NEWS

That’s a little bit better. While it has certainly seen better days, Monday Night Raw is still the highest profile wrestling television show in the world. This has been the case for well over twenty years and it will likely be the case for a long time to come. That being said, the show is not exactly doing well right now and the numbers back it up. They just might not be backing it up so accurately.
According to Post Wrestling, this week’s initial numbers for Monday Night Raw’s audience were not accurate due an error in reporting. WWE has since issued new internal data saying that the numbers were a bit higher than originally expected. The original report showed that Monday Night Raw drew an average of 1.418 million viewers. According to the new report, the average audience over the three hours was actually 1.557 million, with 1.586 million views in the third hour rather than the 1.168 million reported. The previous audience would have been the lowest in the show’s history.
This week..

That’s nice to see. With so many people working for WWE at one point or another, you are going to see some of them leaving from time to time. It is the case with every business and it certainly is the case with wrestling as well. WWE has been having a high turnover as of late and it can be interesting to see what some of the people released have to say. That was certainly the case again.
Last month, WWE released broadcaster Tom Phillips from the company. Following his departure, Phillips has sent out a message on Twitter, thanking both WWE as well as the fans for his time with the company. Phillips specifically thanked Triple H, Vince McMahon, Michael Cole and Kevin Dunn for giving him the opportunity. He did not say anything negative about the company.
A few thoughts pic.twitter.com/6okw3IqUtx
— Tom (@TomHannifan) June 3, 2021
Phillips had been with the company since 2012 and worked on nearly every television show WWE produces. This included stints as the lead broadcaster for Mond..

That’s a different way to go. The biggest wrestling story of the week has been the latest batch of WWE releases. For the second time in less than two months, WWE has released several wrestlers from their contracts on the same day. That is going to get some reactions from the wrestling world and its fans, but in this case it might be more of the way the announcement was made.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this week’s batch of releases was announced to the roster via a single text message from new Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. This has never been the method that the company has informed wrestlers of such moves before. Budget cuts were cited as the reason for the releases. There is no word on if any more releases will be taking place in the future.
Here is the text that was sent, according to PWInsider.com:
Due to Budget cuts the following talent were released today. Braun Strowman, Lana, Buddy Murphy, Santana Garrett, Ruby Riott, and Aleister Black. – John Laurin..

Welcome home. While WWE is the biggest and most prestigious wrestling promotion in the world, they are not the only place available. Over the last few years, the amount of wrestling promotions on national television or available online have grown quite a bit, meaning wrestlers can appear in several more places. Another former WWE star is getting the chance to show off what he can do elsewhere.
This week’s edition of Impact Wrestling featured a vignette announcing the impending debut of Steve Maclin, better known as Steve Cutler during his time in WWE. Maclin is shown drinking Jameson whiskey and putting his feet on a desk as a song talks about taking your chance while you have the opportunity. There was no date given for his debut or anything else about him.
Maclin was released by WWE earlier this year after a short time as part of the SmackDown roster. He had been part of a tag team with Wesley Blake called the Forgotten Sons, which was later changed to the Knights of the Lone Wolf ..

I guess he isn’t happy. There are very few wrestlers who have made a real impact on the industry and felt like someone who was changing the game. That was the case back in 2011 with CM Punk’s infamous Pipe Bomb promo. The promo felt very different and brought in some extra eyes to WWE. Punk has since left wrestling, but he certainly has not stopped talking about the industry.
Earlier this week, WWE released six wrestlers from their contracts with the company. John Squires of Bloody Disgusting (a horror movie website) to post a tweet discussing how he felt WWE did not know how to use the talent it had. Punk responded, saying that WWE was like a movie with a blockbuster cast and crew which was written by “creatively bankrupt nincompoops” for an audience of one person. Punk has not wrestled since leaving WWE in January 2014.
One thing that has consistently bummed me out about WWE in recent years is that there's been a *wealth* of incredible talent in that company, but they rarely s..

205 Live
Date: May 28, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness
So….we’re going to try this one again, as I accidentally watched the May 21 edition a second time and had no idea until the ending. The fact that I had no idea that I had already seen the show is rather telling, but so is me saying “It wasn’t a terrible or even a bad show, but you could replace most editions of this show with any other for several months and not notice the difference.”. Hopefully this one stands out more. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Asher Hale vs. Tony Nese Hale goes to the wrist to start and Nese has to roll to the ropes to avoid getting rolled up. Another wristlock sends Nese to the ropes for the second time so Hale tries a headlock instead. This time Nese suplexes his way to freedom but Hale hammers away, setting up a half butterfly suplex of his own. The rapid fire kicks in the corner have Nese in trouble but he’s right back with a..

