media

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?
Final Battle 2018
Date: December 14, 2018
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
As tends to be the case, this is the best promotion of a show that ROH has done all year and that’s the best thing that could happen on the biggest show of the year. The big question here is whether this will be the last big show for Cody and the Young Bucks, who both happen to be in title matches tonight. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at Cody debuting here two year..

That’s a bad sign. There are all kinds of WWE pay per views every year but some of them are treated as bigger deals than others. One such show is the Survivor Series, which has been held since all the way back in 1987. However, this year’s show did not seem to have the same buzz behind it, and now we know just how uninterested fans were with some numbers to back it up.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this year’s WWE Survivor Series only had 200,000 Google searches. This is comparable to most B level WWE pay per views and falls far behind AEW All Out, which had over 500,000 Google searches. This year’s Survivor Series was again based around the idea of the battle for brand supremacy between Monday Night Raw and SmackDown.
You might not have seen it. Check out some of the better moments from Survivor Series:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: Are you surprised at a..

Well that was fast. There are a lot of characters in the wrestling world at any given time and all of them have a character of some sort. Some of these characters are more recognizable than others while some might seem to be repeats of previous ideas. That seems to be the case with a recent debut, but things might already be changing less than a week later.
This week on NXT, a vignette aired for a new wrestler named Tiffany Stratton. The vignette showed her playing tennis and being presented as a stereotypical daddy’s little rich girl. However, according to Wrestling Observer Live, WWE may already be dropping the character, albeit not Stratton herself. Stratton has yet to appear on NXT debut but did wrestle on last week’s205 Live.
There isn’t much to go on. Check out what we have seen of Stratton and more wrestling tennis:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This is modern WWE in..

Listen to them. There have been a lot of changes to NXT in recent week and a lot of them have not seemed to be the most popular. NXT is in a very different place than it was just a few months ago and it is hard to see the logic behind some of the moves that they have made. Now though, we are getting a rather different method of setting up a pretty big time match.
This week’s edition of NXT featured the announcement of the men’s WarGames match for the December 5 WarGames event. Following the NXT tradition, two wrestlers will participate in a ladder match to determine which team will have the advantage in the WarGames match. NXT is now allowing fans to vote on who they want to see in the ladder match with all four participants from both WarGames teams as options.
This is something that could work. Check out some previous advantage ladder matches:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion:..

It could be a little while. There has been quite the exodus from NXT in recent months, with most of the wrestlers leaving thanks to the company’s decision rather than leaving on their own. It has made for a lot of changes and it is often a surprise when you see someone leave. That very well may be the case again later this month, but it could be a lot longer before his wife is able to join him.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Candice LeRae’s NXT contract was expected to expire in May 2022. However, WWE may be adding extra time on to her contract due to the amount of time that she may be missing due to maternity leave. Should the full amount of time be added, LeRae would be under contract until some time in 2023. This comes as Johnny Gargano, LeRae’s husband, is expected to become a free agent on December 10.
LeRae is quite the star. Check out what she can do in the ring:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This pos..

Welcome back. There are a lot of wrestlers on the WWE roster but some of them are a lot bigger than others. Some of these wrestlers are legends in their own time and have been along for a very long time. That is the kind of thing you do not get to see very often, but next week, we will be seeing not just one of them, but two making their returns in a single week.
Two upcoming returns were announced during this week’s WWE SmackDown. First, Edge will be making his return On Monday Night Raw in his first appearance since Crown Jewel on October 21. Later in the show, Kayla Braxton announced that Brock Lesnar’s suspension had been lifted and that he will making his return next week on SmackDown. There is no word on what either of them will be doing.
This should be good. Check out Edge and Lesnar in action:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion:..

He’s up next. We are currently in the middle of one of the biggest World Title reigns in WWE history as Roman Reigns has held the Universal Title for almost fifteen months. That is not the kind of reign that you ever see in WWE and Reigns is making it look pretty easy. He is running out of challengers though and needs someone fresh. That was covered this week and now Reigns has a fresh opponent.
Sami Zayn won a battle royal to become the new #1 contender to the Universal Title during this week’s edition of SmackDown. Zayn had been knocked outside but came back in at the end of the match to eliminate Jeff Hardy to win. There is no word on when Zayn will be receiving his title shot, though WWE’s next pay per view is Day 1, which is scheduled for January 1, 2021.
It was a busy night. Check out the battle royal and the new #1 contender:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This is qui..

