NEWS

Rampage
Date: September 16, 2022
Location: MVP Arena, Albany, New York
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Tony Schiavone
The road to normalcy continues this week but there might not be as much to get hyped about with this show. The problem is that with no tournament matches for this week, there is only so much that can be done to bring in the interest. Rampage has a tendency to not feel the most important but maybe they can pull it off. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Matt Hardy vs. Darby Allin They shake hands to start and it’s Allin grabbing a headlock takeover. Hardy fights up so Allin crucifix bombs him for two. With Hardy on the floor, Allin’s dive is cut off but he drives Hardy into the steps to knock him silly again. Allin goes Jeff/PCO by trying a Swanton, which only hits apron because people like him never learn.
We take a break and come back with Hardy hitting a Side Effect out of the corner for two. The Twist of Fate is countered and a suplex is as well..

Welcome back. One of the best things about WWE having such a huge roster is that it can slip in different wrestlers and stars when it needs to. Someone being gone for so long can make for some very interesting return moments, even if WWE advertises them in advance. That was the case this week as one of the more intriguing names in WWE made their return after more than a month away.
This week on SmackDown, Paul Heyman made his return to television after more than a month and a half away. Heyman appeared in the opening segment to confront Logan Paul on Roman Reigns’ behalf, as Reigns had told him to do on his behalf. Heyman had been gone since Summerslam, where he was F5’s through a table by Brock Lesnar. There were no signs of injuries and nothing to suggest that Heyman will not be back full time.
Opinion: This is great to see, as Heyman is the glue that holds the Bloodline together. While Reigns is awesome at what he does, there is something different about having Heyman around that ..

That’s never good to hear. An injury can take anyone out of action at the drop of a hat and that can shake things up rather quickly. You never know when you are going to see someone get injured and sometimes you do not even realize that it is happening right in front of your eyes. That was the case again and now we know what is keeping someone out of action.
This week on SmackDown, it was announced that Erik of the Viking Raiders has suffered a foot injury and is out of action. The injury took place two weeks ago when the Viking Raiders defeated New Day in a Viking Rules match. There is no word on when the Viking Raiders will be back in action or if Ivar will compete as a singles star while Erik recovers from his injury.
Opinion: This explains a bit as there is little reason to not have the Viking Raiders in a recent #1 contenders match. Erik being hurt clears things up and hopefully he is back in the ring a lot sooner than later. The Viking Raiders should be a dominant force but the..

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?
WrestleFest 1993
Hosts: Gene Okerlund, Bobby Heenan
Commentators: Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, Gorilla Monsoon, Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan
It’s back to Coliseum Video and in this case we’re jumping to one of the weaker times the company has had. The good thing is that these tapes almost always have something worth seeing and there is always a hope that we could see the same thing here. There is no major theme here most of the time and that makes things more fun. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence, featuring va..

Smackdown
Date: September 16, 2022
Location: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole
As has been said multiple times lately, and then everything changed. Over the course of the week, Roman Reigns started focusing on Logan Paul, which seems to be a likely Crown Jewel main event. That is the kind of thing that seems hard to fathom, but here we are with a big segment needed to make it work. Let’s get to it.
Here is Logan Paul to get things going. After commentary recaps Paul’s issues with Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman this week (Reigns went on Paul’s podcast and had an interview, then after Reigns left, Paul said he could beat him), Paul says he has done it again, meaning he has made someone mad.
We get some hardcore WHATing before Paul talks about how he has challenged people like Floyd Mayweather before, so tomorrow there is going to be a press conference in Las Vegas. If Reigns is man enough, he can show up and meet him face to face. Cue the Bloodli..

It’s a way to go. We are firmly in the Roman Reigns era as Reigns is now over two years into his run as Universal Champion. This is in addition to the WWE Title that he won back at WrestleMania 38, making him the undisputed World Champion of the company. That much time as champion means that he is going to run out of challengers, but now WWE has a fresh opponent in mind.
Earlier this week, Reigns and Logan Paul went at it on Twitter, with Reigns assigning Paul Heyman to deal with the situation. Heyman said that he would take care of it and Triple H invited Paul to SmackDown to do so. According to F4WOnline.com, Paul vs. Reigns is expected to headline Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 5, with a press conference planned for Saturday. The match is likely to be announced on SmackDown.
Opinion: This is the kind of match that comes out of nowhere and I’m curious to see how Paul can do in that kind of a setting. He did very well at Summerslam which is a big enough deal, but this is an..

