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?
Psycho Circus 17
Date: February 23, 2019
Location: NYWC Sportatorium, Deer Park, New York
Commentators: Christopher Andrews, Matt Striker
This is from the New York Wrestling Connection, a promotion out of New York (shocking I know) that has been around for almost twenty years. As is usually the case, I know nothing about the show coming in and that can make things fun. Granted I’m not sure how much fun a show called Psycho Circus is going to be but let’s get to it.
Keep in mind that I know nothing about this plac..

It is an aspect to consider. AEW has only been around for a few years now but the company has put together quite a nice history for itself. The company does certain things over the course of the year almost every year, to the point where you can guess what is coming most of the time. However, there is one thing that they do that seems a bit odd, but there is quite a simple reason for it as well.
Throughout its history, AEW has held fourteen regular pay per views, with four of them having been held in or around Chicago, Illinois. The company’s next event, All Out 2022 on September 4, will also be held near Chicago. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this is because AEW President Tony Khan considers himself a wrestling historian and wants to hold annual shows in the same markets. This has been done throughout wrestling history, including Jim Crockett Promotions running Greensboro on Thanksgiving night. At the same time, Khan does want to expand AEW into new pay per view markets in t..

It’s a good connection. Wrestling is in a weird place when it comes to being seen as a sport. While the wrestlers are absolutely athletes and people who are able to do some amazing things in the ring. At the same time though, there are always going to be people who do not see it as a real sport. It can be interesting to see what happens when athletes from more mainstream sports get into wrestling, and now a pretty big name is in talks with WWE.
During a recent Twitter Spaces, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier spoke about his relationship with WWE. Cormier revealed that he regularly talks to people in WWE, including Triple H, and has been asked to work with the Creed Brothers in NXT. Cormier, who is friends with Julius Creed, is interested in working with them in some capacity but has never been able to make it work. There is no word on if Cormier will be able to work with WWE at some point in the future.
Opinion: Cormier is someone who has always seemed interested in wre..

It was nice while it lasted. Television time is one of the most important parts of a wrestler’s career. It allows more and more fans to see what a wrestler can do in the ring or on the microphone, but there is only so much time to go around. This is certainly true with AEW, which only has three hours of television time a week. Now there will be one less person vying for some of that time.
AEW’s AQA has announced that she is stepping away from professional wrestling, citing both physical and mental health issues. AQA said that she has needed to take such a break for a long time now but kept pushing through instead. This comes about five months after AQA signed with AEW, where she has only wrestled on Dark. Her most recent AEW match took place on the July 5 edition of Dark.
With love, thank you. ? pic.twitter.com/2Cfrv78PhC
— A.Q.A ? (@AQAOfficial10) July 18, 2022
Opinion: I’m not sure what is going on with AQA but what matters most here is that she get the rest and help that she nee..

They have a plan. We are coming up on Summerslam and that means it is time to get ready for one of the biggest wrestling shows of the year. With just three major television shows left before the pay per view, WWE still has some work to do, as some matches need to be made. Some of them could include a variety of big stars, one of whom is expected to return next week.
According to Fightful Select, Edge is expected to be at next week’s Monday Night Raw in Madison Square Garden, though it is not guaranteed that he will appear. Should he appear, it would be Edge’s first appearance since being attacked by Finn Balor and Damian Priest of the Judgment Day stable on June 6. There is no word on what Edge is expected to do whenever he does return to WWE TV.
Opinion: This is one of those situations that isn’t really a surprise as Edge was going to come back and fight with Judgment Day no matter what happened. They had a story set up and there was no reason for the battle to not take place. Hopef..

That’s a bit of a gap. The AEW World Title scene is in a bit of a unique state at the moment, as there are currently two World Champions. Jon Moxley is the reigning Interim AEW World Champion, but there is also the official AEW World Champion, CM Punk. The Interim title was introduced when Punk was out of action, with a unification match coming up. Now we might have an idea of when that is coming.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Punk is expected to be back at either All Out in September or Full Gear in November, though it is not clear when the unification match will take place. Punk has been out of action since early June with an injury, forcing the creation of the Interim Title. There is no word on if Punk will be returning to television before either pay per view match.
Opinion: This is probably the most likely scenario, though it is a bit hard to imagine that Punk will be gone all the way into November. That is quite the long time to be out of action and still officially be..

