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Maybe they’re next? The wrestling world really has changed in the last few years and those changes continued this year with what seems to be the demise of at least the current version of Ring of Honor. You don’t see that kind of change very often in wrestling, and in this case it opened up the question of what would happen to the Ring of Honor roster. Now we might have a better idea.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ring of Honor’s Matt Taven and Jonathan Gresham were both backstage at this week’s AEW Dynamite taping. Taven and Gresham’s Ring of Honor contracts both expire later this year, with their last appearances scheduled for Final Battle on December 11. There is no word on if either or both have come to any agreement with AEW.
You might need to get to know them. Check out both Gresham and Taven in Ring of Honor:
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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?
Monday Night Raw
Date: December 23, 2013
Location: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
Tonight is the taped Christmas special featuring the potentially amazing Damien Sandow vs. Mark Henry battle to save Christmas. Again, it’s the 400lb monster who talks about splitting wigs fighting a Latin speaking know it all to prevent Christmas from being canceled. There is no way this won’t be awesome. Let’s get to it.
We open with Santa Henry and Damien Claus taking turns re..

Stick around for a bit. While it has made quite the impact on the wrestling industry, the reality is that AEW has not been around very long. The company has only been active for a few years now, which means they do not have the longest history. They have yet to have to deal with some of their bigger names leaving, though now it seems that might continue to be the case even longer.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the core of AEW’s roster signed three year deals, effective January 1, 2019. Those deals will expire on December 31, 2021, though Tony Khan will have an option to extend them for two more years. The Young Bucks’ option has already been exercised and wrestlers such as Kenny Omega, Cody and Brandi Rhodes, Chris Jericho and Hangman Page have similar deals. There is nothing to suggest that any of them will be leaving AEW anytime soon.
Those are some important names. Check out who will likely be sticking around AEW:
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It’s a different kind of release. There have been all kinds of changes to the WWE roster over the last year and a half and there is nothing to suggest that the changes have stopped. With so many wrestlers gone, the company is looking rather different than it was before, but several of the releases have been from other areas. That was the case again this week with another release.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a longtime WWE security guard has been released from the company. Aycock has been with the company since 2004 and it is not clear why he has been released. This comes soon after a fan jumped the barricade and attacked Seth Rollins on Monday Night Raw, though it is not clear if this is the reason for Aycock’s release.
Security has a hit and miss record in WWE. Check out some of their efforts:
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Opinion: I’m not sure what happened her..

Time to set it up. We are rapidly closing out the year and that means it is time to get ready for the new one. WWE is not exactly wasting time with this one as they are setting up their Day 1 pay per view event on January 1. That is not a lot of time to get ready but now they are boosting things up in a big way, as they have tripled the amount of matches set for the show in one night.
This week’s SmackDown saw the addition of two more matches to the Day 1 card. First up the New Day will be challenging the Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. King Woods was facing Jey Usos when Jimmy Uso interfered, drawing in Kofi Kingston for the save. The match was made later in the show. Also on the show, Roman Reigns defeated Sami Zayn to retain the Universal Title. As a result, Reigns will now be defending against Brock Lesnar at Day 1.
There are three matches set. Check out how all of them were set up:
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Rampage
Date: December 3, 2021
Location: Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Taz, Ricky Starks, Excalibur
This week we get to find out what happens after Cody Rhodes lit himself on fire to try and get people to cheer for him. That could make for a slightly weakened crowd, but I’m not sure how much of a difference it is going to make. At least the card looks good this week so let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
TNT Title: Sammy Guevara vs. Tony Nese Guevara is defending and goes right after Nese at the bell. Nese is sent outside and the big running flip dive takes him down again, but Guevara bangs up his own ribs in the process. Guevara gets sent into the steps but comes back with some chops against the barricade. Back in and a gutbuster plants Guevara again and Nese gets to stomp away at the bad ribs. The double springboard moonsault gets two on Guevara, setting up a spinning kick to the face for two. The logical bodyscissors goes on and we take a break with Guevara in tro..

