NEWS

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?
Monday Night Raw
Date: January 1, 2018
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T.
It’s a new year (yes it is) and that probably doesn’t mean much. We’ll be getting ready for the Royal Rumble in less than a month and tonight that includes an appearance by Brock Lesnar. Other than that we have Roman Reigns defending the Intercontinental Title against Samoa Joe and Cedric Alexander challenging Enzo Amore for the Cruiserweight Title. Let’s get to it.
Alexa Bl..

That could have gone better. AEW has come a very long way in its short history and a lot of that is due to company President Tony Khan. Fans have been waiting a very long time for a huge wrestling fan with serious money to run their own promotion and now Khan is finally here to do just that. There are going to be some rocky points eventually though and that seems to be the case again.
Former AEW star Big Swole discussed her time in the company during an episode of her Swole World podcast. Swole said that she left AEW at the end of November because her inner peace was being disturbed. Her heart was no longer in AEW and she felt that the company needed some more structure.
This included wanting more time for women’s wrestling, saying that there was not enough television time to go around. Many wrestlers were getting short matches on Dark, which was not enough for some of them. She also mentioned that some wrestlers were not comfortable with writing their own material but there was no o..

It’s one of the most important parts. Wrestlers have a difficult job in that they are required to get fans to stop and watch what they are doing. It might be a promo, a match or a segment on the show, but if a viewer does not stop and watch, the performance doesn’t matter. One way to get attention is by looking the right way, and one star has drastically changed their look.
Former WWE Universal Champion Adam Scherr, better known as Braun Strowman, has dyed his beard blond in a change to his look. Scherr sent out the photo on Instagram, which also includes him signing an autograph for an alligator dressed as a character from Loki. Since leaving WWE earlier this year, Scherr has appeared for Ring of Honor. He has not yet publicly announced signing or agreeing to a deal with any promotion.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam Scherr (@adamscherr99)
Scherr was a force with the old look. Check out his time in WWE:
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They have a plan for that. As has been the case for about two years now, the Coronavirus pandemic is one of the biggest stories in the world. The wrestling industry has taken a beating of its own, as promotions are trying to figure out the best way going forward. This is certainly the case in WWE as well, and now we know more about what the company is doing about the situation.
Earlier this week, news broke that WWE was changing its Coronavirus policy by ending mandatory regular testing. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the new policy is said to be similar to the NFL’s. WWE is requiring that any wrestler who tests positive take an antigen test on the fifth day. Should they pass two such tests twenty four hours apart, they will be allowed to return to work. This falls under the new CDC guidelines, which recommends five days of quarantining after a positive test.
In addition, WWE is requiring that anyone working backstage at an event wear a mask at all times, with fined ..

Next on the list. The Coronavirus pandemic has started rocking the world all over again and this time in greater numbers. There are only so many things that can be done to bring the already high numbers down, and now the wrestling world is being impacted as well. That is the case again with a prominent star, who might be missing out on an upcoming big match as a result.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Impact Wrestling’s Rich Swann has tested positive for the Coronavirus. The diagnosis has caused him to miss an AAW event earlier this week in Chicago and it is not clear when he will be allowed to return to the ring. Swann is currently scheduled to take part in a ten man Tag Team Hardcore War at Impact Wrestling Hardcore War on January 8.
Swann has been a big part of Impact Wrestling. Check out his time with the company:
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Opinion: This is th..

Its name shall be revered. Titles are one of the easiest concepts in all of wrestling, as anyone can get the idea in a hurry. One wrestler has a championship, often represented by a big shiny belt, and others want to take it away. That story can be told in all kinds of ways but ultimately it comes down to wanting the prestigious honor. Now we know what the newest one is going to be called.
Next week at NXT New Year’s Evil, North American Champion Carmelo Hayes will face Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong in a title unification match. WWE has posted a preview of the match, asking who will walk out as NXT North American Champion? This comes as Joe Gacy has been campaigning for the end of the Cruiserweight name, citing its unfairness to heavier wrestlers.
This could be a great one. Check out the champs in action and face to face:
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Opinion: This is about..

Everyone gets slowed down at some point. Wrestling is a difficult and physical sport and that is going to become a problem. Eventually, every wrestler is going to need a break and that can often come during a pretty big run. It is certainly still the case in modern wrestling and it was the case again recently, with an absence leading to a major match to be postponed.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rey Mysterio was banged up from some recent matches and needed some time off. This was part of the reasons for the December 13 RKBronament finals to be postponed, along with injuries to Montez Ford. The match has since taken place with Mysterio and Ford involved, with the Street Profits winning. There is nothing to suggest that Mysterio will be missing any more time.
Mysterio is great when he’s healthy. Check out some of his better efforts:
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Op..

