media

NXT LVL Up
Date: May 13, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Sudu Shah, Nigel McGuinness
We’re in an interesting place on NXT as the show is now featuring some of the people who started here. It makes this one feel a bit more like a launching pad and that could open up some doors for something more interesting. Then again, it might have absolutely nothing to do with anything going on here. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Sanga vs. Dante Chen Sanga throws him into the corner to start but Chen swings out of a slam to set up an armbar. A side slam cuts Chen off and some shots to the back of the neck make it worse. The cobra clutch sets up a missed legdrop and Chen hits a quick short DDT. Sanga blasts him with a clothesline and finishes with the chokeslam at 5:07.
Result: Sanga b. Dante Chen – Chokeslam (5:07)
Elektra Lopez vs. Thea Hail Lopez powers her into the ropes to start but Hal grabs a rather nifty headlock. Some shoulders stagger Hail bu..

The Tribal Chief was impressed. Over the weekend, a TikTok video went viral of a fan of Roman Reigns’ doing a parody of his entrance. This caught the attention of The Bloodline, who made a reaction video to this interpretation.
You can see the parody and the reaction side by side below:
@iamdikeh my brothers killed this imitation ??? @ebukadikeh & @realspecialnedu ????????
? original sound – Tribal Chief.
@iamdikeh We global now ?????! Congrats @ebukadikeh & @realspecialnedu . Thank you everyone for the tags. Thank you @WWE
? original sound – Dikeh
[This post contains video, click to play]

Paul Heyman and the Usos initially seem upset at this parity in the reaction. However, Reigns seems impressed, and once he expresses his approval, the rest of The Bloodline immediately begins to agree with the Tribal Chief.
Reigns and The Bloodline recently defeated Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro at Wrestlemania Backlash. As of now, Reigns is not scheduled to appear at Hell in a Cell, but that m..

That might not be what they meant. There are several events that regularly take place on the WWE calendar and some of them are among the most important shows of the year. Some of the shows have a very specific theme to them and that is the case with a show that is coming up sooner rather than later. However, the show’s namesake matches might be a little more confusing this year.
Earlier this month, WWE aired a commercial for July’s Money In The Bank event, which suggested that the winners of the show’s namesake matches would receive title shots at WrestleMania 39. The change was not clarified, but the original version of the commercial aired three times during the week. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is no definitive answer backstage in WWE regarding the ladder matches. Vince McMahon reportedly has plans in mind for the biggest matches at WrestleMania 39 and the Money In The Bank winners are not included.
Opinion: I’m still not sure what to expect from the matc..

They have a plan. There are all kinds of different matches you might see on a wrestling show, though most of the time the bigger ones are saved for some of the more important shows. That can make for some interesting moments, as a major match under the right setup can be quite the attraction for the promotion presenting it. Now we might be seeing another huge one soon.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW is planning on presenting a Blood And Guts match in the near future, though the specific date is not known. The match will possibly feature the Jericho Appreciation Society against Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson of the Blackpool Combat Club, Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz. AEW has run one Blood And Guts match in history, when the Pinnacle defeated the Inner Circle on May 5, 2021.
Opinion: I like the idea of an annual match like this one, but it is a bit strange to see an all star team against the Jericho Appreciation Society. The team doesn’t have the lineup to hang in ther..

There’s a flashback. Stables are something that have done a lot of good for wrestling over the years. Putting a group of wrestlers together under a common banner is something that has worked for a long time and it continues to do so to this day. There have been some very interesting ones over the years but now one of the lesser remembered ones has made a brief comeback.
The New Brood had a reunion in a tag match at a Big Time Wrestling event on Saturday night in Prince George, Virginia. The match saw the Hardys faced Gangrel and Joey Janela, who billed themselves as the New New Brood. Gangrel and the Hardys teamed together in 1999 in the WWF against Edge and Christian, the former members of Gangrel’s Brood. Following the match, Gangrel and the Hardys posed together as part of the reunion.
The New Brood has REUNITED. pic.twitter.com/5vH1ZGURN4
— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) May 15, 2022
Opinion: This is one of those things that came out of nowhere and was good for a nice smile, as t..

Send him over. There are a lot of ways to freshen a wrestler up in a short amount of time, with one of the best known being a simple turn. It is something that has been done time after time over the years and more often than not, it gives the wrestler a much needed change of pace. Now we might be getting ready to see it take place again with a well known WWE star.
Edge, Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest have formed the Judgment Day stable on Monday Night Raw and have promised that more members will be coming. According to Brad Shepard’s Unleashed Patreon, the current plan is to have Finn Balor join the team. Balor has been teaming with AJ Styles to help fight the team in recent weeks. There is no word on when the turn will take place.
Opinion: I don’t know how much of a surprise this really is, but the main point would be how much star power the team has. There would be almost no one who could possibly stand up to them on Monday Night Raw, which makes me wonder how good of an idea this w..

