Indian Pro Wrestling Base

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?
Hell in a Cell 2016
Date: October 30, 2016
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
It’s the annual “scary” show as we have three matches inside the Cell. In this case we’ve got Rusev challenging Roman Reigns for the US Title, Kevin Owens defending the Raw World Title against Seth Rollins and, possibly, a main event of Charlotte going after Sasha Banks’ Women’s Title. If that’s true, it’s the biggest match in the history of women’s wrestling. Let’s get to it..

Another homecoming. There have been several changes to WWE’s roster in recent months and they moves continue all over the company. Wrestlers have been coming and going from one roster to the other, along with a bunch of wrestlers coming back to WWE after a hiatus for one reason or another. Now WWE has announced that another name will be coming back to the company.
This week on Monday Night Raw, a vignette announced that Elias will be returning to television next week. This will be Elias’ first appearance in an arena in over two months after his alter ego Ezekiel was injured at the hands of Kevin Owens, putting him out of action. There is nothing to suggest that Ezekiel or any other characters played by Elias will be joining him. Elias has not wrestled a match as Elias since July 19, 2021.
Opinion: This is a good sign, as the Ezekiel experiment only got him so far and there was only so much that could be done with the idea. It didn’t help that Ezekiel’s entire character was focused ar..

They should be happy. WWE puts on a lot of events every year and it can be difficult to have something stand out. There are only so many ways to make that work though and WWE has to strive to make it work. One of the best ways to be ahead of the pack is to be a big success and WWE seems to be rather happy with their most recent major show, perhaps more than ever.
Over the weekend, WWE presented their annual Extreme Rules event. According to Wrestlinginc.com, WWE sent out an internal memo celebrating the event’s success. The event was said to be the highest grossing Extreme Rules as well as the most viewed Extreme Rules of all time. The show was headlined by Seth Rollins vs. Matt Riddle inside the Fight Pit and the reveal of the White Rabbit, who wound up being a returning Bray Wyatt.
Opinion: I can see why the show was so viewed, as WWE set up something interesting with the White Rabbit reveal and then told the fans to tune in to see what was going on. That is a great way to draw int..

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 10, 2022
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Corey Graves, Kevin Patrick
It’s the season premiere and that means we should have a stacked show. WWE has a tendency to make these shows huge and that is the case again this week. We have a D-Generation X reunion, plus Bobby Lashley defending the United States Title against Seth Rollins. Let’s get to it.
Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg and X-Pac are in the back and talk to HHH, wearing a headset at the Gorilla position. HHH tells them to be nice so a bunch of swearing and penis jokes, complete with rubber chickens, ensues.
Opening sequence.
Kevin Patrick is introduced as the new lead play by play commentator.
Here’s the Bloodline to get things going. After we look at the Logan Paul/Bloodline Smackdown segment, Reigns talks about how he likes to move forward. This time though, he can’t move past last Friday, which has him thinking about something his dad once told him. His dad said t..

There is some more to it. AEW has quite the talented roster of stars and it makes sense for the company to want to lock up some of the more important members for as long as they can. In some cases this involves adding some extra responsibilities to their workload, which was the situation for one of AEW’s top stars. Now we know some more about how everything will go from here.
Earlier this month, AEW President Tony Khan announced that AEW World Champion Jon Moxley had signed a new five year contract with the company. The new deal would make Moxley exclusive to AEW and its international partners while also giving Moxley coaching and mentorship responsibilities. There is no word on what kind of mentorship would be included.
According to Fightful Select, Moxley’s status with promotions like GCW and Pro Wrestling Revolver is not clear, though he reportedly insisted on finishing up with GCW over the weekend. AEW’s the Firm appeared at the show to help Nick Gage take the GCW World Title fro..

He who hath the gold. There are a lot of titles in WWE and some of them are among the most famous in all of wrestling. Winning such titles can make a hue difference for anyone, even if they have held the gold before. It means something to see a title change hands under any circumstances, and that took place again this week, albeit with some shenanigans before the match.
Brock Lesnar made his return to Monday Night Raw this week and took out reigning United States Champion Bobby Lashley. Immediately following the attack, Seth Rollins came tot he ring for his scheduled United States Title shot. Rollins would go on to win the title in less than three minutes, defeating the previously injured Lashley with the Stomp. This is Rollins’ second reign with the title, which he previously held for 28 days in 2015. Both title wins came in the Barclays Center in New York City.
Opinion: WWE telegraphed the win a bit but this was the kind of title change that makes things interesting. Lashley has be..

