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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?
California Championship Wrestling
Date: August 6, 1986
Location: Fender’s Ballroom, Long Beach, California
Commentator: Barry Richards
Oh boy I’ve been wanting to check this one out for a long time. California Championship Wrestling is, as you might have guessed, a territory from back in the mid 1980s. What sets it apart is that it is apparently the worst wrestling territory that anyone has ever seen. I’ve seen quite a few bad territories in my day and I’m curious to see what they have. Let’s get to it.
I know NO..

The original plans. WWE has been all over the place this year with its releases and roster changes. Those moves have made it even more difficult to keep track of what is going on, including who is still around and working with whoever else. It makes things even more complicated when you have moves that didn’t make it to television, which is the case again with a pairing that never happened.
Scarlett Bordeaux recently took part in a signing with Signed By Superstars. During the signing, Bordeaux revealed that WWE had originally planned for her to manage Damian Priest. Pairing Bordeaux with Priest would have been the idea had Karrion Kross not been able to sign with WWE. Kross did eventually sign and was paired with Bordeaux upon his debut, though both were released from WWE earlier this year.
This could have been interesting. Check out Priest, plus Kross with and without Bordeaux:
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Monday Night Raw
Date: December 20, 2021
Location: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We’re less than two weeks away from Day One and the Raw World Title match has grown. Last week Bobby Lashley won a series of matches to earn the right to be added to the match as the bad guys had a big night. Now we need to change things up a bit on the way to the pay per view. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Bobby Lashley running the gauntlet last week to earn the Day One title shot.
Here are MVP and Bobby Lashley for a chat. MVP hypes up Lashley’s accomplishments last week and explains just how impressive it really was. Now no one can hang with him, but here is Big E. to interrupt. Big E. was impressed last week, but the Lashley that he knows (the one with a lot of sisters) has all of his success on his own.
That made it all the more surprising when MVP hit Big E. in the knee with a cane last week. Lashley says he’s a monster but he’..

Tis the season. We are less than a week away from Christmas and less than two weeks away from the new year. You can feel the year winding down and that means things are a bit more calm and peaceful, often with people enjoying the holiday season. That is the case in WWE as well, as they are sending fans a special look at the holiday season, featuring some of its biggest names.
WWE has released a new video featuring various wrestlers wishing fans Happy Holidays. Several wrestlers are included in-character, along with some less than normal situations, such as Charlotte as the Grinch and Seth Rollins acknowledging his marriage to Becky Lynch. There is also a discussion of wrestlers making the best holiday cookies and a few classic clips.
It’s a fun thing to see. Check out the video plus some other WWE Christmas clips:
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Opinion: This is something that WWE doe..

Call it a wish list. We are only a few months away from WrestleMania 38, which will be one of the biggest shows in history. The idea of holding the show on back to back nights in a stadium that can hold 100,000 people is quite the way to go and WWE will have its work cut out for it to fill the place. Now it seems that they have their eyes on someone who could help that issue.
According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, WWE hopes to have Steve Austin appear at WrestleMania. Austin would not be in a wrestling role, but WWE would like to have him be in a bigger role than simply making an appearance. There is no word on if Austin is interested or if he has made an agreement to appear. Austin has been featured in the main television advertisement for WrestleMania.
Talked to a few different source this weekend & heard the same thing, WWE is very interested in having Steve Austin as a part of WrestleMania this year in Dallas. Not in a wrestling role, but a meaningful part of the event ou..

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 9, 2021
Location: Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Matt Striker, D’Lo Brown
We are on the way to Hard To Kill and the show still has a long way to go. You can see a lot of the card from here so hopefully we get some more work put in this week. A few more matches would help, as long as they pay enough attention to what is already there too. Let’s get to it.
Opening recap looks at Matt Cardona and W. Morrissey becoming co-#1 contenders, with their title shot coming against Moose at Hard To Kill.
Opening sequence.
Chris Sabin/Mickie James vs. Matthew Rehwoldt/Deonna Purrazzo The women start things off but Rehwoldt comes in before Purrazzo does anything. Rehwoldt shoulders Mickie down to start but misses an elbow, allowing Sabin to come in and strike away. Sabin cranks on the arm but gets sent into the corner for a kick to the ribs. It’s back to Purrazzo to kick away at the ribs and to knock Mickie off the apron. Rehwoldt grabs a chinlock..

