News

Boss Time? Important Update On Sasha Banks’ WWE Status

September 5, 2021 • Admin

Come back to us? There are certain wrestlers who just have that spark. There is something to them that makes you want to see what they are doing and any wrestling company that knows what they are doing will push the heck out of them. WWE is no exception and it certainly has a list of people who fit the description. Now one of them might be on her way back from a hiatus. Despite being the #1 contender to the SmackDown Women’s Title, Sasha Banks did not appear at last month’s Summerslam. Banks was announced as not being cleared to wrestle and Becky Lynch took her place, with Banks not having appeared since. According to Fightful Select, Banks was backstage at this week’s SmackDown but was not used, as there are no creative plans for her at the moment. Her feud with Bianca Belair has been put on hold as Becky Lynch is now feuding with Belair instead. There should be something for her to do. Check out what Banks can offer: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains ..

Some Excellent Wrestling News For A Change (Health Related)

September 5, 2021 • Admin

Some good news for a change. Things have been a little bit rough for a lot of people for a long time now, including in the wrestling business. The Coronavirus pandemic has completely changed the injury and a lot of people have been out of work because of it. As a result, it would be nice to hear something good for once and that is the case in a big way this weekend. Former Impact Wrestling announcer Don West has announced that his brain cancer is in remission. In June of this year, West announced that he had been diagnosed with brain lymphoma. Since then, he has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatments and is now able to return to his job in radio. West served as a play by play announcer for Impact Wrestling from 2002-2012. I want to give everyone an update After 8 weeks of chemotherapy and 13 treatments of radiation my cancer is now in remission Thank you for everyone’s prayers because they truly worked I look forward to getting back on the radio doing what I love — Don W..

AEW All Out 2021 Preview, Predictions And Thoughts

September 5, 2021 • Admin

It’s time for another AEW pay per view and that should be a good thing. The company has done very well with these over the years and there is no reason to think this one won’t be great as well. There are a few matches which could go on last and almost everything on the card could wind up being good. AEW has done a rather nice job of hyping up the show and now they have a chance to make it actually work. Let’s get to it. Buy-In: Best Friends/Jurassic Express vs. Hardy Family Office This is a bonus match after everything else was thrown off by Pac vs. Andrade El Idolo being called off. The Hardy Family Office is one of the more bottom of the barrel stables but Hardy has some name value and the team itself could be worse. That being said, this is there for one reason and one reason only: to get the fans singing along with Jungle Boy’s entrance in a cool moment to start the show. Hardy wants revenge: [This post contains video, click to play] I’ll go with the good guys here as there is ..

VIDEO: WWE Announces Injury To SmackDown Star

September 4, 2021 • Admin

Hopefully it isn’t too bad. Just like in other sports, there are all kinds of injuries in wrestling. You never know when you are going to see someone go onto the injured list and miss some ring time. To make things even more complicated, there is always the chance that the injury is part of a storyline and not legitimate. It seems that the latter is the case this time. WWE announced an injury update to Cesaro during this week’s edition of Talking Smack. Cesaro is said to have suffered a cervical strain due to an attack at the hands of Seth Rollins during this week’s SmackDown. Cesaro defeated Rollins in their match via disqualification when Rollins used a chair, with Rollins attacking Cesaro after the match ended. There is no word on how long Cesaro will be out of action. It was a brutal one. Check out the announcement, the match, plus what Cesaro can do when he is healthy: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains vi..

He’ll Probably Be Gold: WWE Makes Huge Signing

September 4, 2021 • Admin

He has the resume. WWE has a lot of wrestlers on its roster and brings them in from all over the place. While there is often an an emphasis on prior professional wrestling experience, it is not exactly a requirement. The company also has a tendency to sign athletes from other sports, but in this case it seems that they have gone with a little bit of both. According to F4WOnline.com, Olympic gold medal winning wrestler Gable Steveson has signed a contract with WWE. This comes as Steveson sent out a tweet saying he had just put pen to paper. Steveson had said that he wanted to sign with WWE and made an appearance at this year’s Summerslam. WWE has yet to make an announcement about the signing. Steveson will be in elite company. Check out how Olympians have done in WWE: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: This is about as much of a no brainer as you can get. Steveson was just named ..

