News

WWE Announces New Title Match For This Week’s Crown Jewel

November 2, 2022 • Admin

Put it on the list. We are less than a week away from Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on November 5. The show will be one of the biggest that WWE will present this year and that means WWE will be wanting to boost the card up as much as possible. That is what they will be doing again as they have added another title match, this one a rematch from a recent title change. This week on NXT, it was announced that new Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Asuka will defend their titles against Damage Ctrl’s Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai. Bliss and Asuka defeated Damage Ctrl to win the titles earlier this week on Monday Night Raw, meaning the Crown Jewel title match will be their first defense. This is the fourth title match announced for the show. Opinion: This is a nice match to add to the card and spice it up a bit, as anything involving a title is going to feel important. The titles having just changed hands in the first place earlier in the week means it is going to have a story built in so e..

BREAKING: NXT Releases Five Superstars

November 1, 2022 • Admin

They didn’t quite make it. WWE has a lot of resources available to use, with the NXT developmental system being one of the strongest. The company is able to build up its next generation of stars in-house, meaning they know what they are getting before the callups. Not everyone can make it though, as wrestlers can be released from NXT, which is what has taken place again. PWInsider.com is reporting five more releases from NXT. The names released include: Bodhi Hayward Sloane Jacobs Erica Yan Damaris Griffin Ru Feng Hayward is the most prominent name on the list of released names, having been the main student at Andre Chase University until Duke Hudson took his place. Jacobs had been a semi regular in the NXT women’s division and had made semi-regular appearances on NXT television. There is no word on if more releases are coming. Opinion: It is never nice to see wrestlers being released, but sometimes WWE has to clear out room to bring in some new stars. That seems to be the case aga..

WATCH: Rhea Ripley Messes With A Fan At WWE Live Event

November 1, 2022 • Admin

That’s a different one. Fans are among the most important parts of any wrestling show as you need someone watching to make something matter. They can be at home or in the arena, but the latter gets a more special situation. Sometimes that is not as good as it might sound though, and that was the case for a fan at a recent live event, thanks to a certain WWE star. During a recent Sunday Night Stunner live event in Mexico City, Rhea Ripley was knocked to the floor and landed near the barricade. Before getting up, Ripley reached into the crowd and untied a fan’s shoelaces. Other fans can be heard laughing at what Ripley did as she rolled away from the barricade. Ripley was in Damian Priest’s corner this week on Monday Night Raw. This was pretty great. Check out what Ripley did to a fan: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: What you have here is a prime example of what makes live events special. It is something that you probably couldn’t get away with during a televised s..

WRESTLING RUMORS: Top WWE Star Teases Babyface Turn On Monday Night Raw

November 1, 2022 • Admin

That’s a big change. There are a lot of ways to change things up for a wrestler, some of which can be quite drastic. While that can include a complete repackaging with almost everything being changed, the more common answer is to turn them from either good to bad or bad to good. While it might not be the case in full, we might have been seeing quite the major change. This week on Monday Night Raw, United States Champion Seth Rollins defeated Austin Theory. During the match, Rollins appeared with his old two colored hair style and also wrestled a cleaner style without using his usual cheating methods. While not confirmed, this could suggest that Rollins is shifting more towards a babyface turn after years as a heel. There is no word on WWE making a full fledged turn at the moment. Opinion: I’m not sure what to think about this, as while Rollins is someone who can work well in either style, the idea of such a sudden change is a little jarring. Rollins has been such a despicable villain..

REVIEW: New Texas Pro: Texas Till I Die: The Smaller Form

November 1, 2022 • 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? Texas Till I Die Date: April 3, 2022 Location: St. Jude Hall, Arlington, Texas Commentators: Chris Russo, Sammy Cassel This is from New Texas Pro, which as you might guess is a local Texas promotion which ran some events over Wrestlemania XXXVIII weekend. I’m not sure what to expect from this show but there are some talented names on the card. Shows like this can go in a few different ways and hopefully this one works out well. Let’s get to it. As you might have gathered, I don’t follow the promotion so I apologi..

