NEWS

They might have a plan. There are a lot of wrestling promotions around the world and some of them have been around for a very long time. It can mean a lot to have that kind of brand recognition and history and now one of the promotions seems to have a new life. AEW owner Tony Khan purchased Ring Of Honor earlier this year and now we might know something about what he is doing with it.
Ring Of Honor returned from a several month hiatus in April, with its annual Supercard of Honor event. The show featured appearances from several AEW stars and was followed by Ring Of Honor wrestlers appearing on AEW TV. According to PWInsider.com, an announcement about Ring Of Honor’s next event is expected in the next few days. This comes after Ring Of Honor was more prominently featured on AEW TV this week.
Opinion: This is what Ring Of Honor needs more than anything else. You can have your individual matches and your appearances on AEW and they’re great but at the end of the day, you need to have Ri..

It’s a different way to go. Wrestling is a lot of things, but ultimately it is a visual medium that needs someone to be able to see the wrestlers. If a wrestler does not catch your attention with their appearance, it can be a lot more difficult to find a reason to connect with them. That means a change in appearance can make a lot of difference and that might be the case again.
Following WrestleMania Backlash and a loss to the Usos, RKBRo was attacked by the Bloodline, resulting in Randy Orton being written off of television. Orton has a real life back injury that could keep him off of television for the remainder of the year. Some photos have appeared on Twitter showing Orton with a clean shaven face, rather than his usual mustache, sitting by a pool in Missouri. There is currently no specific date on when Orton will return to the ring.
Pics from yesterday of @RandyOrton at a pool in St. Charles,Missouri with a few lucky fans. He musta shaved the day before because he had a stache &..

Yes, again. Injuries can stop a wrestling promotion’s momentum cold and there isn’t much that can be done about them. A wrestler can be taken out of action out of nowhere and plans have to be changed on the fly. Unfortunately these things can happen in bunches and that seems to be the case again, as another prominent star has been taken out of action due to an injury.
According to F4WOnline.com, AEW’s Jungle Boy is out of action with an undisclosed injury and he will be missing some time. There is no word on when he was hurt or when he will be back in the ring. This comes after Christian Cage attacked Jungle Boy to end the June 15 edition of AEW Dynamite and is the latest in a long string of injuries to nearly ten AEW stars.
Opinion: I can’t remember the last time that I saw a promotion as snake bit by injuries as AEW right now. It feels like the company can’t go three days without someone else getting hurt and that is going to catch up with them sooner rather than later. At some poi..

She has chops. There are a lot of pieces that go into being a professional wrestler but at the end of the day, it is mainly about being a performer. A wrestler has to go in front of the crowd and make them care about what is going on. That can be easier said than done, but it is clear that wrestlers have some talent for being center stage. That was the case again this weekend.
Over the weekend, WWE’s Alexa Bliss joined her husband Ryan Cabrera on stage at the Powell Festival in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Bliss performed part of Eminem’s Lose Yourself, with Cabrera joining her on guitar. Bliss has a bit of a history with music, including appearing in the music video for Bowling For Soup’s song Alexa Bliss, which is obviously named after her.
This was pretty cool. Check out Bliss on stage:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: While I don’t know if Bliss has a future as a musician, it was nice to see her getting up there and having fun like this. A lot of people hav..

Yes, another one. With just over twenty four hours to go before AEW’s Forbidden Door event, you would think most of the card would be set. AEW is ready to take on the stars of New Japan in a series of matches, which should make for a rather fun night. However, even with so little time left, another change has been made, though this time it wasn’t WWE’s decision to make.
AEW has announced that Hiromu Takahashi has a fever and is not allowed to travel to the United States for his match at Forbidden Door. Takahashi was scheduled to team with Sting, Darby Allin and Shingo Takagi against the Young Bucks, Hikuleo and El Phantasmo, but the match will now be a six man tag with Hikuleo also sitting out. There is no word on if Takahashi will wrestle for AEW in the future to make up for this show.
Hiromu Takahashi (@TIMEBOMB1105) has a fever and can’t travel to America to compete at Forbidden Door. The match will now be a trios match with #BulletClub (@youngbucks & @elpwrestling, with @Hiku_Leo..

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?
No Way Out 2007
Date: February 18, 2007
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 14,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s that show where WWE pretends that it matters while showing us a commercial for Wrestlemania. The main event is a tag match between the Wrestlemania main events, which should be a quality though unimportant match. Other than that, we are getting a Divas Talent Show, which should be as exciting as it sounds. Let’s get to it.
The opening video focuses on..

