NEWS

What could have been. WWE has a weird history when it comes to tag teams as it often seems that the company doesn’t like them lasting long term. Other than a handful of teams, WWE rarely has tag teams last long term. You do see them though, and it turns out that one of the most popular teams today was never meant to be around more than a little while in the first place.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE had no intention of keeping RKBro together in the long term. The original plan for the team called for them to be together for only a few weeks before Randy Orton turned on Riddle. Then WWE liked the two together and kept it going, with the team being together for a year now. The team has won the Raw Tag Team Titles twice and are set to compete in a title unification match against SmackDown Tag Team Champions the Usos at WrestleMania Backlash.
Opinion: This isn’t exactly a surprise as WWE has a long history of breaking up teams, but in this case you can see the team’s chemist..

That is some serious praise. There are very few wrestlers in WWE history who have become the face of the company. You can probably name them on one hand and being listed in that company is one of the best things that can be said about a wrestler. It might not be the case again at the moment, but now a new star has gotten the attention of Vince McMahon himself and in a good way.
According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, Vince McMahon sees a young John Cena in Theory and is planning to give him everything necessary to be successful. Theory has been paired with McMahon on television for the last few months and is the reigning United States Champion. There is no word on how the push will go or what McMahon considers to be successful for Theory.
Now that his push is in full effect, source states he anticipates bigger & bigger things for Theory. A person with direct knowledge states Vince “sees a young John Cena in Theory” and will “give the kid everything he needs to be successful”
..

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?
Smackdown
Date: April 25, 2002
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Attendance: 8,350
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re in a new era now as HHH is a full time Smackdown wrestler, which I’m sure will last for at least a few weeks. After all you can’t expect the biggest star in the company to be on the B show for very long. Other than that we’re going to get more of the Hulk Hogan nostalgia tour, which wasn’t the most interesting thing in the world earlier this week. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequenc..

Add it to the card. We are less than two weeks away from WWE WrestleMania Backlash and the company has put together a lot of the show. The good thing about this event is that it has a built in theme from its name alone, as WWE can run WrestleMania fallout matches. That seems to be what they are doing, and now we have another case where the name fits the match.
This week on WWE Monday Night Raw, Bobby Lashley defeated Omos in an arm wrestling match. Following the match, Omos attacked Lashley and left him laying before issuing a challenge to Lashley for a match at WrestleMania Backlash. The match was officially confirmed later in the night on Raw Talk. This will be a rematch from WrestleMania where Lashley defeated Omos.
BREAKING: As announced on #RAWTalk, The All Mighty @fightbobby will collide with @TheGiantOmos at #WMBacklash!https://t.co/YDPGxoLOKQ@The305MVP pic.twitter.com/21XOp0CmPc
— WWE (@WWE) April 26, 2022
Opinion: This isn’t a big shock as the match has been teased since t..

Good to see you again. There are certain things that you learn watching wrestling and one of the biggest is to never say never. No matter what is going on in the wrestling world, there is (almost) always a chance that it can be reversed. Someone can let anger go, a company could change its mind or something else could happen to get rid of an issue. That seems to be the case again.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Mustafa Ali made his return to WWE television after a six month absence. Ali appeared during a MizTV segment in hopes of challenging Theory for the United States Title. Instead he fought and defeated the Miz, only to be jumped by Tommaso Ciampa after the match. Ali was returning after a hiatus due to a backstage argument with Vince McMahon over his character’s future, leading to Ali requesting his release from the company.
Opinion: I didn’t think I would see this again and yet here it is, with Ali not only returning but dealing with multiple people at once. Maybe this doesn’t ..

Rebellion 2022
Date: April 24, 2022
Location: Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center, Poughkeepsie, New York
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan
It’s back to pay per view for Impact and this time they have made me want to see what they have to offer. The main event is a long awaited showdown between Moose and Josh Alexander for the World Title, after Moose took the title at Bound For Glory and then went after Alexander’s family. The rest of the card looks pretty good too so let’s get to it.
Pre-Show: Eddie Edwards vs. Chris Bey Bey is replacing an injured Jonathan Gresham. There are no seconds here for a change and the fans are behind Bey, complete with the TOO SWEET chants. Feeling out process to start with Bey grabbing a headscissors but getting taken down with a shot to the face. An overhead belly to belly suplex drops Bey again but he fires off some kicks to send Edwards outside.
There’s the big running flip dive, sending Rehwoldt into an Inception reference. Edwards hits..

