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Maybe later? There are a lot of wrestlers who move in and out of the AEW locker room. The company has brought together all kinds of stars from present and past days, making quite the mixture of available names. Sometimes they need to bring in some fresh stars, but that is not going to be the case at the moment, as it seems a recent appearance was a one off.
This week’s edition of AEW Dynamite saw Johnny Elite (Morrison/Nitro) appear as the Joker in the men’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Elite lost to Samoa Joe in the first round in his AEW debut. According to PWInsider.com, Elite has not signed a deal with the company, meaning that at the moment, this seems to be a one off appearance. However, the two sides may be open to another appearance in the future.
Opinion: This is the way I like to see things, as Elite was a nice surprise but not exactly a game changer. He came in, had a good enough match with Joe, and then left without really disturbing anything. That is how something li..

Back in a bit? WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world and that means it is going to take a lot of people to run it properly. The company has to have the right people in the right places to make it work and any change, especially at the top, can be a big deal. That is the case again, as one of the most prominent members of the company’s top team is stepping away.
Stephanie McMahon has announced that she is taking a leave of absence from the majority of her responsibilities with WWE. McMahon says that she is taking time off to focus on her family and looks forward to returning to work, though no timetable is given. According to PWInsider.com, only the WWE’s inner circle knew about McMahon’s decision and everyone was “100% shocked by the news”.
Opinion: This is a situation where speculation is the worst thing possible, as we have no idea why McMahon is leaving. There is every possible chance that McMahon has been working at a high level in a huge company for a very long time ..

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?
Ballroom Brawl 12
Date: July 13, 2019
Location: Commodore Ballroom, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Commentators: Peter Brown, Cody Von Wilson
This is Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW), another promotion that I have heard a lot about but never actually seen. Again, thanks to the magic of Highspots, I get to knock another indy promotion off of my list and see what I can find out there. The card isn’t exactly big but there are some interesting names. Let’s get to it.
Keep in mind that as usual, I don’..

Catch you later? The biggest wrestling story of the week has been Naomi and Sasha Banks walking out on this week’s Monday Night Raw. That is the kind of move that is going to have quite the ripple effect throughout WWE as others are going to have to be moved into their slots to fill in some gaps. It seems that has been made even more obvious this week, as WWE has made some changes.
According to Brad Shepherd, Banks and Naomi are both off of WWE live events through at least the end of July. There is no word on when or if the two will be returning to WWE television before then. Banks and Naomi are still listed as the reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions on WWE.com, though WWE’s official statement said that they left their titles behind when they walked out on Monday.
I’m told Naomi and Sasha Banks are now off live events through July. #WWE https://t.co/awMpZpDcR3
— Brad Shepard (@ItsBradShepard) May 17, 2022
Opinion: I’m not sure what this is going to mean for WWE, Banks or Naomi,..

There’s a name out of the past. There have been a lot of wrestlers throughout WWE’s history and several of them seem to go away without much of a peep. It can be interesting to think about what someone would do if they had stuck around in the industry and wonder where they would fit in today. Now a star of the past is talking about what he would like to do today.
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ahmed Johnson was a guest on the Iron-On Wrestling podcast and mentioned that he would like to face Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley of today’s roster. In addition, Johnson said that he had wanted to face Sid Vicious or the Ultimate Warrior of the roster from his career. Johnson appeared for WWE from 1995-1998 before leaving the company after a series of injuries.
Opinion: I was a huge fan of Johnson back in the day and it would indeed have been fun to see him face one of those powerhouses. Johnson was one of the more impressive stars of his day and it seemed like he was ready to become the..

They’re the new ones. AEW has come a very long way in a short amount of time and a lot of that has been due to the roster of wrestlers that the company has put together. The company has a mixture of established names, up and comers and legends who combine to make quite the roster. They always need fresh blood though and that was the case this week with two surprises.
This week’s edition of AEW Dynamite featured two first round matches in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Each match included a Joker, or wild card entry. First, the men’s Joker was revealed as Johnny Elite, better known as John Morrison, who lost to Samoa Joe in his AEW debut. Later. Maki Itoh made her return to AEW as the women’s Joker in a loss to Britt Baker. There is no word on if the two will be regulars in AEW going forward.
Opinion: For a couple of possibly one off appearances, there were worse ways to go. What mattered here was offering some surprises and these two didn’t many many people’s radar. Elite is so..

