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Released WWE Name Posts Emotional Tribute To His Time With The Company

June 4, 2021 • Admin

That’s nice to see. With so many people working for WWE at one point or another, you are going to see some of them leaving from time to time. It is the case with every business and it certainly is the case with wrestling as well. WWE has been having a high turnover as of late and it can be interesting to see what some of the people released have to say. That was certainly the case again. Last month, WWE released broadcaster Tom Phillips from the company. Following his departure, Phillips has sent out a message on Twitter, thanking both WWE as well as the fans for his time with the company. Phillips specifically thanked Triple H, Vince McMahon, Michael Cole and Kevin Dunn for giving him the opportunity. He did not say anything negative about the company. A few thoughts pic.twitter.com/6okw3IqUtx — Tom (@TomHannifan) June 3, 2021 Phillips had been with the company since 2012 and worked on nearly every television show WWE produces. This included stints as the lead broadcaster for Mond..

Here’s How WWE Wrestlers Were Told About The Releases

June 4, 2021 • Admin

That’s a different way to go. The biggest wrestling story of the week has been the latest batch of WWE releases. For the second time in less than two months, WWE has released several wrestlers from their contracts on the same day. That is going to get some reactions from the wrestling world and its fans, but in this case it might be more of the way the announcement was made. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this week’s batch of releases was announced to the roster via a single text message from new Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. This has never been the method that the company has informed wrestlers of such moves before. Budget cuts were cited as the reason for the releases. There is no word on if any more releases will be taking place in the future. Here is the text that was sent, according to PWInsider.com: Due to Budget cuts the following talent were released today. Braun Strowman, Lana, Buddy Murphy, Santana Garrett, Ruby Riott, and Aleister Black. – John Laurin..

VIDEO: Former WWE Star Coming To Impact Wrestling

June 4, 2021 • Admin

Welcome home. While WWE is the biggest and most prestigious wrestling promotion in the world, they are not the only place available. Over the last few years, the amount of wrestling promotions on national television or available online have grown quite a bit, meaning wrestlers can appear in several more places. Another former WWE star is getting the chance to show off what he can do elsewhere. This week’s edition of Impact Wrestling featured a vignette announcing the impending debut of Steve Maclin, better known as Steve Cutler during his time in WWE. Maclin is shown drinking Jameson whiskey and putting his feet on a desk as a song talks about taking your chance while you have the opportunity. There was no date given for his debut or anything else about him. Maclin was released by WWE earlier this year after a short time as part of the SmackDown roster. He had been part of a tag team with Wesley Blake called the Forgotten Sons, which was later changed to the Knights of the Lone Wolf ..

CM Punk Blasts WWE As “Creatively Bankrupt Nincompoops”

June 3, 2021 • Admin

I guess he isn’t happy. There are very few wrestlers who have made a real impact on the industry and felt like someone who was changing the game. That was the case back in 2011 with CM Punk’s infamous Pipe Bomb promo. The promo felt very different and brought in some extra eyes to WWE. Punk has since left wrestling, but he certainly has not stopped talking about the industry. Earlier this week, WWE released six wrestlers from their contracts with the company. John Squires of Bloody Disgusting (a horror movie website) to post a tweet discussing how he felt WWE did not know how to use the talent it had. Punk responded, saying that WWE was like a movie with a blockbuster cast and crew which was written by “creatively bankrupt nincompoops” for an audience of one person. Punk has not wrestled since leaving WWE in January 2014. One thing that has consistently bummed me out about WWE in recent years is that there's been a *wealth* of incredible talent in that company, but they rarely s..

205 Live Results – May 28, 2021

June 3, 2021 • Admin

205 Live Date: May 28, 2021 Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Tom Phillips, Nigel McGuinness So….we’re going to try this one again, as I accidentally watched the May 21 edition a second time and had no idea until the ending. The fact that I had no idea that I had already seen the show is rather telling, but so is me saying “It wasn’t a terrible or even a bad show, but you could replace most editions of this show with any other for several months and not notice the difference.”. Hopefully this one stands out more. Let’s get to it. Opening sequence. Asher Hale vs. Tony Nese Hale goes to the wrist to start and Nese has to roll to the ropes to avoid getting rolled up. Another wristlock sends Nese to the ropes for the second time so Hale tries a headlock instead. This time Nese suplexes his way to freedom but Hale hammers away, setting up a half butterfly suplex of his own. The rapid fire kicks in the corner have Nese in trouble but he’s right back with a..

