NEWS

We might have a glimpse. There are all kinds of things that need to come together to make a wrestling story work in the right way and one of the most important is finding the right people. Putting someone in the wrong spot can mess up quite a bit, especially if the first impression is wrong. Earlier this week, we might have gotten a look at the newest member of a big storyline.
This week’s edition of SmackDown featured another segment where the Bray Wyatt mask hijacked the show. After a speech, an image of a cowboy appeared on screen and said “Howdy”, though as did not see his face. This comes after WWE trademarked the name “Uncle Howdy”, though it is not clear if this will be a different character or another of Wyatt’s alter egos.
Opinion: We are firmly in the realm of weird with anything Wyatt does or is associated with and this seems to be the same. One would likely be able to assume that this is the Uncle Howdy that WWE trademarked, though how he is connected to Wyatt remains to ..

She’s not happy. There are certain wrestlers who are better as villains that heroes and the key is figuring that out. Finding the right balance and standing for a wrestler is one of the most complicated yet also important things that a promotion can do. Now WWE has managed to get it right with one of its top stars, which was on display after a match over the weekend.
This weekend, WWE presented a Saturday Night’s Main Event show in Dayton, Ohio. The show featured Ronda Rousey successfully defending her SmackDown Women’s Title against Liv Morgan in an Extreme Rules match. Following the match, Rousey ripped up a fan’s sign in praise of Morgan and then stormed off. Rousey defeated Morgan in an Extreme Rules match to win the title at the event of the same name.
She wasn’t pleased. Check out Rousey going after the fan’s sign:
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Opinion: This is the kind of villainy that will always work. You have someone the fans want to see lose get in the face o..

Former WWE superstar CJ Perry, known as Lana in WWE, was recently interviewed by In The Kliq Podcast to promote her upcoming role on VH1’s “The Surreal Life.” She discussed a number of topics, including a return to professional wrestling.
Below are some highlights from the interview:
Lana On returning to professional wrestling:
“I’m open to everything in life. If I put my dreams in a box, I wouldn’t be where I am today. So, I mean, Triple H, he’s a genius. Stephanie’s a genius. I got hired by Triple H. He paired me with Miro and helped really cultivate that, in 2014, that story and that gimmick and those characters. He really helped me develop the Ravishing Russian, so I think he has an incredible creative mind. I think he is an incredible storyteller and entertaining. If the story is right, if it makes sense, I’m always open to go back to WWE and tell compelling stories and same with AEW. I’m totally open to that too. I love working with my husband and creating and telling stories…

It could be a start back. There have been a lot of changes in WWE this year and some of them have been rather important. A few of them have involved wrestlers coming back to the company but there was one instance of two leaving, seemingly for good. Their situations have changed a bit in recent months, and now one of them might have taken another big step back towards wrestling.
Back in May, Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on WWE, vacating the Women’s Tag Team Titles in the process. Neither has appeared in WWE since, though their returns have been rumored in recent weeks. This week, LuchaLibre Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain posted a picture to its Facebook page showing Banks at their training facility. One of the comments said that she was at the facility training with the students. There is still no word on when or if Banks will return to WWE.
IMG Credit: LuchaLibre Barcelona Facebook Opinion: I’m not sure if Banks is going to come back to WWE but it is nice to see that she is at lea..

Welcome back? There have been a lot of changes in WWE over the last few months, including several wrestlers changing gimmicks or characters. Some of them have become new versions while others have reverted more towards what they have done in the past. That might be the case with another star and it is something that fans have been wanting for a long time now.
This weekend at NXT Halloween Havoc, a vignette aired showing a mask burning. The mask appeared similar to the one work by T-Bar, suggesting that he might be returning to NXT under his previous persona of Dominik Dijakovic, though this has not been confirmed. Dijakovic came up to NXT as part of the Retribution stable and kept his new name after everyone else had moved on.
Dijakovic is coming back!! LFG!!!#HalloweenHavoc #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/YbkBfjvXEr
— ?????? (@WrestlingCovers) October 23, 2022
Opinion: The first thing I’m wondering about this is what took so long. T-Bar never amounted to much on the main roster but Dijako..

That’s why they exist. Titles are some of the most important things in all of wrestling as you never know what you might get out of a title change. Someone winning a championship can be a game changer for their career and usually means that they are being elevated up the ladder. Now another title has changed hands and it could be the start of something big for the new champion.
This weekend, NXT presented its annual Halloween Havoc event. The show featured a variety of title matches with a new champion being crowned. In the show’s opening match, Wes Lee won the vacant North American Title, defeating Oro Mensah, Von Wagner, Carmelo Hayes and Nathan Frazer in a ladder match. The title had been vacated when Solo Sikoa moved up to SmackDown. In addition, NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose and NXT Champion Bron Breakker retained their titles.
Opinion: That’s the kind of title change that could mean the start of something big for Lee. It was hard to see him lose his spot and push when his usu..

