media

That’s another take on things. Wrestling is a sport like almost every other, int hat you will always see people moving on from one promotion to another. There are some big names who stick around for a long time but more often than not, wrestlers are moving on to greener pastures on a regular basis. Occasionally a bigger name will move though, and that can create a unique situation. That was the case earlier this year.
Back in February, Cody Rhodes left AEW and returned to WWE later in the year. During a new interview with Ariel Helwani, AEW’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman discussed Rhodes leaving the company. Friedman said that the locker room viewed Rhodes leaving favorably, though not in a personal way against Rhodes. The departure opened up more doors at the top of the card, which is a good thing for any wrestler in the company. Friedman says that is how the business works, as it is a competitive sport.
Opinion: I can get the thinking here and Friedman is probably very right. Rhodes leav..

Back to the old one? Finding the right character is one of the most important things that a wrestler can do. Having the wrong presentation can doom a wrestler’s potential from the get go, but sometimes there are changes made after someone has been around for awhile. That means an adjustment might need to be made, and now the seeds for such a change could have been planted.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss in the show’s main event. Throughout the match, commentary suggested that Bliss was not being herself and was not putting her all into the match. According to Wrestlingnews.co, this was designed to suggest that Bliss had lost a step since her return to television. This is taking place at the same time as the White Rabbit mystery continues across WWE TV, which may have to do with the return of Bray Wyatt and a potential reunion with Bliss. There is nothing to confirm that this is the case as of yet.
Opinion: I would hope that this isn’t the case, as the idea..

That’s a good step forward. Wrestlers are larger than life characters who are regularly on television doing things that no one else would ever do in regular life. That can make for some rather interesting moments, though that is not the end of what happens to them. There are several things that take place after the cameras stop rolling and now a former wrestler is getting some good news in his personal life.
Last month, Patrick Clark, better known as Velveteen Dream, was arrested twice in the span of a week on various charges. However, according to PWInsider.com, the August 20 charges of First Degree Battery and Trespassing have been closed, as a hearing scheduled for September 28 has been canceled. Court records cited a lack of evidence in dropping the charges. Clark was recently released from a 25 day jail sentence for a probation violation stemming from the August 20 charges.
Opinion: That is some good news for Clark, but he still has more than enough legal issues to worry about. ..

Back and forth? The rise of AEW has changed the way the wrestling world works. There is suddenly a brand new company that has risen up to give wrestlers another top level place to go. That is something you only see happen once every several years and it is great to have it happening again. A lot of wrestlers have jumped over to AEW, but now one might be interested in going the other way.
Over the last few weeks, AEW’s Malakai Black’s status with the company has changed. He has recently received a conditional release from the company, leaving the four and a half years he had on his contract. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Black wanted to return to WWE, but it is not clear how things will go due to his contract. However, it was noted that it was difficult to keep someone in a deal they do not want for four and a half years.
Opinion: I’m really not sure what is going on here but it should be interesting to see where it goes. Maybe Black does want to return to WWE and this is the..

It does make sense. Over the last few years, WWE has developed a business relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The deal has been very lucrative for WWE as the company receives millions of dollars in exchange for two shows a year in the Kingdom. WWE is returning in November with a bit of a weird main event, but now we know the reasoning behind it.
WWE has announced that the main event of November 5’s Crown Jewel event will see Logan Paul challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title. According to Dave Meltzer on the Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast, Saudi Arabia wanted Paul in the spot because he has more mainstream appeal than a regular WWE star like Kevin Owens or Seth Rollins. This will be Paul’s third WWE match to date.
Opinion: I don’t think this is much of a surprise and that is not the worst thing. Paul does seem to be someone who has a lot of natural talent and the ability to get fans’ attention when he is in front of a camera. While I can’t imagin..

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over twelve years now and have reviewed over 6,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net. It could be anything from modern WWE to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?
Bangerz Only
Date: April 2, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Denise Salcedo, Sam Leterna, Veda Scott
This is from Mission Pro Wrestling, an all women’s promotion owned by AEW Thunder Rosa, from over Wrestlemania weekend. That means we should be in for a fun show which likely includes a fair few guest stars. I have no idea what to expect from this show and that is a nice feeling, as it could be a little bit of anything. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Shazza McKenzie vs. Janai Kai
Kai has..

