Friday, October 30, 2026
NEWS

REVIEW: Royal Rumble 2004: #1

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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? Royal Rumble 2004 Date: January 25, 2004 Location: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Attendance: 17,289 Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Tazz, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman It’s a big night and one of the most important shows of the year as we officially start the Road to Wrestlemania. The Royal Rumble is more wide open than in recent years and that’s often the best thing that can happen for the match. Other than that we have a pair of World Title matches, with Raw’s likely being too long and Smac..

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Another WWE Star Seems Unhappy With His Role In The Company

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He doesn’t sound pleased. There are a lot of wrestlers under the WWE umbrella and several of them do not get to appear as often as others. That can create some issues for those wrestlers, which has seemed to be on display in the number of wrestlers who have walked away from the company in recent years. Now another wrestler does not seem thrilled with how he is being used and has let fans know about it. Over the weekend, SmackDown’s Ricochet sent out a tweet saying that a wrestler’s nickname is how most people refer to them. Ricochet said that his name should be “Best Match On The Show”. This comes as Ricochet has not been used frequently on television, appearing in only three televised matches since November. He has also not won a televised match since the September 9, 2021 edition of WWE Main Event. So your nickname is what most people call you by?? So my nickname should be “best match on the show” Ricochet! — Ricochet (@KingRicochet) January 16, 2022 Opinion: I’m not sure if Rico..

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Vince McMahon Thinks Some WWE Wrestlers Don’t Need To Win

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His opinion matters. Vince McMahon is the biggest force in the wrestling world and that has been the case for a very long time now. His opinions and ideas can shape the way the wrestling world works and that can lead to some rather confusing moments. Sometimes McMahon makes some decisions that feel out of left field, which was the case again when it comes to giving the fans something to cheer about. During a recent edition of his The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt Hardy explained McMahon’s thoughts on giving babyface wrestlers major wins. Hardy told a story about how, at an unspecified time, the Hardy Boyz were scheduled to win the World Tag Team Titles in a Tables Ladders and Chairs match. However, McMahon changed the outcome because he felt the ending was too predictable, deciding instead that the title change would happen on the next show. Hardy summed up McMahon’s philosophy as “If you’re over as a babyface, there are times where you don’t need to win, it doesn’t make a ..

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How WWE Banned Everyone From Throwing Chops (Except One Wrestler)

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It was a thing for them. You will hear all kinds of strange stories about WWE, and some of those stories involve WWE making up some rules that seem a little strange from the outside. WWE must have some kind of a reason for them, but that does not mean they make any sense to everyone involved. That was the case again back in the day and now a wrestler is explaining one of WWE’s bizarre decisions. Former WWE star Colin Delaney appeared on the Wrestlinginc Daily podcast and spoke about a time when WWE would not allow anyone to throw chops in a match except for Shawn Michaels. The announcement was made during a meeting but was removed about a month later, when Delaney had left the company. There is no word on why WWE put the rule in place or why they dropped it so soon. Delaney appeared for the company from December 2007 until August 15, 2008, when he was released from his contract. He has appeared on WWE television a few times since, often as an enhancement talent. Opinion: This is the ..

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More Former Champions Set For WWE Royal Rumble Matches

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The show is still growing. In less than two weeks, WWE will be presenting one of its biggest shows of the year with the Royal Rumble. The show will go a long way to setting the stage for WrestleMania 38, as you will likely find out who will be involved in the show’s main event matches. Those matches will be set up by the Royal Rumble matches, and now some more names have been added. Some more names were announced for the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches this week on WWE Monday Night Raw. First up, Kevin Owens announced that he will be taking part in the men’s Royal Rumble match. The announcement came during an edition of the Kevin Owens Show, as he said that he would win the match to face his guest, Seth Rollins, who would win the Universal Title at the Royal Rumble. Owens is the fifteenth entrant out of thirty in the match. Also during the show, Liv Morgan and Bianca Belair announced that they would be entering the women’s Royal Rumble match. The announcements came before the ..

