NEWS

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?
Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6 Night One
Date: March 31, 2022
Location: Fair Park, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Kevin Gill, Lenny Leonard
This is probably the crown jewel of the indy shows over Wrestlemania Weekend, just because of how insane it can get. Janela’s shows have a tendency to be completely nuts with some incredibly fun stuff and surprises. I’m actually looking forward to this one just for the atmosphere so let’s get to it.
Tag Team Titles: Second Gear Crew vs. Briscoes vs. Nick Gage
Gage is defending on..

That’s how you wrap it up. A lot of different things take place at any given WWE television taping. You can get some huge matches and special appearances, but there are some people who just are not going to be able to make the broadcast. Most of the time WWE will add in something else after the show to sweeten the pot a bit and this week was no exception either.
This week’s SmackDown featured a backstage promo featuring SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey saying that she would not be issuing an open challenge for a title shot. Instead, she would issue one the following week because she wanted to get out of Ohio. However, Rousey did wrestle later in the night, defeating Natalya in a SmackDown Women’s Title match after the show went off the air.
There is your star power. Check out some of the match:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: Like her or not, Rousey is one of the biggest stars in all of WWE and is treated as such. It makes sense to put her on the show in o..

Another one on the list. You never want to see an injury in wrestling and unfortunately there is no way to guarantee complete safety in the ring. At some point, almost every wrestler is going to get injured at some point in their career and a change is going to have to be made. That is the case again as another AEW wrestler has been injured and had to be replaced in an announced match.
This week’s AEW Rampage was originally set to include a rubber match between Penelope Ford and Willow Nightingale. However, during the show, it was announced that Ford was injured and unable to complete. As a result, Leila Grey replaced Ford in a losing effort. There is no word on how Ford was injured or how long she is expected to be out of action as a result.
Opinion: Unfortunately this is going to happen to almost every wrestler at some point and there is no way around it. Ford is someone who has been injured multiple times and forced out of the ring, but hopefully this one doesn’t last as long as h..

That ‘s a valid excuse. WWE has a lot going on at any given point and it can be difficult to keep track of everything that is taking place. There are times where things can fall through the cracks and need to be changed, which can lead to even more confusing situations. That seems to have taken place again, as WWE has canceled an upcoming premium live event and now we know why.
Earlier this month, news broke that WWE was canceling its Day 1 event on January 1, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. According to 411mania.com, there is a chance that the event was canceled due to Peacock, which airs major WWE events, will be airing the final Sunday Night Football game of the season. According to PWInsider.com, WWE has changed the premium live event to a regular live event.
Opinion: This is one of those situations that much be annoying for people who were looking forward to the event but at least they are getting a little something instead of nothing. The event had some interest going into it but now..

That could be a long one. There are all kinds of ways to write a wrestler off the shelf for more than a little while. One of the easiest ways is to have a wrestler suffer a storyline injury, which can get rid of a wrestler for about as long as you need. That was the situation this week as a SmackDown star was written off of television for what seems to be a pretty long time.
The opening match of this week’s SmackDown saw Solo Sikoa defeat Sheamus. Following the match, the Usos helped Sikoa crush Sheamus’ arm and elbow with a series of chair shots. During the show, commentary announced that Sheamus was taken to a hospital. After the show was over, WWE sent out a tweet, announcing that Sheamus has suffered a non-displaced fracture near his elbow. There is no word on when Sheamus will be returning to the ring.
BREAKING: Due to the attack earlier tonight by #TheBloodline, @WWESheamus has a non-displaced fracture near his elbow and is still under observation. #SmackDown
— WWE (@WWE) Octo..

Two more on the list. We are rapidly approaching some one of the biggest WWE events of the year with Crown Jewel from Saudi Arabia. The show is one of two from the kingdom this year and that means WWE is going to want to stack the show up as much they can. That is what they did this week, as two more matches were added to the card, both of which feature a former World Champion.
WWE added a pair of matches to the Crown Jewel card this week on SmackDown. First up, Braun Strowman challenged Omos to a match, with MVP accepting on Omos’ behalf. Second, Drew McIntyre announced that he has been forced to stay away from Karrion Kross until the two of them will face off in a steel cage match at Crown Jewel. The show takes place on Saturday November 5.
Opinion: Both of these matches make sense for the show and it was more a case of waiting to get the matches announced. Strowman and Omos had their showdown last week and McIntyre vs. Kross was going to happen again at some point. The matches sho..