NXT UK
Date: May 12, 2022
Location: BT Sports Studios, London, England
Commentators: Andy Shepherd, Nigel McGuinness
It’s a big time show this week as we have the 200th episode (though that doesn’t seem to be the case if you actually count them up). Counting issues aside, we have a big main event as United Kingdom Champion Ilja Dragunov is defending against Jordan Devlin in a title match that is also Loser Leaves Town. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at the title match.
Opening sequence.
Ashton Smith/Oliver Carter vs. Gallus The winners move on to a triple threat Tag Team Title match and it’s the Coffey brothers for Gallus. Mark powers Carter to the mat to start and it’s quickly off to Joe for a chop as commentary talks about Joe never winning anything. Carter sends Mark into the corner with a headscissors and starts in on the arm, with Smith coming in to do the same. That doesn’t work for Mark, who runs Carter over and hands it back to Joe….who is quickly knocked to the f..

It might be a good idea. Wrestlers have a tricky job as they have to find the right combination of everything to make their career work. This can take a lot of time, but being able to get the right look, the right style, the right persona and more can make all the difference in the world. Now a star might be getting an overhaul, which could be to his benefit.
Last week on SmackDown, Happy Corbin attacked Madcap Moss and Pillmanized his throat, resulting in Moss being taken out of the arena in an ambulance. According to Wrestlingnews.co, there have been pitches to change Moss into a more serious character, including dropping his jokes and changing his gear. There is no word on if these pitches have gone anywhere or when Moss will return to television.
Opinion: I’ve heard worse ideas than this one, as Moss was only going to get so far under his joke telling character. That is not exactly something that has the longest shelf life and hopefully WWE has something better for him next time…

I guess he isn’t a fan. There are all kinds of wrestling legends in the world but only a few of them are among the all time names. It is very rare to get to see someone still active into a sixth decade, but we might be seeing that later this year if a rumored match takes place. However, a former wrestling personality is not too thrilled at the idea of a legend getting back in the ring.
Earlier this week, news broken that WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, 73 years old, was considering a return to the ring to wrestle a match later this year. Since the announcement, former WCW broadcaster Chris Cruise has contacted the Maryland State Athletic Commission, saying that due to his age and health issues, Flair should not be allowed to return to the ring. There is no word on a response from the Commission. Here are Cruise’s comments, from his Facebook:
“Hey you rubes, I screw around here a lot, but this is serious: Ric Flair should not be allowed to wrestle. Some reports indicate he has been worki..

It’s an upgrade. There are a lot of people who make a wrestling show work and several of them are not even in the ring. While the wrestlers themselves are the people who put on the matches, there are others who work with them to get everything ready. In WWE, these people are called producers and now another former wrestler has received a promotion backstage.
According to Fightful Select, Ariya Daivari worked on his own as a producer at this week’s Main Event taping. Daivari produced the Apollo Crews vs. Akira Tozawa match on his own, marking the first time he has done so. This comes after Daivari and Curtis Axel received tryout as producers in WWE, with Axel working on this week’s SmackDown. There is no word on if the two are now full time producers.
Opinion: It is nice to see WWE bringing in some fresh blood to the producers’ ranks, as you are only going to get so far with the same people doing the same matches over and over. Daivari and Axel can offer a fresh perspective on the mat..

You’re not supposed to do that. Wrestlers have a difficult job to do every single night. Aside from having their match and keeping everyone involved safe, they are also required to make the fans believe in whatever it is that they are doing. This is the hardest part of wrestling but when it works, it can be quite the success. Over the weekend, it went a little too well.
This weekend, IWE ran an event in Georgia, featuring a wrestler named Joe Black. Following Black’s match, a fan headbutted him at ringside. Black started swinging at the fan, who was then ejected by security, referees and other wrestlers as Black had to be held back by other referees. There is nothing to suggest that this was an angle or anything other than legitimate.
This got intense very quickly. Check out the whole incident:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: You see this happen every so often but that doesn’t mean it is ok. The fan went too far and Black defended himself, as he would be expected..

That’s a specific list. Wrestling is a visual medium, as stars are going to need to look a certain way to make fans want to see what they are doing. This can come in a variety of ways and WWE is known for caring about appearance more than a lot of other things. That can create some issues, and now WWE has made a rule about a specific change of appearance for some wrestlers.
According to Fightful Select, WWE has issued a list of wrestlers allowed to get haircuts, which has leaked online. This list is wrestlers whose haircuts have been approved in advance, though there is nothing to suggest that wrestlers not listed are not allowed to have their hair cut in general. There are no female wrestlers included on the list. Here is the list of names:
RAW: AJ Styles, Bobby Lashley, Cody Rhodes, Damien Priest, Dolph Ziggler, Edge, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Miz, Randy Orton, Riddle, Seth Rollins
Smackdown: Drew McIntyre, Happy Corbin, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Kofi Kingston, Madcap Moss, Paul Heyman, ..