media

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 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?
Bash at the Beach 1996
Date: July 7, 1996
Location: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida
Attendance: 8,300
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes
This is one of the first non-WWE reviews I ever did so it is LONG overdue for a second try. I’m pretty sure you know this one, as it is built around the question of who is the third man. The Outsiders arrived about a month and a half ago and are now ready for their first match, but they need a partner. Now who is that going to be? Let’s get to it.
I do mi..

Dynamite
Date: July 7, 2021
Location: James L. Knight Center, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur
We’re officially back on the road and that means there are fresh fans in attendance. That is certainly a good thing and something that did not feel possible over the last year plus. First up we have Road Rager, featuring the Tag Team Titles on the line, a strap match and the debut of Andrade El Idolo. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall South Beach Strap Match with the four corner version. Cody dives on him before the bell and the fight is on with Cody pulling Marshall into the ropes. We look at various UFC fighters at ringside as Marshall gets in a shot to the ribs. A moonsault only designed to get knocked out of the air gets knocked out of the air and Cody hits a few buckles. Aaron Solow breaks it up but Dustin Rhodes fights him into the crowd to get rid of one goon.
Nick Comoroto follows and Cody gets three buckles, only to get..

The future is bright. One of the things that almost every wrestling fan does at one point or another is fantasy book. There is something fun about writing out your own ideas and seeing what kind of shows and matches you would put together. WWE does the same thing, and it can be interesting to see what they come up with, as well as who they choose to push. Now we know a bit more about someone they want getting the next shot.
According to Fightful Select, WWE is planning to push Roderick Strong as a focal point in NXT, with a focus on helping to boost the Cruiserweight division. Strong returned from a hiatus in June as part of the Diamond Mine, followed by winning a match over Asher Hale. During his time away from NXT television, Strong signed a new deal with the company, which has been the case with other missing wrestlers in recent memory.
Strong is worth the effort. Check out what NXT is focusing on:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to pl..

You have to practice. It is pretty rare to have two wrestlers in a romantic relationship but it does happen occasionally. What is even rarer is to have them be two top level stars who can train with each other, as there are often various issues to prevent it from taking place. It is the case with a current major WWE star and an AEW star, who recently got in the ring together.
WWE’s Charlotte has tweeted out a video showing her and AEW’s Andrade El Idolo, her fiance, training together in a ring. In the video, Charlotte is shown practicing a move of some sort on him as she rolls him around the ring. There is no word on where or when the video was shot. El Idolo was released from WWE earlier this year and debuted in AEW in June.
This is quite the pairing. Check out the two of them in the ring together and on their own:
[This post contains video, click to play]
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This is one of those things t..

You need to make it special. This week’s edition of NXT is the Great American Bash special and that means viewers are in for a big night. NXT knows how to fill out major cards, but there is not room on them for everything. Sometimes you need to save something for later though and that is what we are going to be seeing next week as there is going to be a huge main event.
During this week’s edition of NXT, Johnny Gargano and NXT Champion Karrion Kross had a face to face meeting in the ring. General Manager William Regal announced that the two would meet in a title match the following week, with Samoa Joe as the guest enforcer. The two have been feuding in recent weeks, including Kross defeating Gargano and three other challengers in a title defense at Takeover: In Your House 2021.
It should be a big one. Check out how we got to the title match:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: T..

It’s so sad. While there are all kinds of wrestlers throughout history, you are very rarely going to find someone who is truly unique. On those rare occasions where you do find them though, it can be amazing to see just how good they are. It can make it even harder to see them fade away though, and now it seems that we might be getting close to losing one of the best ever.
This week, rumors began circulating that Terry Funk has been living in an assisted living facility due to mental health issues. These stories were confirmed by a post on Funk’s official Twitter account, saying that Funk is receiving residential care for both mental and physical issues. Funk is also said to have some days that are better than others, but there is no word on any specific issues.
Funk, 77 years old as of last month, began wrestling in 1965 and wrestled his most recent match in 2017. He wrestled or appeared in nearly every major wrestling promotion over the course of his career, including winning World..