Welcome to the team! There are a lot of wrestlers on the AEW roster, as the company has put together a heck of a lineup. They have a great mixture of young, up and coming wrestlers, veterans and legends. Several of them have come from other promotions, many of which have had quite the exposure. That was the case again this week, as AEW has announced the signing of a former WWE star.
AEW President Tony Khan has sent out a tweet promoting the TNT Title match between champion Sammy Guevara and Tony Nese for this week’s edition of Rampage. In the same tweet, Khan announced that Nese has officially signed a contract with the company, making him a member of the roster. Nese is a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and was released from the company earlier this year:
The TNT Title is at stake in a huge match TONIGHT on #AEWRampage! We have a great Champion @sammyguevara & I’m so impressed by the challenger, he’s been one of the hottest free agents in the business; ahead of this HUGE match ton..

Welcome back! Returns can be a lot of fun in wrestling as they can be quite the surprise. Sometimes you might have an idea that someone is on the way back but other times it can pop up when they are needed the most. This can make for some very fun moments, and that was the case this week as a pretty big name made his return to television after a few weeks away.
This week on SmackDown, King Woods was set to face Jey Uso, who was accompanied by his brother Jimmy. Rather than face Jey alone, Woods brought out the returning Kofi Kingston to be in his corner. Kingston had been missing since the November 5 edition of SmackDown when the Usos injured his knee. This was a cover for Kingston to take time off for the birth of his daughter.
He could be useful. Check out Kingston’s return, plus what he can do against the Usos:
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Opinion: I’ve been a Kingston fan for a..

Smackdown
Date: December 3, 2021
Location: AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
In something you probably don’t remember hearing around here, it’s the Brock Lesnar Show as he is back after his suspension last month. Odds are this is going to set something up for either Day 1 or the Rumble and that opens up a few questions. I’m curious to see where this is going so let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Sami Zayn becoming #1 contender last week but Brock Lesnar’s return was announced for the show immediately thereafter.
Here is Brock Lesnar to get things going. Lesnar says he is here for the Universal Title but cue Sami Zayn to interrupt. Sami talks about how he’s a fan of Lesnar and is cut off almost immediately. Lesnar: “I’m sorry, you’re a fan?” Lesnar talks about living in Saskatchewan, where he hunts, kills and eats things. Now why hasn’t he ripped Sami’s head off yet? Sami explains the battle royal win….and Lesnar starts laughing.
Sami says ..

205 Live
Date: November 26, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph
NXT is on its way to WarGames and that means we are on our way to a non-cruiserweight challenging for the Cruiserweight Title. I’m not sure why that should be a surprise, as Roderick Strong hasn’t defended the title in about two months, so the future isn’t exactly bright. At the same time, that has very little to do with this show so let’s get to it.
Valentina Feroz vs. Elektra Lopez Legado del Fantasma is here with Lopez. Feroz tries to take her down to start and is blocked with straight power. A hard slap to the face sets up a slam spun into a Rock Bottom and we hit the nerve hold. That’s broken up and Feroz kicks away at the leg, setting up a running hurricanrana. Lopez isn’t having that though and muscles her up into a sitout powerbomb for the pin at 3:50.
Result: Elektra Lopez b. Valentina Feroz – Sitout powerbomb (3:50)
Erica Yan vs. Amari Miller Th..

Impact Wrestling
Date: November 25, 2021
Commentators: James Mitchell, Dr. Ross, Sinn Bodhi
So it’s Thanksgiving and that means things are going to be a little different around here. Since Impact Wrestling is smart enough to realize that a TV show on Thanksgiving isn’t going to draw so well, this is going to be a special look at the second season of Wrestle House. In other words, it’s the wrestling version of a reality show, whose first season was a mixture of a lot of fun and near torture at times. Let’s get to it.
A rhyming narrator (sounds like James Mitchell) welcomes us to Wrestle House and we recap the first season, featuring a bunch of people who have not been around much lately. This ultimately led to Rosemary nearly marrying John E. Bravo, Tommy Dreamer, then a shooting at the wedding, an investigation, more Tommy Dreamer, the rise of Swinger’s Palace, the closing of Swinger’s Palace and then Bravo sending everyone here so Swinger can be happy.
The cast figures out they are..