Rampage Taping Spoilers
Here are your spoilers for this Friday's edition of Rampage, taped on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at the Key Bank Center in Buffalo: In a qualification match for the AEW World Championship tournament, Sammy Guevara beat Darby Allin with a GTH and with a little help...
Angle toasts milk, women highlight Raw in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH - Much had been made about Kurt Angle's triumphant return to Monday Night RAW. The one-time Olympic Champion and WWE Hall of Famer most recently had been seen throwing out the first pitch at an Altoona Curve baseball game before the independent group there...
Smackdown taping spoilers: McIntyre gets his revenge
WWE heads overseas to Cardiff, Wales next week for Clash at the Castle and in turn the final two episodes of Smackdown were taped consecutively in Detroit, Michigan on August 26th. Building towards WWE’s September 3 premium live event, Little Caesars Arena harbored...
What You Didn’t See on Raw: Edge talks retirement
When Raw went off the air from the Scotiabank Arena, Edge addressed the fans in attendance and his career in WWE. "I am getting too old for this!" he joked to the crowd after defeating Damian Priest of Judgment Day. "I am kidding. I am still kicking ass!" he laughed....
WWE in Ottawa a welcome return
OTTAWA – The last time I attended a pro wrestling event was four years ago. The venue was a run-down Knights of Columbus hall. The headliner was Teddy Hart who was making his umpteenth comeback from personal trouble. Obviously, a lot of s@@t has gone down in those...
Mat Matters: Blood and Guts becomes a family affair
The first time I took my son, Jack, to watch professional wrestling was on December 15, 2014, for Monday Night Raw at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. He was ten years old, the perfect age for the spectacle of a live professional wrestling event. It was a...
Blood and Guts violence appreciated at AEW in Detroit
DETROIT - The Midwest has habitually harbored All Elite Wrestling (AEW) shows throughout the promotion’s young three-year tenure - particularly Chicago at an almost upsetting frequency. But following yet another Chicago date, ironically, AEW at last came to Detroit,...
George Tahinos’ AEW Forbidden Door photo gallery
SlamWrestling.net's George Tahinos was at the Allstate Arena, in Chicago, Sunday, June 26 2022, as AEW presented the Forbidden Door pay-per-view with stars from New Japan Pro Wrestling. Here's his photo gallery from the event. For more of George's photos, visit his...
Rampage fans were pulling for Statlander, not Soho
LAS VEGAS - The final of the Owen Hart Foundation women’s tournament is now set for Sunday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view show, but for many fans in attendance at Friday’s Rampage show the wrong person will be taking on Britt Baker. All Elite Wrestling took over the...
Crowd in Vegas red-hot for Wardlow-MJF
LAS VEGAS - On a night when All Elite Wrestling celebrated its third anniversary, the biggest news coming out of Wednesday’s Dynamite show was the promotion’s future plans for Double or Nothing and the west coast. AEW president and CEO Tony Khan spoke to fans in...
GCW brings High Incident scaffold match to Detroit
Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) returned to Detroit, Michigan on April 23 with The Old Me, a card headlined by a scaffold match spectacle between Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner and Matthew Justice) and the Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe). A towering...
Pittsburgh crowd turns on Guevara & Conti, Britt Baker is Teflon
PITTSBURGH - Before Wednesday night's Rampage from the Peterson Event Center in Pittsburgh Wednesday night, Virgil walked amongst the crowd. He was spotted near the line in which Sammy Guevara and real-life gal pal Tay Conti were happily taking pictures with fans who...
New Japan in Chicago: A brand new perspective
Text by CHRIS JONES, photos by RICKY HAVLIK VILLA PARK, Illinois - This is a story from wrestling's newest fan told by a first time viewer. I only heard about wrestling in the late 1990s but never really grasped the concept until one day you I had a long time fan tell...
Supercard of Honor proves ROH is in transition
GARLAND, Texas — Less than four months ago, Ring of Honor appeared to be on the brink of extinction. The Final Battle pay-per-view in December 2021 seemed like a goodbye for most. The future was, at best, uncertain. Even with Supercard of Honor announced, it was...
Mat Matters: Old friend, new to wrestling
We all have them. Those friends. You know, the ones that don't watch wrestling, don't know much about it, and humor you a little when you talk about it. So imagine my surprise when one of those friends suggested we go to a local wrestling show. And by local, I do mean...
WWE Toronto house show fun for kids of all ages
TORONTO - As someone who writes about wrestling on the internet, it can be really easy at times to be negative. Whether it’s knocking the creative direction of a storyline, nitpicking every little mistake in a match, or questioning who is or isn’t getting a push,...
Randi West experiences horror at Horror Slam
DETROIT - Michigan independent promotion Horror Slam Pro Wrestling recently held its Murder City Deathmatch Cup tournament, spanning two days on March 17 and March 18, in Brownstown, Michigan at Victory Gym. Yes, the event was precisely the absurd and extreme set of...