Impact Wrestling Results – May 27, 2021

June 3, 2021 • Admin

Impact Wrestling Date: May 27, 2021 Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Lo Brown We’re on the way to Against All Odds and that means we are going to be seeing more of Moose vs. Kenny Omega as they set up their World Title match. I’m kind of curious to see the match, even though I don’t quite see a ton of drama involved. Hopefully they can live up to the hype and we can get some more matches set up this week. Let’s get to it. The opening recap looks at Heath being involved in the Call Your Shot gauntlet match at Bound For Glory, with Rhino ultimately winning. Then last week, Rhino cashed in the contract to win the Tag Team Titles with Violent By Design. Eric Young says that the change was foretold and last week it came to pass. Now they prove that it is real. Opening sequence. Here is Sami Callihan to have a seat in the ring for a chat. Callihan isn’t happy with what Kenny Omega has done around here because Omega and the Good Brothers have ..

REVIEW: Judgment Day 2002: When It’s Time To Climb

June 3, 2021 • Admin

Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 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? Judgment Day 2002 Date: May 19, 2002 Location: Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee Attendance: 14,521 Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler The company is ice cold coming into this show and I can’t imagine this is going to make things any warmer. Raw has turned into a mess with the old guys doing whatever they want while Smackdown is about Vince somehow failing to sleep with Stacy Keibler because he can’t just get a room somewhere. Let’s get to it. The opening video is rather disturbing with a bunch of..

What The WWE Locker Room Is Saying About Company’s Future

June 3, 2021 • Admin

Is that the next step? The biggest WWE story of the week has been the group of wrestlers being released from the company. Six wrestlers were let go, including a few surprising names. This is the second batch of cuts in about six weeks, which has led to some people wondering what is going on. It seems that some people backstage are thinking the same thing. According to Fightful Select, the string of releases led to speculation backstage about a potential sale of the company. This comes as the releases surprised several in WWE, as only a select few knew what was coming and that the final decisions for the releases was only made on the same morning. WWE has not made any mention of a potential sale to any other company. Selling does have a place in wrestling. Check out some of the best sellers in wrestling history (yes this is a stretch): [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..

Monday Night Raw Sets A New Record (And It’s Not Good)

June 3, 2021 • Admin

That’s a new one. Monday Night Raw has been having issues with its audience and television ratings for a very long time now. It has certainly been the case for the last few years but things have gotten even worse lately. Things keep getting worse and worse, which is not exactly a good sign for the company. Now things have reached an entirely new low. According to PWTorch, this week’s Monday Night Raw drew the lowest audience in the history of the show. This week’s show featured an average audience of 1.418 million viewers, based off hours of 1.536, 1.549 and 1.168. The demo rating was the lowest since December 20, 2020 with a .41. These numbers are down from last week’s 1.62 million viewers (-12%) and .45 rating (-2%). This week’s show was built around a #1 contenders match between Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston, with the winner advancing to face WWE Champion Bobby Lashley at Hell In A Cell. Other featured parts of the show included the return of the Miz, a Raw Tag Team Title match ..

WWE May Have Been Planting Seeds For Huge Return

June 3, 2021 • Admin

That’s an interesting sign. There are very few wrestlers who make a huge impact in WWE. The vast majority of wrestlers are on roughly the same level, though every now and then you see someone who truly makes a difference and feels like a special star. These people are rare, but you might be seeing another one coming back to the company sooner rather than later. According to Wrestling Observer Live, WWE may have added Brock Lesnar’s name to the script of this week’s Monday Night Raw to plan for his return to the company. There is no word on when that would be, though it would likely be for a match with Bobby Lashley. Lesnar has not appeared since WrestleMania 36 and his contract with the company expired last year. This could be big. Check out what might be coming back to WWE: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: Would this really be a surprise? It’s true that Lesnar’s contract expi..