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AEW Star Now Looking To Wrestle Outside Company

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That would be a change of pace. AEW has shaken up the wrestling world by allowing a lot more wrestlers a chance to appear on mainstream television. That is the kind of thing that fans have been wanting to see for a long time now and AEW has provided that platform. Now though, a wrestler seems to be wanting to perform elsewhere, despite being an AEW regular. AEW’s Pretty Peter Avalon has announced that he is now available for all independent dates and appearances going forward. This announcement leaves his AEW status unclear, though Avalon wrestled at the most recent set of AEW Dark television tapings, teaming with JD Drake in a loss to Orange Cassidy and Wheeler Yuta. Nothing in his announcement says or suggests that he has left AEW or will be anytime soon. Avalon has not wrestled on Dynamite in nearly a year, but has wrestled on the company’s streaming events. He has also been wrestling on the independent circuits on occasion in recent months. ANNOUNCEMENT My career status: #LFG T..

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Popular AEW Star Out Of Action Due To Injury

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That could slow things down a bit. Injuries are the kind of things that can cause problems for anyone in wrestling at any given time. There is no way to guarantee that someone is going to be able to stay healthy, no matter how careful or skilled they may be. Sometimes these things just happen, either over time or all at once. That is the case again with a current popular star. According to PWInsider.com, AEW star Eddie Kingston is suffering from an undisclosed injury, which will force him out of action for a few weeks. As a result, Kingston will be missing his scheduled match at this week’s The WRLD On GCW event. Kingston does not currently have a match scheduled on AEW television, though he has been feuding with Daniel Garcia and 2.0 in recent weeks. Kingston made his AEW debut on July 22, 2020 and has become one of the more popular stars in the company. He has feuded with Jon Moxley, CM Punk and more, including challenging Moxley for the AEW World Title. Kingston has been turned in..

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WWE Confirms Return To Saudi Arabia With Huge Match

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That makes it official. For the last several years, WWE has had a business relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The company has run a series of shows in the country, often as twice a year specials. These shows have been rather big events, with some stacked cards featuring huge matches. WWE is heading back soon and now we know more about their plans. WWE has announced that they will be returning to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, February 19. The event will feature the debut of the Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia, though there is no word on the names who will be included or what will be on the line in the match. WWE usually runs an Elimination Chamber event, with the show taking place in February most of the time. Nothing else has been announced for the show, which will be WWE’s first event in Saudi Arabia since October. Opinion: This isn’t exactly a big surprise and it is nice to have the match combined into the Saudi Arabia event instead of having to run two shows in a month..

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Current AEW Champion Working Without Contract, Officially A Free Agent

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Sign him up. The wrestling world has changed a lot in recent years, with the rise of AEW being the main cause. The new promotion has allowed for several changes, including a new place for wrestlers to go. Several wrestlers have moved over to the company, which started with a rather talented core of wrestlers. Now though, one of them does not have a contract with the company. According to Fightful Select, AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes is currently working without a contract, making him a free agent. Rhodes’ deal expired at the end of 2021, meaning that his deal was different than some of the company’s original three year contracts. Rhodes is still an Executive Vice President with the company and there is nothing to suggest that he will be leaving AEW anytime soon. Opinion: I cannot imagine Rhodes going anywhere, as he is one of the founding fathers of AEW and someone who has been pushed rather hard since the company was founded. AEW certainly seems comfortable with keeping him at this ..

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Monday Night Raw Live Coverage And Results – January 17, 2022

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Monday Night Raw Date: January 17, 2022 Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton We are less than two weeks away from the Royal Rumble and that means it is time for the card to be finalized. Last week saw Doudrop become the #1 contender for the Raw Women’s Title in what should at least be a fresh match. Other than that, we could use some more names being added to the namesake matches. Let’s get to it. Here is Becky Lynch to get things going. She knows the Royal Rumble is coming up and it is time for some big names to come back for the Big Time. People like Lita, Mickie James and the Bella Twins are here, but for now, it is time to deal with Doudrop. Last week, Becky got Doudrop her title shot, which is what she does. That’s the only way Doudrop could get her shot, but here is Doudrop to say she got everything on her own. Becky says follow her lead and you could win tonight. Cue Bianca Belair doing her dance and saying she’s in the Ru..