Smackdown
Date: October 21, 2022
Location: Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett
We are just over two weeks away from Crown Jewel and that means Logan Paul is back tonight. That means we might be in for another kind of weird segment, but hopefully Paul Heyman will be there to walk him through it. The feud feels rather cold going into the match and I don’t know how to fix that. Let’s get to it.
Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa The rest of the Brawling Brutes, Sami Zayn and the Usos are here too. During the Brutes’ entrance, Bray Wyatt hacks the feed but commentary doesn’t acknowledge it this time. They hit each other hard to start and Sikoa is already needing a breather on the floor. Back in and Sheamus knocks him down again, setting up an armbar. Sikoa fights up and hits a spinwheel kick before sending Sheamus outside and we take a break.
Back with Sikoa hitting a running Umaga attack in the corner but another attempt is cut off by a clotheslines. Sheamus, f..

They’re the big ones. WWE runs a lot of events every single year, some of which are bigger than others. Almost every month, WWE runs a premium live event, with a good many of them having long and detailed histories. It can mean a lot when WWE shakes up its special events calendar, but now we might be in for some pretty big changes, including an old classic making its return.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is considering major changes to its premium live events schedule. This would include an annual United Kingdom event, plus a possible return of the King of the Ring. Vince McMahon dropped King of the Ring as a regular show as it did not produce strong pay per view buys. However, thanks to guaranteed money from Peacock and other sources, the results are not as important and the show is a possibility again. King of the Ring did return in 2021, but not as its own event.
Opinion: This is one of the perks of having so much income, as it allows WWE to do some fun thing..

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 20, 2022
Location: Albany Armory, Albany, New York
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan
We’re still coming out of Bound For Glory and that means it is time to start getting ready for whatever the next monthly special is going to be. In this case, that means Frankie Kazarian is going to cash in his X-Division Title for a World Title shot against Josh Alexander. That is likely going to mean some competition for the vacant title and it might start tonight. Let’s get to it.
Opening recap.
The Bullet Club goes to see Ace Austin but find him down in the parking lot. Tommy Dreamer is here but denies everything.
Opening sequence.
Tommy Dreamer/Bully Ray vs. Bullet Club It’s Chris Bey/Juice Robinson here, with Robinson putting on his wrist tape on the way to the ring (as he is replacing Austin). Dreamer sends Bey to the apron to start but it’s quickly off to Robinson to stomp Ray down in the corner. Some rapid fire chops in the corner have Robinson in..

Farewell? With so much talent in the wrestling world, it can be difficult to keep everyone happy. At some point, someone is going to be unhappy with whatever they’re doing and that can become an issue. Sometimes a wrestler is going to run into some kind of trouble and that is the case again with a top name, who might be on his way out after a major ordeal earlier this year.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW is looking into buying out CM Punk’s contract, which would end his time with the company. This comes after Punk was involved in the backstage brawl after All Out in September. The main sticking point in the two sides coming to an agreement is Punk’s no compete clause, which would prevent him from going to WWE should the two sides want to work together again in the future. However, Punk is still recovering from triceps surgery and would be unable to wrestle anywhere for several months anyway.
Opinion: I don’t think this is the biggest surprise as AEW was going to ..

That sounds awesome. There are all kinds of ways to present wrestling stars and some of them have nothing to do with wrestling. Over the years, wrestlers have gotten into different forms of media as a way to present themselves to fans outside of their main industry. A legend is trying to do it again, but there might be a few problems preventing it from happening.
Comedian Dan Soder appeared on Barstool’s KFC Radio and talked about having developed an animated series along with fellow comedian Dan St. Germain and Steve Austin. The series was sold to Peacock, but WWE and Peacock are now holding up the series in some unspecified way. The three developed the series during the Coronavirus pandemic but it has sat on the shelf for seventeen months due to the issues. There is no word on if the series will ever air, though Soder did say Austin himself was onboard.
He can explain it better. Check out Soder’s comments:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: I’m not sure what is go..