More On Why AEW All Out Match Was Postponed

September 4, 2021 • Admin

Better late than never. We are less than two days away from AEW All Out and that means the card should be almost completely set. That does seem to be the case as there have been several matches already announced for the show. Some of them have been changed over the last week though as a domino effect has hit the show. Now we know a bit more about one of the biggest matches being changed. Earlier this week, a scheduled match between Pac and Andrade El Idolo was moved from All Out due to travel issues. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, one of the wrestlers has an unspecified health issue of some kind and it is the same kind that is keeping Sasha Banks off of WWE television. Andrade vs. Pac has already been rescheduled for next week’s edition of Dynamite. They do have a history. Check out how the match was set up: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: This is a bit of a ..

Back On The A List: Miz Lands A Huge Television Spot

September 4, 2021 • Admin

That’s a pretty good gig. Wrestlers are certainly celebrities, but at the same time, they exist inside the wrestling bubble. You can only get so far in the celebrity world while a wrestler, because it is about all a wrestler is going to be known for. You will see things change occasionally though, and now one of the more prominent WWE stars has landed a pretty big deal. According to PWInsider.com, the Miz has joined the cast of the 30th season of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, which will premiere on September 30. This is believed to be the reason Miz missed this week’s Monday Night Raw and his scheduled match with John Morrison. Miz would be the fourth WWE star appearing on the show, following Stacy Keibler, Chris Jericho and Nikki Bella. There is no word on how long Miz will be away from WWE television. This does kind of go together. Check out Miz’s musical efforts and some dancing wrestlers: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [Th..

WWE Might Have Dropped A Hint For A Very Special Return At Extreme Rules

September 4, 2021 • Admin

It’s a special moment. There are certain wrestlers who have an upgraded version of themselves that they do not bring out very often. When you know they are going to show up though, you can tell that things are about to get a lot more serious in a hurry. That very well might be the case again, and we could be in for something rather special at an upcoming WWE event. This week’s SmackDown ended with Roman Reigns successfully defending the Universal Title against Finn Balor, although the Usos attacked Balor before the match. After the match ended, Reigns went to leave but a red light flashed in the arena for a second. According to Wrestlinginc.com, this may be an indication of the return of Balor’s alter ego, the Demon, for a rematch at Extreme Rules later this month. The rematch has not yet been announced. This could get big. Check out what happened this week, plus what might be coming for Reigns: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] ..

Some AEW Contracts Are Going To Be Up Sooner Than You Might Expect

September 4, 2021 • Admin

It’s going to happen eventually. In the grand scheme of things, AEW has really not been around all that long. The promotion only debuted a little over two years ago and there are still several things that they have not done in their history. Some of these things are not going to go as well once they happen, and now we might know when one of them is coming up. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the initial contracts that AEW wrestlers signed at the time the company started should be expiring in early 2023. The contracts were mainly three years in length, but there is a fourth optional year. There is no word on which wrestlers, if any, would be interested in leaving the company and signing somewhere else. There are some names AEW is certainly going to want to keep. Check out some of their better stars: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: This is the kind of thing that ..

REVIEW: Monday Night Raw – September 22, 1997: The First

September 4, 2021 • Admin

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? Monday Night Raw Date: September 22, 1997 Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York Attendance: 14,615 Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler This is one of the biggest and more important episodes in the history of the show. For the first time ever, the show is in the world’s most famous arena as we’re getting closer to Badd Blood: In Your House. The crowd hasn’t been this big in a long time and you know the company is going to put on something special in this arena. Let’s get to it. W..