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WRESTLING RUMORS: Big Update On Missing WWE Monday Night Raw Star

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It would be a welcome return. There are all kinds of wrestlers on the WWE roster and some of them are quite popular. One of the best things about having such a talented group of wrestlers is being able to see who shows up on any given week. It can be fascinating to see what you get, especially if one of them is a nice surprise. We might be seeing another one of them soon. Asuka has not wrestled on WWE television since Money in the Bank 2021 back in July. Since then, she had been seen in a photo with her arm in a metal brace, suggesting that she was on the injured list. According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Wrestling Podcast, Asuka could be back in WWE at any time as she should be cleared to return soon. There is no specific date given on when she will be back. Asuka debuted in NXT in 2015 and won the NXT Title in April 2016, holding the title for over a year and never being defeated for it. She would vacate the championship due to an injury after a 522 day reign before moving up ..

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Update On Confusion Over Some WWE Contract Statuses

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They’re sticking around. The WWE roster has been in a huge state of change over the last year and a half and a lot of those changes have been surprises. Names that you might not have expected to leave have been let go or moved on and the question becomes who is leaving next. That question came up again recently, but it does not seem to be a threat this time around. According to Fightful Select, there is “plenty of time” left on the Street Profits’ WWE contracts. This comes after some confusion over their status, as their deals had been described as running “at least through 2021”. The team also missed some episodes of Monday Night Raw, though this was reportedly due to Montez Ford being banged up. The team appeared on last week’s Monday Night Raw. Opinion: It’s great to see that the team is sticking around, though it doesn’t seem like they were in any danger of leaving lately anyway. The Street Profits are one of the better teams going today and there is a chance that they could wind..

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RUMOR KILLER: Former WWE Champion Not Returning For Royal Rumble

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Not so fast. The Royal Rumble is in less than two weeks and that means we are going to be able to see some of the most important matches of the year in WWE. The show’s namesake matches are going to help set up this year’s WrestleMania 38 and the women’s field has some interesting entrants. One of them, in addition to a recent rumor, had some people speculating about something bigger, but it does not seem likely. Earlier this week, a rumor broke that WWE was considering bringing in a male wrestler from another promotion, known as opening the Forbidden Door, for the Royal Rumble. Later in the week on SmackDown, WWE presented a look at Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, which included some shots of Dean Ambrose, who now wrestled in AEW under the name Jon Moxley. However, according to Dave Meltzer, this will not be the case and WWE will not be working with AEW on the show. It should be noted that WrestleVotes never mentioned AEW or Moxley. Opinion: I don’t think this is the biggest surprise,..

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AEW Stars Mock WWE For Complaints About Violent Content

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And now, the response. WWE and AEW have been rivals since the latter came into existence three years ago. AEW certainly has caught fire since then, with the company going from barely existing to the second biggest promotion in the world today. Both companies present themselves in different ways, and it seems WWE does not care for AEW’s style. Now it is time for AEW to fight back. Earlier this week, the Toronto Star published an article comparing the two companies. WWE sent in a statement for the article, criticizing AEW’s violent content while promoting its own family friendly content. The statement included a reference to a No DQ match between Tay Conti/Anna Jay vs. the Bunny/Penelope Ford, in which all four bled. Conti, Jay and the Bunny have all sent out photos on Twitter, showcasing the results of the violence in the match. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ? pic.twitter.com/lAw1cm5oVB — TAYNARA MELO (@TayConti_) January 15, 2022 ? pic.twitter.com/wjGyGOL4eQ — Anna Jay (@annajay___) Januar..

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More On Mustafa Ali Requesting WWE Release, Vince McMahon’s Involvement

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That would do it. Like him or not, there is no one in the wrestling world as powerful as Vince McMahon. The right or wrong take from McMahon can determine where a wrestler’s career goes and there is little that can be done to chance that. These issues are often for the worse and unfortunately that seems to be the case again with one of the more underused WWE stars. Earlier today, WWE star Mustafa Ali announced that he was requesting his release from the company, saying that he is unable to deliver the message that he wants to deliver while working for the company. According to Fightful Select, Ali has been ready to return to WWE television since the beginning of December, following one week off for the birth of his third child. Ali had been expected to return with his New America gimmick, which never made air, though Ali did release an unaired promo on Twitter. Instead, McMahon changed his mind and pitched something Ali never would have done, leading to a “heated argument” between th..