Rampage
Date: November 26, 2021
Location: Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Taz, Ricky Starks, Chris Jericho, Excalibur
The Chicago swing continues and this time around we have the short form show. There are a few matches announced this week, including the Confirmed Time Period vs. the Best Friends and Riho vs. Britt Baker. That makes for a good start to the show and we should be in for a fun night. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Adam Cole/Bobby Fish vs. Best Friends Fish kicks away at Yuta to start but it’s quickly off to Cassidy vs. Cole for pockets vs. Boom. Cole blocks another pockets reach and gets flipped down by the arm. Cassidy flips around Cole to increase the frustration and it’s back to Yuta for two off a backsplash. Yuta gets taken into the corner though and the double teaming puts him in trouble. Cole kicks him down and we take a break.
Back with Cassidy getting knocked off the apron but getting back up for the hot tag anyway. Some slow motion kicks a..

Smackdown
Date: November 26, 2021
Location: Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
We’re done with Survivor Series, where a grand total of very little took place. Raw won the Battle For Brand Supremacy but Roman Reigns beat Big E. in the show’s main event. We are now on the way to Day 1 and Reigns’ next challenger will be determined this week via a battle royal. Let’s get to it.
Kayla Braxton is in the ring to talk about Brock Lesnar’s suspension but here are Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns to interrupt. Heyman says we don’t deal with rumors like this one on the Island of Relevancy. The fans aren’t pleased but Heyman tells them to stop booing Braxton. He wants Braxton to go get some sources and find some real news. Stop living through an Instagram filter because there is no real journalist filter. Braxton is allowed to leave so the fans want Brock. McAfee: “Did they say let’s go……Brandon?”
Reigns says the problem with rumors is they give ..

It’s a big record. Pay per views have been a thing in wrestling for the better part of forty years now and they continue to be such to this day. It’s a pretty simple idea: use the regular shows to set up the important event which is good enough to make people pay to watch (or view in this case). There have been a lot of pay per views over the years, and now there is a new king.
Earlier this month, Randy Orton set a record for the most pay per view matches in WWE history with his 177th pay per view match. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has listed the top ten pay per view performers, with Kane in second at 176, all the way down to Kofi Kingston and Shawn Michaels tied in 10th at 117. In addition, AJ Styles holds the all time record across all promotions is AJ Styles with 289. However, Styles wrestled in NWA-TNA which held weekly pay per views in its early years.
1. Randy Orton – 177
2. Kane – 176
3. The Undertaker – 174
4. Triple H – 173
5. John Cena – 163
6. Chris Jericho – 144
7. ..

Stick around for a bit. There are all kinds of talented wrestlers in AEW and several of them have received very prominent roles. While there are so many impressive wrestlers in the company, a handful of them are bigger stars than others. The promotion has been built around a core group of stars, and now some of those names have extended their time in AEW.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the Young Bucks have signed new AEW contracts which will keep them with the company at least through 2026. The Bucks are two of the founders of AEW and both hold the title of Executive Vice President. They are also former AEW World Tag Team Champions and hold the record for longest reign with the titles, though they are currently out of action with injuries.
The Bucks are a special team. Check out what they have done in AEW:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: I don’t know if there..

I think that warrants a thank you. One of the coolest things to see in wrestling is a star giving something back to the fans. You don’t get to see it very often, but it is certainly something that takes place, even if that might be behind the scenes. Now it has happened again, but in this case it is something rather personal due to being inspired by a personal story.
The Rock has posted a new video to his Instagram showing him giving his own truck to a fan. Rock’s original plan had been to give the fan the same version of the Porsche Taycan that he drives in his new movie Red Notice. When Porsche said no, Rock decided to give him his own truck as a gift. The video includes the fan’s reaction, as well as Rock meeting a group of fans at a showing of Red Notice.
This is pretty awesome. Check out the video, plus some other Rock greatness:
[This post contains video, click to play]
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This is on..