Former Champion Makes AEW Return (Contains Mild Spoiler)

Welcome back. With so many wrestlers on the AEW roster, it can be difficult for someone to stand out. It is nice to see someone break through to the next level and show what they can do on the big stage, which is where AEW has shined. They have found lesser known names and brought them into the company for the biggest exposure of their careers. Now someone they have done that to is back as well. According to F4WOnline.com, former AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida returned to action this week in a tag match on Dark: Elevation, which is taped before Dynamite. This is Shida’s first match in AEW since April, as she was competing in Japan and was unable to make it back for the Owen Hart Foundation tournament, meaning she had to be pulled. Shida has been regularly wrestling in Japan during her AEW absence. Opinion: It’s great to have someone like Shida back as she has been pushed as one of the top stars in the women’s division. The division is far from in trouble, but you can always use so..

Homecoming: WWE Hall Of Famer Returns To Company After Long Recovery From Surgery

Welcome back. There are a lot of people who work together to many any wrestling show work and WWE is certainly no exception. The company has a backstage staff that helps make their events as good as they can be. That is a lot easier said than done and having the right group of people together helps. Now one of the veteran backstage workers is back on the job. WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley has announced that he returned to work as a producer at this week’s NXT taping. This is Dudley’s first time back at work since he underwent back surgery in October. Dudley said he is happy to be in his new role in NXT and is enjoying working with the new talent. He also thanked God for the opportunity. Dudley has been working as a WWE producer since retiring in 2016. This pass Tuesday night was the first time back at work since my back surgery that took me out last October. Feeling great and Glad to be back, but even more glad to be back in my new role in NXT. Love working with the new talent now. ..

Lineup Change: AEW Switching Up Broadcasting Team

Change of call. Commentary is one of the most important parts of any wrestling show as the commentary team is your guide for the night. They are there to tell you what is going on, why you should care and what matters with everything you are watching. That can be easier said than done in a lot of cases, so finding the right lineup matters. AEW seems to be shaking things up a bit. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW will be changing the commentary lineup around. Jim Ross will now be calling Rampage, which also calling the second hour of Dynamite. That was the case this week, as Ross will be calling Rampage while also calling the Blood & Guts match, which took up the second half of Dynamite this week. There is no word on why AEW made the change. Opinion: This is something that makes a bit of sense, as Ross is in a place where he can be more effective in spurts rather than calling the whole show. Maybe the break in between for him helps as well, though it is still the same amount..

Injury Update On AEW’s Santana (And It Could Be Pretty Bad)

That’s one of the worse ones. Injuries can happen at any time in wrestling and you never know when you are going to see something take place. It can happen from anywhere, with something as simple as a basic move going the wrong way. Unfortunately that seems to be the case again, and now the early prognosis of how bad things are is about as awful as it could be. This week’s AEW Dynamite featured the second Blood & Guts match, with Santana seeming to suffer some sort of leg injury. Santana was removed from the match and did not return, including not being present for the post match celebration. According to Wrestling Observer Live, the early word is that Santana might have suffered multiple torn ligaments, including his ACL and MCL, though this has yet to be confirmed. Opinion: I’d like to say that this is a surprise but that looked like the kind of knee injury that could wipe someone out for a long time. What makes it more frustrating is the fact that it came on a pretty standard move..

Switch Over: AEW Team Expected To Be Turned Into Babyfaces

Switch them up. With so many wrestlers on the AEW roster, it can be easy for someone to get lost in the shuffle. At some point you need to change things up a bit and there are a variety of ways to do so. One of the easiest is to turn someone from either good to bad or bad to good and that seems to be the plan with two wrestlers. It just might take some time to get there. This week on AEW Dynamite, Anthony Bowens got out of his wheelchair and attempted to help the Gunn Club in a six man tag, only to accidentally cost them the match. After the match, Billy Gunn sided with the Acclaimed over the Gunn Club. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the plan for the story is to turn the Acclaimed into babyfaces, though there is no word on when the turn will take place. Opinion: This is the kind of thing that probably needs to be done, as the Acclaimed have all of the potential in the world once they are allowed to go in that direction. I’m not sure to see how the story goes but it is the rig..

