NEWS

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?
In Your House #7: Good Friends, Better Enemies
Date: April 26, 1997
Location: Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska
Attendance: 9,563
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler
This one is all about the main event of WWF Champion Shawn Michaels defending against Diesel in a No Holds Barred match. Diesel turned on him and it was time to fight, as Michaels needed a first big time title defense. Other than the world title match, there really isn’t much to talk about on this show. There are some Wrestlemania rematches a..

I think we’ll call that a bad day. Every now and then, you hear a wrestler’s name in the news for something that is probably not going to go well. Sometimes you see someone getting in some pretty serious trouble and that could put their lives on a rather different path. That is now the case with a former wrestler, and it is quite a big case this time around.
According to the Georgia Gazette, former WCW and WWE star Marcus “Buff” Bagwell was arrested in Cobb County, Georgia on May 22 on a variety of charges. It is not clear when the incident took place, but Bagwell was in a car accident last August which resulted in a variety of issues. There is no word on if this is the situation that led to the charges, though there is no other incident on record which would lead to the charge.
Here is what Bagwell is facing:
* Giving false name, address, or birthdate to a law enforcement officer
* Speeding
* Failure to yield when entering an intersection
* Hit and run; duty of driver to stop of re..

That’s always nice to hear. One of the interesting stories from this year has been all of the changes taking place backstage in WWE. The company has seen more shakeups in the last few months than in recent years and it is not surprising that it will take time to adjust to the new reality. Some have done better than others though, and now we know a bit more about the changes.
According to PWInsider.com, both John Cone and Jason Jordan, who have recently been promoted to higher positions backstage in WWE, are receiving high praise from various sources in the company. Earlier this year, Cone replaced the recently departed Mark Carrano as the second in command in the talent relations department under John Laurinaitis. Jordan had been working as a producer for over a year before being promoted to lead producer in April.
These changes were part of the reshaping of WWE’s backstage structure as new company President Nick Khan continues to take over more power in the promotion. Laurinaitis ha..

That’s so sweet. Wrestlers are a weird breed as they are supposed to be playing characters, but a lot of the time those characters are amplified versions of themselves. Those people have lives and worlds outside of wrestling and it can be interesting to see what happens to them when the cameras are off. One of the bigger names in WWE is going to have some very good news to celebrate.
In a new video posted to her Instagram, Kofi Kingston’s wife Kori has announced that the couple is expecting the third child. The video, as filmed by Kofi, shows Kori reading a book to their sons Khi and Orion, with the final page revealing that they were having a new baby in November. There is no word on what gender the baby will be or any potential names as of yet.
This is rather great. Check out the video, plus some other wrestling pregnancy announcements:
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It’s a serious problem. There are a lot of stories on any given edition of Monday Night Raw but sometimes there is a reason that a story does not get any attention. It might be due to some creative issues or it might be due to someone involved with the show. The latter might have been the case this week, as a prominent name on Monday Night Raw was not around, and we might know why.
According to PWInsider.com, Alexa Bliss was backstage at this week’s Monday Night Raw, though she did not appear on the show. Earlier in the day, Bliss sent out a message on Instagram asking if anyone knew of a local veterinarian who treated pigs, as her pet pig Larry Steve is unable to move or walk and is in pain. It is NOT confirmed that this is the reason Bliss was not on the show, though it was implied that she interfered in the main event, as fire shot up to blind Reginald, as was the case in the previous week’s match.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lexi Kaufman (@alexa_bliss_wwe_)
Blis..

Double welcome back. The Coronavirus has changed the way wrestling has worked over the last year but things are starting to come back to normal, at least in some ways. The biggest change will be the return of fans to the arenas, and now we know when WWE will have them back. As it turns out, they are going to have a pair of special attractions that night.
According to PWInsider.com, Edge and Sasha Banks are both being advertised for the July 16 SmackDown in Houston, Texas. Edge has not appeared since the second night of WrestleMania 37, when he lost in a triple threat match for Roman Reigns’ Universal Title, also involving Daniel Bryan. Edge has been taking planned time off and there is nothing to suggest he has been injured.
Banks lost the SmackDown Women’s Title to Bianca Belair in the main event of the first night of WrestleMania 37. She has not wrestled since then, but did appear in a cameo on the SmackDown following WrestleMania, where she had no comment on Belair’s celebration a..