The surprise. There are a lot of reasons a wrestler might be gone from television for any given amount of time. One of the biggest is an injury, which is the kind of thing that can derail a career in a hurry. One of the few silver linings is to find a way to have a huge comeback, which can be set up in a variety of ways. That was on display this week and it worked rather well.
This week on NXT, Tegan Nox made a surprise return to television, following a ten plus month absence. Nox was revealed to be behind the battery charging vignettes which aired throughout June and showed a battery rising from 0%, with the total reaching 100% this week. The return took place during a Women’s Tag Team Title match, which saw the Way lose their titles partially due to Nox’s distraction.
Nox suffered a torn ACL in August 2020, forcing her out of action to undergo surgery. The injury was explained by an attack at the hands of Candice LeRae, who Nox attacked as she returned this week. It was Nox’s third..

History has been made again. There are so many titles under the WWE banner today and that means you can see titles changing hands a bit more often than back in the day. This may or may not be a good thing, as you get the instant boost from a title change, but at the same time the amount of changes dilutes the impact that they can have. That might have been the case this week.
During this week’s edition of NXT, Io Shirai and Zoey Stark won the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles by defeating The Way, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell. Shirai and Stark won the titles after a distraction from the returning Tegan Nox, allowing Stark to pin Hartwell. The win makes Shirai and Stark the fourth champions in the titles’ history, after they were introduced in January of this year.
The division has come a long way. Check out how we got here:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This may seem like a lo..

What could have been. There are all kinds of titles in the wrestling world and that can create a bit of a problem at times. With so many titles out there, it can be easy to have the title scene over saturated with champions. If a good percentage of wrestlers have a title, then the championships don’t mean as much. That has been a common criticism of WWE for a long time now and it was almost worse.
In a post on his Instagram account, former WWE wrestler Jack Gallagher revealed that WWE had Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles created and ready from the time 205 Live debuted in 2016. The titles were purple and gold and were found on the prop truck which was brought to weekly television. They were never officially introduced either backstage or on television. Rules suggested for the titles included lucha libre rules for tag matches, meaning both feet touching the floor allowed the partner to come in, or trios titles. There is nothing to suggest that these titles will be introduced at any point ..

NXT
Date: July 6, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph
It’s the Great American Bash due to reasons of….I’m not sure why we needed a special show this week but that’s what we have here. The card is stacked as you might expect, with a main event of Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole II. Other than that, the biggest deal is Johnny Gargano and Karrion Kross talking, as I’m not sure why the title match isn’t taking place here. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at the card, of course featuring comments from Dusty Rhodes.
Tag Team Titles: MSK vs. Timothy Thatcher/Tommaso Ciampa Thatcher and Ciampa are challenging. Ciampa shoulders Carter over to start but a headscissors sends Ciampa into the corner. It’s off to Thatcher for a chinlock/ripping at Lee’s face before Ciampa grabs his own chinlock. Lee fights up and gets over to Carter to kick Ciampa out to the floor. That means a middle rope moonsault but Thatcher shoves..

Impact Wrestling
Date: July 1, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Josh Matthews
We are less than three weeks away from Slammiversary and things are starting to pick up. The main event is already set with Sami Callihan vs. Kenny Omega, but there is still time to change things up. That is still a possibility this time around as Callihan faces Moose, with the chance to make the match a triple threat. Let’s get to it.
Opening recap.
Opening sequence.
Eddie Edwards vs. Satoshi Kojima
They’re cool with each other but Edwards wanted to face Kojima before he went back to Japan. Hold on though as here is W. Morrissey to say that Kojima is alone, just like Edwards was when Morrissey jumped him in the parking lot. Cue Brian Myers with Sam Beale, who Myers refers to as his young boy. Myers says Beale can’t learn anything from Kojima and calls out Jake something, but Kojima doesn’t care for that. The beatdown is on with Something running out for the s..

As they should be. Wrestlers are some of the biggest and loudest personalities that you will see around the entertainment world, but there is another side to everyone involved. While fans see one part of the wrestlers on television, there is another side that we do not get to see very often. That was on display this week and now WWE is not exactly happy with what happened.
As previously reported, Jimmy Uso was arrested on suspicion of DUI earlier this week. This is Uso’s fourth arrest for alcohol related issues in less than three years. According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, WWE officials are said to be “extremely disappointed” in Uso’s actions. It is no longer seen as bad luck or a mistake but rather personal judgment. There is no word on what this will mean for Uso’s future in the company.
I’ve spoken to two sources this morning on the Jimmy Uso news. I can say with certainty that a few “high level people in power” are extremely disappointed & legitimately pissed off over t..