Positive Sign For Sasha Banks/WWE Relationship

November 1, 2022 • Admin

That’s a positive sign. There has been a lot of change on the WWE roster this year with several wrestlers coming and going from the company. Unfortunately some of them are leaving on less than great terms, leaving their future with WWE in a bit of doubt. However, as of this weekend, some of those terms might be heading in a more positive direction after a recent live event. According to F4WOnline.com, Sasha Banks was a guest of WWE at their live event over the weekend in Mexico City. Banks was spending time with Bayley and AAA wrestler Mamba, with the two going to a restaurant and a bar. While not confirmed, this would suggest that WWE and Banks are on good terms at the moment. Banks has not appeared for WWE since May 20 when she and Naomi walked out of Monday Night Raw. Opinion: I’m not sure what is next for Banks, but at least there does seem to be something moving in the right direction. Banks has been gone for WWE for the better part of six months now and the question now is when..

LOOK: Seth Rollins Switches Back To Classic Appearance On Monday Night Raw

November 1, 2022 • Admin

Call it a flashback? There are several aspects that come together to make a wrestler into a star. While a good many of them come together when someone is in the ring or on the microphone, there are some aspects that you can see just by looking at a wrestler. The “look” is one of the most important qualities a wrestler can have and now one of the bigger stars in WWE has changed their look. This week on Monday Night Raw, Seth Rollins defeated Austin Theory in a singles match. Rollins wrestled the match while sporting a different appearance than usual, as he had dyed part of his hair blond rather than the usual all black look. The changed look is more similar to Rollins’ original look when he was part of the Shield. There is no word on why Rollins made the change or if this is a permanent switch. It’s pretty notable. Check out an image from last week and this week: IMG Credit: WWE IMG Credit: WWE Opinion: I’m not sure what is going on with Rollins here but it wouldn’t surprise me if th..

Two Missing Monday Night Raw Stars Make Surprise Returns This Week

November 1, 2022 • Admin

They’re back. With so many people on the WWE roster, it can be difficult to keep track of everyone. That means there can be issues with finding something for someone to do, but occasionally they are going to slip through the cracks. This can occasionally include wrestlers not being around for a long time, but now two missing stars have made a surprise return. Alexa Bliss and Asuka made surprise returns this week on Monday Night Raw, saving Bianca Belair from a beatdown at the hands of Damage Ctrl. The team would challenge Damage Ctrl to a Women’s Tag Team Title match later in the night and go on to win the championships. This was their first appearance since the October 3 edition of Monday Night Raw, when Damage Ctrl injured Asuka. During Asuka’s time away, Bliss had wrestled on live events but not on television. Opinion: It’s good to see the two of them back, as their absence was notable on Monday Night Raw. Throw in them winning the titles and it was quite the night for the team, w..

Title Change Takes Place In Monday Night Raw Main Event

November 1, 2022 • Admin

History has been made! There are a lot of titles in the wrestling world today and some of them have been around for a very long time. However, there are also some that do not have the same kind of history as they have not had the same length of time to be built up. Those titles have to be built up over the years and now one of them is gaining another rung in its history. The WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles changed hands this week on Monday Night Raw, with Alexa Bliss and Asuka defeating Damage Ctrl’s Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai to win the titles when Bliss pinned Sky with Twisted Bliss. The win marks Bliss and Asuka’s first reign as champions and their third individual title reign each. Damage Ctrl’s loss ended their reign at 49 days after they won the titles on the September 12 Monday Night Raw. Opinion: This is the kind of title change that the championships need. If nothing else, there are teams fighting each other to win the titles, which is one of the best ways to make a title feel impor..

Monday Night Raw Results – October 31, 2022

November 1, 2022 • Admin

Monday Night Raw Date: October 31, 2022 Location: America Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves We’re on the way to Crown Jewel but first we need a big stop for Halloween. This is going to include the traditional Trick Or Street Fight, this time between Matt Riddle and Otis, but also an appearance from Roman Reigns. Hopefully it involves the Bloodline and not Logan Paul, but we might not be that lucky. Let’s get to it. Opening sequence. Bianca Belair vs. Nikki Cross Non-title. Belair drives her into the corner to start so Cross sticks her head out and shouts at Belair to hit her. That’s fine with Belair, who hammers away but gets taken outside for a tie up in the ring skirt as we take a break. Back with Belair managing a suplex but favoring her leg. Said leg is fine enough to hit the handspring moonsault but Cross grabs a choke. They crash out to the floor to break it up but here are Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai to distract the referee, allowing Bayley ..

