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There’s a new rule. Over the last few weeks, WWE has been shaken up in ways that it never has been before. The main change has been due to Vince McMahon retiring from the company, which has certainly changed the way the company works. There are going to be ripple effects, and now we know how the departure has directly impacted the company’s employees.
According to Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston and independently confirmed by PWInsider.com, WWE employees are banned from buying or selling shares of stock in the company until further notice. There is no word on why the company decided to make the change. WWE employees occasionally receive stock as part of their compensation, and it is not clear if that practice is suspended as well.
Opinion: That’s a bit of a weird one, but there is always the chance that this is designed to avoid the risk of any sort of insider trading issues. With the company being all over the place at the moment, it might make sense to cut off one potential headach..

There’s a surprise. The wrestling world often sees stars moving from one promotion to the other at a rapid pace. While a good deal of these moves do not mean much, you will occasionally see a move that feels like it is a big deal due to the star power involved. That might have been the case this week, as a surprise named showed up somewhere he probably wasn’t expected.
Former NXT Champion Johnny Gargano made a surprise appearance on this week’s Impact Wrestling. Gargano was one of several wrestlers who appeared in a series of videos praising Alex Shelley, who is challenging Josh Alexander for the World Title next month at Emergence. This was Gargano’s first appearance on a wrestling television show since leaving NXT in December 2021, though there is nothing to suggest that it is is anything more than a one off appearance.
It was nice to see him. Check out the cameo:
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Opinion: That’s very cool and it’s nice to see someone pop up like this. Wh..

That could have been worse for AEW. Wrestlers have a weird job when it comes to fans. At the end of the day, wrestlers are tasked with making fans believe that everything they are seeing is real, but at the same time, they have to listen to the fans either supporting or hating them. That can make for some complicated matters, and that seemed to be the case again this week at a television taping.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, there was an altercation between AEW’s Lee Moriarty and Stokely Hathaway and a fan at this week’s AEW television tapings. It is not clear if this happened during the taping or after the show was over, but it is not expected to make television. There is no word on any kind of injury or issues as a result. Moriarty is scheduled to face Matt Sydal on this week’s show.
Opinion: This is something that happens every now and then and that is not something you want to see. What matters is that everyone is ok, because that could have been quite the disaster in no..

WWE superstar Big E was recently interviewed by Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, discussing his future in the ring. He gave an update on his condition and if he will ever return to the ring again:
“That [whether he thinks he’ll ever wrestle again] I’m unsure of. I’ve also talked to a couple doctors who told me, ‘Hey, if you break this again, it could be even worse. It could be even more catastrophic,’ and these are spine specialists.
“But now at 36, after working through a lot of those things, after being mentally healthier. Man, this job has allowed me to meet so many different people from so many walks of life and have so many different experiences, and now — I don’t know, man. I think of life after 36, and I see so many of the guys I grew up watching in wrestling. I think too of the athletes that I love who participated in MMA, or were boxers and you see them at 50, and you see their body ravaged. And that’s not the life that I want.
“My hope is — I feel great now. And I’m grateful..

So much for that. Stables are one of the most logical ideas in a wrestling company as a promotion might have too many wrestlers to use on their own. That means the best solution might be to put some of them together as a group, which is a common practice in AEW. Now though, one member of one of the stables seems to have left his group in a rather physical manner.
This week on AEW Dynamite, Team Taz’s Ricky Starks lost the FTW Title to Hook in an impromptu title match. Following the match, Starks talked about how he was having a string of setbacks but he was proud of what he did with the FTW Title. As he was speaking, his Team Taz teammate Powerhouse Hobbs attacked him from behind. On commentary, Taz seemed surprised at Hobbs’ actions as Hobbs seemed to leave Team Taz. Hobbs has yet to give an explanation for his actions.
Opinion: I was a bit surprised by the turn, but it could be an interesting way to go for both of them. Hobbs is a monster who could be a heck of a star on his own, w..

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?
Payback 2020
Date: August 30, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, Corey Graves
We’re back on pay per view less than a week after the last one ended, because that’s a thing that needed to happen. This time around we have the big main event of the Fiend defending the Smackdown World Title against Braun Strowman and a surprisingly heel Roman Reigns, with Paul Heyman in his corner. That sounds like it could have some serious legs so let’s get..

