NEWS

A different kind of hero. Wrestlers often play heroes on television but that does not always mean it is the case outside of the ring. You do have some good people in the wrestling industry though, many of whom have done some awesome things to help people when they need it. That was the case again this week, in something that was about as important as it gets.
According to TMZ, former WWE and Impact Wrestling star Al Snow saved a young boy in Destin, Florida from an ocean riptide. Snow was at the beach and heard a boy screaming as the water pulled him away. Since the lifeguard was too far away, Snow ran and saved the boy before another tide pulled him out. Neither Snow nor the boy suffered any injuries in the incident. Snow said that had he now gotten there when he did, the boy would have been pulled out to sea.
Snow has done some good things in wrestling as well. Check out some of his moments:
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Smackdown
Date: September 10, 2021
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Michael Cole
This is going to be a special one as WWE is not only back in the Garden but it is twenty years since the September 11 attacks minus one day. They have a stacked show too with the return of Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins vs. Edge and more. I’m curious to see how this goes so let’s get to it.
We open with a video on the September 11 attacks, including how everyone has tried to rebuild. This includes some clips from the September 13, 2001 Smackdown, though some other stuff is included.
Here is the Bloodline to get things going. Roman says WWE runs sports entertainment in New York. He runs WWE, so therefore, he runs New York City and Madison Square Garden. Therefore, MSG should acknowledge him. That leads to quite the cheering….and here is Brock Lesnar to interrupt. The Usos immediately get between Reigns and Lesnar, as Paul Heyman asks why Lesnar needs to go af..

Read the fine print? There have been a lot of changes in the wrestling world over the last few years and some of them have been huge. That was the case at AEW All Out, as more than a few major debuts took place as a pair of former WWE stars showed up for the first time. It was a big moment for AEW, but just how long will one of them be around their new home?
The big debut at the end of All Out saw Bryan Danielson appear to become the newest opponent for the Elite. This came after Danielson’s WWE contract expires earlier this year, making him a free agent. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan’s contract is likely three years in length. It is not clear when Danielson officially signed a contract with AEW. Assuming he does not retire or sign an extension, Danielson’s contract will expire when he is around 43 years old.
Danielson has hit the ground running in AEW. Check out some of his time there so far:
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Impact Wrestling
Date: September 9, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Matt Striker
We are almost up to Victory Road and that means Bound For Glory is not too far away. Victory Road should be good on its own, but there are a few other things to get to first. The shows have been good enough as of late and if they can keep that going, or even improve on it, we could get some where. Let’s get to it.
Opening recap.
Opening sequence.
Tasha Steelz vs. Rosemary Savannah Evans and Havok are here too. Steelz grabs a rollup to start so Rosemary bites her in the face to even things up. There’s the Upside Down to put Steelz in more trouble but she avoids a top rope dropkick. Some running shots in the corner set up a running kick to the chest to give Steelz two and we hit the chinlock. As tends to be the case with chinlocks, Rosemary is back up in a hurry so Steelz drops her with a jumping knee. Stratusfaction gets two and Steelz dodges a desperation s..

I guess she isn’t pleased. There are a lot of people on the AEW roster, which makes things a little more complicated. While there is a lot of talent around in the company, there is only three hours of television time a week. That does not leave room for a lot of people to be included, which is made even more complicated when AEW is bringing in even bigger stars. Some people are not going to be used and now we are hearing some complaints.
Melissa Santos, the former ring announcer for Lucha Underground and the wife of AEW’s Brian Cage, has taken to Twitter to complain about Cage’s current status in AEW. Santos mentions that Cage is a superstar and has not gotten the chance to show that so far. Cage responded and seemed to agree, though he did not say anything specifically negative about AEW. This comes as Cage has been feuding with Ricky Starks and Team Taz in recent weeks.
I'm just going to leave this right here. @AEW @AEWonTNT #briancage pic.twitter.com/3Xjk8NDWSP
— Melissa San..