Backstage News On AEW’s Trick To Save Money

October 31, 2022 • Admin

That sounds like a plan. There are a lot of things that go down throughout a wrestling show, including things that do not take place in front of the audience. That is the kind of thing that you see take place on any given show, but at the same time, it does not mean that you are seeing something take place as it seems. Now we know a bit more about how a major promotion makes this work. Fightful Select has some details on AEW’s backstage production setup. AEW reportedly films several of their backstage segments in advance rather than live in an effort to reduce travel costs. If a wrestler is only going to be at an event for a short backstage segment, it will be filmed in advance rather than bringing someone in for a full day. For example, Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland’s backstage segment in Cincinnati was filmed in Toronto the previous week to avoid bringing in Lee and Strickland for a brief moment of filming. Opinion: This is one of those totally logical concepts and I have no idea..

NXT LVL Up Results – October 28, 2022

October 31, 2022 • Admin

NXT LVL Up Date: October 28, 2022 Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida Commentators: Sudu Shah, Byron Saxton And here we go again, with more of the same batch of people having matches against each other over and over. There are very few people who can rise up the ranks (or Level/LVL Up if you will), save for maybe Miles Borne in the last few weeks. Maybe that ride continues this week so let’s get to it. Opening sequence. Stacks vs. Tank Ledger Tony D’Angelo is on commentary. Stacks bounces off of the bigger Ledger to start and it’s time to crank on the arm. Ledger runs him over with a shoulder and a slam sends Stacks outside. A kick to the face drops Ledger on the floor as D’Angelo invites Saxton to dinner next weekend. The chinlock doesn’t work very well for Stacks and the comeback is on including a running crossbody for two. Stacks is right back with some running shots to the face, setting up a running elbow drop for the pin at 5:41. Result: Stacks b. Tank Ledger ..

Former WWE Star: “I’m Responsible For AEW”

October 31, 2022 • Admin

Call it an assist? The rise of AEW has changed the way the wrestling world in a huge way. Rather than being dominated by WWE, the industry now has another style in AEW, which presents wrestling in a bit of a different way. That way was developed by a few different names coming together, but now another wrestling star is laying claim to coming up with the story that AEW is known for using. During an interview with Not Sam Wrestling, former WWE and AEW star Matt Cardona (better known as Zack Ryder) said that his previous efforts led to the rise of AEW and Being The Elite. Cardona said that his Z! True Long Island Story show caused the creation of Being The Elite, which led to the formation of AEW. Z! True Long Island Story debuted in February 2011 and ended in January 2013 after 100 episodes. Cardona wrestled a pair of matches with AEW in 2020. Opinion: It might sound like a big exaggeration but at the end of the day, Cardona did something that led to a major development in wrestling. ..

WRESTLING RUMORS: How Sami Zayn’s Story Has Slowed Kevin Owens’ Push

October 31, 2022 • Admin

One in front of another. We are currently in the middle of Roman Reigns’ WWE as there is no one close to his status or level of importance in the company. It has become a question of who can possibly take the Undisputed WWE Universal Title from him, or even give him a run for his money. Now another name is getting closer, but it turns out that his rise has slowed down someone else. Over the last few months, Sami Zayn has joined the Bloodline as an Honorary Uce, including interacting with Reigns on a semi regular basis. According to WrestleVotes in an interview with GiveMeSport, Zayn’s recent push has delayed the plans for Kevin Owens. The original plan called for Zayn to be involved with the Bloodline for three to four weeks but the popularity has caused it to be extended. Owens was scheduled to team with Zayn in some way, which is still expected to take place in the future. Opinion: this is frustrating for Owens fans but my goodness it is hard to ignore how popular Zayn is right now..

Emma Opens Up About WWE Return After Five Year Absence

October 31, 2022 • Admin

It’s good to be back. There have been a lot of stars returning to WWE in the last few months and those returns do not seem to be slowing down whatsoever. It can be a big deal when someone returns after months if not years away and that was the situation last week. Now the latest returning star is opening up about her return, as it was quite the special moment. Last Friday on SmackDown, Emma made a surprise return, answering Ronda Rousey’s open challenge in a losing effort. Emma has since responded to her return with both a tweet and an Instagram post. The latter is simply saying “home” while the Instagram post talks about how she left WWE nearly five years ago to the day before getting to return with some “unfinished business”. Home ?? — Tenille Dashwood (@TenilleDashwood) October 29, 2022 View this post on Instagram A post shared by WRESTLING | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE (@tenilledashwood) Opinion: It’s cool to see Emma back as she had been gone for so long that it made her return feel s..

