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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?
Hard To Kill 2022
Date: January 8, 2022
Location: The Bomb Factory, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, D’Lo Brown
The company is back on pay per view for one of only four times this year. The show has some big matches set, including Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey challenging Moose for the World Title in a three way, plus Knockouts Champion Mickie James defending against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Deathmatch. Let’s get to it.
Pre-Show: Madman Fulton vs. Jake Something
Fulton forearms him to the floor to sta..

He really is gone. Last month, Vince McMahon officially retired from WWE in one of the biggest stories in wrestling history. McMahon led the company for the better part of forty years and has been the driving force behind everything WWE has done. Such a change is going to take some time to get used to, but now another McMahon related change has taken place behind the scenes.
According to PWInsider.com, McMahon’s name has been removed from the company’s internal roster. McMahon had been listed along with names such as John Cena and the Bella Twins, who were not part of the active roster but could appear on any show. This is the latest step to getting rid of McMahon’s presence in WWE, after the backstage references to his name were removed last week.
Opinion: This is the new reality that WWE is facing and it is almost hard to believe that McMahon is being erased so fast. I know he didn’t leave on the best of terms, but to get rid of so many things that he has done and been associated w..

Rampage
Date: August 5, 2022
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross
We’re a day away from Battle Of The Belts and that is probably not going to mean very much. Other than that, we have a street fight this week between Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland and Josh Woods/Tony Nese, after Woods attacked Lee last week. In addition, Madison Rayne will be making her AEW debut which could be interesting. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Jon Moxley vs. Mance Warner Non-title and William Regal is on commentary. Before the match, we get a video from Warner, who is quite the Tennessee style talker. He promises to fight Moxley (rather than dance with him) because he has heard Moxley talk about how much he loves to bleed. Now Ole Mancer is here to become the man. It’s a brawl in the aisle to start with Warner sending him into the steps before biting Moxley’s head.
They get inside for the bell and are back on the floor literally two seconds l..

She’s that…person. On tonight’s episode of AEW Rampage, it was revealed who will be the next challenger for Jade Cargill and the TBS Championship.
After defeating Leila Grey in her debut with the company, Madison Rayne will be challenging Cargill for the championship on next Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite. This will be a part of their ‘Quake by the Lake’ special.
From Bleacher Report:
Fresh off being hired as the head coach of the AEW women’s division, Madison Rayne made her in-ring debut for the promotion in a match against Leila Grey.
Rayne took control at first, but Grey used a lot of heel tactics to put herself in a better position. Stokely Hathaway was there with her to make sure she had an even greater advantage.
Rayne was able to hit her finisher to get the win in her first match on AEW TV, but she was immediately confronted by Jade Cargill. The TBS champ invited Rayne to accept an open challenge for the belt on Wednesday. Kiera Hogan tried to attack Rayne, but it ended wi..

His boots are hung up. Wrestlers have one of the strangest career paths in any industry as it can be rather difficult to get out of the industry. Since wrestlers can find work in a variety of places around the country, it can be easy to keep going for a bit longer than they should. You do see some wrestlers who are able to find a way out of the ring though and another one has done just that.
Former WWE star Matthew Rehwoldt, better known as Aiden English, has announced that he will not be taking anymore in-ring bookings. Rehwoldt said that he does not feel like he belongs in the ring anymore and would rather focus on other areas. Instead of wrestling, Rehwoldt will be focusing on broadcasting and other industries, including voiceovers, gaming and esports. Rehwoldt has been doing broadcast work for Impact Wrestling and last wrestled on May 14.
So here you go:
I will no longer be taking bookings to wrestle going forward.
I've always been most at home with a mic in front of me ..

It had been previously reported that former UFC heavyweight champion and WWE superstar Cain Velasquez had been arrested on charges of attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty to these charges in Santa Clara (California) County earlier today.
From ESPN:
Velasquez, 40, is being charged with attempted murder and 10 other gun-related charges stemming from an incident where he allegedly chased down a man, Harry Goularte — who is being charged with molesting a young relative of Velasquez — and shooting a gun into Goularte’s vehicle, hitting Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender. Velasquez has been in jail since Feb. 28 and has been denied bail on three separate occasions.
A pre-trial hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 26, where Geragos is expecting to be able to get witnesses to testify, the attorney said. If the case is not dismissed at that point, he said, it would then go to trial, which could begin before the end of the year.
Geragos said the prosecution will not be calling Goula..

