NEWS

Across the sea. WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world and is truly an international promotion. You will regularly see WWE going around the world to showcase their talents wherever they can, which leads to a variety of interesting shows. Now one of the bigger shows of the year is going overseas for the first time ever to really give the fans a treat.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: LOOK: WWE, AEW And New Japan Stars Recreate Classic Photo This Week
WWE has announced that Money In The Bank 2023 will take place on July 1 at the 02 Arena in London, England. This will be the first time that a traditional WWE premium live event will be held in England since Insurrextion 2002. This comes after WWE presented the Clash At The Castle premium live event in Cardiff, Wales, the first such event in Europe in over thirty years.
BREAKING: WWE Money in the Bank will take place at @TheO2 Arena in London on Saturday, July 1, as first reported by @MailSport! #MITB
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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?
Day One 2022
Date: January 1, 2022
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
It’s the first show of the year and as interesting as that is, everything has changed at the very last minute. Universal Champion Roman Reigns has announced that he has tested positive for Coronavirus, meaning that he is out of his title defense against Brock Lesnar. Worry not though, as Lesnar is now in a five way for the WWE Title. Let’s get to it.
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The best of several worlds. There are all kinds of wrestling promotions throughout the world, from the biggest companies around to some rather small independents and all points in between. Every now and then you get to see these promotions doing something together and now that is the case again, albeit this time there were three major companies recreating something from the past.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WRESTLING RUMORS: More Evidence WWE Is Teasing A Hurt Business Reunion
Earlier this week, New Japan Pro Wrestling held its annual Wrestle Kingdom event, featuring wrestlers from AEW. The event also included the debut of former WWE star Sasha Banks, now known as Mercedes Mone. Current WWE star Bayley accompanied her for the debut, though she did not appear on television. Dax Harwood posted a photo of the four together this week, as compared to the four together at some point in their WWE/NXT career. Harwood captioned the two photos with the phrase “What a life.”
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The important piece. There have been a lot of stables throughout WWE’s history but most of them follow a fairly standard formula. Most WWE stables are focused around one major star, with other smaller stars supporting them. Without the right balance, the stable is rarely going to work, meaning it has to be put together correctly. It seems a possibly returning stable is working to get the right centerpiece.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: International Incident: WWE Star Loses Title At Major International Event
Earlier this week on Monday Night Raw, a backstage segment showed MVP talking to former Hurt Business members Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander. According to Wrestlingnews.co, MVP recently asked Adam Pearce (also in the segment with Benjamin and Alexander) about fellow Hurt Business member Bobby Lashley. There is no word on when or if the Hurt Business could reform.
That could make for a heck of a team. Check out the Hurt Business in action:
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It had to happen eventually. There are all kinds of titles in wrestling and some of the most well known are in WWE. Those are not all of the titles around the world though as other promotions have championships and honors of their own. You will occasionally see those paths cross though, and now one of the crossings that led to some interesting questions have been closed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: He’s Back: Former Champion Officially Returns To WWE After Leaving AEW
New Japan Pro Wrestling held its annual Wrestle Kingdom show earlier this week, featuring several title matches. One such match saw Tama Tonga defeat Karl Anderson to win the NEVER Openweight Title. Anderson currently works for WWE as part of the Monday Night Raw roster and was the reigning champion when he returned to WWE in November. The title reign was referenced on WWE programming but the title never appeared.
He has some better times. Check out what Anderson has done since returning to WWE:
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Welcome home. There were a lot of changes to the WWE landscape in 2022 and there is nothing to suggest that those changes will be ending in the new year. Several of the changes involved names moving to or from the company with a bunch of wrestlers coming back. That was not just the case with wrestlers though and now we have a new name returning behind the scenes.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Reunion: WWE Legend Backstage At This Week’s Monday Night Raw
According to PWInsider.com, William Regal has officially returned to WWE, starting back with the company on January 4. There is no word on his official job title or duties. Regal left AEW last month to return to WWE, reportedly to help with his son Charlie Dempsey. As part of his release from AEW, Regal cannot appear on WWE television for one year in any capacity.
