Matty Breisch Articles - Page 153

When Athena made her way to AEW in May of 2022, it felt like a major get for a division lacking in strong, believable babyfaces capable of putting in big-time bouts against established heels like Britt Baker and Jade Cargill. On paper, Athena brought a lot to the table; she was incredibly seasoned due to […]

There was a time when a RAW or SmackDown performer turning up on NXT was like spotting a unicorn; the developmental brand was meant to be just that, a developmental brand, and sending down a ready-made star to compete against performers still learning the ropes was viewed as inappropriate within the company. When Kevin Owens […]

There isn’t a hotter yet more unclear story in wrestling today than William Regal’s status in AEW and/or WWE. Not since CM Punk, Ace Steel, Kenny Omega, and the Young Bucks, Nick and Matt Jackson, threw down in the back of the NOW Arena in the greater Chicagoland area has speculation run so high while […]

After a hard-hitting weekend of WarGames and a week of television that dealt with the corresponding fallout, the next chapter of WWE’s women’s division came into frame on Monday Night RAW, when not one but two matches were held in a mini-tournament to decide on the next contender for Bianca Balair’s championship. The festivities started […]

Heading into RAW, Mustafa Ali really wanted a chance to compete for the WWE United States Championship. He cut a filmed promo for Twitter where he detailed just how much the title would mean for him, including allusions to his time in High School during 9/11 and his time as a police officer in Chicago, […]

The most interesting AEW storyline that’s criminally absent from their TV programming just got even more interesting. AEW’s Dark/Dark Elevation shows can be fun, laid-back watches and a good chance to see talent pad out their win-loss records against up-and-comers and indie darlings. However, a continuing story of Matt Hardy, Private Party, Ethan Page, Stokely […]

2022 has been a big year for Brocks. Brock Lesnar had huge showings for WWE, including matches with Roman Reigns at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam, and Brock Purdy, the Iowa State quarterback who was drafted with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft, just became the starting quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, a […]

Becky Lynch really wanted to succeed as a heel in WWE. She changed up her hairstyle, raided Seth Rollins’ closet for all sorts of strange, angular, heelish costumes that would make David Bowie blush, and even talked down the crowd from time to time, but in the end, putting new Becky against Sasha Banks never […]

Folks, the House of Black is officially back in AEW and based on their initial goings-on within the promotion, it doesn’t look like the quartet are looking to simply work their way through the rankings and challenge for championship belts. No, from their macabre video packages to their absolute demolition of The Factory and the […]

When Colt Cabana returned to AEW for a match with Chris Jericho for the Ring of Honor World Championship, it marked “Boom Boom’s” first televised match in the promotion since all the way back on Thanksgiving 2021, when Bryan Danielson beat up the Chicago native in his hometown as part of his mission to defeat […]

As the Blackpool Combat Club seemingly falls apart at the seams, with William Regal reportedly leaving AEW for WWE, Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson on opposite sides of the “Gentleman Villain” divide, and Wheeler Yuta’s backup left up-in-the-air ahead of his match with Daniel Garcia at Ring of Honor Final Battle, Claudio Castagnoli sat down […]

FTR are arguably the most important tag team in professional wrestling right now. Sure, The Usos have been tag team champions in WWE for what 500 days – 505 to be exact – and the duo of Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood aren’t even the tag team champions in their own company, that honor belongs […]

“I have a message that is much bigger than my dreams in pro wrestling. Despite my best efforts, I will not be able to deliver this message while working with WWE. Therefore, I am requesting my release from WWE.” – these words, tweeted out by Mustafa Ali on January 16th, 2022, serve as a stark […]

When the Philadelphia Eagles took the field against the Tennessee Titans in Week 13, it was supposed to serve as a measuring stick between two franchises with playoff aspirations. Both teams made it to the postseason last year, both have built their offensive identities around a strong running game, and, funny enough, both teams hold […]

Though it technically isn’t official just yet, and likely won’t be until “The Gentleman Villian” graces a television – for some promotion – all signs point to William Regal, the former NXT GM turned leader of the Blackpool Combat Club jumping ship from AEW back to WWE, with some suggesting that he could be back […]