Mat Matters: A Timbit-y return to the Ontario indy scene
My home province, Ontario, has been one of the strictest jurisdictions in North America as far as COVID-related rules. I'm not complaining. Generally, I felt safe and protected through the pandemic. No one enjoyed the lockdowns and the restrictions, but it is what it...
Photographer’s Eye: Safety precautions before HorrorSlam
DETROIT - Last Friday, February 18, my son and I were looking for something to do. He gets bored easily, so an evening at the Ford Museum or a Pistons basketball game were out. Instead we attended an indy wrestling card by HorrorSlam Pro Wrestling, held in Brownstown,...
Violence, Cardona rule the day at GCW in Detroit
Heading into Game Changer Wrestling’s (GCW) loaded event in Detroit, Michigan, the promotion’s top heel Matt Cardona took to Twitter in disparagement of the city: a “B town,” he negatively asserted. Cardona’s maligning continued on the microphone, but instead of...
A wrestling veteran hits first AEW show
RALEIGH, NC -- I attended my first live wrestling show in February 1970 at the War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA. This was the old Pittsburgh territory and featured a main event of Bruno Sammartino and The Battman versus Ivan Koloff and Professor Toru Tanaka. There...
Mat Matters: NXT live now checked off my bucket list
Winter here in Detroit, Michigan is one cold and depressing affair, which customarily causes us Michiganders to migrate south to Florida during the holiday season. Now, any sane person chooses Disney World or Universal Studios as their Orlando, Florida destination...
WWE postpones Toronto show
WWE's Holiday Live house show that was to take place this Wednesday, December 29th, has been rescheduled to Sunday, March 27th, 2022. The announcement was made on the Coca-Cola Coliseum's website earlier today. WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus was scheduled to host the...
NWA USA is on its way
ATLANTA -- The National Wrestling Alliance is launching a new show, to be available on YouTube, called NWA USA. The first season of the new show was taped on Friday, December 3rd, in Atlanta, at the Georgia Public Broadcasting center, just a few blocks from where...
Live Full Gear had an ‘electric atmosphere’
MINNEAPOLIS - There’s no debating All Elite Wrestling has set a high bar with its pay-per-view events. Each one seems to have just the right mix of matches, which almost are, at worst, good, and at best, all-time classics. Saturday’s Full Gear certainly fit right in....
Guest column: My hero, Brad McFarlin
By LEONARD BRAND - For SlamWrestling.net TAYLOR, Mich. -- There is an old saying that tells us "Never meet your heroes," but Friday night I got to see from ringside how someone named "Brad" was always a hero to me and someone I had admired for over four decades. Going...
All Out live was a major grand slam
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — The forbidden door has firmly been kicked open. If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: All Elite Wrestling has the professional wrestling world feeling some type of way. All Out on Sunday saw the roof blow off the building with the promotional...
Live SummerSlam an ‘abject failure’
LAS VEGAS — Traveling for professional wrestling shows is somewhat of a hobby for me. This marks nine straight WWE stadium shows I’ve attended, dating back to WrestleMania 32. Even through all those marathon Manias, through the good, the bad and the ugly, none have...
Live Punk’s return a ‘special moment in time’
CHICAGO — In our sport, there are moments that transcend time. Friday at the United Center was one of those moments as the worst-kept secret in professional wrestling was revealed. CM Punk made his long-awaited return to the sport after a seven-plus year absence in...
Live, Pittsburgh Rampage show just flies by
EDITOR'S NOTE: This report may contain spoilers for upcoming AEW shows. PITTSBURGH -- AEW Ring Announcer Dasha Gonzalez introduced promotion owner Tony Khan as “The Man Who Saved Wrestling” prior to the launch of “Rampage” Friday Night at the Peterson...
Full Gear in person: Great action, too many COVID concerns
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nobody said putting on live wrestling shows in the middle of a global pandemic was going to be easy. All told, All Elite Wrestling has handled things very well. No COVID-19 outbreaks among its roster, producing a compelling television show most...
‘Hot Sauce’ Tracy Williams wants ROH’s Pure Title in the spotlight
There’s nothing better than a battle to determine who is the best of the best, right? Authentic, classic wrestling that ends with one grappler coming out on top. Ring of Honor’s Pure Title Tournament may have taken a hiatus the last 14 years, but one of the...
NJPW youngster Shota Umino shines in final match before UK lockdown
I tracked down the Shooter Shota Umino at a bingo hall in Wales, and saw him wrestle in front of 250 people at a bingo hall in Cardiff. It was surreal. At the time nobody knew either that it would be his last match for the foreseeable future as the United Kingdom...
Alexia Nicole new Femmes Fatales Women’s Champion
Once a three-time title holder, Mercedez Martinez called herself Femmes Fatales Women’s Champion when she defeated Jordynne Grace at The Summit last August. Now that she has signed with WWE’s NXT that could only mean one thing: a new champion must be named. At Femmes...