WWE Does Not Gives Wrestlers Much Notice Over Special Moments

September 4, 2021 • Admin

That’s some fast planning. WWE holds a lot of events over the years and most of them are pretty much set in stone for months in advance. That should be enough to give the company time to set everything up with a long time to spare, but there are times when it seems WWE is making this stuff up on the fly. It seems to have been the case again earlier this year. Nikki Ash spoke to Fightful Select and talked about her Money in the Bank and Raw Women’s Title wins earlier this year. Ash revealed that she was told the day of Money in the Bank that she would be winning the show’s namesake match. Ash won the title the next night on Monday Night Raw but was not told about the win the day of Money in the Bank. Instead, she was only told the following day at Monday Night Raw. There is no word on how long in advance WWE had made these plans. Ash certainly had a roller coaster of a few days. Check out how everything went and what it led to: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post c..

This Is The One Thing Adam Cole Insisted On In WWE Contract Negotiations

September 4, 2021 • Admin

That’s the red line. There have been a lot of issues involving WWE’s relationships with its wrestlers over the last few months and that does not seem to be changing anytime soon. Above all else, various wrestlers have not been thrilled with being told what they are not allowed to do. This includes various outside projects, and now one of the bigger issues has come up again. Last month, Adam Cole’s WWE contract officially expired and he became a free agent. Cole did take part in contract negotiations with WWE and there was one thing he refused to budge on. According to Fightful Select, Cole refused to give up his Twitch stream, as other wrestlers had been forced to do late last year. Cole made it clear well before his contract expired that he would not be giving up his Twitch account. WWE did not want to discuss the issue with Cole, as they knew they had no leverage in the situation. There is no word on what WWE did regarding the account. Cole has yet to appear with any other promotion..

WWE Announces Special Stacked Edition Of SmackDown From MSG

September 4, 2021 • Admin

You have to go big. WWE is back on the road and that means they are heading to places they have not been to in a long time. That can make for some very special moments, but very little is going to be on the level of the company going back to Madison Square Garden in New York City. Next week’s SmackDown will be held in the World’s Most Famous Arena and WWE has set some big things for the show. This week on SmackDown, WWE announced several events for next week’s show in Madison Square Garden. First up, Brock Lesnar will be making an appearance of some kind. This will be Lesnar’s first appearance since Summerslam, where Lesnar returned to the company after a year and a half away. It will be Lesnar’s first appearance on television since 2020 and his first appearance on SmackDown since 2019. Also announced for the show was a contract signing for the Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair SmackDown Women’s Title match at Extreme Rules. The match was made official during the show and will serve as a..

First Title Match Officially Set For WWE Extreme Rules

September 4, 2021 • Admin

Now it’s official. We are just over three weeks away from WWE Extreme Rules, which will serve as the official followup pay per view to August’s Summerslam. As a result, you can expect a lot of rematches at the show, possibly with a bit more intensity. That will be the case with a Summerslam title match, and now it has officially been added to the Extreme Rules card. This week on SmackDown, Bianca Belair again challenged SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch to a title match. Lynch turned her down for the second week in a row, saying the match would take place when she decided. WWE officials Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce told Lynch that the match would be taking place at Extreme Rules, with the contract signing being held on the September 10 SmackDown. The match will be a rematch from Summerslam, where Lynch made a surprise return and replaced Carmella, who was replacing Sasha Banks. Lynch went on to challenge and defeat Belair in less than thirty seconds. Belair went on to win a fou..

Injured AEW Star In Chicago For All Out Weekend

September 4, 2021 • Admin

Welcome home? There are a lot of wrestlers on the AEW roster and as a result, it can be a little difficult to keep track of everyone. It doesn’t help when the company only has so much television time to use, meaning that someone can be dropped from the shows quickly. Things can be made even worse when someone is on the shelf with an injury. That is the case with a certain AEW star, but it might not be the case much longer. According to Fightful Select, Kip Sabian is in Chicago for AEW’s All Out weekend, though it is not clear if he will be making an appearance at the show. Sabian has been out of action since March while recovering from surgery. Sabian was written off television due to an attack by Miro, who slammed a door onto Sabian’s wrist. Sabian has not wrestled since the March 31 Dynamite. You might not remember him. Check out who might be on his way back to AEW television: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contai..