It really is an honor. Wrestling is unique among other sports as while there are championships to win, they can also be lost just as fast. There are very few accomplishments that stay with someone forever in wrestling, but the ones that do last are rather important. At the same time though, there are some things that are even more impressive than wrestling, at least according to a certain legend.
Bret Hart discussed his induction into the Canada Walk Of Fame during a new interview with KESQ (ABC affiliate in Palm Springs, California). Hart said that while he has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice (on his own and as part of the Hart Foundation), this induction means more because he is representing an entire country. Hart also talked about what it meant to be a hero to children around the world, including Make-A-Wish children by being someone they could look up to on television. His induction will mark the first time that a wrestler has ever been inducted into the Canada Walk..

It shouldn’t have to be said. Wrestlers are a weird breed as they are both full time television stars but also have to find a way to balance things out in their personal lives. That can be rather tricky to pull off, as sometimes the lines become more than a bit blurred. Unfortunately that seems to be the case again and a wrestler has had to shut down a few theories.
Earlier this week, AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara announced that his engagement with his fiance Pam Nizio had come to an end. Later, Guevara had to issue another statement to Twitter, clarifying that the engagement ended in October and saying that it had nothing to do with anyone else. This comes as AEW’s Tay Conti has also announced a split from her husband, leaving to online speculation that the two situations were somehow intertwined. Conti, who was never mentioned by Guevara, has since deleted her Twitter account.
pic.twitter.com/6FEqV9Ki2u
— sammy guevara (@sammyguevara) December 18, 2021
This shouldn’t have to be ..

Is he that wrong? There are a lot of titles in the wrestling world and some of them are rather unique. While there are the standards, such as the World Title, Tag Team Titles and Women’s Titles, some championships are much more specific and might not be the most serious. WWE certainly has one and a former long time employee does not seem to think much of it.
During a recent edition of his Grilling JR podcast, WWE legend and current AEW broadcaster Jim Ross talked about the 24/7 Title. Ross compared the title to the Hardcore Title, which he described as “another watered-down championship”. He also said that the 24/7 Title was “hideous” and that you cannot name all of the champions in its history. The 24/7 Title was introduced on May 20, 2019 and has had over one hundred and fifty reigns over fifty plus wrestlers.
The title has seen some shenanigans. Check out some of its history:
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That’s probably next. We are coming up on the new year and in WWE, that means it is time for the Road to WrestleMania to begin. The company is going to need some major matches for the next few months and that can be trickier than it seems. One person that needs to be taken care of is Roman Reigns, who has run through everyone he has faced. Now he might have someone he has not seen in a good while.
This week on SmackDown, a match Day One match was announced between Drew McIntyre and Madcap Moss. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this is designed to give McIntyre a win as he is being built up for a future match with Reigns. It is not clear when the match would take place. Reigns defeated McIntyre in a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series 2019.
This could be big. Check out the two of them on their own and together:
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Opinion: I don’t know how ..

Maybe next time? There are a lot of wrestlers on the WWE roster and unfortunately that means not everyone can be featured on a regular basis. That can be a problem at times, as it leaves fans wondering where some of their favorites are every single week. That was the case again this week, and it seems that one such wrestler has not been around for a good while for a specific reason.
According to Fightful Select, SmackDown’s Mustafa Ali was not present at this week’s double SmackDown taping in his hometown of Chicago. Ali has been absent from both WWE television as well as the road since before Survivor Series due to taking paternity leave. Ali was sent home before his requested date and has not returned now that the time has come and gone. WWE reportedly has not brought him back as they simply do not have anything for him for either SmackDown. There is no word on when Ali will return to television or live events.
WWE is missing out on a talented star. Check out what Ali can do when h..

It’s always a wonderful moment. WWE has posted a new video to its YouTube channel in which they show the Top 10 returns to the company in 2021.
You can see the video in its entirety below:
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The returns are as follows:
10) Sasha Banks saves Bianca Belair 9) Carlito enters the Royal Rumble match 8) Zelina Vega returns 7) Jimmy Uso comes back 6) Edge confronts The Bloodline 5) Goldberg wants Bobby Lashley 4) The Demon crawls back into WWE 3) John Cena confronts Roman Reigns 2) Becky Lynch surprises Bianca Belair 1) Brock Lesnar spoils Roman Reigns’ celebration Editor’s Opinion:
I love returns, and I’m sure that all of you do as well. The pop from the crowd and the energy that we all feel when our favorite superstars come back is incredible, and I always look forward to them. You can especially say that this year, as 2021 started in the ThunderDome and ended with live fans being back and a sense of normalcy coming over all of us. That pop when..