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Major Update On Upcoming WWE Tournament

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Start making your picks. Tournaments are an easy concept in wrestling, as they are all about a group of entrants being cut down to one. That can come in more than a few forms but most of the time, the process can be a lot of fun. WWE has had its fair share of tournaments over the years and now we know the field for one of its longer running and more fun events. WWE has released the brackets for the 2022 men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The annual tournament will begin this week on NXT and features eight teams. As is traditionally the case, the winners will receive a future shot at the Tag Team Titles. There is no word on when the title match will take place or when the finals will be held. Here are this year’s brackets: MSK (Wes Lee & Nash Carter) Jacket Time (Kushida & Ikemen Jiro) Malik Blade & Edris Enofé Legado del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza) Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed) Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drak..

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Mustafa Ali Requests His Release From WWE

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His vision his elsewhere. Earlier today, WWE superstar Mustafa Ali sent a tweet out requesting that he be released from the company. The tweet featured a short video, with the following message: “I have a message that is much bigger than my dreams in pro wrestling. Despite my best efforts, I will not be able to deliver this message while working with WWE. Therefore, I am requesting my release from WWE.” i am requesting my release from wwe pic.twitter.com/Q1QP8SA5zV — Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@AliWWE) January 16, 2022 Ali has had a career of ups and downs in WWE. He has been with the company since 2016, beginning on 205 Live, eventually making his way to the main roster in 2018 as a member of Smackdown. He would eventually become the leader of the stable Retribution in 2020, before feuding with Mansoor in the later part of 2021. We will continue to monitor this story and provide updates as they become available to us. Editor’s Opinion: I honestly don’t blame Mustafa Ali for want..

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Roman Reigns Makes History Yet Again

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Acknowledge him. It’s no secret that for several years, Roman Reigns has been a main fixture of WWE programming and has been featured in many prominent storylines. He has made history in several categories, and as of today, has done that one more time. Today, Sunday, January 16, 2022, marks Reigns’ 504th day as the Universal Champion. This officially makes him him the longest reigning Universal Champion in history. This ran began at the Payback 2020 pay-per-view, when he defeated Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman in a Triple Threat match. History-making. Record-breaking.@WWERomanReigns is officially the longest-reigning #UniversalChampion at 5??0??4?? days and counting. Acknowledge the ??. pic.twitter.com/yao4srTPIR — WWE (@WWE) January 16, 2022 From WWE.com: This Sunday marked Reigns’ 504th day as the Universal Champion, surpassing Brock Lesnar’s previous record of 503 days from 2017-2018 which came to an end at the hands of none other than The Head of The Table himself. After maki..

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Wrestler Appears On WWE And AEW TV In The Same Week

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Double payday. The wrestling world has changed quite a bit, as there is now more content available than ever before. One of the biggest reasons for this is the arrival of AEW, which has become the second biggest wrestling promotion in the world in just a few years of existence. The company allows wrestlers another place to go, and that was certainly the case for a specific wrestler this week. Independent wrestler Leo Sparrow appeared on both WWE Monday Night Raw and AEW Rampage this week. Sparrow wrestled in a loss to Omos on Monday Night Raw and appeared in a music video from the Acclaimed on Rampage. Sparrow shared a photo of both appearances on Twitter. This is not the first time someone has done this, as Kelsey Heather did the same in July 2021. The #SonOfTheSun was on #WWERAW AND #AEWRampage this week ??? pic.twitter.com/8T6vJ1Dpa3 — Leo Sparrow (@NoSteakAllSizzl) January 15, 2022 Opinion: That is the kind of thing you don’t get to see very often and it must be a thrill for Sp..

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Not Their Style: WWE Trashes Violence On AEW Programming

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I guess they aren’t fans. There are a lot of different ways to present a wrestling match and some of them are a bit more intense. Occasionally you will see a match get a lot more violent than others, which may or may not be a good thing. You will occasionally see bloodshed during a match, which is not everyone’s cup of tea. That was apparent this week. The Toronto Star has published an article comparing WWE and AEW programming. The article looks at the television ratings for WWE SmackDown and AEW Dynamite, noting that the numbers are getting closer and citing AEW’s edgier content. WWE sent in a statement for the piece, criticizing AEW’s content, particularly the street fight between the Bunny/Penelope Ford and Anna Jay/Tay Conti while promoting its own more family friendly product. Here is WWE’s statement: “If you look at the gory self-mutilation that bloodied several women in the December 31 event on TNT, it quickly becomes clear that these are very different businesses. We had an e..