Top 5 Moments at IMPACT’s Motown Showdown
BELLEVILE, Mich. - One night following the No Surrender iPPV from Dayton, Ohio, IMPACT Wrestling road tripped to Belleville, Michigan, for its annual Motown Showdown. Streaming live on Twitch from the illustrious Diamondback Saloon, Sunday's event packed a few hundred...
SmackDown Live in Buffalo: A story of Buffalove and a father’s love
There were a couple of interesting stories for me to follow at The Keybank Centre in Buffalo as SmackDown Live rolled in to town -- and I speak of neither the Saudi Arabian flight delay nor the NXT invasion. Instead, this was a night of feel-good stories, in that...
Baker brings Brittsburgh to AEW, Jericho, Cody and Dustin Rhodes highlight Steel City debut
PITTSBURGH - All Elite Wrestling Dynamite made a historic showing at Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus. The AEW show (the fourth since its TNT debut) was the first professional wrestling event in the venue's 17-year history and...
Top 5 Moments at ROH Global Wars Espectacular
DEARBORN, Mich. -- Ring of Honor held its first night of the Global Wars tour in the Ford Community Center of Dearborn, Mich. -- a suburb of Detroit. This venue has been home to many notorious ROH moments including Kevin Owens' final ROH match and Hangman Page joining...
Thoughts from the crowd at All Out
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. - As I sat in the stands during All Elite Wrestling's sophomore pay-per-view effort, All Out, on Saturday night at Sears Centre Arena, I couldn't help but be almost stunned. North American wrestling is fun again. This isn't an indictment against...
Top 5 Moments at EVOLVE 133
EVOLVE 133 packed the Monaghan Knights of Columbus in Livonia, MI for the hall's biggest crowd yet. Fans lined up around the building to meet-and-greet the likes of Tomasso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, and Austin Theory, while anticipating a big night of action. Saturday's...
Bull Nakano steals the show at The Summit
TORONTO - It's never been a more exciting time to be a female wrestler in the business today. The women's evolution far extends the boundaries of the WWE; independent promotions all over the world are producing high quality female athletes. However, if it weren't for...
Brutal Ladder War highlights ROH Summer Supercard
TORONTO - ROH mainstays Mark and Jay Briscoe managed to narrowly retain their ROH World Tag Team Championships after fending off the Guerillas of Destiny in the tenth-ever ROH Ladder Wars match. The two ROH brothers left the match bloody and bruised and brought the...
Top 5 Moments at EVOLVE 127
EVOLVE 127 took over the Monaghan KOC Hall of Livonia in Michigan. EVOLVE packed the building to witness the headlining, non-title bout of NXT’s Adam Cole against EVOLVE's Champion Austin Theory. Friday night’s show also included a variety of NXT and Evolve stars...
ROH’s War of the Worlds Toronto: The Kingdom cheat their way to a win
TORONTO - PCO became a big crowd favorite at ROH’s War of the Worlds when he came close to defeating Matt Taven, the current ROH world champion. However, members of the Kingdom interfered to cause PCO the ROH world championship. PCO versus Matt Taven for the ROH world...
Femmes Fatales show a celebration of LuFisto
QUEBEC CITY - Saturday night's Femmes Fatales card was a tribute to those who paved the way for the younger generation to live their dreams of being in the squared circle. LuFisto is one of those women, and last night was the Wounded Owl's last match in Quebec City....
Live, Raw shake-up leaves plenty in wonder
MONTREAL - The night started like any other Monday Night Raw, the crowd going wild in preparation for a night of the unknown. Everyone knew there was going to be some changes made to the roster, and they were ready. Signs reading "We want Kofi" or "AJ Styles come to...
Matt’s NYC diary: It’s a great time to be a wrestling fan
NEW YORK -- Never before in history has it been better to be a fan of professional wrestling. It was a thought I had prior, but after these last two days in the Big Apple, I've become 100% convinced it is the case. Whether it's an increase in talent levels, more...
EVOLVE 125 brings together NXT, Japan, and a major Theory
NEW YORK - There's always a first, and on Thursday at noon, the first of a number of wrestling shows during a busy weekend at La Boom took place, EVOLVE 125, and it had a decided NXT feel to it, with a touch of Japan thrown in. The main event of the show had Kyle...
Matt’s NYC diary: WrestleCon Supershow full of whooos and wows
NEW YORK -- The biggest weekend of the year for the professional wrestling world kicked off in a big way Thursday night. A night full of hard hitting, high flying action mixed in with a healthy dose of surprises led to another successful edition of the WrestleCon...
WWE puts on a sweet show in Hershey, PA
Hershey, Pennsylvania bills itself as "The Sweetest Place on Earth" and it is, unless you are WWE superstar Elias. Hershey may have left a bitter taste in his mouth Sunday night, as WWE stopped in Chocolatetown, USA for a house show. Elias was interrupted several...