There isn’t room for everyone. AEW already has more wrestlers than it can handle as they only have so much television time available. At some point, the company has to figure out who can make an appearance here and there. That is harder than it seems, but then Ring Of Honor being added to AEW TV made things even more complicated. Now though, we might have a bit of a reprieve.
According to Fightful Select, not everyone who appeared on last weekend’s Death Before Dishonor pay per view is signed to a contract, either long term or on a tiered deal. Several stars who appeared on the show are still free agents. Josh Woods, who appeared at Death Before Dishonor, also appeared on this week’s Dynamite and is signed to AEW on a tiered contract.
Opinion: This is one of those things that makes sense, as there are only so many spots available in both AEW and Ring Of Honor. At the end of the day, Ring Of Honor is little more than a bunch of one off events with no television at the moment. Unless t..

He does have a plan. Wrestlers are in a weird place when it comes to career paths. While they can be in the ring for a very long time, a lot of them have some issues figuring out a way out of wrestling as they often have no future path. That is not the case for everyone though, as one current WWE star knows how much longer he wants to be in the ring, plus what he has in mind for after.
During an interview with Bleav In Pro Wrestling, SmackDown’s Happy Corbin talked about his future plans in wrestling. Corbin said that he hopes to wrestle for another five to ten years before moving into the food industry. This includes working with the Food Network in some way, as Corbin is friends with celebrity chef Aaron May. Corbin said he would like to get his own show, possibly on YouTube or on the Food Network.
It’s an interesting interview. Check out what Corbin had to say:
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Opinion: That’s certainly a new one as you don’t see someone in wrestling ta..

It’s a different way to go. There are a lot of ways to present wrestling and some of them are not quite as traditional as others. While the most common way is to have wrestlers either in a ring or with a microphone, times have changed a bit and there are other places to see what they can do. That is the case again with a new game show, and now we have a bit of a sneak peak.
Earlier this year, G4 announced that they were collaborating with WWE on a new monthly game show called The Arena. The series will be hosted by WWE’s Xavier Woods and G4’s Gina Darling and will feature WWE stars, professional athletes, games, streamers and more competing in challenges and pranks. A preview clip features Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins, as they each team with an NFL star. The series is currently airing on UpUpDownDown’s YouTube channel.
This has potential. Check out a preview of the show:
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Opinion: This is one of those things that might not be everyone’s tast..

That didn’t look good. Wrestlers are asked to do a lot of things in the ring and some of them go more smoothly than others. You never know when you are going to see someone get hurt and put on the shelf, which leaves the question of just how long they are going to be gone. That seems to be the case again this week, as an AEW star seemed to get hurt during a match.
This week’s AEW Dynamite featured a match between Dante Martin and Sammy Guevara. Late in the match, Martin was limping around the ring and seemed to land awkwardly when Guevara hit a springboard cutter. After Guevara won, Martin was looked at and helped from the ring. There is no word on the condition of Martin’s knee or how much, if any, time he might be missing as a result. There is also the chance that the injury was a storyline and not legitimate.
Opinion: I hope Martin isn’t hurt, but the landing was more than a bit scary looking. It was bad enough to lose his brother to another knee injury and now he might have one o..

Keep them coming. There are a lot of titles in wrestling today and it can be interesting to see the directions they take. Most of them are pretty straightforward, but occasionally you will see some that are different enough that they get your attention. That seems to be the case again, as AEW is introducing some new titles that have been teased almost since the company was founded.
AEW officially introduced the Trios Titles this week on Dynamite, with the belts being shown in front of the commentary table. The inaugural champions will be crowned in the finals of a tournament at All Out on September 4, though no other details about the tournament were given. The titles have been discussed since AEW began but have never actually been introduced until now.
Opinion: You could all but guarantee that these titles were coming, but the question was more about when and where the champions would be crowned. AEW does indeed love running tournaments but that is what makes the most sense for titl..

Dynamite
Date: July 27, 2022
Location: DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators: Jim Ross, Taz, Excalibur
It’s another special event this week with Fight For The Fallen. There is another stacked card this week as well, as Jon Moxley is defending the Interim World Title against Rush, plus the return of Bryan Danielson. We are on the way towards All Out and it might be time to start setting things up for the pay per view. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Interim AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Rush Moxley is defending and gets jumped on the floor to start. They get inside with Rush stomping away in the corner and we’re off to the neck crank. It’s back to the floor with Moxley busted open and William Regal not being pleased on commentary. Jose the Assistant offers a distraction but Rush misses a chair shot. Moxley is right back with a suicide dive into the barricade and some hard chops to take over for the first time.
They get back inside with Moxley standing on Rush’s head..