's 16-month reign came to an end with her relinquishing the title after suffering an injury

"The Empress of Tomorrow" has been easily the most dominant Superstar in all of WWE over the course of the past couple of years. On April 1st, 2016, Asuka became the NXT women's champion, and held it until relinquishing it till the TV tapings on August 24th, 2017, in a ceremony that was aired on August 30th.

She has not only been the champion but has been dominant in the process; in fact, she has been undefeated throughout her time with WWE. She has faced everyone from Superstars who have moved to the main roster like Bayley and Nia Jax, to more recent challengers such as Ruby Riot, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross.

She will often proclaim that no one is ready for Asuka, though one woman appeared not only ready for Asuka but ready to defeat her as well. During Ember Moon's championship match against Asuka at Takeover, the champion was injured on her way to victory.

After she landed awkwardly from a throw, she suffered a broken right collarbone. It was obvious, as after the match she couldn't even raise her right arm, holding the title high over her head with her left arm. Her estimated time of recovery is six to eight weeks.

#2 Bobby Roode and Shelton Benjamin go to Smackdown Live

'The Glorious One' along with Shelton Benjamin debuted for the blue brand this past month

One is 'Glorious' and there is no stopping the other one. The addition of both Bobby Roode and Shelton Benjamin to Smackdown Live allows for many interesting possibilities, much like John Cena's addition to Raw.

While both these additions were rumoured for some time, their arrival on Smackdown Live will make for some fairly exciting match ups. Benjamin will work alongside Chad Gable as a tag team. Will they be a Minnesota Wrecking Crew for a new generation? It appears that way.

In the case of Bobby Roode, his addition seems to suggest that he will be thrust into the role of a top-level face on the brand, alongside AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Roode's addition as a face rather than a heel also shows his versatility. Who will he feud with? We aren't sure, but the possibilities are numerous.

#1 NXT Takeover Brooklyn: III

The visual of Fish, Cole, and O'Reilly standing over a laid out and new NXT champion Drew McIntyre certainly made NXT Takeover Brooklyn: III the most notable story of the month

The NXT Takeover Brooklyn: III event that took place on Saturday, August 19th, was an incredible event that saw some a number of great matches take place.

From the opening match between Andrade ‘Cien' Almas and Johnny Gargano, to the main event between Bobby Roode and Drew McIntyre for the NXT Championship, the event proved to be a huge success during the Summerslam weekend. The event saw a number of huge happenings.

We witnessed Sanity defeat the Authors of Pain in a match that showcased Alexander Wolfe, who had a very impressive showing on the evening. After the match, fans witnessed an attack at the hands of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, who beat down Sanity's Wolf and Eric Young.

The night culminated with the debut of Adam Cole, who stormed the ring after McIntyre captured the NXT championship. It resulted in a number of questions as it did answers, and NXT Takeover: Brooklyn once again had social media all abuzz.