It’s time to get things going. We are less than two weeks away from Summerslam and that means WWE is going to need to really crank up the card building on the way to Nashville. The show’s main events are mostly set but there are still some other matches that need to be set. That is easier said than done, but WWE managed to boost the card up in a big way this week.
This week’s Monday Night Raw featured two grudge matches being added to the Summerslam card. First up, Seth Rollins vs. Riddle was officially confirmed for Summerslam. This match had been set up by the two of them attacking each other over the last few weeks. Later, Logan Paul appeared on MizTV, where Miz accepted Paul’s challenge for a Summerslam match. This comes after Miz attacked Paul after they won a tag match at WrestleMania 38.
Opinion: This is the kind of night that Summerslam needed, as the card has gotten a nice boost in the span of a few hours. I’m kind of curious to see the show, as WWE is doing a fairly decent ..

Do it again! WrestleMania 38 took place back in April and had quite the stacked card. There were some very good matches taking place over the course of both nights and some of the ramifications are still being felt three and a half months later. Now it is time to move on to one of the other biggest shows of the year, but you might see something you recognize from a few months ago.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Bianca Belair defeated Carmella to retain the Raw Women’s Title. As a result, Belair will defend the title against Becky Lynch at Summerslam on July 30. The match will be a rematch from WrestleMania 38 where Belair defeated Lynch to win the title. It is also a rematch from last year’s Summerslam, where a returning Lynch defeated Belair in 26 seconds to win the SmackDown Women’s Title.
Opinion: I don’t think there was any kind of doubt that this match was being added to the card. The WrestleMania showdown might have been the best match on either night of the show but it would a..

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 18, 2022
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We have two shows left before Summerslam and that means it is time to start hammering home the rest of the details. A good deal of the card has already been set and now it is time to wrap things up, including things other than Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar. Maybe we can get some more of that this week so let’s get to it.
Here is Titus O’Neil for a chat. Titus talks about how many charitable things WWE gets to do and he loves to talk about it as his Global Ambassador. That’s why you’ll never hear us talk about politics, religion or anything else controversial. This is a place that should be a safe haven for everyone so with that in mind, WELCOME TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW!
We recap Becky Lynch costing Bianca Belair a match against Carmella last week.
Here is Becky talking about the Little Engine That Could. There are people who try with everything they can but s..

They’re up last. In less than two weeks, WWE will be presenting Summerslam in Nashville, Tennessee. The show will be one of the biggest of the year for WWE but there are other things going on in the same place. In addition to Summerslam, Ric Flair’s Last Match will be held in Nashville, and now we know the most important part of the entire show, as an announcement has been made.
Bleacher Report Wrestling’s Twitter account has revealed that Ric Flair’s final match will be a tag match as he teams with Andrade El Idolo vs. Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett, with Karen Jarrett in their corner. El Idolo is Flair’s son-in-law and Flair has managed him in various matches over the last few years. Lethal and Flair had a history in Impact Wrestling with Lethal impersonating Flair, while Jarrett was part of the Four Horsemen with Flair in WCW.
Ric Flair will team up with Andrade El Idolo against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in his final match pic.twitter.com/Y4Kfdcxvi0
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) ..

NXT LVL Up
Date: July 15, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Sudu Shah, Matt Camp
For once I actually have some hope around here as there was something of an angle last week. Quincy Elliott cost Damaris Griffin and Bryson Montana a match last week and it might be time for some revenge. That could go a few ways, but there is also the chance that it is completely dropped. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Quincy Elliott vs. Ikemen Jiro Jiro cartwheels to start so Elliott shoves him away and they exchange hand signals. A charge is pulled out of the air so Jiro elbows his way to freedom, only to collapse on a dumb slam attempt. Elliott works on a waistlock and then chops Jiro in the head to cut him off. Dancing/posing ensues but Jiro is back with the jacket punches. A superkick into the Lionsault gives Jiro two but he still can’t slam Elliott. Some hip attacks in the corner look to set up a running hip attack, which is blocked by J..

He’ll be around. Injuries can be one of the worst things to happen to a wrestler as you never know how long someone is going to be out of action for upon getting hurt. While that alone is bad enough, it can also be bad for the people associated with the injured wrestler. That is a problem that seemed to come about recently, but things might not be as bad as they seem.
Last month, Santana injured his knee during AEW’s Blood & Guts match, which will leave him out of action for several months to come. According to Fightful Select, AEW has no plans to leave Ortiz, Santana’s partner, on the sidelines during Santana’s recovery. Ortiz will continue to regularly appear on AEW TV, as he did this week on Dynamite. This comes as Santana and Ortiz have reportedly not been getting along backstage, to the point where Ortiz has been taking independent bookings on the independent circuit.
Opinion: That’s a good thing to hear and I’m sure Ortiz is happy as well. Santana being injured doesn’t mean tha..