NEWS

Welcome back? With so many wrestlers on its roster, it can be a little difficult for WWE stars to stand out. Over time, some wrestlers are going to get stale or just need something new to make them feel like they matter again. This is easier said than done, but there are certain tricks that can make it better. That was on display again this week with a surprise twist on a return.
This week on SmackDown, the Viking Raiders made their scheduled return, where they attacked the New Day from behind. This led to a beatdown of the New Day, as the Raiders turned heel in the process. Later in the show, they said that they were afraid of no one and no one was safe. The team has not wrestled on WWE television since the March 28 edition of Monday Night Raw.
That’s quite the change. Check out the Raiders’ return and attack:
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Opinion: This is the kind of move that the Raiders need and it does sort of fit them better. The team is a pair of bruisers who ca..

Keep them coming. We are less than two days away from AEW’s Forbidden Door event. The show will see AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling stars face off in a series of matches, most of which have never been seen more. The card is stacked up and down and some of the bigger matches are looking quite interesting. There is a lot before the show starts though and that was expanded this week.
Two more matches were added to the Forbidden Door Buy-In show this week on AEW Rampage. First up, Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland will face off against Suzuki-Gun’s El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. In addition, the Factor’s QT Marshall and Aaron Solo will meet Chaos’s Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi. The Buy-In show airs Sunday at 7pm EST before the show officially begins at 8pm.
Opinion: This show is going in all kinds of directions and I think that might be a good thing. There are going to be a lot of different matches that fans have never seen before and it is nice to have that kind of variety on a show..

Smackdown
Date: June 24, 2022
Location: Moody Center, Austin, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
We are eight days away from Money In The Bank and the ladder matches need to be filled in. This includes a women’s qualifying match tonight, but odds are some of the focus is going to be on what Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar. You know, because we need to build towards Summerslam before Money In The Bank. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of Roman Reigns retaining the World Title over Riddle last week. After the match, Brock Lesnar returned and took Reigns out, setting up their Summerslam rematch.
Here is Drew McIntyre to get things going. He’s looking forward to Money In The Bank but he’s looking even more forward to Summerslam, because he is going to cash in on whoever wins between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar. Cue the Brawling Brutes to interrupt, with Sheamus saying Drew is off his bleeding rocker if he thinks he is going to be the one to cash in at Summerslam. She..

That’s some rare company. There are a lot of wrestlers in the world today and it takes something special to make them stand out in the crowd. That is something that can be hard to figure out, though there are ways to do it without involving anything that is done in the ring. Now another star has taken a rather bold step that makes her all the rarer kind of wrestler today.
During an interview with Breakfast Television In Canada, Impact Wrestling star Gisele Shaw revealed that she is a transgender woman. Shaw said that she made the announcement to be true to herself and wanting to love herself. Impact Wrestling has put out a statement praising Shaw, including a quote from Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace praising Shaw for being a role model. Shaw made her full time debut in Impact Wrestling in January.
IMPACT Wrestling Supports Gisele Shaw
IMPACT Wrestling Knockout competitor Gisele Shaw has disclosed she is a transgender woman to the wider public. Shaw, who joined IMPACT’s roster in ..

I picked a heck of a week to do a column in advance last week because everything went haywire. Ignoring the whole Jeff Hardy fiasco (which seems like something that is far from over), there was the crazy shakeup at WWE. There were changed made in the last week or so that would have seemed unthinkable not so long ago but now have come to be a reality. That’s what we are going to be looking at this week (shocking I know), plus one bit of fallout that might make things all the worse, at least for fans.
So as you probably know, WWE is officially investigating Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis for an affair with a WWE employee. McMahon reportedly paid to keep her quiet, as well as raised her salary when the affair began before passing her to Laurinaitis “like a toy”. I’ll let your skin crawl for a bit after that thought before moving on to what this has already meant.
The initial fallout from these shenanigans has already started, with McMahon taking a step back from his roles as CEO and..

That’s an upgrade. WWE has been undergoing a lot of backstage changes throughout the last year. People have been moved in and out of positions and several of those roles are key to helping the company be as successful as it can. Some of the biggest changes have taken place in recent weeks and now we have another one, which may stabilize things in an important area for a long time.
Earlier this week, a rumor broke that Triple H was returning to the WWE Performance Center, saying that he was “back”. Wrestling Observer Radio has more details on the return, saying that Triple H said that some things are happening but he can’t talk about them at the moment. It is not clear if Triple H is running NXT again, but he is said to be back with more power.
Opinion: As a long time NXT fan, this is a very exciting time. At the end of the day, NXT 2.0 has been a very different direction for the show, though I’m not sure how interesting it has been. The show has been watching a developmental promotio..