Impact Wrestling
Date: May 27, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Lo Brown
We’re on the way to Against All Odds and that means we are going to be seeing more of Moose vs. Kenny Omega as they set up their World Title match. I’m kind of curious to see the match, even though I don’t quite see a ton of drama involved. Hopefully they can live up to the hype and we can get some more matches set up this week. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap looks at Heath being involved in the Call Your Shot gauntlet match at Bound For Glory, with Rhino ultimately winning. Then last week, Rhino cashed in the contract to win the Tag Team Titles with Violent By Design.
Eric Young says that the change was foretold and last week it came to pass. Now they prove that it is real.
Opening sequence.
Here is Sami Callihan to have a seat in the ring for a chat. Callihan isn’t happy with what Kenny Omega has done around here because Omega and the Good Brothers have ..

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 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?
Judgment Day 2002
Date: May 19, 2002
Location: Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 14,521
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
The company is ice cold coming into this show and I can’t imagine this is going to make things any warmer. Raw has turned into a mess with the old guys doing whatever they want while Smackdown is about Vince somehow failing to sleep with Stacy Keibler because he can’t just get a room somewhere. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is rather disturbing with a bunch of..

Is that the next step? The biggest WWE story of the week has been the group of wrestlers being released from the company. Six wrestlers were let go, including a few surprising names. This is the second batch of cuts in about six weeks, which has led to some people wondering what is going on. It seems that some people backstage are thinking the same thing.
According to Fightful Select, the string of releases led to speculation backstage about a potential sale of the company. This comes as the releases surprised several in WWE, as only a select few knew what was coming and that the final decisions for the releases was only made on the same morning. WWE has not made any mention of a potential sale to any other company.
Selling does have a place in wrestling. Check out some of the best sellers in wrestling history (yes this is a stretch):
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Opinion: This is a..

That’s a new one. Monday Night Raw has been having issues with its audience and television ratings for a very long time now. It has certainly been the case for the last few years but things have gotten even worse lately. Things keep getting worse and worse, which is not exactly a good sign for the company. Now things have reached an entirely new low.
According to PWTorch, this week’s Monday Night Raw drew the lowest audience in the history of the show. This week’s show featured an average audience of 1.418 million viewers, based off hours of 1.536, 1.549 and 1.168. The demo rating was the lowest since December 20, 2020 with a .41. These numbers are down from last week’s 1.62 million viewers (-12%) and .45 rating (-2%).
This week’s show was built around a #1 contenders match between Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston, with the winner advancing to face WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at Hell In A Cell. Other featured parts of the show included the return of the Miz, a Raw Tag Team Title match ..

That’s an interesting sign. There are very few wrestlers who make a huge impact in WWE. The vast majority of wrestlers are on roughly the same level, though every now and then you see someone who truly makes a difference and feels like a special star. These people are rare, but you might be seeing another one coming back to the company sooner rather than later.
According to Wrestling Observer Live, WWE may have added Brock Lesnar’s name to the script of this week’s Monday Night Raw to plan for his return to the company. There is no word on when that would be, though it would likely be for a match with Bobby Lashley. Lesnar has not appeared since WrestleMania 36 and his contract with the company expired last year.
This could be big. Check out what might be coming back to WWE:
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Opinion: Would this really be a surprise? It’s true that Lesnar’s contract expi..

Welcome back. There are so many wrestlers throughout WWE’s history and some of them are a lot more famous than others. Some of these names are so well known that they can be gone for years before making a return and having quite the impact of their own. That has been the case again in recent weeks with a certain legend and now we are going to be seeing him again.
WWE.com is advertising Ted DiBiase to appear at next weekend’s NXT Takeover: In Your House. DiBiase is advertised for the match involving LA Knight and Cameron Grimes, who he has been appearing with in recent weeks. Grimes and Drake have been competing for the right to be carry on DiBiase’s legacy as the Million Dollar Man, though there is no word on any specific prize for the winner.
DiBiase has been around as of late. Check out some of his recent appearances, plus some of his classics:
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Opinio..