WWE Signs Logan Paul To Contract, Details On New Deal

Making it official. Celebrities have a history in professional wrestling and have been around for a very long time. This has certainly been the case in WWE, where celebrities have appeared over and over again throughout the years. WWE has done quite a few things with them over the years and it can be fascinating to see what they can do. Now the company has one around full time. Social media personality Logan Paul has confirmed that he has signed with WWE. According to Ariel Helwani, the deal is for multiple years to compete at several premium live events. There is no word on when his first match or appearance will be, but on Monday Night Raw, Miz said that Paul will be teaming with him at Summerslam on July 30. Paul has made several WWE appearances, including wrestling at this year’s WrestleMania 38. Just signed with the @WWE pic.twitter.com/7lYdxIKivF — Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) June 30, 2022 Logan Paul has signed a deal with WWE, @LoganPaul just announced on Twitter. Per sources,..

Up Time: WWE Considering Two Surprising NXT Call Ups

That’s why they’re there. NXT is a unique situation in wrestling as it is both its own thing as well as WWE’s developmental territory. That means the wrestlers are there for the sake of being called up to the main roster when their time comes. It makes almost every match and show an audition, and it seems that WWE has their eye on two NXT stars for a potential call up. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE is interested in calling up both Sanga and Xyon Quinn to the main roster. WWE is said to see Quinn as “the total package”. Sanga originally served as Grayson Waller’s bodyguard but has since split off on his own, acting as something of a sage, as well as defeating Quinn this week on NXT. There is no guarantee that the callups will happen or when they will take place if they do. Opinion: Quinn does not surprise me whatsoever as he has the exact look that WWE would want to push. Whether he is ready for that spot remains to be seen, but he certainly checks a lot of boxes for WWE...

REVIEW: Olde Wrestling In Detroit: A Different Era

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? Olde Wrestling In Detroit Date: March 30, 2019 Location: The Whiskey Factory, Detroit, Michigan Commentator: Joe Dombrowski This is something I have wanted to see for a LONG time, as the promotion is set in the 1920s and features a corrupt judge, bootlegging, shoeshine boys and more. It sounded like a blast and made me grab a subscription to IndependentWrestling.TV, which sent me on a list of about 20 shows. This is the grand finale though so let’s get to it. Opening video, with old school style of course. The r..

WRESTLING RUMORS: WWE Trying To Mend Fences With Sasha Banks

Call it a hope spot. There are a lot of people in WWE and several of them have been around the company for a long time. At some point though, everyone is going to have to leave for one reason or another, with some of them not getting to leave on their own terms. Unfortunately some of these splits can be a bit nasty, but WWE seems to want to fix up a recent issue. Last month, Naomi and Sasha Banks walked out on WWE, taking the Women’s Tag Team Titles with them. As a result, the titles have been vacated and neither Banks nor Naomi have been seen since. However, according to Wrestlinginc.com’s Raj Giri, while Banks was released on June 10, it has not been announced by WWE. The release was handled by the Vice President of Business And Legal Affairs for Talent rather than then Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. The company is also said to be trying to smooth things over, but it is not clear what this would mean for either Banks or Naomi. I deleted the original tweet since there wa..

WATCH: Kurt Angle Recreates Classic Promo With His Daughter And It’s Great

Well that worked. Earlier this week on Monday Night Raw, WWE celebrated the twenty year anniversary of John Cena in WWE. The show featured a series of tributes to Cena, as well as looks back at some of his most famous moments. Cena has had several of these over the years and they are worth looking at again. Now one of them is getting recreated in pretty awesome fashion. WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle has released a video of himself and his daughter Sophia recreating Cena’s debut promo from June 27, 2002. The original promo saw Kurt call out anyone in the back, with Cena answering, introducing himself, and slapping Kurt. The two went on to have a match with Kurt winning in Cena’s debut. Kurt said that his daughter asked him to recreate the promo. This is pretty adorable. Check out the new and the old: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: What else is there to say about something like this? Kurt’s daughter is adorable and they g..

