NEWS

They went for the gold. Titles are the most important thing in all of wrestling and have been for a very long time now. In theory at least, every wrestler who gets in the ring wants to win the biggest title around. That is how wrestling has worked for pretty much all of wrestling history and it is still the case to this day. Title changes make a difference, and that was the case this week.
NXT presented its annual New Year’s Evil event this week, featuring three title matches, with two titles changing hands. First up, North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defeated Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the titles, with the North American Title being the name of the championship going forward. Then in the show’s main event, Bron Breakker defeated Tommaso Ciampa to win the NXT Title. The win marks Breakker’s first title in WWE. In the other title match, Women’s Champion Mandy Rose defeated Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade to retain her title.
It was a big night. Check out how the..

It’s in a name. A wrestler’s name is one of the most important parts of their entire presentation. You can only get so far with the wrong name as it is something that needs to catch your attention while also sounding good. Having something that doesn’t sound exactly right can be a big problem and now we might be seeing that again with a top WWE star.
Seth Rollins’ name has officially been changed to Seth “Freakin” Rollins, as per his WWE.com profile. This comes after WWE has been referring to Rollins with the “Freaking” moniker for several weeks, including on his name chiron. There have been no other changes to Rollins over the same time. Rollins challenged for the WWE Title last weekend at Day One but lost the match.
Rollins is great under any name. Check out what he can do in the ring:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This might be the most WWE decision that I have heard in ..

NXT
Date: January 4, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett
It’s a big night as we have New Year’s Evil featuring the main event of NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa defending against Bron Breakker. That’s big enough, but we also have a triple threat match for the Women’s Title and AJ Styles confronting Grayson Waller. Not wrestling mind you, but confronting him. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at the beginning of the new year with a focus on the card. Then we get to Breakker vs. Ciampa, when the video shifts into evil.
North American Title/Cruiserweight Title: Carmelo Hayes vs. Roderick Strong Title for title, with Trick Williams and Diamond Mine here too. They fight over a lockup to start until Strong grabs an armbar to take over. Back up and Hayes scores with a dropkick to stagger Strong for a change. Strong tries to take him down but Hayes nips up and scores with an enziguri. With that not working, Strong chops him har..

One more time? Retirements in wrestling are not quite the same thing as retirements in other sports. You don’t often see mainstream athletes returning to play after several years off, as there isn’t exactly a way to participate in one game. Wrestling is different though, as there is always a way for someone to come back to the ring for a one off match. That is what another legend is planning to do.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. has announced that he will be returning to the ring for a tag team exhibition match at a Realty of Wrestling event in Canton, Texas on January 22. Booker will be teaming with Gaspar Hernandez to face Garza and Dexx. Since retiring from the ring in 2012, Booker has wrestled four matches, three of which have been for Reality of Wrestling. In a video announcing the match, Booker talked about wanting to be a player/coach giving his students on the job training.
?? BREAKING NEWS ??
Booker T returns to the ring on Saturday, January 22nd to team with his protégé Gaspa..

Another one on the list. The rise of AEW has changed the way the wrestling world works as there is now a second major promotion where wrestlers can find work. That is a great change after so many years of WWE dominance, as you can only get so far with one company. Now a wrestler who was with WWE just last year has found a new home and it might be a better fit.
AEW has announced that former NXT star Jake Atlas has officially signed with the company. This comes after Atlas made an appearance on AEW Dark: Elevation last month. Atlas is a former NXT star who was in August 2021. He had wrestled a match at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonored event before taking a hiatus from the wrestling industry. The AEW match was his first in over three months.
Congratulations on winning your tryout match last night, Jake Atlas! What a great @AEW debut, and now @kennymarquez, I’ll see you Tomorrow night in Newark at the debut of #AEWDynamite on @TBSNetwork! Safe travels, and…
Welcome to the team! #J..

There was a plan. The WWE roster has undergone a variety of changes in the last year and a half, but not all of the moves have been the same. There have been a lot that came in groups, but there have also been some individual moves. One of the bigger departures took place last month, and it seems that there was another move in mind for him before he was let go.
Last month, Jeff Hardy was released from WWE following an incident where he walked out of a match at a live event. According to Fightful Select, Hardy was the original plan for the Shaman in NXT and would have served as the mentor to MSK. The role eventually went to Riddle, who will be teaming with MSK in a six man tag this week on NXT. It is not clear if Hardy would have taken part in the match.
That could have been very interesting. Check out what could have been and what was:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: Hardy as..