That’s a big negative. We are coming up on WWE Day One, which will be taking place for the first time in the company’s history. The event is being held on the first day of the year to mark the beginning of a new year. That should be enough to make the show feel unique, but WWE has some more ideas in mind for the event. It just turns out that we will not be seeing any of them.
The WrestleVotes Twitter account is reporting that multiple ideas were pitched to change up the look of the Day One pay per view. These included changing the rope colors to the mat colors to different camera angles. However, all of the ideas were rejected, meaning that as of Friday evening, the show will be presented as usual with no changes of any kind from the normal look.
In coordination w/ the Day 1 theme, multiple presentation ideas were discussed regarding the look & feel of tomorrow’s PPV. Everything from different rope colors, mat colors, camera angles etc and from what I’m told ALL were declined. Sheesh..

Impact Wrestling
Date: December 30, 2021
Hosts: Josh Matthews, Scott D’Amore
It’s the last show of the year and just like last week, that means it is time for the second half of the Best Of 2021. That could make for a good show, as Impact Wrestling knows how to pick and choose their best stuff. There should be some solid picks here, as was the case last week. We also have some more awards to hand out so let’s get to it.
As usual, I’ll be copying and pasting the full version of the matches rather than the clipped ones airing here.
Josh and Scott welcome us to the show.
We see the last few minutes of Moose retaining the World Title over Eddie Edwards in a Full Metal Mayhem match at Turning Point.
Kaleb With A K is doing a photo shoot for the Influence when the IInspiration interrupts. They insults each other’s outfits and the IInspiration’s own photographer comes in, leaving Kaleb With A K unhappy.
From Bound For Glory.
Knockouts Tag Team Titles: IInspiration vs. Decay The debutin..

He still means something. We are less than two days away from the first pay per view of the year WWE Day One, but the Coronavirus is making things a little bit more complicated. There are so many cases of the virus running around at the moment that the card itself is almost on a day to day basis. WWE has held off on allowing some wrestlers to get in the ring, but that is not the case with one prominent wrestler.
Last weekend, WWE ran a pair of live events on Sunday, December 26. These events featured several major names missing in action despite being scheduled in advance. Of the five names scheduled to wrestle in the Day One main event matches, only Kevin Owens appeared. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this is due to WWE feeling that he is the most expendable of the five wrestlers. The five in question are Owens, Seth Rollins and Big E., plus Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, all of whom are currently still scheduled for Day One.
Owens is pretty great at anything he can..

They’re next. This morning on College GameDay, Goldberg appeared as the special guest picker for today’s slate of college football games. The featured pick was between Michigan and Georgia one of the games of the 2021 College Football Playoff.
You can see the appearance in its entirety below:
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Goldberg played as a defensive end for the Georgia Bulldogs, where he was a two-time All-SEC defensive lineman. He was taken by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round, with the 301st overall selection, in the 1990 NFL draft.
It looks like @Goldberg could still play for @GeorgiaFootball ? pic.twitter.com/m1Skjqfrx5
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) December 31, 2021
It’s safe to say that he had a more successful career in professional wrestling:
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Editor’s Opinion:
I love stuff like this. Although Goldberg’s career in football was cut short, he is still one of the most recognizable figures in all of sport..

NXT UK
Date: December30, 2021
Hosts: Pretty Deadly
It’s the final show of the year and for the second week in a row, it’s time for a Best Of special. The good thing is that NXT UK has quite the collection to pick from, as this was a pretty awesome year for them. Odds are we’ll be seeing a lot of Ilja Dragunov here, plus some more of the bigger names from NXT UK. Let’s get to it.
As usual, I’ll be posting the full versions of the matches rather than the clipped ones.
Pretty Deadly welcomes us to the show and throws us to the greatest moment of all time.
We recap Pretty Deadly becoming #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles and setting up their title shot against Gallus.
From February 25.
Tag Team Titles: Pretty Deadly vs. Gallus Gallus is defending and Mark Coffey drives Sam Stoker into the corner to start. It’s off to Lewis Howley, who is armdragged into an armbar without much effort. Wolfgang takes Howley down by the arm as well and there’s the same thing to Stoker. Therefore it’s..