More to come as they say. NXT is one of the most unique wrestling shows in the world as it exists both on its own and as the official developmental territory for WWE. In theory, wrestlers appear on NXT for the sake of moving up to the main roster at some point in the future. That is not always the case, though it seems like we are coming up on something similar again.
According to Fightful Select, there are multiple callups expected for both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown, with names from both NXT and NXT UK expected to debut. There is no word on which names these might be, or when the debuts will take place. This comes after former NXT star Rick Boogs made his debut last week on SmackDown, appearing as Shinsuke Nakamura’s guitar player.
This has potential. Check out how some debuts have gone:
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Opinion: I never know what to think of something like this as there has been quite the bad track record ..

If it works, keep doing it. Tonight on Raw, Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley found out who she would be defending her title against at the upcoming 2021 Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in June. And it is a face she is all too familiar with.
Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka tonight in a rematch from last week’s episode of Raw. As a result of the victory, she will be challenging Ripley for her title at the upcoming pay-per-view:
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These two have a storied history; Flair defeated Ripley at WrestleMania 36 to win the NXT Championship. You can see that match in its entirety below:
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Ripley has been the champion since she defeated Asuka at WrestleMania 37.
Editor’s Opinion:
A lot of people are going to be upset with this, as they feel like they’ve seen this match before. And they’re right, we all have. However, Flair and Ripley are two of the best women’s wrestlers in the world right now and they will put on an in..

I guess they’re covered? The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way the world works and wrestling is certainly the same. There has not been a full crowd at a major wrestling show in over a year and that has caused quite a few issues. Things are starting to turn around though, with most major promotions announcing a return of live fans. This includes WWE, who is bringing back fans, albeit under some conditions.
WWE has released a liability waiver for fans attending their shows beginning in July, saying that fans have the chance to be in potential danger. This includes the chance of catching the Coronavirus or “similar infectious disease”. Attending the show means that the fan assumes any and all risk, including potential death. WWE returns to live events with fans on July 16 with SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
In consideration for being permitted to attend WWE LIVE EVENTS (the “Event”), which will include without limitation, me voluntarily attending the Event itse..

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 24, 2021
Location: Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Adnan Virk, Byron Saxton
We are on the way to both the Cell and the return of live fans, and last week’s Raw was downright tolerable. I’m not sure what that is going to mean for this week’s show, but at last last week’s effort wasn’t as bad. This week features a rematch between Tamina and Natalya vs. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler for the former’s Women’s Tag Team Titles. Let’s get to it.
MVP opens things up and brings out WWE Champion Bobby Lashley, with some different women than last week. After a recap of Kofi Kingston pinning Lashley last week, MVP asks for a round of applause for the champ. At the same time, they are coming up on the return of fans, where you can see Lashley in person. That brings MVP to Drew McIntyre, who Lashley has beaten a few times now, meaning they are sick of him.
MVP likes the idea of Kingston rising up to face Lashley and he did, but that dark cloud got i..

You have to start somewhere. One of the more entertaining and unique stories from WWE over the last few months was Billie Kay and her resume. For months, Kay tried to get someone to team with her by way of offering her head shot and resume. While Kay’s resume got a bit more out there every time, such a thing is something that wrestlers may try. It turns out that one current major star has tried just that.
Shimmer Wrestling has tweeted out a photo of a photo and resume that Bayley sent in to them ten years ago. The resume lists off Bayley’s career timeline to that point, including wrestlers she has faced during her career. One of the items mentioned that she had wrestled thirty matches in three years. Bayley responded, being amazed that she had wrestled so infrequently in such a long time, saying that she wrestled that many matches in a week during a marathon WWE taping session in 2020.
Found this today. Mail from 10 years ago. pic.twitter.com/77JzyRLAIP
— SHIMMER Wrestling (@SHIMMER..

205 Live
Date: May 21, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness
Believe it or not, 205 Liv is kind of on a roll here and it could be interesting to see where they take it. Above all else, they have introduced some new names into the fold and that could make all the difference in the world. Even Tony Nese and Ariya Daivari have seemed a bit more energized as of late so hopefully they can keep it up. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Asher Hale vs. Ari Sterling Sterling grabs the arm to start and blocks a snapmare attempt with a shove off for a unique counter. Hale starts working on the arm and spins him down into an armbar. Back up and Sterling hits a running shoulder but Hale kicks the leg out to put him down again. A slingshot anklescissors sends Hale into the corner though and Sterling hits a running spinwheel kick.
Back up and Hale sends him outside for the moonsault off the apron and Sterling is in trouble again..