That’s a little spooky. There are a lot of ways to present a wrestler on any given show. Sometimes the best way is to bring them out simply, have them win some matches and go from there. That is the easiest and most common method, but sometimes you need something a bit more complicated. WWE is certainly doing that at the moment and now they are at it again.
This week on Monday Night Raw, a QR cord appeared in the background of a backstage segment. Scanning the code brought up a short video of a white rabbit playing a game of Hangman, with the question “Who Killed The World” at the top. The rabbit then makes the words “YOU DID” appear on screen and “9-23” then appears. This comes less than a week after WWE played the song “White Rabbit” during a commercial break on SmackDown. It is not clear what this is referencing.
It’s certainly different. Check out what WWE aired:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: I’m not sure what this is but it would seem to be either somethin..

Two for one. There are a lot of gimmick matches in WWE’s history, some of which are among the most iconic in wrestling. The company has held cage matches, Last Man Standing matches, Iron Man matches and several other kinds in between. WWE has covered all kinds of points throughout its history but now they are going into uncharted territory.
In a new interview with the Ringer, Triple H has announced that WWE will present a men’s and women’s WarGames match at this year’s Survivor Series. No names have been announced for the matches. The match will end the tradition of a Monday Night Raw vs. SmackDown theme to the show. WWE has never run a WarGames match, though NXT has regularly held at least one a year, normally around the same time as Survivor Series.
Opinion: I’m not sure what this is going to mean when we get to Survivor Series but from this far out, it sounds like a heck of an idea. If nothing else, it is a lot more interesting than watching Monday Night Raw vs. SmackDown again, a..

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 19, 2022
Location: SAP Center, San Jose, California
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We are less than three weeks away from Extreme Rules and much like we have seen in recent weeks, there is a title match as Bobby Lashley is defending the United States Title. Other than that, we should be getting some build to the pay per view, which is needing some matches added. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
United States Title: Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley Lashley is defending and we get some Big Match Intros. They take their time to start with Rollins having to slip away from the power. The threat of a spear sends Rollins outside but he switches places and tries a dive. That gets pulled out of the air but Rollins avoids the posting. Back in and Rollins kicks away, only to have Lashley block the stomp by putting his hands on the mat and knock him outside.
We take a break and come back with Rollins working on the arm, which went into th..

It’s a special. WWE is in a rather strong place when it comes to their current television contracts. While Monday Night Raw and NXT are on the USA Network on Monday and Tuesday, Friday features SmackDown on the FOX Network. That is the biggest platform WWE has ever had and it means something when FOX wants more programming. That is what they will be having again later this year.
According to PWInsider.com, FOX will air a special looking at the WWE’s Top Ten Women’s Extreme Moments over the first weekend in October. The special will air at varying times throughout different markets. This special will be airing about a week before the Extreme Rules premium live event on September 8. FOX occasionally airs various specials such as this one for certain occasions.
Opinion: This is one of those things that is very good to see for WWE as FOX is confident enough in WWE programming to put it on instead of anything else they have. WWE has a built in audience and if they can bring some of those ..

That’s a big match. There are a lot of ways to present a feud in wrestling. It might be over a championship or something personal but there is often a lot of violence involved. This can often include some kind of a special gimmick or stipulation to take the feud to another level. It has worked for years and now it is happening again with a stipulation we do not see very often.
Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins have been feuding for the last several weeks, with Rollins defeating him at Clash At The Castle when Riddle got too aggressive. The two have since cost each other matches and had to be held apart this week on Monday Night Raw. Rollins shouted that Riddle could pick the next match so Riddle said in the Fight Pit at Extreme Rules. The Fight Pit has only been used in NXT and features a cage around the ring with platforms on top.
Opinion: They needed to do something big for the rematch and I like this more than some street fight or tables match or whatever. Sometimes you need to mix it ..

That could be serious. There are all kinds of injuries and health issues that can keep wrestlers out of the ring. It might be something short term that means they won’t be missing a lot of time, but there are other more serious situations that keep someone on the shelf for a long time. Then there are situations that happen to wrestlers through no fault of their own, which seems to be the case again.
In a new post to Instagram, WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus has revealed that she was forced to undergo appendectomy surgery over the weekend. Stratus said that she had been dealing with a series of pain in her side and realized that something was wrong. She has since had her appendix removed and will be fine. Stratus recently appeared on Monday Night Raw as a special guest last month.
She seems in good spirits. Check out Stratus’ announcement:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: That could have been a lot worse for Stratus as an appendicitis is the kind of thing that can..