NEWS

What might not be? AEW has changed the way the wrestling world works and it has been in a good way. After so many years of pure WWE dominance, there has been a change in that we now have two large promotions rather than just one. A lot of that as been due to how the company has been put together, but it seems that there are some changes. They just might not be as impactful as previously thought.
Last week, news began to emerge that AEW’s Executive Vice Presidents (Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) did not have as much authority as they had previously possessed, as Tony Khan had become the ultimate backstage authority. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this has been the case since December 2019, though the Vice Presidents still have creative input, especially over their own angles and stories. Other top names such as Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho have input as well. No major changes have taken place in recent months, as the system is the same as it has been for nearly t..

Maybe not? There are all kinds of people needed to make a wrestling show work and some of them are a lot more prominent than others. Some of those people are going to get more attention than others and some of them are only going to appear every now and then. One of each had a bit of an interaction this week and it did not exactly go as well as it could have.
Dana Brooke lost to Shayna Baszler this week on Monday Night Raw. During the match, broadcaster Corey Graves, referring to Brooke, spoke about how he was always willing to let wrestlers develop, but eventually you have to cut your losses. He went on to say that Brooke had all of the tools but had not put everything together yet. Brooke seemingly responded to Graves via Instagram stories, talking about how she would not respond to everyone and that you cannot throw rocks at every dog that is barking at you. There is no word on if this is the beginning of a storyline between the two.
Dana Brooke apparently responding to the shots ..

She’s not done yet. There are a lot of wrestlers around the world and in today’s environment, it is nearly impossible to not see everyone at some point. This can work in both good or bad ways, as fans can see and remember a lot of things that are said and done. Now a wrestler with some controversy in her past is getting another chance ni the business.
According to Fightful Select, WOW Women of Wrestling is expected to announce a relaunch later this week, with Tessa Blanchard returning as well. The announcement, with Blanchard and another unnamed wrestler, is expected to take place on Wednesday. This comes over a year since Blanchard’s most recent match, as well as allegations of Blanchard using racial slurs against fellow wrestlers in Japan. Blanchard was stripped of the Impact Wrestling World Title in June 2020 and has only wrestled once since, with her most recent match taking place in September 2020.
You might need to get to know her again. Check out some of Blanchard’s time in Im..

Welcome back? The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way the world works and wrestling is no exemption. The industry has been turned upside down and is only starting to get back to normal. One of the biggest changes has been due to the return of live fans, but not everyone has already returned. Now another promotion has gotten some good news in this area.
BT Sports Studios has announced via Instagram that fans will be allowed to return to NXT UK tapings starting on October 14. This will be the first time in eighteen months that fans have been allowed to appear in person at the tapings. It is not clear how many fans will be allowed to attend or when these shows will begin airing. WWE fans were allowed to return to live events in July.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by BT Sport WWE (@btsportwwe)
NXT UK has been doing quite well as of late. Check out some of their better fanless moments:
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NXT
Date: October 5, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph
Things are starting to come together around here and that’s a good thing. Now, instead of bringing in a bunch of new people, we’re seeing those wrestlers getting to do something. The pieces that have been introduced are now being put into some stories and that’s a positive sign. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at the Tag Team Title situation. Tonight’s scheduled eight man tag has been changed into a four way for the titles.
Mandy Rose vs. Ember Moon The rest of Toxic Attraction is here with Mandy. Moon takes her down to start and Mandy bails to the floor, meaning it’s a suicide dive to take the team out. Back in and Mandy kicks away in the corner, setting up a bodyscissors. Moon fights up and slugs away, including a heck of a discus forearm. A middle rope Codebreaker drops Mandy again but Moon has to bail out of an Eclipse attempt. Mandy’s runn..

It’s a special one. There are certain wrestling shows which are going to get your attention just because of how different they look. A good bit of their appeal is from how unique they are and the presentation can go a very long way. You don’t get to see as many of these today but sometimes they still pop up. We now have another one scheduled and it is an old favorite.
The return of Halloween Havoc was announced during this week’s edition of NXT. The show will air as a special version of NXT on October 26 and will mark the second year in a row NXT has presented the concept. NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa announced the show and said he needed a challenger, with Bron Breakker coming out to challenge for the title. The match was confirmed later in the show.
There have been some great moments in Halloween Havoc history. Check out some of the brighter parts:
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Opi..