That isn’t a no. There have been a lot of returns to the WWE as of late and that has made for some very interesting moments. Several former WWE stars have come back to the company after the massive releases of the last two years, but there are still some names out there to bring back. Some of them are more complicated than others though, and now we know some more details on perhaps the biggest name left.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, talks between WWE and Bray Wyatt are still alive, though they have stalled in recent weeks. Wyatt was released from WWE in 2021 and has not wrestled anywhere else since. This is reportedly due to Wyatt’s high asking price, as he was one of the top paid stars in WWE. Triple H was recently asked about Wyatt’s return but would not say yes or no. This was the same thing he said about Braun Strowman, who returned earlier this month.
Opinion: I can’t imagine Wyatt staying away from WWE forever and that is a good thing. Wyatt has a lot of crea..

That’s certainly something to say. AEW’s locker room is in a bit of a state at the moment and that is the kind of thing you do not want to see happen very often. The company is having some issues with its wrestlers and its leadership, which has been going on for more than awhile now. One of the company’s leaders tried to help things out with it not that long ago, but some of the details might not have been so well received.
Back on August 24, AEW held a talent meeting before Dynamite. Several veterans spoke at the meeting, including Kenny Omega. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Omega took more of a “tough love” approach, including a statement that he would not have hired eight out of the ten wrestlers present. Omega was said to be joking with Will Ospreay when he said this, but the comment was taken seriously by others, who were reportedly upset. He went on to say that the locker room energy was different than when AEW began, which was suggested as Omega wanting to retu..

Impact Wrestling
Date: September 15, 2022
Location: The Factory, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan
We’re rapidly approaching Victory Road and then Bound For Glory, meaning some of the shows’ major matches have already been announced. With some of the bigger shows on the way, it would make sense to give them that much extra attention. There’s a good chance of getting some more added to the cards this week so let’s get to it.
Opening recap.
X-Division Title: Mascara Dorada vs. Mike Bailey Bailey is defending. They trade armdrags to start before both block one at the same time. An exchange of countered hurricanranas gives them a standoff and they chop it out until Bailey is knocked to the floor. The slingshot dive misses and Dorada wins a chop off outside. Back in and a suicide dive drops Bailey, setting up a missed top rope double stomp back inside.
Bailey pulls him into a kneebar but Dorada is in the ropes rather quickly. The running twisting shooting star g..

He’s better than you and someone now agrees with that permanently. MJF recently announced on Instagram that he is now engaged to his girlfriend Naomi Rosenblum!
However, being the character that he is, he took the opportunity to continue being a troll, by saying the following on Twitter:
Ladies panicking on my TL don’t worry. Just cuz there’s a goalie doesn’t mean you can’t score. Strive for greatness.
Ladies panicking on my TL don’t worry.
Just cuz there’s a goalie doesn’t mean you can’t score.
Strive for greatness. #Saltoftheearth https://t.co/M4v2qPY9TF
— Maxwell Jacob Friedman™? (@The_MJF) September 15, 2022
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maxwell Friedman (@the_mjf)
Rosenblum appeared on an episode of Dynamite earlier this year, during an elaborate entrance where he was carried out to the ring on the throne. You can see the video below, which includes the couple sharing a kiss:
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We at Wrestling Rumors send our deep..

It might be a bit. Injuries are one of the great equalizers in wrestling as you never know when you are going to see any wrestler go on the shelf for a very long time. Anyone can get injured at any given time and it becomes a matter of waiting with a hope of a return date in sight. That is the situation with a top WWE star and it seems like we could be waiting for a long while.
Randy Orton has not wrestled since the May 20 SmackDown, after which he was attacked by the Bloodline. The attack was designed to write him off of television as Orton was suffering from a back injury. According to PWInsider.com, Orton is still out of action with his back injury and there is nothing to suggest that he will be return soon. Orton has been referenced by Matt Riddle during his absence, with Riddle still using Orton’s offense during his matches.
Opinion: That doesn’t sound like the greatest news in the world as Orton has already been out for nearly four months with no return in sight. Orton is one o..

Dreams can come true. WWE has released a new video on its social media platforms in which Triple H offers 14 contracts to people who attended their tryouts in Nashville over SummerSlam weekend.
You can see the video of the offers and the reactions below:
[This post contains video, click to play]

The names of the new signees are:
Kennedy Cummins Gabrielle Dunn Rickssen Opont Alivia Ash Harleigh White Chukwusom Enekwechi Jade Gentile Anna Keefer Breanna Ruggiero Beau Morris Franki Strefling Hayden Pittman Lea Mitchell Kevin Ventura-Cortes The signings come after previous reports that this set of tryouts will be the last to focus on non-wrestlers, as there were several injuries due to the athletes not being experienced. The tryouts were reportedly described as a “disaster.” Therefore, the solution will be to bring in more independent wrestlers who are experienced in the ring.
Editor’s Opinion:
I love stuff like this. It’s always cool to see regular folks have an opportunity to real..