NEWS

Hopefully he’s ok. There are a lot of wrestling shows in the world on any given day and some of them have quite the lineup. You might not see the top WWE or AEW stars on any given card, but some of the talent from other promotions will blow your mind. That seemed to be the case at a card this weekend, but now something seems to have happened to prevent a match from taking place.
Game Changer Wrestling has announced that Bandido has no shown their Devil In A New Dress event in San Francisco, California. Bandido did not board his flight and has not responded to any of the company’s messages and according to 411mania.com, Effy will take Bandido’s place against Nick Wayne. Bandido last wrestled at the WrestleCon USA vs. The World event on April 2.
It appears as though @bandidowrestler did not get on his flight to San Francisco today for tonight's GCW event. We haven't heard from him and he hasn't replied to any of our messages.
We apologize and will do our best to come u..

That doesn’t sound good. Injuries are the kind of thing that can take place at any given time to any given wrestler. Some of them can sneak up on you, but there are some that happen out of nowhere in the middle of a match. Oftentimes the latter are the worst, if nothing else for the shock value. That was the case again this week and it is not exactly looking good.
According to 411mania.com, wrestling legend Shinjiro Otani suffered an injury at a Pro Wrestling ZERO1 event. Otani was challenging ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion Takashi Sugiura in the show’s main event when he was German suplexed into the corner. The landing left Otani unable to move, meaning the match was immediately stopped. According to Tokyo Sports, the match’s referee said that Otani was conscious and able to speak, but said he was unable to move his hands. There is no word on Otani’s status or if he is able to move his limbs.
Opinion: First and foremost, what matters is Otani’s health. This is a serious kind of in..

It’s a different kind of career. Wrestlers are very talented people and get to showcase themselves every time they get inside a ring. There are things that most of us could never approach and it can be very entertaining to watch them do their work. However, sometimes you get to see them showcase a different kind of talent, and that is the case again with a fairly high profile name.
Major League Wrestling World Champion Alex Hammerstone has released a five song extended play called Blow Away Luna. The album is available on Spotify and iTunes and Hammerstone has released a video of him playing guitar alongside the song Fantasy. Hammerstone also asked for an interest in an Arizona musician or band interested in helping take the project forward.
Jamming along to the song, Fantasy, off my album
I’ve released 5 tracks on Apple Music, Spotify, sound cloud.
Available now under Blown Away Luna.
Az musician or singer interested in taking this project live? Message me pic.twitter.com/owFxVzvC..

Wedding Bells are ringing! According to People magazine, Alexa Bliss married her long-time sweetheart, musician Ryan Cabrera, over the weekend. Their wedding was “very non-traditional,” “rockstar” and self-described as “the s–tshow.”
The couple was interviewed two weeks prior to their wedding; below are some highlights:
On their wedding venue:
“We were like, ‘Oh my God,’ it’s absolutely perfect,” Cabrera said. “It’s absolutely gorgeous and nestled within the mountains. At the bottom, there are vineyards, and behind the house there’s a beautiful lake. It’s just far enough outside of Los Angeles, too.”
On coming down the aisle to Cabrera’s song “Worth It:”
“I’m just trying to figure out how I’m going to get through this because it’s such an emotional song,” Cabrera said. “I don’t think she understands, because we were talking about doing our vows, and I was like, ‘Maybe we should do it in private.’ I cry a lot! I can’t help it. I’m that guy. It is what it is. I’m emotional, so it’s ..

It’s not for him? The rise of AEW has changed the way the wrestling world works. For the first time in over two decades, another promotion is getting national air time on a large television network. This is the kind of thing that can open up a lot more spots for several other wrestlers and a lot of them have already come to AEW. However, that does not seem likely for one of them.
Earlier this week, former WWE Universal Champion Adam Scherr (formerly known as Braun Strowman) replied to a fan tweeting that watching Monday Night Raw would be a punishment. Scherr said that “Dynamite would be far worse punishment”, suggesting that he will not be signing with AEW anytime soon. Scherr held discussions about coming in to AEW back in October 2021 but no deal was ever reached. He has since been appearing with Control Your Narrative.
If my kid does that i'll punish him by watching 3 hours of Raw
— TheWrestler (@TheWrestler77) April 8, 2022
Hahahah dynamite would be far worse punishment
..

They have a type. Wrestling is a lot of things, but ultimately it is a visual medium. Fans need to see something that catches their eyes to make them stick around, which is not the easiest thing to do. One thing that can help is to have stars look a certain way, and WWE certainly knows the kind of look they want to see. That has led to a change of pace to a new WWE star.
Gunther made his full time main roster debut this week on SmackDown. This comes after he moved to NXT earlier this year, where he seemed to have lost quite a bit of weight. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Gunther dropped weight because WWE wants slimmer wrestlers appearing on television. There is nothing to suggest that Gunther was ordered to drop the weight and he seemed to lose it on his own decision.
Opinion: Size or not, what matters the most is the fact that Gunther is on the main roster and getting the chance to showcase himself in front of so many more people. Gunther has looked ready for the main roste..