That’s a great sign. There are a lot of injuries in wrestling and so many of them can be completely different than the rest. Sometimes they are built up over time but thers are all at once. The latter can be a lot more devastating as someone can go from fine to trouble in the blink of an eye. That was the case earlier this year but now we have a positive update on recovery.
On the March 11 edition of SmackDown, Big E. suffered a broken neck when Ridge Holland suplexed him on the floor, with Big E. landing on his head. This week, a fan sent Big E. a message on twitter, saying that they were praying for him every day. Big E. responded with a video of himself moving his neck, while singing a song about what he is able to do. There is no word on when or if Big E. will ever wrestle again.
That’s pretty good. Check out Big E.’s progress:
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Opinion: The fact that Big E. is able to move at this point is an accomplishment in itself and the fact that h..

That might be for the best. There have been a lot of wrestlers throughout history but only a few of them have reached the top level. Fans know the biggest names in history because they have left enough of a mark throughout their careers. That is the case with one wrestling legend, though he has announced that he can never wrestle again as the injuries have caught up with him.
During an appearance on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle revealed that he will never wrestle again after double knee replacement surgery. As a result, he is not wrestling again out of fear of hurting his knees again. Angle said that while he is still in a lot of pain, he can walk around better than before the procedure. His final match took place at WrestleMania 35 against Baron Corbin.
Opinion: Angle is one of the all time greats but it is nice to see that he has finally decided to hang it up. He has such a long history of injuries and sticking around through injuries th..

He got the point across. The Coronavirus changed the way the world worked for a long time but things are mainly back to normal. What matters most is that the health issues and worries have mostly gone away, but it is also nice to see some of our old ways of life coming back. That includes wrestling, with one wrestler now being able to tell a story about the pandemic days.
Happy Corbin appeared on Mornings With Matt And Bob in Austin, Texas and talked about the upcoming Money In The Bank pay per view. Corbin also told a story about the 2020 edition, with the briefcase hanging above a ring on top of Titan Towers. During the match, Corbin threw Rey Mysterio off the top of the building, with Mysterio landing via a video edit. According to Corbin, the moment caused at least one fan to call 911 and say that Corbin had killed Mysterio.
Opinion: As ridiculous as it might seem, this is the kind of thing that makes wrestling seem more real. The fan bought into what they were seeing so much tha..

That could have been worse. There are a lot of ways a wrestler can get hurt and put on the injured list as a result. It is something that you never want to see, but the question becomes just how long the person is going to be out of action. The amount can range drastically based on the kind of injury, but this time around a pair of them might not be so serious.
Earlier this week, Rhea Ripley announced that she was suffering from both teeth and brain injuries, which will keep her out of action for the time being. This includes preventing her from being able to challenge Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women’s Title at Money in the Bank next month. However, according to Wrestling Observer Radio, Ripley is not expected to be out long term. While she will miss Money in the Bank, she is expected to be back fairly soon.
Opinion: That could be worse as you never want to see someone out of action for a long time, or at all really. Ripley is someone who feels like she could be one of the next breakou..

It’s an appearance. Wrestlers are in a weird place when it comes to celebrity status. While they are certainly people known and seen on national television, they are mostly only known for what they do in the wrestling world. However, every now and then you will see them getting to do something else, which makes for some interesting moment. That was the case again this week.
WWE’s Riddle appeared on the Tonight Show on Wednesday night, appearing in a segment called Audience Suggestion Box. A fan wanted to see what would happen when NBA Draft prospect Jalen Williams to shoot an onion ring like a hockey puck, with Riddle appearing as the goaltender. WWE stars have appeared on the Tonight Show on a somewhat regularly basis in various comedy segment.s
This is what it is. Check out Riddle’s Tonight Show appearance:
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Opinion: This is one of those things that you get to see every now and then and it shows you just how big WWE has gotten. The idea of..

Swap him out. We are on the way to Forbidden Door where AEW stars will face off with New Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers in a variety of matches. Some of these matches are going to be rather interesting on their own but there are some titles included to spice things up a bit. That is the case with a brand new championship, but now we have a new name trying to win the inaugural title.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that Tomohiro Ishii has suffered a knee injury and is out of the All Atlantic Title match at Forbidden Door. Clark Connors, who Ishii defeated to earn the spot in the match, will take his place in the match. Therefore, Connors will be facing Malakai Black, Pac and Miro for the inaugural title. The other three all won qualifying matches in recent weeks on Dynamite.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that you cannot expect and Connors being in the match is the most logical thing that can be done. The unfortunate part is the fact that Ishii is the latest in the long strin..