They have spots. AEW has changed the way the wrestling world works as there is now a second major promotion in the United States for wrestlers to go. That is something that has been lacking for a long time now and it has opened up several more spots. It means something when someone gets one of those places and now it seems two more of them have been taken.
This week on AEW Rampage, it was announced that Willow Nightingale had officially signed a full time contract with the company. This included the customary All Elite graphic. According to Fightful Select, there are other names who have been working on full time deals with AEW without being officially announced, including Ari Daivari, who was signed at some point over the summer.
Opinion: It was great to see Nightingale announced as officially being part of the roster. She has been one of the most consistently entertaining stars in AEW and it is nice to see her getting rewarded for the work and effort that she has put in. Daivari is..

Halloween Havoc 2022
Date: October 22, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T
We’re back to the themed shows and this one has some potential, if nothing else for the set alone. How WWE waited twenty years to bring this back is beyond me, but we could be in for a very fun show this week. Or it’s going to be a big crossover between NXT and Chucky because he has to be around every year. Let’s get to it.
Chucky welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.
Hosts Shotzi and Quincy Elliott welcome us to the show.
North American Title: Oro Mensah vs. Wes Lee vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Nathan Frazer vs. Von Wagner Ladder match for the vacant title. It’s the normal brawl to start with Frazer sending the villains outside for the big dive onto Wagner. The first ladder is brought in but Mensah and Frazer get together to take Hayes and Lee down. With that broken up, Lee gets the ladder and starts cleaning house, including driving it into Wagner..

He’s not a favorite. There have been a lot of stories taking place throughout the wrestling world this year and some of them feel like they could drag on for a good while. That is the case with the set of issues involving CM Punk and AEW, many of which involved statements made by Punk. The situation has caused quite the set of issues all over the company and now it has caused a change of reality behind the scenes.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the ordeal has caused Punk to become very unpopular in the AEW locker room. Most of the wrestlers are now said to be “anti-Punk” as he initially spoke badly about the “very popular” Hangman Page. Punk’s comments were said to make AEW look bush league as he said that Page, then the AEW World Champion, had not done anything in his career. Punk is not expected to return to AEW, who is reportedly attempting to buy out Punk’s contract.
Opinion: To say this has been a huge mess for everyone involved would be a total understatement a..

They had a request. The wrestling world has changed quite a bit since AEW became a new major promotion. For the first time in decades, WWE has major competition for television viewers and talent. That is not something they are used to but the two sides almost came together to do something special earlier this month. Now we know what might have been enough to make it work.
Earlier this month, WWE presented the 25th anniversary of D-Generation X on the October 10 edition of Monday Night Raw. However, the segment did not include Billy Gunn, who is under contract to AEW. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the two companies did discuss Gunn being allowed to appear, with AEW President Tony Khan requesting WWE acknowledge that Gunn works for AEW. This caused WWE to stall and the deal fell through. WWE had such an appearance by then Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James at this year’s Royal Rumble.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that could have made for a very spe..

Rampage
Date: October 21, 2022
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur
We’re live this week and not taped after Dynamite for a change. We’re also back in the old stomping grounds of Jacksonville and the card happens to be stacked with three title matches in an hour. That should be enough to carry the show, though Rampage has a bad tendency to underwhelm. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Tag Team Titles: Acclaimed vs. Varsity Athletes The Acclaimed is defending and it’s titles vs. the SCISSOR ME trademark. The Athletes tease an early scissoring and get jumped from behind, only to send the champs outside. Back in and the Acclaimed break up some more scissoring and a powerslam plants Woods. Caster gets knocked outside, where Billy Gunn chases Tony Nese around. That’s enough for a Gunn ejection, much to Sterling’s delight.
We take a break and come back with Bowens getting the tag to come in and clean house. Everything breaks do..

It’s that time again as we get another WCW event being used better by NXT than by WWE. Halloween Havoc is a simple concept that can be done rather well with a cool set and some rather gimmicky matches. As luck would have it, the second one of those is already guaranteed and the first is all but guaranteed so we should be in for a pretty fun, and maybe even eventful, night. Let’s get to it.
Apollo Crews vs. Grayson Waller We’ll start with a match that we don’t know yet, as this is going to be Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal. Crews has suddenly developed the power of foresight and keeps seeing Waller in varying states of pain so now they’re having a match as a result. Waller is one of the hotter prospects in NXT and Crews is able to work well with just about anyone so, gimmick depending, this should be good.
I’ll take Waller to win here, as there isn’t much of a need for him to lose. Crews is someone whose legacy is already established and he can take a loss here and there without having..