NEWS

It does fit the theme. We are less than three weeks away from WrestleMania Backlash, which should have a pretty obvious theme. With WrestleMania 38 in the rear view mirror, it is time to start focusing on the next show but there is still some fallout from WrestleMania to deal with first. Some of that will be done at WrestleMania Backlash as a new grudge match has been set.
This week on Monday Night Raw, a WrestleMania rematch was set up for WrestleMania Backlash as AJ Styles accepted Edge’s challenge for a match. Edge defeated Styles at WrestleMania with an assist from Damian Priest. Styles has continued going after the two of them, though the pair attacked Styles in the locker room and injured his arm by slamming it in a locker door.
Opinion: This isn’t a big surprise, though there was a chance that it might have been Priest getting to face Styles instead. Styles vs. Edge seems like it is on course to be a longer show, perhaps all the way to Hell In A Cell in June. I’m not sure how ..

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 18, 2022
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler
We are most of the way to Wrestlemania Backlash and a lot of the card has been set. Last week’s Smackdown saw RKBro vs. the Usos officially announced for the pay per view and at the moment, that is the biggest match on the card. Maybe we can get some more things added this week so let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at Cody Rhodes beating the Miz last week and then setting up his Wrestlemania Backlash rematch with Seth Rollins.
Here is Seth Rollins to get things going. Rollins gets straight to the point by calling out Cody Rhodes, who joins him in the ring. Rhodes thinks Buffalo is Rhodes Country and the fans seem to agree. Before Rollins can get anything in, the fans keep cutting him off. Rollins says he was going to talk about his respect for Rhodes and his family.
After all of those years of hard work to become the American Nightmare, Rolli..

They seem to be impressed. WWE has been around for a very long time and it means a lot to be one of the company’s featured stars. If you are one of the focal points of WWE, it suggests that you are going to be a major player in the wrestling industry and that means your face is going to be seen in a lot of places. That was the case again this week and the face might have been a surprise.
This weekend, the United States Football League returned after a nearly forty year absence. The broadcast of at least one game included an advertisement for WWE Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. While the SmackDown side of the graphic featured Roman Reigns, the Monday Night Raw side featured Cody Rhodes. This comes after Rhodes returned to the company less than a month ago at WrestleMania 38 and suggests that Rhodes will be a featured star both on Monday Night Raw and on WWE programming in general.
WWE TV ads have Cody Rhodes featured as the top star on #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/9TDuIdNKpt
— Wrestling N..

Does that make them superheroes? There are very few teams as controversial as the Young Bucks. The former AEW Tag Team Champions have dominated a lot of the tag team scene around the world for several years. Their success cannot be argued, but their style is something that has not caught on with a lot of fans. Now they have done something outside of the ring that might be a bit controversial as well.
It’s certainly timely. Check out the Young Bucks’ latest exploit:
[This post contains video, click to play]
The Young Bucks have released a video on Instagram showing the two of them attacking the Easter Bunny. In the video, a young girl tells the team that the Easter Bunny is creepy. The Easter Bunny is shown flipping off the crowd, causing the Young Bucks to double superkick him into an inflatable. There is no word on who may have portrayed the Easter Bunny in the video.
Opinion: I know he might have been creepy, but they just beat up the Easter Bunny! That is one of those things tha..

That’s a rare one. There are very few stars in WWE history who have reached the level of Roman Reigns. Having held the Universal Title for over six hundred days, Reigns is one of the longest reigning champions in WWE history and the question becomes who could possibly take the title off of him. Reigns is a special star, but he did something very interesting this weekend at a live event.
Following a victory over Drew McIntyre in the main event of Saturday’s live event in Erie, Pennsylvania, Reigns broke character to thank the fans for helping him get through the last month. Reigns said it was his first time in the ring since WrestleMania and thanked the fans for supporting them. In addition, Reigns asked fans not to put it on social media because he would deny it and say that the video was a hologram.
That’s some good hologramming. Check out what Reigns had to say:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: This is the kind of thing that you don’t get to see very often but i..

That’s horrible. Wrestlers have an interesting job when it comes to performing, as they have to keep things safe while also making fans believe that what they are seeing is real. That is easier said than done but the best stars have the ability to make it work. Sometimes people take a similar skill in an extremely wrong direction though and that seems to be the case again in relation to a WWE star.
WWE’s Liv Morgan has posted some tweets begging fans not to believe others impersonating her online. Morgan says that someone has been talking to fans while posing as her and asking for money. This has caused one fan to sell his house and everything he owned, thinking he was helping Morgan. She made it clear that she has not asked for anything and begged people to stop using her name or sending money to someone posing as her.
Guys I’ve been sent so many emails of horror stories about people making fake accounts and emails pretending to be me & asking for huge amounts of money. This really ..