It’s about that time. We are rapidly approaching WrestleMania 38 but as usual, WWE has several events to cover before we get to that point. WWE already presented one pay per view event this year with Day One, which featured a rather surprising title change in the main event. The result changes a good bit about WWE, but those changes might not be lasting.
Brock Lesnar won the WWE Title in the main event of Day One, following Roman Reigns’ announcement that he had tested positive for Coronavirus. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the title change will not have an impact on the plans for the WWE Title match at WrestleMania. It is not clear what that match will be, but the road to the match will be different. A match between Lesnar and Reigns is still planned for the event as well.
It should be an interesting WrestleMania. Check out how we are heading down the road:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, cl..

205 Live
Date: December 31, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph
It’s the very final WWE show of the year and since I’m not sure there really is a Best Of for the new 205 Live, we’re getting a regular show. Normally I would say there won’t be much of an audience for this given the time and date, but would it be that much different than the regular show? Let’s get to it.
Edris Enofe vs. Guru Raaj Enofe flips out of a wristlock to start as we hear about Raaj missing a long time due to an injury. Raaj takes hm down by the arm but Enofe is back up with a standing hurricanrana. A nice fisherman’s suplex gets two on Raaj but he is right back with a monkey flip for the save. Enofe hits a middle rope elbow to the face for two more before planting Raaj with a spinebuster. A shooting star press, with Enofe taking his time in completing the rotation, finishes Raaj at 4:54.
Result: Edris Enofe b. Guru Raaj – Shooting star press (4:..

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?
New Blood Rising
Date: August 13, 2000
Location: Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Attendance: 6,614
Commentators: Scott Hudson, Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden
I’m really not sure what to say about this one. It’s borderline legendary in how horrible it is due to the levels of Russo pumped into it with one match in particular. I’ve seen this show a few times before and every time I watch it I can’t believe what I’m seeing. There’s no way around this so let’s get to it.
First and foremost: is there..

Welcome back? There are a few ways to bring a wrestler back into the fold and some of them are more conventional than others. One of the most important factors is whether or not the fans are going to know if someone is coming back, which can open a few doors in either direction. This time the fans do know, but it is still a fairly unique way to bring a wrestler back.
This week on Monday Night Raw, WWE announced the return of Alexa Bliss, or at least the beginning of her return. Next week, we will see part of Bliss’ return to Monday Night Raw, though there is no word on when she will return to the ring. Bliss has not been seen since Extreme Rules, when Charlotte destroyed Bliss’ Lily doll after she defeated Bliss in a match for the Raw Women’s Title.
Bliss can do a lot of things. Check out what she can do when she is around:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: I’m glad that Bliss ..

They don’t seem happy. There are a lot of championships in the wrestling world but few have the history of the WWE Title. The championship has been around for about sixty years now and some of the biggest names in the history of wrestling have held it. Being champion can still mean a lot, but there is something lost when a title reign does not go so well. That seems to have been the case as of late, but some wrestlers do not seem to blame the former champ.
At WWE Day One, Brock Lesnar won a fatal five way match to win the WWE Title, ending Big E.’s reign without pinning him. According to Fightful Select, there were some backstage in WWE who felt that Big E. was booked inconsistently as champion. There were some who who went “above and beyond” in an attempt to make Big E.’s television segments as logical as possible. Big E. took part in a #1 contenders match on this week’s Monday Night Raw, which was won by Bobby Lashley.
Big E. did have a rocky time as champion. Check out what he did..

The next of many. We are less than a month away from the Royal Rumble and that means it is time to start putting some names on some lists. The Royal Rumble requires sixth names to fill in the show’s two namesake matches and that can take some time. It makes sense to get on these things in a hurry, and that is what WWE was doing in a big way this week.
This week’s edition of Monday Night Raw saw five new names added to the Men’s Royal Rumble match. Over the course of the show, the Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) and the Mysterios (Rey and Dominik) announced their entries in the match. Later, Vince McMahon added Austin Theory. This comes after Johnny Knoxville announced his own entry last weekend. The Royal Rumble takes place on January 29.
Those are some talented stars. Check out who is joining the Royal Rumble:
[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: This is the kind ..