Change Of Pace: Surprise Heel Turn Takes Place On AEW Dynamite

It’s a new direction. There are several different ways to present any given wrestler in the world and sometimes they need to do something new. You can only have a wrestler do things the same way for so long before a change is needed and that can make things all the more interesting. One of those changes might have taken place this week in a bit of a surprise. Two weeks ago on AEW Dynamite, Christian Cage turned on Jurassic Express and cost them the Tag Team Titles in the process. Last week, Cage explained himself but was attacked by Luchasaurus, who he then talked down and left with, seemingly on good terms. This week, Cage introduced Luchasaurus, who came to the ring in new gear and defeated Serpentico, only to attack him again after the match. This seems to mark Luchasaurus’ first heel turn in the company, having been around since AEW’s inception. Opinion: This is an interesting move on paper, but now we get to see what happens when Jungle Boy gets back. For now, the idea of Cage p..

The Other Way: AEW Star Seems To Be A Lot Healthier All Of A Sudden

That’s a good sign. AEW has a rather strong roster with all kinds of stars, but it can deal with the same problem that any other promotion can face. In this case, that problem is injuries, as the company has seen all kinds of wrestlers go on the sidelines due to one medical situation after another. Those wrestlers will heal up though, and that seems to be the case again this week. This week on AEW Dynamite, Max Caster and the Gunn Club teamed up to face Danhausen and FTR in a losing effort. The end of the match saw Anthony Bowens get out of his wheelchair and accidentally hit Austin Gunn with his crutch. This comes after Bowens has been out of action with a knee injury for several months, with the Gunn Club and the Acclaimed joining forces during his absence. There is no word on when Bowens will be returning to the ring. Bowens has not wrestled since May 11. Opinion: I was surprised when Bowens got in the ring and it was nice to see it happening. AEW has had so many injuries over the..

Bring Her In: Bellator Fighter Announces She Has Signed With WWE

You need to bring someone in. One of the biggest WWE stories over the last few years has been the amount of releases the company has made. WWE has let all kinds of wrestlers go and the roster is far more sparse than it was before. At some point WWE needs to bring someone else in, which is what they are doing now, albeit from a sport outside of professional wrestling. Former Bellator fighter Valerie Loureda has announced that she has signed a deal with WWE. Loureda is the first Cuban American woman in WWE and wanted to represent Latin culture. This comes after Loureda trained in the WWE Performance Center back in May, leading to speculation that she could sign with WWE. There is no word on when she will start working for WWE full time. I am honored to become the first Cuban American woman in history to sign with the WWE. I come from a family of immigrants, now it’s my time to represent our Latin culture, I was destined for this. Thank you for this opportunity @WWE @WWENXT I will make ..

Wrap It Up: What Happened After AEW Dynamite Went Off The Air

It wasn’t over yet. AEW has come a long way in just over three years of its existence, with Dynamite being one of the major reasons to make it work so well. The company’s flagship show has had some rather big episodes over the years and that was the case again this week with the second ever Blood & Guts. The match headlined the show, but things were not done just yet. This week’s edition of AEW Dynamite ended with Blood & Guts, which took up nearly the entire second hour of the show. According to PWInsider.com, after Dynamite ended, Eddie Kingston thanked the fans for coming out and left with his partners. AEW President Tony Khan came out and thanked the fans as well, while saying that he wanted to bring a pay per view to Detroit. As this was going on, Jon Moxley sat on the roof of the cage and pulled tacks out of his boots. Opinion: That is the kind of ending to the show that makes sense in this case, as Blood & Guts was so insane that it was almost impossible to keep anything from ..

WATCH: AEW Star Injured During Blood & Guts (This Is A Bit Nasty)

It can happen to anyone. Injuries are something that are a possibility in any match you see in wrestling. That is not a good thing but there is no way to guarantee complete safety. Sometimes things happen no matter what you do and it can be made even worse if a match is especially dangerous. That was the case again this week and someone got hurt, though it wasn’t even in an especially dangerous moment. AEW held its second Blood & Guts match this week on Dynamite, featuring two teams of six wrestlers each. During the match, Santana injured his leg while suplexing Daniel Garcia and twisting his knee or ankle in the process. He was taken out of the match and did not return, including not appearing on the top of the cage as his teammates celebrated their win. There is no word on how long he might be out of action. This is a bit rough to watch. Check out where the injury occurred: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: My goodness AEW’s luck continues to be horrible as it’s ..

