NEWS

That might be it. There have been a lot of roster moves throughout the wrestling world over the last few months and some of them have been huge. You know a big story when you hear one and teasing the fans with it can be really entertaining as well. Such a signing was rumored last week and now one of the promotions is heavily teasing that something is going to be happening.
Last week, rumors began to appear that CM Punk had agreed to terms with AEW, or possibly already signed a contract, though AEW has not officially confirmed anything. This week on Dynamite, an announcement was made for a special edition of Rampage called The First Dance, taking place on August 20 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Just after this, Darby Allin talked about hearing people wanting to show how great they are. Allin invited people to come to Chicago to show that they are the best in the world, which was Punk’s nickname in wrestling.
Punk wrestled around the world in a career that lasted around fi..

Every week, I try. I try really hard to watch AEW and view it as the No. 2 wrestling promotion in the world, giving it a chance. And every week, there are some bright moments, with good matches and characters that have tremendous potential. That makes me very happy.
However, for the most part, I am very disappointed and flat-out angry with what I see each week on TNT. Stupid gimmicks, inconsistent storylines, a lack of consistency in the presentation of a television show, and matches whose sole purpose is to maim and mangle your opponent flood my television screen every week. Finally, after watching tonight’s absolute garbage episode of Dynamite and thinking about what I have seen over the past year or so, I finally had a revelation.
In my opinion, Tony Khan, and all of the executives of AEW have one objective: to make a complete mockery of the wrestling business and create a parody of the professional wrestling industry.
Let’s take tonight’s episode of Dynamite, for example. The sh..

Dynamite
Date: July 28, 2021
Location: Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone
It’s another huge show with Fight For The Fallen. The card is stacked again, including the IWGP US Title, the ten man elimination match, and the mainstream debut of Nick Gage. The latter is going to get the most attention for the sake of freak show appeal, which may or may not be a disaster. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Commentary runs down the card.
We get a video on what it means to be a cowboy, which seems to mean being loyal to your friends and ready to fight.
Elite vs. Dark Order/Hangman Page Omega and company looked scared of facing Page, the Elite has a full on Space Jam theme, complete with music, basketballs and Elite Squad jerseys in a sponsored entrance. Anderson and Page start but everything breaks down in a hurry, with a superplex from the top taking down the pile on the floor.
Back in and the Good Brothers get caught in the cor..

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?
Slammiversary 2021
Date: July 17, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matt Striker, D’Lo Brown
This show has become the highlight of the Impact Wrestling calendar as I have had a better time with it than Bound For Glory for a long time now. With some luck, that can continue this time around as the show is pretty well stacked. We have the main event of World Champion Kenny Omega defending against Sami Callihan in a No DQ match, plus a few mystery spots to be filled. Let’s get to it.
P..

Ring of Honor
Date: July 21, 2021
Location: UMBC Event Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
We continue the post Best In The World stretch and for once I’m actually caught up on the show. I’m not sure if we are going to be in the actual fallout period just yet, but it is nice to have the pay per view out of the way. This show could go in a lot of directions and that is not a bad thing. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Dalton Castle doesn’t have time for an interview and leaves. After he is gone, the Foundation is ready for tonight’s eight man tag. Actually hold on a second though, as Jonathan Gresham has a banged up knee. Joe Keys, who is helping look at Gresham’s knee, gets the spot instead. Not quite thinking, Keys slaps the bad knee on the way out.
Brian Johnson is our host this week because Quinn McKay is in action. He begrudgingly runs down the card (while mocking the Foundation and Gresham as much as possible). Johnson doesn’t like Quinn ..

Hopefully it isn’t too bad. An injury is one of the worst things to see in wrestling as it can take anyone down in the blink of an eye. What makes matters worse is it can take some time to find out how bad things are, which can span quite the range. Unfortunately that was the case this week and now we have to wait on the details of just how bad things are. We do know a bit more though.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Natalya suffered some sort of a leg injury, which caused the Natalya/Tamina vs. Eva Marie/Doudrop match to be ended early. Natalya was helped to the back after the match ended. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Natalya suffered an ankle injury rather than a knee injury. There is still no word on how bad the injury is or if Natalya will miss any ring time.
This is a messy situation. Check out the match with the injury and some healthy Natalya:
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What almost was. Every now and then you see something happen on a wrestling show which not only seems strange, but also just confuses you in a way. It could be anything from the way a wrestler is presented to how a match goes to who wins, or in some rare cases, it is a cross between everything. That was the case last week, and it almost was again this week.
Last week on Monday Night Raw, NXT Champion Karrion Kross made his debut and was defeated by Jeff Hardy in less than two minutes. Hardy was absent from the show the following week due to contracting the Coronavirus, while Kross defeated Keith Lee. According to Fightful Select, had Hardy been able to appear, he would have defeated Kross for a second week in a row in some way. Several members of the creative team and the roster were said to be “baffled” at the idea of Hardy defeating Kross again. There is no word on if the Hardy vs. Kross story will continue when Hardy returns.
It was certainly different. Check out how we got here a..

