NEWS

That’s an idea. There are a few different ways to present a wrestler but most of them boil down to being a hero or a villain. The vast majority of wrestlers fit into one of these two categories and it is often fairly easy to tell which is which. Sometimes someone needs to be switched though and that can make for some interesting moments. That might be the case again with a WWE star.
According to Wrestlingnews.co, WWE may be planning a face turn for Sami Zayn in the near future. This comes after WWE has posted a video recapping Zayn’s attempts to join the Bloodline, only to have the team not treat him very seriously. Over the last few weeks, Zayn has also changed his gear and dropped the Fidel Castro style hat. There is no word on when or how the turn could take place.
Consider this evidence. Check out the video on Zayn and the Bloodline:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: I would be down for this, as Zayn has been on the evil side for a long time now. It might be w..

It’s long overdue. There are certain times when you see a pair of wrestlers who seem like they are a perfect fit. It might be them facing off or teaming together, but it can make for some fascinating moments when they finally make it happen. This can be all the more common in modern wrestling with different promotions around the world and that was the case again this weekend.
Over the weekend, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart managed FTR at a Big Time Wrestling event in Webster, Massachusetts. The match saw FTR defeat Brian Pillman Jr. and Brock Anderson, who had Brock’s father Arn in their corner. This comes as FTR has been paying tribute to Hart, including indirectly referencing him in their promos. The show will be available on Fite TV at some point in the future.
A celebratory tequila toast in Webster, Massachusetts with @BretHart and @DaxFTR after tonight’s wildly successful @BTWwrestling show.
Be sure to catch the event on @fitetv – an announcement on when you can purchase and vie..

That’s a long time off. Cody Rhodes made his surprise return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and has since taken WWE by storm. Rhodes has become one of the biggest stars in WWE and even headlined last weekend’s Hell In A Cell event. However, Rhodes has suffered a major injury and that is the kind of thing that could slow him down for awhile. Now we know just how long that might be.
Before Hell In A Cell, Rhodes suffered a torn pectoral muscle while training, though he did manage to wrestle his scheduled match anyway. This week on SmackDown, Michael Cole announced that as a result of the injury, Rhodes will be out of action for about nine months. Rhodes underwent successful surgery to repair the injury on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama.
Update: After successful surgery, @CodyRhodes will be out of action for nine months. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/5ITIvRzPcL
— WWE (@WWE) June 11, 2022
Opinion: This is the bad news that you probably knew was coming but that doesn’t make it any better. Ther..

That’s a nice thing to do. Wrestlers are in a weird place when it comes to celebrity status, as while they are known for being on television every week, they are still wrestlers at the end of the day. While that does not leave them with a lot of mainstream appeal, there are still several people who are huge fans. Now one wrestler is appealing to some of those fans for help with a good cause.
Monday Night Raw’s Finn Balor is auctioning off some ring worn gear to benefit the Essex & Hertfordshire Air Ambulance. Up for auction is a shin guard and knee pad, both signed, along with a signed Topps trading card, plus another lot featuring the same items along with a pair of ring work trunks. The items come with a certificate of authenticity from the Graham Budd auction house, with bidding ending on June 26.
Signed ring gear available for a great cause ??https://t.co/vBpRqbgZWz
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) June 11, 2022
Opinion: I can always go for something like this as Balor is doing someth..

It can happen to anyone. There are a lot of ways for a wrestler to have their careers derailed and one of the easiest is through an injury. These things can pop up at any given time and some of them can be absolutely devastating. Unfortunately you never know when they are going to happen and it seems that we might have seen another one right before our eyes this week.
This week’s edition of WWE SmackDown featured a match between Lacey Evans and Xia Li for a spot in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Evans won the match to qualify, defeating Li with the Woman’s Right. A video from after the match has made its way to YouTube, showing Li being checked on by the referee and medical staff. Li had to be helped to the back and it is not clear how badly she may be hurt. There is no word on her potentially missing any ring time.
That doesn’t look good. Check out Li after her match on SmackDown:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: Hopefully Li is ok and just shaken u..

That could have been different. There are a lot of things that have to come together to make a wrestler work out. If one of those things are missing or off, the whole thing might not come together. One of the biggest is the wrestler’s name and getting it wrong can be quite the detriment for a wrestler. It seems that WWE almost had a very interesting choice for a returning wrestler last year.
In a new interview with Inside The Ropes, Davey Boy Smith Jr. revealed that there were plans to give him a new gimmick during his 2021 WWE return. Smith would have worn his father’s vest and gone under the name the Stampede Stud. The plan had been for him to appear on SmackDown but he never wrestled on television before being released from the company in November 2021.
Opinion: Honestly, Stampede Stud isn’t exactly a bad name and I could see something like this working. It sounds better than Davey Boy Smith Jr. or having the same nickname as his father. Smith was always in great shape and they co..

