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?
Extreme Rules 2019
Date: July 14, 2019
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Michael Cole, Renee Young
We’re finally wrapping up a long stretch with what feels like a show from one company or another every week for months. This is a show built around violence and a full three matches out of the twelve have some form of gimmick that includes violence. The card doesn’t look bad though and hopefully it works out. Let’s get to it.
Kickoff Show..

That would be a big get. The wrestling world has changed a lot in recent months as WWE has let a ton of wrestlers go from the company. That is the kind of thing that is going to shake things up in a big way and it is going to be interesting go see how it all plays out. Different promotions are trying to pick up wrestlers here and there, and now we know where one might wind up.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Braun Strowman is expected to head to Impact Wrestling once his non-compete clause expires. This comes after Impact Wrestling executive Scott D’Amore said “Braun For Glory” during a recent Twitch stream. Strowman was released from WWE on June 2, meaning he would be allowed to appear at Bound For Glory on October 23, if not earlier. It should be noted that Buddy Murphy was teased for this week’s Impact Wrestling but did not appear, meaning Strowman is far from guaranteed.
Impact Wrestling could use him. Check out what might be heading their way:
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That’s who he is now. There are certain wrestlers who are known by one name and one name only. It is rare for some of those names to change, but every now and then you hear something different and it can kind of throw you off a bit. That being said, sometimes a change is needed and it can make things better. It seems that we are seeing that again at the moment.
This week on SmackDown, Baron Corbin officially changed his name to Happy Corbin. The change comes after Corbin ended his unlucky streak by winning money gambling in Las Vegas over the week. As a result, Corbin now has money and a new Bentley, though he was unable to buy Big E.’s Money in the Bank briefcase. This comes after several weeks of Corbin being left destitute by a series of financial setbacks and problems.
Corbin has had a heck of a ride. Check out the new version, plus how he got here:
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Mix it up a little. AEW has come a long way in their two and a half years of existence and that seems like something that is going to continue. Things got even bigger with the addition of Rampage earlier this month. However, the promotion has two other weekly shows which don’t get the same attention. It turns out that one of those shows is about to get a pretty big shakeup.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW will be taping Dark in a studio more often than not going forward. Rampage will be taped on Wednesday nights after Dynamite, with Dark: Elevation being taped before the weekly Dynamite broadcast. According to Dave Meltzer, Dark will be taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, which served as Impact Wrestling’s Impact Zone for years.
AEW will be taping Dark most of the time going forward at Universal Studios in Orlando, open to the public.
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) August 27, 2021
The shows are worth seeing. Check out a bit of all three shows taped..

Welcome back. There are so many wrestlers on the WWE roster that it can be hard to keep track of them from time to time. It doesn’t help when a lot of them are left sitting on the sidelines for months at a time. Still though, it can be nice to see one of them make a surprise return, even if it is not in the same way that you might expect. That was the case this week.
Naomi made her return to both SmackDown and WWE TV during this week’s show. She did not wrestle though, instead appearing in a backstage segment with Sonya Deville, who said she had nothing for Naomi tonight. Instead, Naomi will appear again on next week’s episode. Naomi has not wrestled since Money in the Bank on July 18, when she was a member of the Monday Night Raw roster. She was quietly moved to the SmackDown roster in the following weeks.
It’s good to have her back. Check out what Naomi is bringing to SmackDown:
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They probably should be. WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world and has been for a very long time now. At the same time though, there are still some people that they have to answer to. One of the most powerful groups that they have to answer to is the television networks that broadcasts WWE programming. It seems that one of them is not exactly thrilled.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, FOX was unhappy over WWE not attempting to make a deal with CM Punk before he signed with AEW and debuted last week. As a result, WWE rushed Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar back to the active roster, with both returning at Summerslam. Punk has worked for FOX before, as his deal to appear on WWE Backstage was made through FOX rather than WWE. Punk famously walked out on WWE in 2014, with his AEW debut being his first in-ring wrestling appearance in seven and a half years. This comes just after NBC Universal and USA have reportedly been unhappy with WWE as well.
They might have som..