AEW Rampage Results – September 3, 2021

September 4, 2021 • Admin

Rampage Date: September 3, 2021 Location: Now Arena, Chicago, Illinois Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Taz It’s the go home show for All Out and the big deal is that CM Punk is here in Chicago again. They’re still at the point where it feels important even though it happened two days ago, and it isn’t like they’ll be in Chicago every week. Other than that, expect a lot of hype towards the pay per view. Let’s get to it. Opening sequence. Lee Johnson vs. Malakai Black Johnson grabs a headlock to start but gets shoved into the ropes. Said ropes are grabbed out of fear of Black Mass, with Jericho and Henry thinking pain is coming. Black continues to take his time before knocking Johnson into the corner as we take a break. Back with Johnson striking away to send Black outside. The big dive drops Black again and they head back inside so Johnson can hit a frog splash for two. Black kicks him in the head but would rather hammer away in the corner instead of covering. It..

205 Live Results – August 27, 2021

September 4, 2021 • Admin

205 Live Date: August 27, 2021 Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph I think we can officially call this the new 205 Live, which is still not live and now has little to do with 205. Since it’s WWE though and it’s all about branding, expect them to keep the name because of the great history and pride associated with the low level, often forgotten former cruiserweight show. Let’s get to it. Grayson Waller vs. Andre Chase Drake Maverick joins commentary as Chase works on the arm to start. Maverick can’t pick out any potential breakout stars around here, which might be due to no one knowing who is actually on the roster. Waller fights up and sends him outside but stops to yell at Maverick, allowing Chase to get in a shot from behind. A high crossbody gives Waller two but Chase is back with a belly to back for his own near fall. Some shoulders to Waller’s banged up ribs keep him in trouble until he cuts off a shoulder with a knee ..

Impact Wrestling Results – August 26, 2021

September 4, 2021 • Admin

Impact Wrestling Date: August 26, 2021 Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Matt Striker Emergence has come and gone and that means it is time to start the path towards either Bound For Glory or whatever other one off show is taking place before then. Christian Cage is still the World Champion, having vanquished the horrible threat of Brian Myers. That means he needs a new challenger and we might be able to find out who that is tonight. Let’s get to it. The opening recap looks at Emergence. Opening sequence. Chris Sabin vs. Sami Callihan Fallout from the Emergence #1 contenders four way. The brawl starts on the floor before the bell and Sami hits a powerbomb inside. The bell rings with Sami winning a slugout but being sent outside for the running flip dive from the apron. That doesn’t last long for Sabin, as Callihan powerbombs him into the post. Sami is having none of these chops from Sabin and pokes him in the eye before heading back inside. Sa..

SmackDown Live Coverage And Results – September 3, 2021

September 3, 2021 • Admin

Smackdown Date: September 3, 2021 Location: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves It’s a title show this week as Finn Balor gets a shot at Roman Reigns and the Universal Title. That sounds like something that could headline Extreme Rules so we may be in for some shenanigans. Other than that, we need to get some things going for the pay per view, which is in just over three weeks. Let’s get to it. We open with a recap/hype video for Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor. Here are the Usos for their Championship Contenders match against the Street Profits. Before we get started, the Usos talks about how the Profits disrespected them last week so come get them because they are the ones. Street Profits vs. Usos Non-title. Hold on though as the Street Profits want to know how the Usos are in the ring without their permission slips. Ford admits the Usos are spitting facts and they are the ones. As in the ones about to take a beating. The Uso..

Not So Much? Update On Vince McMahon Running NXT

September 3, 2021 • Admin

Just how bad? Vince McMahon wears a lot of hats in WWE and it is rare to find someone without some kind of an opinion on him. In addition to running the entire company, McMahon also has his hands on a lot of the WWE television product, which will be growing even stronger as he and Bruce Prichard will be producing NXT. Now we know a bit more about how that is expected to go. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, there is a possibility that McMahon and Prichard will mainly be focusing on the bigger picture of NXT and not every single aspect. It is not clear if this will include the Takeover specials as well. According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, William Regal and Matt Bloom will continue to handle the day to day operations. However, NXT will have a “Vince & Co” stamp on the product. The changes are expected to begin taking place later this month. After talking to sources regarding NXT: the day to day operation isn’t changing that drastically. Still v..