NEWS

Put it on the list. There are certain things that Vince McMahon does from time to time that seem to boggle the mind. McMahon has a long history of seemingly making up rules for things that he does not like, just to get them to go away. One of the most frequent is over the things that commentary is allowed to say on WWE broadcasts. The list of banned phrases seems to have grown again.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, McMahon has now banned the term “non-title” from WWE programming. This was evident this week on Monday Night Raw, as Mustafa Ali faced the Miz and United States Champion Theory in what was described as a “non-title champions contenders” match. There is no word on why or when McMahon decided to make the change, but it seems to be the new rule at the moment.
Opinion: This is as McMahon as it gets, as he is well known for making somewhat random changes just based on whatever whim he happens to be having. That doesn’t make it any better or logical, but at least McMahon ..

NXT LVL Up
Date: April 29, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Nigel McGuinness
I’m almost looking forward to this show in a way and that should make for an interesting enough week. They’re starting to do something a bit differently around here as you see wrestlers debut here before moving up to the main NXT show a week or so later, making this a glorified preview show. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Dante Chen vs. Damon Kemp Chen goes for an armbar to start but gets taken to the mat for some easy riding. This prompts a discussion of pretty much any main roster story the fans can think of to avoid talking about the match. Back up and Chen starts working on the leg to put him in a bit of trouble, including some cranking on the mat. A backslide gives Kemp two but Chen is back with a spinning toehold. The Ric Flair cannonball down onto the leg is countered into a rollup for two and Kemp is back up with a running shoulder. The running p..

Pack your bags. We are still fresh off of WrestleMania 38, to the point where WWE’s followup pay per view is called WrestleMania Backlash. WWE focuses a lot of its year around WrestleMania, but the Road To WrestleMania often begins at the Royal Rumble. Now we might know what we will be seeing for the next Royal Rumble, which might be heading for the big city.
According to Fightful Select, the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas is the current favorite to host the 2023 Royal Rumble. If the Royal Rumble is held in the Alamodome, it would be the third time that the venue has hosted the show, following 1997 and 2017, plus the fourth time the city of San Antonio has hosted, including 2007. New Orleans and Seattle are also interested in hosting the event, though WWE has yet to make an announcement on the venue.
Opinion: This is one of those things that doesn’t seem all that interesting but can make for some fun moments. There is something about seeing where the shows might be going that can gi..

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?
Wrestlemania Backlash
Date: May 16, 2021
Location: Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Adnan Virk, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Pat McAfee, Michael Cole
It’s time for the Wrestlemania fallout pay per view and this time WWE isn’t exactly being subtle with the concept. The Raw side is mainly consisting of Wrestlemania rematches with another name added in, while the Smackdown side actually feels like some fresh matches. Hopefully that mixes together for a good show. Let’s get to it.
Here’s Sheamus to issue..

The times they are a turning? There are very few wrestlers in modern history to reach the level of Roman Reigns. As we approach two years of Reigns as Universal Champion, there is nothing to suggest that Reigns is slowing down anytime soon. You do not get that kind of dominance very often and fans seem to be impressed with him. Now WWE is acknowledging some of that new found respect.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Reigns and the rest of the Bloodline came to the ring, with the commentary team saying that the group received a mixed reaction from the fans. According to Wrestlingnews.co, if this was a line from Vince McMahon, it could be a sign that Reigns is being set up for a babyface turn in the near future. There is no word on when the turn could take place, assuming that it does.
Opinion: This is something that could make for some interesting moments, though I’m almost scared of the idea of Reigns making a turn. WWE has not had the most success with Reigns as the top good guy befor..

We’re not done yet. There is so much history to professional wrestling that there is no chance in telling all of its stories. With so many characters, angles and plot twists both in front of and behind the scenes, the stories never really end. Now it seems that we might be getting to hear some more of those stories from one of the more prominent pairs of storytellers in a long time.
Last week, VICE TV released its slate of programming for the 2022-23 television season. The slate was missing Dark Side Of The Ring, the professional wrestling documentary series, suggesting that the show might be canceled. However, on Monday, the VICE TV Twitter account sent out a message saying that they were committed to the series, with its producers Evan Husney and Jason Eisener working on new material. There is no word on when or where the new material will appear.
We've heard some rumors flying around about Season 4 of Dark Side of the Ring. We are as committed as ever to both the series and t..