There’s still time. We are less than ten days away from AEW All Out and most of the card has already been set. There are only so many things left to put together for the show but as usual, there is always a bit of time left to add something onto the card. AEW had a few spots left to add in something else, which is what they did during this week’s edition of Rampage.
AEW added two more matches during this week’s Rampage. First up, the Lucha Bros defeated the Jurassic Express in a tournament final to become the new #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles. As a result, the two will be challenging the Young Bucks for the Tag Team Titles in a steel cage match at All Out. The teams have a history in AEW, wrestling a pair of matches for the AAA Tag Team Titles in 2019, with each team winning one match.
Second, a TNT Title match was added to the card as Miro will be defending his title against Eddie Kingston. This match was made after Miro had been calling Kingston out for a fight for the last ..

Here’s the next one. Last week on AEW Rampage, CM Punk made his long awaited debut and shook up the wrestling world all over again. That is the kind of appearance that you do not get to see very often and it worked incredibly well with a tremendous crowd reaction. AEW hit a home run, but it might not be their only chance at bat when it comes to major debuts.
According to Bodyslam.net, Daniel Bryan is expected to make his AEW debut at All Out in Chicago, Illinois on September 5. Bryan has been rumored to debut for the company for several months now, with Punk referencing him during this week’s edition of Dynamite. Fans chanted YES during a Punk interview, to which he said that was someone else’s shtick and fans would have to wait just a bit longer. There is no word on what Bryan will be doing in AEW.
Bryan is certainly worth getting. Check out some of his most recent efforts:
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Rampage
Date: August 27, 2021
Location: UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Mark Henry, Taz, Excalibur, Chris Jericho
We’re on to week #3 and they might have a bit of a hard time beating out last week’s show. Rampage has become a lot of fun in a hurry though as the hour run time is a great change of pace over the full two hours of Dynamite. I’m not sure how a taped show is going to work but I doubt it matters that much. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Tag Team Titles #1 Contenders Tournament Finals: Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros The winners get the Young Bucks, who come out to watch, at All Out. Jungle and Fenix run the ropes to start until Fenix gets onto the ropes for his nutty bouncing into an armdrag. Jungle isn’t sure what to do so it’s off to Luchasaurus vs. Penta. After taking a long time to take the glove off, Penta tries a charge at Luchasaurus and gets kicked in the head. Everyone gets knocked down for a breather as NBA Finals MVP Giannis An..

Smackdown
Date: August 27, 2021
Location: Simmons Bank Arena, North Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Kevin Owens
It’s the fallout from Summerslam and in this case we have a pair of huge returns to television with Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar coming back to Smackdown. I don’t think there is much of a secret of where the two of them are going but I’m curious to see where they are going in both cases. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Becky Lynch’s return, where she beat Bianca Belair to win the Smackdown Women’s Title in less than thirty seconds.
Here is Becky Lynch, with a jacket that makes her look like a matador, to say she is back on top. A year and a half ago, she had to give up her Raw Women’s Title in a hard moment. It was giving up her identity but she has been working every day since to get back here. Now we get to Summerslam, and the fans don’t seem to like that. She knows there have been some people unhappy with her, but she is sorry…….

I’d call that a valid excuse. There are all kinds of things taking place on a wrestling show at any given time and some of them are issues that people could go through every day. That is the case with wrestlers outside of the ring as well, as they go through a lot of the same things that regular people do as well. It certainly was true this week and in a very good way.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, 2.0 was not on this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite because Matt Lee’s wife was giving birth. As a result, the show had to be changed at the last minute as 2.0 was scheduled to have a large role on the show. It is not clear what the original plans were or what was added as a result. 2.0 has been associated with Daniel Garcia, who attacked Darby Allin on the show.
That’s great to hear. Check out 2.0 when they are around:
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Opinion: That’s one of the thin..

Impact Wrestling
Date: August 19, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matt Striker, D’Lo Brown
We have a new World Champion around here and it happens to be someone who doesn’t actually work here (again). Christian Cage wont he World Title from Kenny Omega during the first edition of AEW Rampage. I’m not sure what that is going to mean for the future, but Brian Myers is the #1 contender so let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Christian Cage defeating Kenny Omega to win the World Title last Friday. Cage is pleased with his win.
Josh Matthews and Gia Miller are in the ring to talk about Cage’s win but here are Eddie Edwards and W. Morrissey to brawl around ringside. Eddie hits the suicide dive but Morrissey is right back up take him down. Cue Sami Callihan to go after Morrissey, which is finally enough for security to get Morrissey out of there. Sami grabs the mic and says Eddie can thank him later. He has a match tonight and he doesn’t feel like wait..