Regal is a big return for WWE. Check out what he did while he was around:
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They’ll pass. There have been all kinds of wrestlers throughout WWE’s history and quite a few of them have been memorable. While it might not always be for the most positive reasons, there is something about a wrestler that keeps them in fans’ minds. One former WWE star was backstage at this week’s Monday Night Raw after a rather long absence from the company.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Next Batch: More WWE Biographies Coming Next Month
According to Fightful Select, former WWE star Summer Rae was backstage this week at Monday Night Raw in Nashville, Tennessee. According to Fightful Select, Rae was only visiting friends and WWE has no plans to bring her back in a full time role. Rae worked for WWE from 2011 – 2017 and returned last year as an entrant in the Women’s Royal Rumble match.
Rae did some good things in WWE. Check out some of her time in the company:
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They’re up next. We are in the middle of a weird era in wrestling, as fans have been wanting to see more about the history of the industry. This has led to a series of books, films and television series about wrestling. There are all kinds of stories to be seen in the wrestling world and WWE has gotten in on the idea as well. Now we are getting to see what they have in store next.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WRESTLING RUMORS: Major Title Change Planned Before WrestleMania 39
Over the last two years, WWE has worked with A&E to produce episodes of A&E’s Biography series on various WWE and wrestling legends. According to PWInsider.com, new episodes will begin airing on Sunday February 19, with looks at Dusty Rhodes, Jake Roberts and the NWO, plus more to be announced. In addition, Most Wanted Treasures and Rivals will return with new episodes.
Those are some talented stars. Check out some the three of them in action:
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Hand it over. Titles are the most important part of any wrestling promotion and give the fans a good baseline of what they are seeing. A wrestler holding a championship means that they are one of the most important people in the company. As a result, a title change can be a big deal and that is what we saw this week, as a former champion got the gold back around his waist.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WATCH: Sasha Banks Makes New Japan Debut, First Match Set
The main event of this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite saw Darby Allin regain the TNT Title from Samoa Joe in Allin’s hometown of Seattle, Washington. The match was a rematch from December when Joe retained the title and hurt Allin in the process. Sting, Allin’s mentor, came to the ring to celebrate with him to end the show. Allin previously held the title for a record 186 days, with a reign lasting from November 2020 – May 2021.
It was pretty awesome. Check out Allin’s win, plus his time as champion:
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Dynamite
Date: January 4, 2023
Location: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Taz
We’re in a new year and the big story is a new look for the show. That is somewhat long overdue and the question is will AEW have a good show to back it up. The likely main event is Samoa Joe defending the TNT Title against hometown boy Darby Allin in a rematch from a few weeks back. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence, with remixed themed song.
There is a new set with new graphics.
Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks Feeling out process to start with Starks slapping him in the face and pounding away in the corner. Starks does a rather length Old School but gets knocked to the apron. The triangle dropkick is broken up though and Jericho suplexes him off the apron as we take a break. Back with Starks hitting a running clothesline to leave both of them down.
Starks grabs a sitout powerbomb for two, blocks the Codebreaker and hits a superkick for two. Jericho is ri..

New home. There have been a lot of comings and goings with the WWE roster in recent months and those changes are likely to continue. One of the interesting things about the departures winds up being where someone winds up next. That can make for a great moment, even if you know someone is going to wind up. Now one of the arrivals has actually taken place.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WRESTLING RUMORS: Major Title Change Planned Before WrestleMania 39
This week at New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 17, Mercedes Mone, formerly known as Sasha Banks in WWE, made her debut for the promotion. Mone, referring to herself as the CEO, debuted after IWGP Women’s Champion Kairi (formerly known as Kairi Sane in WWE) defeated Tam Nakano to retain her title. Mone went on to attack Kairi’s arm before announcing that the two will face each other in San Jose, California on February 18. There is no word on if Mone will wrestle before then.
Here she is. Check out Mone’s New Japan debut:
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It’s time to have the plans ready. We are less than three months away from WrestleMania 39 and that means it is time to start getting everything set up for the show. With the event taking place over two nights, WWE has to put twice as much together as it does for normal events. It helps to start with the bigger things and now it seems that the company has plans for some of its top title matches.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Get Well Soon: WWE Star Reveals Being “Very Sick” During Absence
According to Fight Fans, Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will be losing her title at some point before WrestleMania 39, with Becky Lynch becoming champion in some way. This is meant to set up a Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley title match at WrestleMania, with seeds being planted by way of a staredown on the December 5, 2022 Monday Night Raw. This will reportedly free up Belair to challenge Charlotte for the SmackDown Women’s Title, which she won last week in an impromptu title match against Ronda Rousey. There is..