NEWS

Maybe later? Wrestling has a long history of athletes from other sports coming in and trying their hands at something else. It has been hit and miss throughout history, with certain sports doing it better than others. Mixed martial arts has some of the better success, but now one of the more prominent fighters turned wrestlers seems to have have dropped wrestling, at least for the time being.
Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant has appeared multiple times for AEW over the years, including wrestling a match at Double Or Nothing 2022. However, during an interview with K & S Wrestlefest, VanZant’s trainer Gangrel said that VanZant has stopped communicating with her. Gangrel says that VanZant wrote him and asked for some critiquing of her match but the stopped contacting him. He also said that while she was talented, she did not train as often as he would have liked. There is no word on if VanZant is training elsewhere or has stopped training for the time being. She has not appeared on AEW T..

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, starting today. 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?
Halloween Havoc 1994
Date: October 23, 1994
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 14,000
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan
Someone requested this show and I haven’t watched any WCW in a VERY long time now. It’s as good of a time as any as I could go for a little pallet cleanser. Hulk Hogan has shown up and that means it’s time to put everything around him. You have to get rid of some big names at the same time, so the big main event is Hogan vs. Ric Flair in a cage, title/c..

They’re doing something right. WWE is a huge wrestling company and its two flagship programs air on major networks. This includes SmackDown on FOX and Monday Night Raw on USA, both of which receive major attention every single week. WWE has to work hard to make sure that the networks are happy and now they have some good news on one of those fronts.
According to Andrew Zarian, both WWE and the USA Network are pleased with how Monday Night Raw is currently going. This includes the viewership and cable rating, both of which saw boosts this week. The show included the surprise return of Brock Lesnar, which may have been a “make good” on the lack of Bray Wyatt appearing on the show. Wyatt is expected to be part of the SmackDown roster going forward.
USA network and WWE are both very happy with the direction of Raw.
Lesnar returning on the show felt like a “make good” to many at USA for not having Bray on Raw following the buzz from Extreme Rules. https://t.co/q2MieiJjNr
— Andrew Zaria..

He wasn’t done yet. There is something special about a wrestler winning their first championship. It often means that a wrestler’s career is starting to take off and that is always worth something. Whether it is in a smaller promotion or a more prominent one, there is value to moving into such a different position. A current star has done just that and now he has something to say.
The main event of this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite saw Orange Cassidy win the All-Atlantic Title from Pac. According to PWInsider.com, Cassidy addressed the crowd after the show was over. Cassidy said “Canada, look what I did!” before saying that he doesn’t like carrying things and asked for his backpack. This brought out Kris Statlander appearing as a surprise to bring it to him. The Best Friends joined the two to celebrate, with AEW President Tony Khan coming to the ring to join them. Cassidy also asked fans to come back the next night for the Rampage tapings.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that is..

It happens to everyone. There are all kinds of wrestlers in the world and some of them have been around for quite a long time. It is interesting to find someone who has had the kind of career that spans several decades as they have seen just about everything that there is to see. At some point though, everyone has to hang up their boots and that might be happening again.
AEW’s Dustin Rhodes has posted a tweet discussion his status in wrestling. Rhodes, 53, says his old age has caught up with him and that he is doing some “heavy thinking” about his next step. He also says that time comes for everyone and that he is kind of scared. Rhodes does NOT say that he is retiring or anything similar in specific. Rhodes has only wrestled five times this year, with his most recent match taking place on August 24.
Man, old age has caught up to me guys. As much as I push myself beyond my limits, I can honestly say, I am doing some heavy thinking about the next step. We all think we can go forever w..

It’s a big deal. There are all kinds of championships in wrestling today and several of them are among the most important in all of the industry. Winning a championship can change the way a wrestler’s career works and it can make a world of difference in what they are doing. This week saw a huge moment for a popular AEW star, as he has won his first major title.
The main event of this week’s AEW Dynamite saw Orange Cassidy defeat Pac to win the All-Atlantic Title, marking his first title in the company. Cassidy had been chasing the title for several weeks, with Pac turning him down for a title shot because he did not consider Cassidy to be a real contender. Cassidy has been part of AEW since its inception and unsuccessfully challenged for multiple titles.
Opinion: AEW nailed this one and they did it in a way with low stakes that felt high. The All-Atlantic Title might not be the most important championship in the company but winning it means a lot to Cassidy. He got his big moment an..