Welcome home. There is something very special about a return in wrestling. A wrestler might have been gone for a long time before getting to show up again without much warning. They might have been gone for all kinds of reasons, but an injury is one of the most common. That was the case again this week and now another WWE star is back in action.
Asuka made her surprise return to WWE television this week on Monday Night Raw. Becky Lynch was in the ring and promising to get her Raw Women’s Title back, which means no one will be able to stop her. This brought out Asuka, to say that she would stop Lynch. No match was officially announced. Asuka had been out of action since last July with an arm injury.
Opinion: This is great to see as it has been a long time since Asuka has been around. She is instantly one of the major players in the women’s division and could be slotted into any spot WWE needs her to take. Starting off with Lynch is a great way to go and the match itself could be a hec..

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 25, 2022
Location: Thompson Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We are less than two weeks away from Wrestlemania Backlash but we have a special milestone to cover first. This week is twenty years to the day of Randy Orton’s WWE debut and a special tribute is planned. I’m sure nothing will happen to cause that to be derailed in any way. Let’s get to it.
The ring is surrounded by wrestlers and Riddle introduces us to a tribute to Randy Orton’s career. There are clips from every major moment of his career (save for that first World Title win of course) and my goodness there have been a lot of them. With that out of the way, Riddle introduces Orton, who talks about how he was actually born right here in Knoxville.
Orton thanks a lot of the people who helped get him here, including a special mention of Mick Foley for turning him into the Legend Killer. There have been a lot of moments over the years, but h..

It’s something for him to do. There are a lot of people on the WWE roster and it can be difficult for the company to find something for everyone to do. It is not uncommon to see a wrestler sitting on the sidelines for long periods of time, which can be rather frustrating for the wrestlers and their fans. Now one seems to be back in a different role, but it might just be a setup for something else entirely.
Over the last two episodes of SmackDown, Drew Gulak has been auditioning to be a part of the broadcast team, only to be beaten up by Charlotte and Ronda Rousey. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this may result in Gulak becoming a new authority figure in WWE. Sonya Deville is returning to the ring and Adam Pearce may have Gulak replace her as his secondary authority figure. This is not a guarantee though and is still seen as speculation.
Opinion: Sure why not. Gulak is a name that people know and he can talk well enough, so why not see how this goes? If WWE just has to have tw..

Impact Wrestling
Date: April 21, 2022
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Matthew Rehwoldt, Tom Hannifan
It’s the go home show for Rebellion and we should be in for a solid night. The card is mostly set with the World Title being more than ready, so now it might be time to focus on just about everything else. I’m actually looking forward to the pay per view and if they can get in one last push, we should be in for a nice Saturday. Let’s get to it.
Opening recap.
Opening sequence.
Violent By Design vs. Decay Non-title and it’s Eric Young/Deaner vs. Black Taurus/Crazzy Steve. Taurus hits Deaner in the face to start but Young gets in a cheap shot from the apron to take over. A running knee in the corner gives Deaner two but Taurus knocks him down and brings Steve in to clean house. Steve dropkicks Young off the apron and hits the Cannonball for two on Deaner, with Young dropping a top rope elbow for the save. Everything breaks down and Taurus is sent into th..

It takes priority. The rise of AEW has changed the way the wrestling world works in a lot of ways. One of the biggest has been allowing wrestlers to get a better chance to showcase themselves on a major stage. That is going to let those wrestlers land several bookings on smaller shows, but now that is not going to be the case with some wrestlers on an upcoming show.
According to PW Torch, AEW has pulled a group of wrestlers from some upcoming independent events as they have changed a Dark taping from April 30 to May 1. As a result, Lee Moriarty and Skye Blue have been pulled from a Black Label Pro event and JD Drake, Top Flight and Wheeler Yuta have been pulled from a Pro Wrestling Guerrilla event. Both promotions have promised replacements.
Unfortunately Lee Moriarty, Skye Blue and Jake Something will not be appearing at Fancy Wrestling next week.
Updated matches and championship repercussions will be announced very soon.
— Black Label Pro (@BLabelPro) April 22, 2022
Unfortunate..

I think he has deserved it. There are certain wrestlers who have been in WWE for so long that they have become legends in their own time. As rare as these people can be, you know that you are seeing someone special, just due to how WWE treats them. That is the case again this week, as a legendary WWE star is getting some very special recognition as he reaches a milestone.
WWE has released a new video looking at the 20 Greatest Randy Orton Moments in honor of Orton making his WWE TV debut twenty years ago on April 25, 2002. The video includes various title wins, RKOs and segments from Orton’s career. WWE has also announced that there will be a special ceremony honoring Orton’s success on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw.
That’s a worthy tribute. Check out Orton’s greatest moments:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: Orton may not be everyone’s favorite but at the end of the day, he has been around for so long that he is one of the only constants in WWE over th..