NEWS

There’s your big surprise debut. There is something so special about seeing someone show up for the first time in a promotion. A wrestler showing up out of nowhere and immediately making an impact is one of the most exciting things there is in wrestling, especially if someone has been a star elsewhere. That is the case again, as a former WWE star has a new home.
Former WWE star Toni Storm made her AEW debut this week on Dynamite, defeating Bunny in an Owen Hart Foundation qualifying match. This was Storm’s first match since requesting and receiving her release from WWE in December. Storm had been rumored to be signing with AEW in recent days and was officially announced as part of the roster after her match was over.
Welcome to the team…#ToniStorm is #AllElite#AEWDynamite https://t.co/rnLRNOwDuz pic.twitter.com/leoBda1ANe
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 31, 2022
Opinion: This is the kind of signing that often makes things more interesting, as Storm never got the chance to do muc..

Dynamite
Date: March 30, 2022
Location: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone
We’re still on the long road to Double Or Nothing and that means there are some things that need to get ready before then. It seems that we will be seeing Adam Cole vs. Hangman Page II either on the way there or at the show itself, meaning there is a good chance we’ll see more of the build here this week. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
CM Punk vs. Max Caster Caster’s rap goes straight to the Will Smith reference and throws in a Hunter Biden line, plus a reference to Punk’s issues with Z-Pak’s. Anthony Bowens is here with Caster as Punk works on Caster’s taped up shoulder to start. Punk takes him down by the arm but it’s too early for the Anaconda Vice. Back up and Punk’s headlock doesn’t last long so he shoulders Caster down and grabs the armbar again. Caster gets in a shot of his own but Punk flips over the corner and runs the apron to set up a..

It’s a different kind of promo. Talking is one of the most import important parts of a wrestler’s presentation, as the fans need a reason to care about who they are seeing. Working in the ring is important, but you need to make the fans care, which is why promos can be so memorable. A good talker can mean a lot in wrestling, and now one of the more famous ones got to talk in another way.
Wrestling personality Johnny Fairplay and promoter Ron Gossett appeared on the Judge Steve Harvey Show, with Fairplay attempting to college $5,000 in unpaid appearance fees. New WWE Hall of Famer Scott Steiner appeared as a surprise witness for Gossett, saying he had been paid in full for working on one of Gossett’s shows. Steiner also threatened to beat up Fairplay and offered to wrestle him for the money. Fairplay wound up winning the case and was awarded the fee. This is the second time wrestlers have appeared on the show, after JJ Dillon and Kevin Sullivan were on the show earlier this week.
Ok, ..

That’s an explanation. An injury is one of the worst things that you can see in wrestling. They can cut off anyone no matter what they are doing and you don’t know when someone is going to be taken out of the ring. These things can also be a bit surprising as someone can be around without actually being in the ring. Now that is the case again with an AEW star who is not able to get in the ring at the moment.
AEW President Tony Khan appeared on Busted Open Radio this week, where he revealed that Anthony Bowens is currently out of action with a knee injury. Bowens’ injury is not expected to be a long term problem but he has already been out of action longer than expected and has not been cleared. His most recent match took place on the March 9 edition of Dynamite, though he has continued accompanying Max Caster to the ring.
Opinion: This is a bit of a surprise and that shows that AEW has done a good job of presenting the Acclaimed. Bowens being out of action for the last few weeks has ..

Oh dear. This weekend, WWE will induct the latest class into the company’s Hall of Fame. That is one of the more nights of the year as WWE gets to honor their legends and allows them to speak about their careers. The audience is a who’s who of WWE wrestlers, but there are going to be some generation gaps here and there. It seems that is the case again between two Hall of Famers.
In a since deleted video from the Bella Twins YouTube channel, Nikki Bella said she was looking forward to Vader taking the stage and giving his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech. However, Vader passed away in 2018 and is being inducted posthumously. There is no word on who will be accepting the induction on Vader’s behalf. The Bella Twins were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020.
Opinion: While I don’t think Bella meant anything malicious by what she said, this doesn’t exactly make for the best visual. At the end of the day, Vader passing away is something that she probably should..

There is some interest there. AEW has changed the wrestling landscape in a great way as there is now a new place for all kinds of wrestlers to go. Several former WWE stars have wound up in AEW, with some of them already being more successful. It can be interesting to see someone new show up and that might be the case again as AEW has been talking to someone else.
According to Fightful Select, AEW and Athena, formerly known as Ember Moon, have had at least “light talks” about Athena being brought in to the company. The discussions are described as a “feeling out” process, though there is nothing to suggest that she will be brought in anytime soon. Athena was released from WWE on November 4, 2021 and has only wrestled twice since.
Opinion: This is something I could see happening but it is by no means a sure thing. Athena seems happy with taking things slowly and maybe that does not mean jumping straight into AEW. The company already has a ton of female wrestlers and Athena would be in ..

