NEWS

Impact Wrestling
Date: May 12, 2022
Location: Promowest Pavilion, Newport, Kentucky
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt
We’re done with Under Siege and that means we need a new #1 contender. Josh Alexander successfully defended the World Title against Tomohiro Ishii so now it’s time for something new. That means the return of the Gauntlet For The Gold, a huge gauntlet match, to crown a new #1 contender. Let’s get to it.
Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt are in the ring to hype up the Gauntlet For The Gold.
Video on Gauntlet For The Gold.
Ultimate X Qualifying Match: Chris Bey vs. Kenny King The winner is in the Ultimate X X-Division Title match at Slammiversary and Maria Kanellis-Bennett is on commentary. King takes him down with a headlock to start but gets armdragged into an armbar. A dropkick puts King on the floor, where he gets knocked down again for a bonus. Back in and King hits some running knees in the corner for two, followed by a snap powerslam for the same.
Th..

That’s certainly a way to go. There are a lot of ways to present a match to draw in the fans’ attention, though some of them are a little less conventional. Sometimes you will see someone doing something very different, which may or may not be the best idea. That was the case again this week, and thankfully it did not go nearly as badly as it could have given the danger included.
Over the weekend, former AEW star Joey Janela wrestled a match against Drew Parker at GCW’s Maniac event. During the match, Janela set his boot on fire for a superkick to Parker but was unable to put the fire out. Several bottles of water were thrown into the ring to douse the flames, which were eventually put out. Janela was burned, but there is no word on the extent of his injuries.
This is a different kind of injury. Check out what happened (contains some strong language):
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: What do you even say to this? Janela burned his foot because he lit it on fire as..

It seems to have been building. Earlier this week, Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out on Monday Night Raw, turning the WWE women’s division on its head. Banks is one of the biggest stars the division has ever had but is now gone, despite the possibility of challenging Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Title at Hell In A Cell. The match might have been more personal than expected.
Banks and Naomi won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 38. During the same show, Ronda Rousey defeated Charlotte to win the SmackDown Women’s Title. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Banks was upset that Rousey got the shot against Charlotte, which had been planned for Banks for months. Banks was given the Tag Team Titles as a consolation for losing the Rousey match.
Opinion: I can’t say I’m surprised at Banks for being annoyed at the change, though I’m still not exactly ok with the two of them walking out on the show. I don’t know what the future holds for Banks and Naomi, but it seems ..

I guess he isn’t a fan. There are several different stories that can be told in wrestling and some of them can get rather intense. The best stories are often the most personal ones, with a wrestler’s life behind the camera occasionally being included. WWE wanted to do that again with a top star, but it turns out that he was not much of a fan of the concept being used.
During a recent edition of the Universal Wrestling Podcast, former WWE creative member Matt McCarthy told a story about a potential story involving WrestleMania. Former WWE executive Eric Pankowski suggested that an unnamed wrestler reference to Orton’s wife and daughter. According to McCarthy, Orton’s response was something similar to ‘Why don’t we keep my f***ing work at my f***ing work? Leave my f***ing family in my f***ing family’s house.’. There is nothing to suggest that the angle ever took place.
Opinion: This is one of those things that can be rather interesting and also understandable. Orton did not want someth..

They’re listening. Every now and then, sometimes WWE is going to have to make a last second change to make whatever they have going on work that much better. Sometimes you might not realize just how things are going at the moment but it can make for some very fast changes. That was the case this week and now we know a bit more about how it came together.
The main event of this week’s Monday Night Raw saw Asuka defeat Becky Lynch to become the new #1 contender to the Raw Women’s Title. This was not the original plan for the match though, as Naomi and Sasha Banks walked out on the show, meaning the planned Six Pack Challenge had to be scrapped. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Lynch herself pitched the idea to lose to Asuka, as WWE does not want Bianca Belair and Lynch having another singles match. As a result, the solution was to have Asuka defeat Lynch and earn the title match.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that gives me some hope for WWE, as it does seem that the..

They’re a bit banged up. WWE has a lot of television time available to them and it can be difficult to find ways to fill in all of that time. The company has several wrestlers available to help, but sometimes they need to make a few changes for the sake of a little freshening up. That seems to be the case again, as we might not be seeing a pair of stars, at least for a little bit.
The main event of this week’s SmackDown saw the Usos defeat RKBro to unify the SmackDown and Raw Tag Team Titles. Following the match, the Bloodline attacked RKBro and laid both of them out, including putting Riddle through the announcers’ table. After the show, WWE released a medical update on Riddle and Randy Orton. Riddle has suffered a bruised hip and lower back while Orton will be undergoing a medical evaluation. There is no word on when the two will be back in the ring.
UPDATE: @SuperKingofBros and @RandyOrton are undergoing medical evaluation following #TheBloodline's vicious attack on #SmackDow..