There is your dream team. There are certain wrestlers who seem like they would be perfect together and occasionally you get to see them working together. That can make for some outstanding moments if you can wait long enough to actually see them. There is a current pairing that fans have been clamoring for and now we will be getting to see it, albeit on a slightly smaller stage.
Big Time Wrestling in Webster, Massachusetts has announced that Bret Hart will be managing FTR in a tag match against Brian Pillman Jr. and Brock Anderson on June 10. Arn Anderson will be in the corner of Pillman and Anderson, Arn’s son. This comes after several weeks of speculation of Hart coming to AEW to manage FTR. There is no word on if this will be done again elsewhere.
FTR will FINALLY get their chance to be managed by Bret Hart when they take on the team of Brian Pillman Jr & Brock Anderson with Arn Anderson!
It happens on Friday June 10th in Webster, Ma!
Tickets on sale now! https://t.co/qvco5Oo30..

That doesn’t sound good. An injury is one of the worst things that you can see in wrestling as you never know how long someone is going to be out of action. What can make it even worse is the kind of injury that is under the surface and has no real timetable to heal up. That is the case again with a current prominent star, and now things are already looking a bit worse.
Earlier this week, Ring Of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham suffered a possible concussion in a match against Dalton Castle at AEW Battle Of The Belts II. The injury has not yet been confirmed, but Progress Wrestling has announced that Gresham will be missing his appearances for the company in the UK this weekend. The company did say that he will be back in action on May 15. There is no word on when Gresham might be wrestling before then.
Regrettably, due to injury, Jonathan Gresham is not medically cleared to make the trip to the UK this weekend. Replacements will be named shortly for both #AtlasWeekend events. ..

Ring Of Honor
Date: April 13, 2022
We’re still in the vault years and that has been a lot of fun so far. There is so much great material throughout Ring Of Honor’s history and it is a blast to pull out some random matches and see what else is in there. I have no idea what to expect here and that is always a nice feeling. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
From the 2nd Anniversary Show, February 14, 2004.
Pure Wrestling Title: CM Punk vs. AJ Styles For the inaugural title. Feeling out process to start with Punk being sent into the ropes, which counts for the first (of three rope breaks). Styles gets backed up as well and grabs the rope for a reversal, which means a break of his own (even if it didn’t seem intentional). They run the ropes until AJ slips to the floor to go after Traci Brooks (Punk’s manager).
The distraction lets Punk take him down with a dive but Styles sends him into the barricade. They fight into the crowd and you can’t see a thing. It’s Punk in control as they co..

That isn’t good. Injuries can derail anything in wrestling as you never know when you might see someone put on the shelf. A wrestler can get hurt at any point and take them out of action, no matter what they are doing or how talented they might be. Unfortunately that seems to be the case again, as a fairly prominent wrestler might have gotten hurt in a high profile match.
According to Fightful Select, Ring Of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham was checked out for a concussion following his title defense against Dalton Castle at AEW Battle Of The Belts II. There is no word on Gresham’s condition or the results of the test. The potential injury was said to take place early in the match when Gresham took a gutwrench suplex from Castle.
Opinion: You never want to see anything like this as any kind of injury and a concussion is one of the nastiest that you are going to see. What matters most is Gresham being ok, as this is the kind of thing that could keep him on the shelf for a long t..

Yes, again. WWE does all kinds of things in any given week and a lot of them are business as usual. Occasionally they will get on a run of strange decisions though and it can make things seem a bit confusing. That has been the case as of late with a series of name changes, and now it seems that WWE is planning to change even more names, no matter how odd they may be.
According to PWInsider.com, WWE is planning to change the names of two more longstanding members of the NXT roster. Kacy Catanzaro will now be known as Katana Blade and Kay Lee Ray will become Alba Fyre. There is no word on if this means either of the two will be called up to the main roster. This is part of Vince McMahon’s new rule that no wrestler can use part of their real name or a name they used outside of WWE.
Opinion: This is WWE’s thing at the moment and it isn’t exactly something that makes the most sense. It’s McMahon’s latest whim, but at the same time it is really annoying to see these people build up a name ..

Jump around? There are so many wrestlers on the WWE roster that it can be easy to forget where some of them are. To make it more complicated, sometimes you see wrestlers appear on other shows, which has been the case even more frequently as of late. Now it seems like it will be happening again, as three NXT wrestlers seem set to appear on another show.
NXT wrestlers Lash Legend, Ivy Nile and Damon Kemp have posted photos of themselves in front of an NXT UK logo, suggesting that the three of them will be appearing on the show soon. This comes after NXT’s Roderick Strong has made some appearances in NXT UK in recent weeks. There is no word on when they might appear or who else from NXT might be heading to NXT UK.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lash Legend? (@lashlegendwwe)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bobby Steveson aka Damon Kemp (@damonkempwwe)
Opinion: This is a good idea and something that WWE should have started doing a long time ago. These wrestler..