Who are you again? There are a lot of wrestlers on the WWE roster and several of them have names that are going to be well known among fans. However, WWE will occasionally make changes to those names, often for reasons that don’t seem clear on the surface. That seems to be the case again, as a wrestler has lost a moniker that he won not so very long ago.
WWE has changed King Woods’ name back to his old name of Xavier Woods, as per Woods’ WWE.com profile. The name change comes after Woods returned under the King name last week on SmackDown for his match against Ridge Holland. There is no word on why the name change was made. Woods won the 2021 King of the Ring tournament to earn his new name and turned it into an aspect of his personality, including knighting partner Kofi Kingston.
Opinion: This is one of those changes that makes a bit more sense than most. They aren’t changing anything major about Woods but rather dropping the King aspect. That isn’t quite as drastic of a change as P..

As you might have heard, WrestleMania 38 is this weekend and that means things are picking up in a big way. WWE has its work cut out for them as they try to sell out AT&T Stadium two nights in a row, but there are some more things going on over the course of the weekend as well. That is what we are going to be looking at today, as WrestleMania Weekend is about a lot more than WrestleMania.
Next weekend will be called the biggest wrestling weekend of the year and that is the case for a lot of wrestling promotions that have nothing to do with WWE. In addition, several other promotions will be running events in and around Dallas, which is what we will be looking at this week. I’ll be avoiding WrestleMania and other major WWE shows (save for NXT, which is kind of its own thing) and non-wrestling events, which should leave us with more than enough material.
These are in no particular order.
WrestleCon SuperShow In short, it’s the biggest independent wrestling show of the weekend with a s..

That’s why they fight over it. WrestleMania 38 is just a few days away and most of the build has been completed. If all goes according to plan, WWE has put together a card that is going to bring in the maximum amount of fans to the event. WWE is certainly ready to take over the Dallas area for the show, and it turns out that is going to be a very lucrative deal for the city itself.
According to the Dallas Morning News, WrestleMania 38 will bring in $200 million to the Dallas area economy. This comes through expenses such as food, lodging, transportation, retail and recreational activities. WWE will be in the Dallas area for SmackDown on Friday, NXT Stand & Deliver on Saturday and Monday Night Raw on Monday, plus in Arlington on Saturday and Sunday for WrestleMania. This is the second time that that Dallas area has hosted WrestleMania, following WrestleMania 32 in 2016.
Opinion: And that’s why cities bid over the rights to host WrestleMania. It is incredible to see how much money come..

Stick around? WWE often brings in the bigger names for WrestleMania season and that is the case again this year, as Steve Austin is set to appear as a guest on the Kevin Owens Show on WrestleMania Saturday. The segment is the closest thing to a match that Austin has had in nearly twenty years, but there are a lot more shows beyond WrestleMania. What does that mean for Austin’s future?
According to Steve Carrier of Ringsidenews.com, Austin’s appearance at WrestleMania is currently planned to be a one off event, though plans could change in the future. Austin is not expected to wrestle at the show, as he has not had an official match since WrestleMania 19 in 2003. Austin’s segment with Owens is expected to close out the first night of WrestleMania.
WrestleMania is exciting, because Steve Austin is coming “back” to WWE. The big question is how often fans will see him.
We were told that, as of right now, Austin's WrestleMania appearance is a one-time only thing. Things could always..

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 XXXV
Date: April 7, 2019
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 82,265
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips
America the Beautiful: Yolanda Adams
We’re back to this show after a year away and I’m not sure what to think about this one. I wasn’t in the stadium for this one and for once that is making me remember the show a little bit better. This whole thing is centered around a few matches, as Wrestlemania always tends to be. Let’s..

That’s the next stop. There are several WWE pay per view events in any given year and some of them have been on the calendar for a long time. While some of the shows take place every year, it might be in a different month in any given year. That can make for some surprising changes, and now one of the company’s signature shows is going to be taking place in a different way.
According to F4WOnline.com, this year’s WWE Tables, Ladders And Chairs event is likely to take place in Saudi Arabia. The event would be taking place in September, which has a slot for a yet to be announced pay per view. The show has never been held in Saudi Arabia, though WWE presented the Elimination Chamber in the country earlier this year. WWE did not hold a Tables, Ladders and Chairs show in 2021.
Opinion: Sure why not. It isn’t like this is one of the biggest shows of the yar so throwing it into Saudi Arabia mix is a fair enough idea. WWE has to present events in Saudi Arabia, so why not take care of one of ..