VIDEO: WWE’s Top Ten Scariest Moments

October 31, 2022 • Admin

It’s a seasonal thing. We are in the Halloween season and that means you will be seeing a lot of spooky forms of entertainment. This is certainly the case with wrestling, which has a history of going a little far with its scarier stuff. WWE is no exception, as it has had several more out there characters over the years. Now the company is looking back at some of their better moments. WWE has released a top ten video looking at the Ten Scariest WWE Moments. The list goes back over thirty years and includes all kinds of scares, most of which took place in segments rather than in matches. Some of the names included are Edge, Bray Wyatt, Papa Shango and the Undertaker, though there are no entries from other promotions outside of WWE on the list. There is a lot here. Check out what made the list: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: This is the kind of thing that fits the season, but there are a few odd entries on the list. Several of the choices are modern options and sh..

WATCH: Sami Zayn Goes Full Roman Reigns On Braun Strowman

October 31, 2022 • Admin

That’s a different gimmick. There are all kinds of ways for a wrestler to get noticed, but most of the time they have their own unique way of doing things in the ring that will get them noticed. At the same time, there are occasions where a wrestler might try to do something that another star is already doing, often in some kind of tribute. That happened again this weekend, in a big way. WWE ran a live event in Glasgow, Scotland over the weekend, featuring a six man tag between New Day and Braun Strowman against the Usos and Sami Zayn. During the match, Zayn used Roman Reigns’ Superman Punch on Strowman and managed to knock him down. Zayn also tried the spear but missed, allowing Strowman to come back for the win. Using Reigns’ offense is something Zayn has done at live events but not on television as of yet. This was pretty good. Check out what Zayn managed to do to Strowman: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: I love seeing things like this as you get to see a fun ..

AEW Reportedly Signs Two More Big Names

October 31, 2022 • Admin

The strength grows. There are a lot of things that need to be done to make a wrestling company stronger and a lot of those changes involve the roster. Sometimes you need to boost things up a bit with some fresh talent, some of which are names that you have seen before. Now AEW seems to have bolstered its roster again by adding in some fresh names to its ranks. According to PWInsider.com, AEW has signed two stars to deals of some sort, though the lengths are not known. The first name is Juice Robinson, who is a former NXT star as well as a former New Japan Pro Wrestling United States Champion. Robinson appeared on the September 28 edition of AEW Dynamite, losing to Jon Moxley. The second name is Bandido, who is a former Ring Of Honor World Champion. Bandido lost to Chris Jericho in a Ring Of Honor World Title match on the September 28 edition of Dynamite. There is no word on when either will return to AEW TV. Opinion: Those would be two big names added to the AEW roster and that seems..

WATCH: Natalya Seems To No Sell Liv Morgan’s Offense Again At WWE Live Event

October 31, 2022 • Admin

That’s not a great look. Wrestling is a fairly simple concept, as wrestlers are tasked with making the fans believe that they are seeing a real contest between two wrestlers. That can be easier said than done at times as there are multiple ways to go about pulling it off. One of the most important aspects though is maintaining realism, with one star making that a bit more difficult this weekend. Over the weekend, WWE presented a live event in Glasgow, Scotland, featuring a triple threat street fight featuring Liv Morgan, Natalya and Shayna Baszler. Morgan hit a top rope backsplash on Natalya on a table for the win, but the table did not break. Following the pin, Natalya immediately rolled to the floor and left the arena, similar to what she did to Morgan at a live event earlier this year. There is no word on why Natalya left so abruptly. This isn’t the way things often go. Check out Natalya leaving so quickly: [This post contains video, click to play] Opinion: I’m not sure if there..

WWE Star Going International For Inter-Promotional “Miracle” Match

October 31, 2022 • Admin

An international guest star. WWE is the most well known wrestling company in the world and their stars are some of the biggest names in the history of wrestling. However, there are several other promotions out there with quite the history of their own with quite the series of legendary stars. Now a WWE star is going to get to go do something special with a legend from outside the company. Pro Wrestling Noah has announced that WWE’s Shinsuke Nakamura will be facing the Great Muta on January 1 in Tokyo, Japan. The match will be part of Muta’s retirement tour, which culminates later in the month. Nakamura has commented on the match on Twitter, calling it a “miracle”. The two have wrestled two singles matches before, with Muta winning both, including defeating Nakamura for the IWGP Heavyweight Title in 2008. On New Year's Day, fans will see pro wrestling's biggest dream match in 2023. 2023.1.1 ABEMA presents "NOAH: THE NEW YEAR 2023" at NIPPON BUDOKAN: GREAT MUTA vs. SHINSUKE..