Who’s next? The 2021 WWE Draft has come to an end and now it is time to see where we are. There were all kinds of changes to both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown, many of which could make a huge difference in the way things go moving forward. WWE has a few different paths they could take, but one area might be causing them a bit of a problem in the near future.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Roman Reigns’ next challenger after Drew McIntyre on SmackDown is unclear. After the Draft, Reigns does not have many viable main event challengers aside from McIntyre. Following McIntyre, his biggest current challengers would be Jeff Hardy, Happy Corbin, Sheamus and King Nakamura. Reigns is currently scheduled to defend the Universal Title against Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel and would then likely face the WWE Champion at Survivor Series.
Reigns could use a new challenger. Check out some of his potential opponents:
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Hopefully things get better. Wrestlers have a strange career trajectory, as they are likely to be retired from the ring by their mid 40s, but can still pop back in for a cameo from time to time. It can change the perception that fans have of them, as they might still seem like big stars despite their diminishing status. This means they might not be in as good shape as some fans believe, either financially or health wise. That seems to be the case again with a wrestling legend.
Earlier this year, a story came out about Brian Knobbs of the Nasty Boys undergoing health issues and being hospitalized. A Go Fund Me has been set up for Knobbs, and a new update has revealed that he has undergone a setback. According to the update, Knobbs fell at a rehabilitation facility and broke his clavicle while also injuring his head, which will require nine stitches. There is currently an effort to move him to a more appropriate rehabilitation facility, as he is currently in one designed for seniors.
K..

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?
Smackdown
Date: April 11, 2017
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s the second night of the Superstar Shakeup which means we’ll be seeing a lot of new names showing up tonight. That primarily means names from Monday Night Raw but there’s also the chance of some people from NXT or maybe even the cruiserweights of 205 Live. Let’s get to it.
We open with the debuting Kevin Owens(in a suit), who declares this the new Kevin Owens Show. Now som..

Meet the new stars. WWE has so many wrestlers that it is able to separate them into three different groups. That is not something many promotions can do, but it is nice to have that many resources available. Monday Night Raw and SmackDown serve as the main rosters, while NXT is a developmental system. Sometimes you see stars come up though, and that was the case this week.
There were some NXT names drafted this week on Monday Night Raw, with both names going to SmackDown. First up, Xia Li was selected in Round Three. Li has been part of the Tian Sha stable, along with Boa and Mei Ying. Later, Ridge Holland was selected in Round Six. Holland returned from a broken ankle earlier this summer and continued his alliance with Pete Dunne.
You might need to get used to them. Check out the new stars in action:
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Opinion: This is one of the things that can be the m..

We aren’t done yet. The WWE Draft has come and gone for the year and it was certainly an eventful pair of nights. There were dozens of moves made with wrestlers jumping from show to show. At the same time though, there were some wrestlers who stayed on the shows they have been on for months now. It turns out that Monday Night Raw and SmackDown was not everything though, as we have some more picks.
This week’s edition of Raw Talk included several more picks in the 2021 Draft. Both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown received additional picks, which were announced in a group rather than show by show. There were teams split up while one team did stay together as they moved. None of these picks had been made before the show aired. Here are the Raw Talk picks in no particular order:
Monday Night Raw
Dana Brooke
Robert Roode
Dolph Ziggler
Jaxson Ryker
Veer
Liv Morgan
Nox
Tamina
Mia Yim
Shelton Benjamin
Cedric Alexander
Miz
Smackdown
Shotzi
Natalya
Jinder Mahal
Shanky
These names are in additi..

You knew it was coming. On October 21, WWE is returning to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel, which will be one of the biggest shows of the year. That has always been the case for the shows in Saudi Arabia and it will be the case again this time. There are going to be some huge matches, and now another one has been added to the card. It turns out that this one is a little more personal.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Goldberg made an appearance to call out Bobby Lashley, who accidentally attacked Goldberg’s son at Summerslam. Lashley said he would not fight tonight, but would face Goldberg in a No Holds Barred match at Crown Jewel. Goldberg agreed with the match being made official. This will be a rematch from Summerslam, where Lashley won via referee stoppage.
It has been a big feud. Check out how we got here:
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Opinion: The match itself is hardly a surprise ..