You have to cover it. The biggest wrestling story of the year has been the investigation into Vince McMahon’s alleged affair and the resulting payment to cover it up. McMahon has stepped back from his role as WWE CEO and Chairman of the Board, with his daughter Stephanie taking his place. That puts Stephanie in charge and now she has had to cover a big part of her new job.
According to PWInsider.com, WWE held an all hands on deck meeting earlier this week to address the Vince ordeal. Stephanie talked about the investigation, saying she loved Vince and would be doing everything she could for WWE going forward. This is one of several meetings that Stephanie has been a part of in Vince’s place since she took over his role with the company.
Opinion: This is something that Stephanie was going to have to do but it still feels so strange. While I don’t entirely buy the idea that Vince is no longer in charge of everything behind the scenes, having Stephanie as the official voice backstage is..

It’s a gig. Wrestlers have a rather unique career path, but at the end of the day, everyone has to move on from the ring at some point. That is easier said than done for a lot of people though as some of them do not have another place to go. That can be the case for some top stars, some of whom try more than a few odd directions. That seems to be the case again.
As part of the festivities around his final match, Ric Flair and Kitchen Data Systems have announced the opening of a virtual restaurant called WOOOOO! Wings. The restaurant will open for deliveries in Nashville, Tennessee, the location of Flair’s last match, on July 28 before launching nationwide the next day. Flair’s final match will take place on July 31 against an opponent to be named.
Here is the press release:
Ric Flair Launches Wooooo! Wings Virtual Restaurant with Kitchen Data Systems
16-time World Champion and 2-time WWE Hall of Famer partners with technology and services company Kitchen Data Systems to roll out Wo..

Twice as nice. Injuries are a terrible thing to see in wrestling as they can keep someone on the shelf for a long time, but they can also lead to some nice returns. Having someone come back from an injury is great to see as they can return refreshed and able to do something they have not done in a long time. That might be the case again soon in NXT, times two.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, both Io Shirai and Zoey Stark are expected to return to the ring relatively soon, though no specific date was given for either. Shirai has not wrestled since the April 2 Stand & Deliver when she hit the announcers’ table on a moonsault to the floor. Stark has been out of action since October as she is recovering from surgery for a torn ACL.
Opinion: That is a great thing to see as the two of them have both been out of action for a long time. The women’s division has some depth to it, but adding in two more stars is going to be a good thing. You can put them into either title pictu..

Try again later. Injuries are one of the few things that can impact any wrestler at any time and hurt them all in the same way. You never know when someone is going to get hurt and be taken out of the ring and that is never a good thing to see. Such an injury can change how a story or match is going and that seems to be the case again, as a change had to be made this week.
This week’s edition of SmackDown featured a Money in the Bank qualifying match between Tamina and Shotzi, with the latter advancing. The original plan for the match called for Aliyah to face Shotzi but the change was made before the show. Pat McAfee explained the change on commentary, announcing that Aliyah was injured, though he did not say how long she would be out of action.
Opinion: This isn’t something that makes the most difference, but it is a change that WWE had to make. Aliyah being out of action further thins an already weak women’s division and her being gone long term could cause issues for others. I do..

Talent doesn’t relate well to him. WWE has been shaken up in a lot of ways in recent weeks and there is a chance that several of those changes are going to continue. This includes several backstage moves related to the Vince McMahon affair scandal. One of the moves involved a new boss in charge of a pretty important department and some wrestlers are not happy about the change.
As a result of his involvement in the McMahon investigation, John Laurinaitis has been placed on administrative leave from his role as Head of Talent Relations and Bruce Prichard has taken the position According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the backstage reaction to the change has been mostly negative, as Prichard is seen as a quiet person who does not interact with the wrestlers. Laurinaitis was seen as more approachable and willing to talk.
Opinion: The more I hear about all of these changes, the more worried I am about how the whole thing is going to do. At the end of the day, it seems there are peo..

Rampage
Date: June 24, 2022
Location: UW Panther Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Taz
It’s the go home show for Forbidden Door and I have no idea what that is going to mean here. This week’s Dynamite was a huge push towards the show, including several New Japan stars being added. That could mean more than a few things for this show and I’m curious to see where it going. Now to find out if that is a good thing. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Andrade El Idolo vs. Rey Fenix Jose and Alex Abrahantes are here as the seconds. They don’t bother with the feeling out process to start until it’s Fenix hitting a quick springboard hurricanrana to stagger Andrade. A boot in the corner staggers Fenix but he is right back with a kick to the ribs.
Something out of a fireman’s carry is countered into Andrade’s Three Amigos, which Fenix reverses into his own Three Amigos. That’s enough to send Andrade outside so Fenix hits a heck of a flip dive to drop him agai..