She’s up next. WWE has been expanding its slate of large scale shows in stadiums, meaning there are multiple events that need big time cards. The most common way to do this is with championship matches and there are several to pick from at any given point in WWE. Another of those was added to the lineup this week, as a new championship match was set for an upcoming major event.
This week on SmackDown, Shayna Baszler won a gauntlet match to become the new #1 contender to the SmackDown Women’s Title. The match featured seven women, with Baszler last eliminating Raquel Rodriguez. Baszler will receive her title shot against champion Liv Morgan at Clash At The Castle in Cardiff, Wales on September 3. This will be Baszler’s first televised shot at a singles title since Money In The Bank 2020.
Opinion: I have long since wondered how Baszler never won a singles title in WWE. While she had the great run as NXT Women’s Champion, nothing ever happened on the main roster for some reason. Hopeful..

Tick Tock. On tonight’s episode of WWE Smackdown, Karrion Kross and Scarlett officially made their return to the company to close the show.
Business just picked up!@realKILLERkross has taken out @DMcIntyreWWE on #SmackDown! pic.twitter.com/f53VjJhvFn
— WWE (@WWE) August 6, 2022
From our own Thomas Hall:
Here is the Bloodline (minus the recovering Paul Heyman) for a chat. After getting his acknowledgment, Reigns talks about how he respects Brock Lesnar but Lesnar put Paul Heyman in the hospital. Cue Drew McIntyre who says he’s ready to fight Reigns right now….but then everything goes black and white. A woman appears in the entrance and Karrion Kross returns to take out McIntyre. The woman, Scarlett, brings her hourglass to the ring and Kross stares at Reigns to end the show.
This is the duo’s first time on WWE programming since they were released in November 2021.
Editor’s Opinion:
I don’t know about you, but I marked out on my couch when his music hit. This was completely out of..

They’re back. There are a lot of titles under the WWE banner and some of them are specifically for one set of wrestlers. Those titles often have smaller fields of competitors, which means things can be a bit tighter when it comes to challenging for a championship. It is going to be the case again soon, as WWE is going to be crowning a new set of champions in the near future.
It was announced on this week’s SmackDown that a tournament would begin next week on Monday Night Raw to crown new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. There were no details on the tournament, including the participants, number of teams or when the finals would be held. Sasha Banks and Naomi vacated the titles when they walked out on WWE back in May, with a tournament being promised shortly thereafter.
Opinion: This surprises me a bit as the titles had not been mentioned in several months. I don’t know if the women’s division has the depth to support the titles but if more women are being brought in, it could work out..

Smackdown
Date: August 5, 2022
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
We’re done with Summerslam and well on the way to Clash At The Castle, which should make for an energized few weeks. WWE seems to want to make this show into something special and they have the ability to do so. The main event is already set and now we get to see what else they have. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of Summerslam.
The Bloodline arrives.
Pat McAfee gives us a telestrated recap of him kicking Happy Corbin low at Summerslam. We see the impact about ten times before cutting to the back, where a bunch of people are laughing at Corbin. Ricochet laughs a lot and gets a match with Corbin tonight as a result.
Ricochet vs. Happy Corbin Corbin throws him into the corner to start but Ricochet kicks him in the face, setting up the big flip dive to the floor. Back in and Ricochet’s springboard is broken up but he’s fine enough to block..

ROH World Heavyweight Champion Claudio Castagnoli was recently interviewed by Bleacher Report, where he discussed several topics. Among them were joining AEW, winning the ROH Heavyweight Championship, the future of the Blackpool Combat Club and more.
Below are some highlights from the interview:
On joining AEW and the matches that he had:
“[Blood and Guts] was awesome in a way that I was thrown right into the fire,” he said. “It was a kind of trial by combat, so to speak. Trial by Blackpool Combat Club [laughs]. I wrestled Zack Sabre Jr. that Sunday in a very, very technical match. I think he’s probably one of, if not the, best technical wrestlers in the world.
“And then there was the Blood and Guts match on Wednesday where I was in from the beginning to end. I’m always looking for challenges and that was definitely a big one. It’s so much fun to be in the ring with the Blackpool Combat Club.
“I’ve only known Wheeler Yuta for about a month, but it feels way longer. Bryan Danielson..

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 4, 2022
Location: Old Paristown Hall, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt
We’re just over a week away from Emergence and most of the show has already been set. The World and Knockouts Title matches are ready to go but now we need to build up a little more of the card. That is what we can take care of over the next two weeks, as Emergence is already starting to look strong. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap looks at Honor No More’s issues, setting up a ten man tag at Emergence. If Honor No More wins, they get a Tag Team Title shot, but if they lose, they’re done.
Opening sequence.
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Rosemary Taya Valkyrie and Jessika are here with Rosemary but there is no Chelsea Green for some reason. They glare at each other to start before Rosemary wins a test of strength. A bite to the face in the corner sets up a bulldog to drop Purrazzo again but she’s back up to wrap Rosemary’s arm around the rope. That doesn’t do ..