Call it an eye for talent. WWE has a lot of resources available to it and one of their biggest is the talent roster. The company is able to stockpile wrestlers in NXT and call them up when necessary. That can lead to some interesting moments when someone gets to make their main roster debut. That was to be the case recently, but a last minute change shook things up.
Last month, WWE released a group of NXT wrestlers due to feeling that they were not progressing fast enough. One of the names released was Harland, who had been serving as Joe Gacy’s enforcer. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Edge had picked Harland to be the fourth member of the Judgment Day stable but the company let him go instead. While not specified, it is said that this is due to WWE finding out something about Harland that warranted the release.
Opinion: I’m not sure what happened here, but Harland being called up to the main roster so fast after his debut would certainly have been a change. Harland ..

Can we get a warning next time? There is a lot going on at any given point in WWE and sometimes the company builds on the idea of wondering what they are going to do next. In theory, this is going to draw interest in what is going on and there can be some great drama as a result. WWE was trying to do that this week but they might have accidentally spoiled it in advance.
The main event of this week’s SmackDown was a Tag Team Title unification match between the Usos and RKBro. The Usos would win the match to unify the titles, becoming the first sole WWE Tag Team Champions since 2016. However, WWE’s United Kingdom Facebook page may have accidentally spoiled the result. An image has appeared on Twitter, showing a since deleted post from the account with the Usos holding both sets of titles before SmackDown began. The post was since restored, though no such photo of RKBro was ever posted.
WWE UK Facebook Page accidentally posted this and deleted it immediately.
Oh Boyy ? pic.twitter.com..

That sounds connected. There have been all kinds of people leaving WWE over the last few years, with several of the names leaving the company without making the decision themselves. While many of them have been on the active roster, there have been a lot of names who have been let go that do not appear on camera. It turns out that some were related to a prominent name who left as well.
Earlier this week, Stephanie McMahon announced that she is taking a hiatus from her work in WWE. According to Fightful Select, much of McMahon’s team was let go in the recent round of releases. There is no word if this played a role in McMahon leaving or if the people were let go as a result of McMahon leaving. It is not clear when McMahon will be returning to work.
Opinion: I’m not sure what happened that caused McMahon to leave, but there is a logic to the idea that if she is gone, there is no need to have her team around. Assuming their major responsibilities are working for McMahon, it makes some s..

Note the change. Factions have been a concept in wrestling for a very long time and they still are to this day. Putting a group of wrestlers together is something that has been done for years and there are certain aspects that you see pop up over and over. One of them is a good name, and now WWE has given another group their own, though it might not be what was expected.
This week on SmackDown, the team of Sheamus, Butch and Ridge Holland were officially named the Brawling Brutes, including a graphic showing their new name. This is a slight change of plans, as WWE had trademarked the name Bloody Brutes earlier in the week. There is no word on why WWE made the change or if anyone else will be added to the team going forward.
Opinion: This is a bit of a surprise, though I do get why a company that tries to downplay its violence may not want the term “bloody” to be regularly used. The team does deserve a name and it is nice to see them being treated as something a bit more official. Eit..

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?
AAW Epic 2017: The 13th Anniversary Show
Date: April 8, 2017
Location: Joe’s Live, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Phil Colvin, Tyler Volz
As the name might suggest, this is AAW, a pretty nice independent promotion from around Chicago. There are a lot of names you are going to recognize on here and that should make for a pretty nice card. Making it to thirteen years is impressive enough and in theory the show should work out as a result. Let’s get to it.
The commentators are in the ring to welcome us to the show..

That’s quite the step. The biggest WWE story of the week has been Sasha Banks and Naomi walking out on WWE this week at Monday Night Raw. The two left over issues with the creative direction of the show’s main event and there is no indication of when they will be back, assuming they ever are. WWE has addressed the issue, and now they have taken a pretty big step.
This week on SmackDown, Michael Cole addressed Banks and Naomi’s walkout and said that the two were suspended indefinitely with the Women’s Tag Team Titles being vacated. According to PWInsider.com, all Banks and Naomi merchandise has been removed from WWE’s official online store. There is nothing to suggest that Banks and Naomi will be returning in the near future.
Opinion: I’m not sure what to make of this whole thing, but it is pretty clear that WWE is trying to make an example out of Banks and Naomi. In addition to not being around in person, they are not going to be receiving any money from merchandise sales either. Thi..