professional-wrestling Page 10 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

C’mon AEW, give us an intergender match
There’s a picture of Kris Statlander and Adam Cole from last week’s Dynamite that’s been the basis for a lot of chatter on Twitter lately. It’s led to a lot of fans calling for something simple, something totally possible, and yet something not ever considered by the company itself:...

WWE veered a little close to Nazism last night
Bemoaning the impact of Vince McMahon and Bruce Pritchard on NXT has been done in many places, including this one. For some, it is truly sad to see what was once a unique and massively enjoyable product become yet another base for the boring, uncreative, and rote choices McMahon and Pritchard make w...

Teams are lining up to give Evander Kane his 34th chance
If we’re midway through another NHL season or thereabouts, it must mean that Evander Kane has fucked up in some way....

It’s been the best and worst of AEW this week
If a newcomer to the wrestling world wanted an exhibition on why AEW makes so much noise for such a new company in the industry, this past week would be it. It has showcased everything the company does well, as well as exemplified the problems it has, and more importantly how it addresses those prob...

When in doubt, more Brock Lesnar
You had a feeling when it was announced hours before Sunday’s Day 1 PPV premium live event that Roman Reigns had tested positive for COVID, and that Brock Lesnar was going to be moved to the Raw title match, what would happen. That feeling only grew when then-champion Big E delivered his backstage p...

No, you’re not getting worked by Cody Rhodes
I realize that I’m biased, being one of the louder and more consistent “Cody Sucks!” voices around. But if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s the idea that we just have to wait around and bow to the booking of major wrestling companies, and accept that they will all eventually come good and make ...

Some great wrestling matches from the year that was
That time again. This year’s list feels a little more genuine, as wrestling (outside of Japan at least) was able to get out of the TV-studio era and back in front of the crowds it so desperately needs. Whether that was or is a really good idea at the moment, we’ll save for another time. Trying to ju...

WWE finally wins one
The new addition to wrestling discourse in the past couple years, and this year especially with the raft of releases from WWE, is to dream of which wrestlers will go from WWE to AEW, whether by choice or by force. And also, to dream what they will do when they get there, to fantasy book your dream m...

They just give this to you for free
As I’ve said a few times, I’ve only been a wrestling fan again for about six years now. So while I’ve done my fair share of research and rewatching, my grip on wrestling history isn’t as strong as a lot of people’s....

Jeff Hardy was everyone’s favorite wrestler
If I told you I spent most of my freshman year of college doing The Hardy Boyz finger-guns entrance pose in the dorm hall with a couple buddies, A. you would hardly be shocked and B. I would only be one of several hundred thousand college freshmen in that year doing so. The main point of being a wre...

And just like that… (poof)... NXT is gone
It’s not that it was surprising. Back when WWE announced it was completely reshaping it’s junior brand, NXT, I wrote that it would be the end of what fans of the black and gold had come to love. I guess I’m just impressed (while simultaneously depressed) at how ruthlessly and efficiently it came to ...

WWE using its talent to propagandize layoffs is no less gross than the layoffs themselves
WWE’s writers have never had a problem importing strife from real life into its storylines. About the time I was getting back into the whole thing, Paige was referencing the death of Charlotte Flair’s brother in the build-up to a match between the two. Jeff Hardy’s problems with drinking and getting...

So what is WWE’s plan for Roman Reigns?
I’ll admit to watching Survivor Series last night hoping that it would be an unmitigated disaster. Through WWE’s terrible promotion and build to the event, spiced with the disheartening and cold releases of wrestlers due to “budget cuts” even though the company keeps trumpeting record profits, there...

Even WWE wrestlers think <em>Survivor Series</em> sucks
Generally, the fall has always been the downtime on the WWE calendar. Before SmackDown on Friday nights became the A-show, WWE was happy to cede the floor to Monday Night Football and let its booking from September through the end of the year get even lazier and more banal than it normally is, which...

AEW must not confuse bloat with genius
Because I know how hardcore AEW fans get, and I’m one of them, let me get this out of the way at the top. I do not think Saturday night’s Full Gear PPV was bad. Far from it. It was good. Maybe even very good. And any show that ends with the culmination of the two-year Hangman Page storyline is by de...

AEW <em>Full Gear</em>: Fantastic <em>All Out</em> could look like a community board meeting compared to this
I’m not sure how AEW has put together a card that is the equal, or maybe even better than All Out in September. But this Full Gear one could easily surpass it. The stories are a little more fleshed out, and it also has Bryan Danielson in the ring instead of just making his debut. This has a chance t...

WWE and pro wrestling have always needed a union, but will it ever happen?
Talk of unionizing professional wrestling pops up at least once a year, with it usually coming on the heels of another needless round of WWE releases due to “budget cuts” like my colleague Sam Fels wrote about regarding their most recent cuts last week....

How do you screw up someone like Keith Lee?
If it feels like I come here every four to six weeks or so to bemoan WWE’s latest release and wonder how they could waste such a talent so thoroughly that they’re simply discarded like the recycling, it’s kind of because I do. We could do this all day, and by now you probably already have your own l...

Bryan Danielson is making me feel like I didn’t miss anything
As I’ve written in the past, I got back into wrestling in 2015 because of (then) Daniel Bryan. Thing was, I didn’t get to see him wrestle. Ok, once, in WrestleMania 31’s opening ladder match, which was the usual spot-fest between seven different guys. And he did win that, but it wasn’t the best show...

Boy… Charlotte Flair sounds like a barrel of kittens
Backstage drama in professional wrestling is part of the charm, given that it usually finds its way into their on-screen storytelling. Reading about rumors and whispers in the business becomes a major staple for a lot of fans. But still, like sports, when things from backstage and in the locker room...