WWE Hall Of Famer Confirmed For Takeover: In Your House

June 3, 2021 • Admin

Welcome back. There are so many wrestlers throughout WWE’s history and some of them are a lot more famous than others. Some of these names are so well known that they can be gone for years before making a return and having quite the impact of their own. That has been the case again in recent weeks with a certain legend and now we are going to be seeing him again. WWE.com is advertising Ted DiBiase to appear at next weekend’s NXT Takeover: In Your House. DiBiase is advertised for the match involving LA Knight and Cameron Grimes, who he has been appearing with in recent weeks. Grimes and Drake have been competing for the right to be carry on DiBiase’s legacy as the Million Dollar Man, though there is no word on any specific prize for the winner. DiBiase has been around as of late. Check out some of his recent appearances, plus some of his classics: [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] [This post contains video, click to play] Opinio..

Aleister Black Reacts And Comments to His WWE Release on Twitch

June 3, 2021 • Admin

The biggest news story of the day has been the release of several WWE superstars, including Aleister Black. This came as a shock to many in the wrestling world, including Black himself. Im gathering my thoughts as this was a complete left field for me as obviously we just started the dark father character but this was it, thank you so much WWE universe for allowing me to create and give you small bits of myself. — Tommy End (@WWEAleister) June 2, 2021 He spoke about this, along with several other topics on his wife, Zelina Vega’s Twitch channel; below are some highlights: On being released: “I’m not sad. I’m not depressed,” Black said. “I’m sure there will be dark days and bad days. It’s all up and down. I got told it was budget cuts. Whether it is or not, it doesn’t matter. I had a great time and had a phenomenal four or five years. I’m really thankful WWE has done for me. I was given a platform, even in a limited amount, I was able to give you parts of my character.” On his mos..

Released WWE Stars React, Wrestling World Weighs In On Moves

June 2, 2021 • Admin

You might want their opinions. One of the biggest stories over the last few weeks has been the amount of wrestlers who have been released from WWE. The company has cut several wrestlers from its roster over the course of the year and that was the case again this week, as even more wrestlers have been released so far. That is the kind of thing that could draw some strong reactions, including from the wrestlers themselves. Earlier today, WWE released six wrestlers from the company. The releases included Aleister Black, Braun Strowman, Lana, Buddy Murphy, Ruby Riott and Santana Garrett. All but Riott have since responded to the news via Twitter, with all of them thanking some combination of the fans, company and fellow wrestlers. Im gathering my thoughts as this was a complete left field for me as obviously we just started the dark father character but this was it, thank you so much WWE universe for allowing me to create and give you small bits of myself. — Tommy End (@WWEAleister) Jun..

Possible Reason For Braun Strowman’s WWE Release

June 2, 2021 • Admin

That would be an explanation. WWE is a wrestling business but at the end of the day, it is indeed a business. The entire point of the promotion is to make money, which can be a little more complicated when you have so many things going on at the same time. The wrestlers themselves can be rather expensive, and that might have led to one of the recent releases. Braun Strowman was one of several WWE stars released from the company on Wednesday. According to Fightful Select, Strowman’s release was not a surprise to those in the company as he had a large contract with the company. Strowman had signed a “monster” deal in 2019, reportedly worth over a million dollars a year through 2023. There is no word on where Strowman will appear next. Strowman debuted on the main roster in 2015 as part of the Wyatt Family. He would go on to a singles career in 2016, ultimately showcasing his strength on numerous occasions. Strowman chased the WWE’s two World Titles for years without winning a singles c..

BREAKING: WWE Releases Six Names, Including Top Raw Star

June 2, 2021 • Admin

And there they go. WWE has a lot of wrestlers on their roster and sometimes there has to be some wrestlers let go. That can make for some very interesting headlines and sometimes they can be rather shocking. Over the course of the last few months, WWE has released several wrestlers, and now there are some even bigger names released than before. According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com, WWE has released the following wrestlers from their contracts: Braun Strowman Aleister Black Ruby Riott Lana Santana Garrett Buddy Murphy This comes after several wrestlers were released on April 15. There is no word on how many more wrestlers could be released today or in the coming days. Black has commented on his release, implying that he did not see it coming. Fightful has learned the following WWE wrestlers have been released. – Braun Strowman – Aleister Black – Ruby Riott – Lana – Santana Garrett – Buddy Murphy — Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 2, 2021 Im gathering my..