It’s another way to go. Wrestlers have a weird history when it comes to acting. There are a lot of them who are able to pull off acting outside of the wrestling world, but they are often stuck in a role that revolves around them being a wrestler or some kind of a brute. Sometimes that works out, but now a wrestler is getting a chance to try his hand in another kind of role.
AEW’s Miro has landed a role in the pilot for a new series called East New York. CBS has released a trailer for the show, which features Miro as a man who has been arrested and is asking for a lawyer. There is no word on if the show will be picked up or how frequently Miro would be appearing. Miro has been missing from AEW television since November, due to a hamstring injury and filming the pilot. There is no word on when he will be back in the ring.
He might have something here. Check out Miro’s appearance in the pilot:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: I’m not sure what kind of a future Miro ..

The wrestling business can be kind of funny, as last week there was absolutely nothing worth talking about for a column, but this week there is one topic that is screaming for a closer look. That is because on Monday, Naomi and Sasha Banks walked out on Monday Night Raw, causing the show to be changed on the fly, with a completely different main event (because they were going to be in the main event) to be set up. So yeah, I think we’re covered for a topic this week.
Before we get into the specifics, let’s get a few things out of the way. First of all, there is a chance that this is some kind of a worked shoot story. I don’t think it is, but that is always a chance in wrestling. For the sake of simplicity, we’re going to assume that it is 100% a shoot, even if it might be turned into an angle later. Second, keep in mind that we do not know exactly what happened. We have an idea from what people have said, but there are so many different versions and details that you can’t get a comple..

The card keeps getting bigger. AEW has a pay per view schedule that is very different than what WWE does. The company presents a pay per view about every three months, which makes their events feel that much more important. They know how to put together a show that feels like a big deal and that is what they are doing again with Double Or Nothing. Now we know more of what they have planned.
AEW announced two more matches for the Double Or Nothing card this week on Dynamite. First, Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express issued a challenge to Team Taz and Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee for a triple threat match. Later in the show, the Jericho Appreciation Society and the team of Jon Moxley/Bryan Danielson/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston agreed to meet in a Gang Warfare match, which will mean no rules and anything goes. Double Or Nothing is scheduled to take place on May 29.
Opinion: I’m starting to get hyped up for Double Or Nothing as the show has mostly taken shape. One of the best things abo..

See you sooner? There are a lot of wrestlers in WWE but some of them are bigger stars than others. You see a good number of them on a regular basis but some of the bigger stars are not around as often. That can make those moments feel all the more special and that is certainly the case with the biggest star in WWE today. Now you might be seeing him a little more frequently.
One of the bigger WWE stories over the last few weeks has been Roman Reigns signing a new WWE contract which will allow him to only make appearances at major events and special shows. We now know that Reigns will be appearing at the July 22 SmackDown at the TD Garden in Boston and the July 26 Monday Night Raw in Madison Square Garden. There is no word on if Reigns will be appearing on camera or in a post show dark match.
? Updated event card for @WWE Smackdown on July 22, featuring @WWERomanReigns, @RondaRousey, @CodyRhodes, @FightOwensFight, @DMcIntyreWWE and more! Get tickets now: https://t.co/PSERLYEKcN #WWEBos..

Dynamite
Date: May 18, 2022
Location: Fertitta Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone
It’s Wild Card Wednesday, meaning we find out the two Joker entrants in the Owen Hart Foundation tournaments. Other than that, we have two Dynamites left before Double Or Nothing and that means it is time to start hammering out a few more matches on the card. Most of the show is already set though and that can make things all the more interesting. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Samoa Joe vs. ??? Non-title and the joker is….Johnny Elite (Nitro/Morrison). Feeling out process to start as Joe doesn’t seem overly impressed. Joe knocks him into the corner for some shots to the ribs, followed by an elbow to the face. Some shots to the face have Joe in a bit of trouble though and Elite knocks him to the floor, setting up the big twisting cannonball to take Joe down again.
We take a break and come back with Joe hitting a big..

He’s worth keeping around. There are certain names that are synonymous with wrestling and those people have been around for a very long time. It can be a special moment to have that person around and it can make a big difference when it comes to the atmosphere of a show. Now AEW is doing what it can to keep one of their most famous voices around that much longer.
During the latest edition of his Grilling JR podcast, AEW’s Jim Ross announced that he has signed a new deal to stick with the company. Ross said that the deal was for about another year and a half, with the goal being to take him into 2024, which will mark 50 years in the wrestling business. Ross has been the lead broadcaster for AEW Dynamite since the show’s inception.
Opinion: Ross might not be the most well received name in wrestling these days but there are few names or voices as iconic in wrestling. It makes sense to have AEW want him around as long as they can have him as Ross still offers a certain appeal. He might n..