Welcome to the team. There are a lot of important roles in a wrestling show and some of them do not get the credit that they deserve. One of the most important groups is the broadcast team, including the backstage interviewers. They are often there to guide the fans in a certain directions with the questions that they ask and one of the better interviewers around today is no longer a free agent.
AEW President Tony Khan has announced that Renee Paquette (formerly known as Renee Young) has officially signed a deal with the company and joined the broadcast team. Paquette made her debut this week on Dynamite and conducted multiple interviews throughout the show. Paquette is best known for her time with WWE, where she was a backstage interviewer and color commentator. She is married to AEW World Champion Jon Moxley.
Welcome to the team!@ReneePaquette is ALL ELITE!
See you soon coming up at
8pm ET/7pm ET on @TBSNetwork
TONIGHT! pic.twitter.com/Jwcq58P6RI
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) October 12..

Dynamite
Date: October 12, 2022
Location: Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone
We’re up north this week and out of the United States (at least on land) for the first time. The main events feature a grand total of one American as we have Bryan Danielson challenging Chris Jericho for the Ring Of Honor World Title and Pac defending the All-Atlantic Title against Orange Cassidy. Let’s get to it.
We start hings off with the debut of the newest member of the broadcast team: Renee Paquette (Young). She brings out Christian Cage, who insults Toronto and then brings in Luchasaurus.
Jungle Boy vs. Luchasaurus Christian Cage is on commentary. Jungle Boy goes after him to start but gets powered into the corner. The uppercut off the top sends Luchasaurus to the floor and it’s already time for a table. Jungle Boy is in big trouble as the table is set up outside and we take a break. Back with Luchasaurus missing a charge and going into the post,..

They have their eye on her. There have been a lot of stars returning to WWE in recent months and it makes for some fascinating moments. It means something when a star comes back to the company as you wonder where they are going to go or do now that they are back. Now WWE seems interested in bringing another former star back into the fold after an absence.
According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, WWE is interested in bringing back Chelsea Green. There is no definitive word on what kind of deal, but it is believed that it would be for the main roster. Green wrestled one match on the main roster, during which she suffered an injury and never returned. Since then, Green has wrestled in Impact Wrestling, where she is a former Knockouts Tag Team Champion.
I’m told another name WWE has significant interest in bringing back is Chelsea Green. I would think if a deal is offered, it’s for the main roster. Time will tell.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) October 12, 2022
Opinion: This is a..

They have their place. There are a lot of talented stars in WWE but the company continues to move things around on a regular basis. In addition to the main stars on any given show, there are also names that are brought in to the company, especially in the last few months. Those wrestlers need to get settled in and now we know something important about three of the newest names.
Over the course of the last week, the OC (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) and Bray Wyatt have returned to WWE after more than a year away each. According to PWInsider.com, the OC will be exclusive to the Monday Night Raw roster while Wyatt will be exclusive to SmackDown. Wyatt did not appear on this week’s Monday Night Raw but it was implied that he would be on SmackDown later in the week.
Opinion: This is what makes the most sense as there is no reason for the OC to be on SmackDown. As for Wyatt, it really could have gone either way, but I was hoping for him to be more of a person all around the company. I’m ..

It’s the other option. The rise of AEW has shaken up the wrestling world and it brings up the question of where wrestlers will be heading next. While wrestlers are under contracts, it does not mean that they are always happy with where they are at the moment. Now we have a better idea of why some wrestlers want to make the jump to the other company, and it seems to be two fold.
According to Wrestling Observer Live, there are two reasons why wrestlers are wanting to jump from AEW to WWE. First, wrestlers are said to have more faith in the new regime headed by Triple H than the previous Vince McMahon administration. Second, the wrestlers are wanting to go to WWE because they would be able to work more there. AEW only runs one regular night a week with Dark: Elevation, Dynamite and Rampage being taped on the same night, while WWE runs television and three live events a week.
Opinion: This is an interesting situation as one of the main perks from AEW is the lighter schedule. It seems tha..

It’s part of a plan. With so many wrestlers on the WWE roster, the company has to make sure things keep moving. One of the easiest ways to do this is to bring stars up from the NXT developmental system. It can make a difficult task to find the right names to move up and sometimes the company needs to take a closer look. Now they might have a plan to do just that.
According to Fightful Select, WWE is looking for more crossover between the Monday Night Raw, SmackDown and NXT rosters. This includes NXT stars appearing on the WWE’s Main Event program, such as Brooks Jensen, Josh Briggs and Fallon Henley last week and Von Wagner and Carmelo Hayes this week. There is no word on when or if any call ups will take place.
Opinion: This is the kind of move that makes a lot of sense for WWE. For years, Main Event has been little more than the same collection of stars facing off over and over. Just mixing it up a bit makes the show feel that much better and it makes me wonder when some of them mi..