NXT LVL Up
Date: June 10, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Nigel McGuinness
It’s time for another one of these which will likely have nothing whatsoever to do with the previous show and feature a bunch of stand alone matches. That is the standard formula around here and I wouldn’t expect to see it change anytime soon. It doesn’t mean the show will be bad, but it also doesn’t give me high expectations. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Valentina Feroz vs. Arianna Grace Yulisa Leon is here with Feroz. Grace takes her down by the arm to start but Feroz reverses into an arm crank of her own. A rollup doesn’t work so Grace powers her up for a drop onto the buckle. The chinlock goes on but Feroz fights up and gets two off a small package. Grace kicks her down and, after walking around so she can face the camera, gets two. Some throws put Grace down and she hits a spear but Grace is back up. That’s fine with Feroz, who grabs a backslide fo..

It can happen to anyone. An injury can put any wrestler on the shelf at any time and there is not much that can be done about it. The worst part is you never know when something is going to happen or how long the wrestler is going to be out as a result. The waiting game is terrible and now that is what we are going through again as a WWE is missing time due to an injury.
This week on SmackDown, it was announced that Ridge Holland suffered a knee injury last week and was out of action. There is no word on what kind of an injury Holland suffered or how long he will be gone. Holland wrestled in a six man tag as part of the Brawling Brutes on last week’s show, losing to the team of New Day and Drew McIntyre in a street fight in the show’s opening match.
Opinion: Unfortunately this is the kind of thing that can happen to a wrestler and you don’t know just how bad it is. A knee can be one of the nastier injuries as well as it isn’t something that often heals that fast. Hopefully things are..

That’s a serious issue. Wrestling is a physical sport and something that can cause some very serious injuries to the wrestlers themselves. Some of these issues take place all at once and others are built up over time. You don’t know when you might see someone get hurt right in front of you, but this time it seems that there was an injury that might not have been so obvious.
During the latest edition of his Something To Wrestle With podcast, WWE’s Bruce Prichard revealed that he has suffered a torn rotator cuff and will be undergoing surgery. As a result, Prichard will be undergoing six months of rehabilitation to get back to normal. There is no word on how much, if any, time he will miss from his position helping to run Monday Night Raw and SmackDown.
Opinion: This is something that might have wider implications than it seems, as Prichard is such an influence on WWE’s major television shows. Having him away from the shows for that long could change the way they are presented, dependi..

These things do happen. Wrestlers are larger than life characters who get into physical altercations every single week on television. That can make for some very compelling moments, but there are also things that happen with them behind the scenes which can be all the more interesting. That seems to have been the case with two prominent modern wrestlers.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW’s Chris Jericho and WWE’s MVP got in a verbal altercation at a hotel in Houston on May 18. Around 1am, MVP arrived at the hotel and ran into Jericho and Matt Hardy. The incident did not get physical but was said to be “tense”, with Jericho getting to an elevator and saying he “doesn’t fight jobbers” as MVP was screaming in the lobby. It is not clear what caused the issue or if the two have resolved it since. MVP has commented on the situation on Twitter, suggesting that the incident took place but that the details were wrong.
Even when they get the story right, they get the details ..

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?
Monday Night Raw
Date: November 26, 2007
Location: Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina
Attendance: 6,900
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We’re done with the holiday week and the big story coming out of last week is the return of Chris Jericho. You can see the Raw main event of next month’s pay per view from here but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Jericho is an instant main eventer and someone to give Orton a challenge, though he might have some rust to shake off first. Let’s get to it.
We open with..

It had to happen eventually. Wrestlers have a fairly unique career path, as they rarely have a long time on top. At some point they have to find something else to do and it can often be harder than it seems. If a wrestler gets injured and can no longer get in the ring, their options are even more limited. That seems to be the case again and a longtime WWE star is making her exit.
WWE’s Paige has announced that she will be leaving the company on July 7, ending her run that started in 2011. Paige was forced to retire from in-ring competition in 2018 after suffering a second major neck injury, which took place less than a month after her return from over a year away from the ring. Following her injury, Paige served as SmackDown General Manager in 2018. While she has not wrestled in nearly five years, Paige said that she will almost certainly return to the ring, though it is not clear when or where she will do so.
Thank you @WWE ?? pic.twitter.com/9OhGjov13s
— SARAYA (@RealPaigeWWE) Jun..