So much for that. With so many wrestlers on its roster, one of the best ways for WWE to present more of them is to pair them up. This can open doors for a variety of stories, with some of them being more interesting than others. One of the tried and true stories involving a team includes the eventual split, which is what we saw take place this week on television.
This week on NXT, Dakota Kai attacked NXT Champion Raquel Gonzalez, ending their partnership in the process. Gonzalez had been talking about how there was no one to challenge her for the title at Takeover 36 and how she was waiting for someone to come after her. As Gonzalez posed, Kai kicked her in the face to leave her laying. Kai then held the title belt over Gonzalez. No match has been officially announced as of yet.
This was a surprise. Check out the split, plus the two of them in action:
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O..

That’s in a name. A wrestler’s name is one of the most important parts of their overall package, as it gives you the first impression. The right name or the wrong name can make or break a wrestler’s career and it could be a rather jarring change when something is shaken up. WWE has a history of doing this and now a certain wrestler wants to change things back.
This week’s New Day: Feel The Power podcast included a discussion on Big E.’s last name. Big E. mentioned that he was considering cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase to get his previous last name back. The Langston last name was dropped in 2014, with the name being shortened to just Big E. There is no word on if WWE is considering bringing the name back, though they have done something similar with Mustafa Ali.
The old name did work. Check out how it sounded back in the day:
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Opinion: This i..

It’s a good idea. Celebrities have been a part of wrestling for years now and that is going to be the case for a very long time to come. It makes sense to bring in outside names and see what they can do when they are put into the world of wrestling. Sometimes you can get something great out of this, while others are not quite the success. This time around, WWE is trying something new with a name who has been around before.
WWE has announced, courtesy of 411mania.com, that WWE Hall of Famer and rap legend Snoop Dogg will be hosting an in-game event for the WWE Champions mobile game. The event will see a 1990s version of Dogg being added to the in-game roster. In addition, a new version of Sasha Banks, Dogg’s cousin, will be available, along with a special block party themed arena. There will also be a sweepstakes for a change to win Dogg merchandise.
Dogg has been involved in wrestling several times over the years, including making multiple appearances for WWE. He rapped Banks to the ..

An idea that just works. Tournaments are one of the easiest concepts a wrestling promotion can have. A bunch of wrestlers can be thrown into a bracket of some form and the last one standing gets a prize of some sort. This has been done forever in various forms, as you can run them on a moment’s notice over one night or several weeks. Now we are going to be seeing another in the future.
According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast, WWE is planning to run the Queen Of The Ring tournament, beginning on the October 8 SmackDown and October 11 Monday Night Raw. There is no word on the details of the tournament, including who will be participant, the number of entrants or the prize for the winner. This would be the first ever edition of the tournament.
Hearing that the Queen of the Ring tournament is currently scheduled to start on 10/8 Smackdown & 10/11 Raw. pic.twitter.com/OeWaAoaOMX
— Andrew Zarian (@AndrewZarian) July 27, 2021
WWE has run tournaments before. Check out what they h..

Welcome back. Every now and then you see someone put on the shelf for one reason or another. Wrestlers are going to have issues at some point in their career and it is going to cause them to need some time away from the ring. One of the most common is a wrestler getting injured, as it could happen to any wrestler at any time. Thankfully that is often followed by a return, which took place this week.
Ridge Holland returned to NXT television this week, marking his first appearance since October 2020. Holland interrupted the opening tag team match between Oney Lorcan/Pete Dunne vs. Timothy Thatcher/Tommaso Ciampa, helping Lorcan and Dunne win. Following the match, Holland joined Dunne and Lorcan in attacking Ciampa and Thatcher. Holland had been on the shelf for nine months due to a leg injury suffered when Lorcan dove on him during a brawl.
Holland is going to be a player. Check out his return plus what he did before the injury:
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