The big one is back. There are very few wrestlers who become attractions. Rather than being around full time and wrestling week in and week out, a select few names become such stars that they are able to appear every now and then for special moments. WWE has a few of them and one of them made a surprise return this week, with a fresh target seemingly in his sights.
Brock Lesnar returned to WWE this week, appearing on Monday Night Raw. Lesnar interrupted an in-ring promo from United States Champion Bobby Lashley before laying Lashley out. While not yet announced, there is a strong chance that this will be used to set up a match between the two. Lashley and Lesnar previously met at this year’s Royal Rumble, where Lashley defeated Lesnar to win the WWE Title. Lesnar last appeared for WWE at Summerslam.
Opinion: Lesnar vs. Lashley is one of those dream matches that hasn’t been run into the ground as of yet. It would absolutely not surprise me to see this as the co-main event of Crown Jew..

Welcome home. There is something exciting about a return in wrestling. A wrestler who comes back to a promotion where they have been before can make for a great moment, especially if they have been gone long enough. It makes for a great moment when you see someone back in a big way and that is exactly what took place this week on Monday Night Raw with two names at once.
This week on Monday Night Raw, AJ Styles said that he needed some help against Judgment Day, which brought out the returning OC, better known as the Good Brothers, comprised of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. The return was rumored earlier this week and brings the team, former Raw Tag Team Champions, back after a two plus year hiatus. Anderson is the reigning NEVER Openweight Champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling and it is not clear what this means for the title.
Opinion: This is something that makes sense, as Styles needs help against Judgment Day and WWE could use an established tag team. The OC have been successful a..

They’re back too? One of the major themes since the new regime has risen to power in WWE has been returning superstars. Wrestlers who have been gone from the company for months if not years have made their returns, occasionally in bigger positions than when they left. That has made for some major moments, and now we are likely in for another pair of returns.
According to PWInsider.com, the Good Brothers, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, are expected to return to WWE as soon as this month. The team will likely join the Monday Night Raw roster and reunite with AJ Styles, who has been having issues with the Judgment Day. This comes after The Good Brothers left Impact Wrestling back in August. The team was released from WWE in April 2020 after a four year run with the company.
Opinion: This is another return that will be more than a bit surprising, but it could be nice to see. The Good Brothers are one of the more talked about teams over the last few years and they bring instant star power..

He has a fan. There are some very talented stars on the WWE roster who never get the chance that they deserve. For one reason or another, they are often either left on the sidelines or used as little more than someone to put over bigger stars. Oftentimes they need someone to go to bat for them and now one such star has gotten an endorsement from a top name.
New SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey participated in a live stream on her YouTube channel earlier this week. At one point during the stream, Rousey mentioned fellow WWE star Mustafa Ali, calling him “amazingly talented” and “athletic”, saying he comes up with some great sequences. Ali has been used infrequently on WWE TV in recent months, with his most recent appearance coming last week on Monday Night Raw.
Opinion: Rousey is certainly right about Ali’s talent but I don’t know if that is going to be enough to make him into the next big thing in WWE. For whatever reason, he has never been able to break through and get a seri..

They might have a new problem. The last year plus of WWE has been dominated by the Bloodline. The group has dominated almost anyone who has come in front of them and there are only a few names left who can come up against them. It means something for a star to face off of them and now another former champion seems ready to come after the all star team.
Last week on SmackDown, Ricochet faced Solo Sikoa. Prior to the show, Ricochet gave an interview backstage where he talked about being sick of the Bloodline. Ricochet spoke about how he wanted to take out all of the teams, beginning with Sikoa that night. Sikoa defeated Ricochet in the match and it is not clear if Ricochet will continue to go after the Bloodline in the coming weeks.
He had something to say. Check out Ricochet’s words against the Bloodline:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Opinion: I could absolutely go for more of Ricochet, but it doesn’t exactly offer the best sign if he is losing in his first match after m..

Fare thee well. One of the most interesting things in wrestling is when a wrestler leaves a promotion. It opens up several doors as fans are left wondering who is going where and what they might do when they get to their next destination. That is one of the most exciting things in wrestling and now there will be some new free agents on the market all at once.
According to PWInsider.com, four Impact Wrestling stars are done with the company as of this weekend’s television tapings. Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis and Vincent have all finished up with the company as their contracts have expired. The four had all been part of the Honor No More stable. There is no word on where any of the four will be going next.
Opinion: That is one of those changes that can make for some very interesting next steps. There is some star power in this group and now the question becomes where they go next. With so may places to go, we get to find out who is interested in some talented stars. Severa..