It’s worth a look. We are coming up on an important anniversary this weekend, as Saturday will mark twenty years since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. That is one of those moments where everyone remembers where they were because it changed so many things in such a short amount of time. After the events were over, it was time to start the healing process and WWE is looking back at what they did in that regard.
WWE has posted a full documentary on the episode of SmackDown held two days after the September 11 attacks, which is available for free on YouTube. The show took place on September 13, 2001 in Houston, Texas and featured an opening statement from Vince McMahon. The event was mostly a stand alone show with little storyline progression and wrestlers giving their thoughts on the attacks.
It was a different night. Check out the documentary, plus some of the original show:
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NXT UK
Date: September 9, 2021
Location: BT Studios, London, England
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Andy Shepherd
Believe it or not we have a bit of a special episode here, which will feature the Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov rematch from Takeover, albeit with some additional insight, which sounds like talking heads throughout. Other than that, the tournament to crown a new #1 contender to the Heritage Cup continues. Let’s get to it.
We open with a quick preview for the show.
Opening sequence.
Heritage Cup #1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Sam Gradwell vs. Wolfgang Gradwell doesn’t think Wolfgang is much about heritage and calls him a deep fried yogurt. Round one begins with both of them taking their time, including Wolfgang scaring him into the corner. A test of strength goes to Wolfgang and he takes Gradwell down by the wrist. Wolfgang shoulders him out to the floor but they switch places and Gradwell nails a running elbow off the apron to put Wolfgang down. The count is beaten t..

Ring of Honor
Date: September 8, 2021
Location: UMBC Event Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Lenny Leonard
It’s time to set up the finals of the Women’s Title tournament, which has gone from rather interesting to lacking star power outside of Angelina Love. Ring of Honor is going to need to do something special to make this work and they might be able to pull it off. At the same time, Death Before Dishonor could use some serious building. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Quinn McKay welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.
Trish Adora is ready to beat Miranda Alize.
Miranda Alize is ready to beat Trish Adora.
Women’s Title Tournament Semifinals: Trish Adora vs. Miranda Alize Adora shoves her down to start and Alize bails to the floor for a quick breather. Back in and Adora grabs a quick Cattle Mutilation to crank on both arms at once. That doesn’t last long as Alize flips out and kicks her in the ribs to take over. Some rights and lefts have Adora ..

He’s a special one. Back in 1999, a wrestler named Kurt Angle debuted for the WWF. This was one of the most important signings the company has ever seen, as he was the first ever Olympic Gold Medal winner in professional wrestling history. That is not something that comes around every day and it did not come around again for twenty years. Now things have changed.
According to ESPN.com, Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestler Gable Steveson has signed an NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) contract with WWE. This comes after rumors of such a signing and after Steveson made an appearance at Summerslam last month. Steveson’s contract is unique as he is allowed to defend his NCAA championship at the University of Minnesota. WWE will set up a special training facility near the university so Steveson can train with the company’s coaching staff. Once Steveson graduates in May, he will begin his regular WWE contract.
WWE has a history with amateur wrestling stars. Check out some of their history:
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That’s a big one. The wrestling world has been changed in a huge way thanks to the arrival of AEW on the big stage. For the first time in over twenty years, WWE has some top level competition with money, star power and a platform. AEW Dynamite has become one of the most important wrestling shows every single week and now they have done something that is rather impressive.
According to Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston, this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite defeated Monday Night Raw in the 18-49 demographic with a .526 rating and 681,000 viewers to a .523 rating and 679,000 viewers. Dynamite as a whole drew 1.319 million viewers for the second largest audience in the show’s history. This week’s show featured the fall out from All Out, including the Dynamite debuts of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole, plus Minoru Suzuki vs. Jon Moxley.
AEW Dynamite last night on TNT was watched by 1,319,000 viewers on average, the second-highest in the history of the show.
681,000 were aged 18 to 49, a 0.53 ..

That’s quite the honor. A good in-ring performer is a great thing to have in wrestling but a great talker is even better. It means everything in wrestling to have someone who can get out there and get a story across with their talking abilities. You know them when you see it, though you might not get to see them very often in WWE. The company does have them though, and one has some special privileges.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Kevin Owens is allowed to say just about whatever he wants in WWE and is one of the least scripted wrestlers in the company. Owens is allowed to say what he thinks as he has earned the company’s confidence in his speaking abilities. This comes as Owens’ WWE contract is set to expire at the end of January and his future in the company is not clear.
Owens can talk. Check out what he can say when given the chance:
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Opinio..

That’s something they could do. There have been gimmicks and stipulations attached to wrestling matches for years and that will continue to be the case for a very long time to come. The idea makes a lot of sense: raise the stakes for a match and let the people involved feel like they are fighting for something personal. We might be on the way to another big one in AEW.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW is moving towards a hair vs. hair match between Matt Hardy and Orange Cassidy. Both have spoken about trying to cut the other’s hair with little success. There is no date on when the match will take place, though either Grand Slam on September 22 or Full Gear on November 13 are possibilities. This would be the first hair vs. hair match in AEW history.
The two have met before. Check out how we got here and what the loser might be in for:
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Opinion: ..