Do they even know? WWE may be the most powerful wrestling promotion in the world, but there are some criticisms that you will see about the company. One of the most common is that WWE changes plans on a frequent basis, which can cause issues when it comes to storylines. That seems to be the case again, as one WWE star seems unable to make up his mind.
According to Fightful Select, Ciampa defeated Apollo Crews during this week’s WWE Main Event taping. Ciampa reportedly wrestled the match as a babyface despite being presented as a heel during his two most recent appearances on Monday Night Raw. There is no word on if this is a new direction for Ciampa or if WWE is going in two different ways on the two different shows.
Opinion: That’s about as WWE of a story as you can get, as the company is literally changing their minds by the hour. I’m not sure how much of a difference an appearance on Main Event really makes for Ciampa’s future, but it would be nice to have some consistency with th..

There’s your explanation. WWE has a rather unique setup with NXT as its in-house developmental system. The company is able to bring in as many wrestlers as they choose, see what they have in them, and then move them up to the main roster. Some of them do not make it though, and that seems to be the case again with a wrestler who was released from the company.
Last week, WWE released a group of ten people, including several wrestlers, from NXT. One of the longer standing names on the list was Dakota Kai. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Kai was released as WWE did not feel she was ready for the main roster and let her go as a result. Kai wrestled multiple main roster tryout matches but WWE decided to release her rather than call her up.
Opinion: I’m not sure what to think of this, as Kai is someone who showed all kinds of talent in NXT but that doesn’t matter if the higher ups don’t see it. To say that WWE has a hit and miss record with its NXT callups would be an understatement..

A pair to draw to. WWE has a unique history with tag team wrestling as they very rarely tend to focus on it. Rather than building up traditional teams, WWE tends to like to put two singles wrestlers together as makeshift teams, often leading to major tag matches. That seems to be the case again, as some top stars seem to be coming together on a heck of a collision course.
This week on Monday Night Raw, AJ Styles defeated Damian Priest in a singles match. After the match was over, Priest’s partner Edge attacked Styles, with Priest and Edge attempting to further damage Styles’ shoulder. This caused Finn Balor, who has had issues with Edge and Priest in recent weeks, to run in for the save. Balor and Styles, both former members of the Bullet Club, then did the Too Sweet gesture. No match has been made between the two teams.
Opinion: I like the idea of Balor and Styles together, though it does seem a bit weird that Styles is able to defeat Priest with Edge helping him and THEN gets a par..

Welcome back. With so many people on the WWE roster, it can be difficult to find something for everyone do to. One of the hardest things to do in WWE is stand out as a wrestler but there are a lot who make it work. That might be the case again this week, as a missing star is not only back, but also with what might be the beginning of a new storyline for her.
Nikki Ash both won and lost the 24/7 Title this week on Monday Night Raw, with the loss leaving her disappointed. Following the loss, Doudrop made her return to talk to Ash backstage and asked if Ash was ready to stop playing games and take this seriously, with Ash saying she was. While not confirmed, this could mean a change of gimmick for Ash. Doudrop has not wrestled a match on WWE TV since the March 14 Monday Night Raw.
It has my attention. Check out the surprise return:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: I had been wondering where Doudrop had been so it is nice to have her back. At the end of the day, Doud..

Fare thee well. AEW has come a long way in a still relatively short of time. The company has only been around for a few years now and the company has managed to build up quite the group of stars and a strong fan base. A lot of that is due to fans getting attached to some of the wrestlers, but now it seems that one of the longer standing names might have departed the company.
AEW star Stu Grayson’s name has been removed from the company’s official roster page. While not confirmed, this suggests that Grayson may have finished with the company, though no official announcement has been made. Grayson has been a part of the Dark Order and his most recent match took place at a Dark taping. There is always the chance that the two sides could still come to terms
Stu Grayson has been removed from the AEW roster page. pic.twitter.com/U5c83Mdjir
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) May 2, 2022
Opinion: I’m not sure what happened here but there is a chance that this is a disagreement over some k..

There’s your stipulation. Wrestling shows can be set up in a variety of ways but more often than not there are some special rules on the bigger matches. Some of these things can be better than others but the right one can change a match in a very good way. That might be the case now, as an upcoming grudge match has a new rule that very well may make things more interesting.
This week on Monday Night Raw, AJ Styles defeated Damian Priest in a singles match. As a result, Priest will be barred from ringside when Styles faces Edge at WrestleMania Backlash. Following the match, Finn Balor came to the ring to help Styles against Priest and Edge. Priest offered a distraction to cost Styles his match against Edge at WrestleMania 38 and has teamed with Edge to attack Styles since.
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that needed to happen for the pay per view as there was no reason to have Styles wrestle a handicap match, as Edge defeating him again with the odds stacked against him doesn’t mea..