Make up your mind. While it might not be as popular as it once was, there is no bigger wrestling promotion in the world than WWE. The company has been the industry leader for over twenty years and that will likely be the case for a long time to come. Getting to a prominent spot in WWE can mean the world to some wrestlers, but there are other things out there. Now a prominent WWE star might want one of those other spots.
During an appearance on the Impaulsive podcast, WWE’s Sasha Banks spoke about having to choose between a WWE career and going to Hollywood. Banks said that she wants to take over the world, but that might be in Hollywood, WWE, or another place entirely. This comes after Banks made some appearances in the Mandalorian on Disney+ and received critical acclaim for her performance. Banks is a seven time Women’s Champion and three time Women’s Tag Team Champion.
Opinion: I don’t think it’s a secret that Banks is considering something outside of WWE, as she has been willing ..

They have their eyes on them. There are a lot of wrestlers under the WWE umbrella and some of them have some very bright futures. You can see the ones that WWE wants to turn into something bigger as the company puts in the extra effort for them. On rare occasions, you can see someone who looks poised to become one of the next mega stars though and now WWE has a pair of them in mind.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is looking at Gable Steveson and Bron Breakker as two wrestlers who will be given superstar pushes as soon as they debut. Steveson is an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling and a two time NCAA Heavyweight Champion. Breakker is a two time and reigning NXT Champion, as well as the son of WWE Hall of Famer Rick Steiner. Both appeared over WrestleMania weekend, though there is no word on when either will appear on the main roster full time.
Opinion: This is something that makes all the sense in the world, as WWE knows what they have here. Steveson i..

It’s retired. There are all kinds of ways to present a wrestling match. What it tends to boil down to is one wrestler (or occasionally a group of wrestlers) facing off with another, occasionally with something on the line. Sometimes you need something different though and that involves adding a gimmick. There have been several over the years, but now we might not be seeing one again.
During a recent interview with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, AEW President Tony Khan revealed that Stadium Stampede will not likely be happening again in the future. Khan said that one of the main appeals of the match came from the pandemic and things have changed since then. Stadium Stampede is regularly held inside an NFL stadium and features a variety of cinematic segments with no live crowd in attendance. The match was held twice, including at Double Or Nothing 2020 and 2021.
Opinion: The logic makes sense, as there is no reason to have the match held in an empty stadium when fans can be brought in. It was s..

Put it in ink. We are done with WrestleMania 38 and that means it is time to get on the road to WrestleMania Backlash. As the show’s name suggests, the event will be focused on the fallout from WrestleMania, including a bunch of rematches. While a lot of the card still needed to be set up, we do have at least one match set and it is going to be a special kind of showdown.
Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s Title against Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 38, though she tapped out behind the referee’s back during the match. As a result, Rousey challenged her to an I Quit match at WrestleMania Backlash this week on SmackDown, with the match being made official the following day on WWE.com. This will be Rousey’s first I Quit match during her time in WWE.
Opinion: I don’t think there was any serious doubt about the match being made and that is ok. Sometimes it is nice to have the match that makes sense get set up early so the wrestlers can begin their build to the match that much faster…

NXT LVL Up
Date: April 8, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Nigel McGuinness
We’re basking in that post Wrestlemania glow and while it might have dimmed out a bit by the time it gets to NXT LVL Up, it still feels a bit special. Last week seemed to tease a tag match and that could be a good thing for a future show. I’ll take a small story over no story so let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Javier Bernal vs. Guru Raaj Shah: “Raaj dreams of headlining premium live events.” Bernal grabs a headlock to start before they go to a pinfall reversal sequence. Raaj starts working on the arms as the fans get behind Bernal. That’s broken up and Bernal kicks away, setting up the Codebreaker for the pin at 5:08.
Result: Javier Bernal b. Guru Raaj – Codebreaker (5:08)
Ivy Nile vs. Thea Hail This is Hail’s debut and she is dressed like a superhero, complete with a cape. The fans think Nile is going to kill her, starting with a lethal wristlock. Hail,..

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?
Supercard Of Honor XV
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni
Now this is a big one as we have the first new Ring of Honor show in about three and a half months. The catch this time though is that the company has been purchased by AEW President Tony Khan, which means there is likely to be a bigger AEW presence on this show. Most of the card hasn’t been announced, but we are getting the Briscoes vs. FTR, which should be pretty good. Let’s get ..