AEW Dynamite Results – June 29, 2022 (Blood & Guts)

Dynamite Date: June 29, 2022 Location: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone It’s another major show here as we go from Forbidden Door on Sunday to Blood & Guts tonight. That would be AEW’s version of WarGames, albeit with twelve people this time as the match needs to be bigger, but it does look good on paper. Other than that, I’m not sure what else we have as so much has been put into the New Japan stuff for the last few weeks. Let’s get to it. Opening sequence. Ethan Page vs. Orange Cassidy Before the match, Dan Lambert complains about the Best Friends being here because they aren’t official managers and we have regulations in his state. Oh and Cassidy is skinny and has no muscles whatsoever. Page starts fast and knocks him down but Cassidy nips up and grabs an armdrag to the floor. There’s the suicide dive, followed by the high crossbody for one back inside. Page is back up with some shots of his own and Cassidy gets knocked into the..

WATCH: Roman Reigns vs. John Cena From SummerSlam 2021

When legends collide, you know it’s going to be good. WWE has posted a new video to its YouTube channel, showing the full match between Roman Reigns and John Cena for the WWE Universal Championship at SummerSlam 2021. The end of this match also featured the return of Brock Lesnar since Reigns allied himself with Paul Heyman. You can see the match in its entirety below: [This post contains video, click to play] From WWE.com: Cena seemed to have found a spark by lining up for an Attitude Adjustment, but Reigns shrugged him off. The Universal Champion talked trash to Cena and all of Hollywood as the beatdown continued, but Cena never gave up, mounting a comeback after escaping from a sleeper hold. Cena connected with a Five Knuckle Shuffle and an Attitude Adjustment, but Reigns miraculously kicked out. Even Heyman was bewildered, mouthing, “Oh my God.” A second AA through the announce table pushed Reigns to the brink again, but the Universal Champion improbably kicked out, causing a..

Ouch: Another NXT Star Out Of Action With Injury

It happens to everyone. WWE presents a lot of content in any given week and you never know what you might see on any given show. That can include both good and bad things, such as someone getting hurt and being put on the shelf. We have been seeing that take place quite often in recent weeks and now it is the case again with another young, talented star. NXT’s Nathan Frazer has revealed that he is dealing with a minor injury but says that he will be back “before you know it”. Frazer did not go into specifics of his injury or when it took place. His most recent match at an NXT live event on June 10 when he was defeated by North American Champion Carmelo Hayes. Frazer moved from NXT UK to NXT last month and has regularly appeared on television since. Dealing with a little injury right now, I’ll be back before you know it????#WWENXT — Nathan Frazer (@WWEFrazer) June 29, 2022 Opinion: This is never something you want to see and unfortunately Frazer is the latest victim of the injury bu..

NXT Results – June 28, 2022

NXT Date: June 28, 2022 Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph It’s the go home show for the Great American Bash and that means it is time for the big push towards the show. Most of the card is already set, including the NXT Title match main event, so we should be in for a good one. Odds are we get a little more from Legado del Fantasma and the D’Angelo Family, even if the Family is now down a member. Let’s get to it. Katana Chance/Kayden Carter vs. Roxanne Perez/Cora Jade The winners get a Tag Team Title shot next week. Cora and Carter start things off with a lockup until Jade grabs a wristlock. That’s broken up and Jade is sent into the corner, setting off a chop exchange. Chance comes in and rolls Jade down, allowing her to get in a smiling pose. Perez comes in to roll Chance up for two before working on the armbar. It’s off to Carter for some forearms to the chest and two of her own. Everything breaks down and Perez clears the..

Stick Around? Update On Sasha Banks And Naomi’s WWE Status

Stick around. There have been a lot of changes to the WWE landscape this year and some of them have been rather positive. One of the most interesting has been Sasha Banks and Naomi walking out on the company back in may. As a result, their futures in WWE are not clear. There is a very good chance that neither of them will be back on WWE TV anytime soon, but now we know something new. Over the last few weeks, rumors of Banks being released from WWE have begun to pop up. However, according to PWInsider.com, both Banks and Naomi are still with WWE and still part of the company’s internal roster. There is now word on when or if the two of them will appear on WWE TV again in the future. Neither has been mentioned by WWE since the company’s initial statements blaming the two of them for the situation. Opinion: This is kind of a surprise as I would not quite have bet on the idea of Banks and Naomi still being in WWE a month after the incident. Neither has been mentioned more than the time j..