Two More Matches Confirmed For NXT Takeover: In Your House

June 2, 2021 • Admin

Doubling up. We are less than two weeks away from Takeover: In Your House and that means it is time to start getting the card built up in a hurry. This is the kind of thing that NXT can do rather well, as they know how to set up a card without much notice. It helps when the shows are usually only about five matches long, so getting in two matches at once can be a big step. That was the case this week, twice. WWE has announced two more matches for Takeover: In Your House. The first new match confirmed for the show is Mercedes Martinez vs. Xia Li in a grudge match. This comes after Li marked Martinez as her next target last month. Martinez them challenged Li to a match, saying that she has been a marked woman for her entire career. If she does not wrestle before Takeover, this will be Li’s first match since March 31. Next up is an NXT Women’s Title match as Ember Moon will challenge Raquel Gonzalez. Moon issued the challenge during this week’s television show and will face Gonzalez’s p..

KB’s Review: And Then What?

June 2, 2021 • Admin

If you have watched any WWE programming in the last week or two, you will probably be pretty familiar with the news that the company is going back on the road in the middle of July. After more than a year away from fans or any location outside of Florida, it is off to Texas for a weekend of shows and then on throughout the country as things begin to return to normal. This is some pretty awesome news, but it does make me wonder what happens next on Monday nights. Monday Night Raw has ranged from watchable to pretty dreadful to downright horrendous since the Florida exile began. There have been the occasional bright spots here and there, but there have been far more negatives than positives. Some of the storylines have been flat out stupid and there have been a lot of things that would not work in the greatest eras the company has ever seen. There is not much of a way around this and it has been pretty hard to watch at times. But don’t worry, because the fans are coming back to save ev..

Monday Night Raw Changed Due To Segment Running Extra Long

June 2, 2021 • Admin

Get your watches fixed. WWE has a lot of television to fill every single week and that can create more than a few problems. This includes finding something to do with the time every week, which is a little more difficult than it might seem. Monday Night Raw runs three hours a week and sometimes the planned schedule might not even work out, which was the case this time. According to PWInsider.com, the opening segment of this week’s Monday Night Raw ran eight to ten minutes longer than originally planned. There is no word on what caused the segment to run as long as expected. As a result, various parts of the show had to be changed around to make up for the time difference, though the main event went on as originally planned. The opening segment of the show was built around MizTV, with Miz and John Morrison talking about Miz being attacked by zombies at WrestleMania Backlash. After Morrison talked about the various precautions he had taken against Miz, Rhea Ripley and Charlotte came to..

Interesting Note On Monday Night Raw Main Event

June 2, 2021 • Admin

That’s one way to do it. There are different ways to present a wrestling match and some of them involve changes that fans are not going to notice. Certain parts of the match are only going to be able to be felt by the people involved in the match itself, which may not always be the best thing. That was the case this week during the main event of Monday Night Raw, which was a bit more intense than it seemed. According to PWInsider.com, Monday’s match between Drew McIntyre and Kofi Kingston was said to have been in a “pretty stiff manner” as the two wanted to get the match’s importance across. This included a superkick to McIntyre, which left a bruise above his right eye. There is nothing to suggest any issues about the match of the match between the two of them. The two met in a rematch from the previous week’s #1 contenders match, which resulted in a double disqualification. As a result, the two needed to meet again in another #1 contenders match. McIntyre went on to win the match, e..

WWE Roster Undergoing Special Training Before Return To Touring

June 2, 2021 • Admin

It isn’t a bad idea. The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way the wrestling world works but things are starting to come back to normal. Both AEW and WWE will be back to a touring schedule over the summer, meaning that fans will be back in attendance for the first time in a very good while. That is going to be a big change and now WWE is trying to get its wrestlers ready. According to PWInsider.com, Vince McMahon has ordered the WWE roster to report to the Performance Center for mandatory workouts before they return to live touring in July. The workouts could begin as early as next week and will included drills and possible matches to sharpen skills. They will take place on days when wrestlers are not set to appear on television. Reaction to the workouts have been mixed, as some do not like using an off day for such workouts, while others feel that they need the extra practice. Everyone from main eventers to lower card wrestlers will be attending. WWE has announced that they will ..