While the WWE Universe continues to argue over whether or not Ronda Rousey is a good wrestler, a bad wrestler, or the worst wrestler of all time, the rest of the SmackDown women’s roster soldiers on in the hopes of keeping themselves on television in the fallout of Survivor Series. With Rousey absent, Paul “Triple […]

Bianca Belair is a lot of things to the WWE Universe’s women’s division. She’s the prettiest, the baddest, the strongest; basically, if you can put an EST at the end of it, it pretty much applies to the performer who almost debuted as Binky Blair but thankfully had her name tweaked to her current moniker. […]

Ricochet is having himself a moment in the WWE Universe. Though he doesn’t technically become a free agent until 2024, at least according to Sportskeeda, Ricochet is being booked like Paul “Triple H” Levesque is about to lose him to Tony Khan and AEW, elevating the former house show standout to the mid-card championship for […]

After three shockingly successful seasons at Jackson State, where he led the Tigers to a 27-5 record overall and a perfect 12-0 record in 2022, Coach Prime – as he likes to be called – is officially heading to the Power 5 as the new head coach of the Colorado Football Buffaloes. Suddenly, the Southwestern […]

Sami Zayn has been a member of WWE since 2013. He’s worked 811 matches for The Fed on RAW, SmackDown, and NXT – plus hundreds more as an outside-the-ring helper – has worked true-blue “wrestling” programs like his various runs with Kevin Owens that draw massive respect from “smart marks,” and now sits as arguably […]

Though GUNTHER hasn’t technically defended his Intercontinental Championship in over a month on WWE television, with his last broadcasted bout coming against Rey Mysterio on the final SmackDown before Halloween, the leader of Imperium won’t have to wait too long to defend his strap, as he’ll be wrestling none other than Ricochet in the not-too-distant […]

Ronda Rousey has been a member of WWE on and off since late 2017, when it was reported that she signed with the promotion after becoming a fixture of shows from the crowd. Though she didn’t make her official debut until WrestleMania 34, working a mixed tag match with Kurt Angle against Paul “Triple H” […]

Lacey Evans has been a member of either RAW or SmackDown since 2019 and WWE proper since all the way back in 2016, when she signed with the promotion under her given name, Macey Estrella, before being assigned the name Lacey Evans when she made her television debut for NXT. Though she won’t go down […]

Jade Cargill has been the AEW TBS Champion since all the way back in January of 2022. She’s been the champion longer than Bray Wyatt has been back in WWE, longer than CM Punk has been suspended from AEW – if you can believe it – and longer than Ring of Honor has been back […]

Sami Zayn has been a member of the WWE Universe since 2013, when he jumped ship from the indies – namely Ring of Honor – to the “big leagues.”  Whether working on RAW, SmackDown, or NXT, Zayn has taken part in 810 official WWE matches, according to Cagematch, with hundreds more matches spent ringside serving […]

Since Damage CTRL made their collective debut as a unit at SummerSlam 2022, the faction has taken the WWE Universe by storm. Despite being “designated” to the RAW roster, the faction has routinely popped up on both Mondays and Fridays thanks in no small part to the team of Dakota Kai and IYO SKY winning […]

AEW fans, it’s official; after more than a month of anticipation, Juice Robinson is All Elite. That’s right, after working a fantastic bout with his New Japan Pro Wrestling rival Jon Moxley in an eliminator match for the AEW World Championship in Philadelphia back in September, a match that reportedly garnered such “massive” internal interest […]

Folks, it’s official, former Ring of Honor Television Champion Shane Taylor has made his debut in AEW. That’s right, after failing to latch on with ROH after it was purchased by Tony Khan, Taylor has officially made his way to Rampage, though he didn’t do so in the ring for a match against another in-ring […]

When Ric Flair announced that he wanted to wrestle one final match at the tender age of 73, it made fans of professional wrestling a bit nervous. Sure, Flair wasn’t going to wrestle alone, he had his son-in-law, Andrade El Idolo, by his side against a pair of pros pros in Jeff Jarrett and Jay […]

When Damage CTRL made the rare appearance on WWE SmackDown to promote… their loss in the opening WarGames match at Survivor Series(?), it grew a huge reaction from the Buffalo fans in attendance, though maybe not in the way Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY may have hoped. Fans cheered when Becky Lynch’s name was […]

Matt Hardy’s run in AEW has been littered with ups and downs. His debut was massive, even if some criticized the mystical nature of his teleportation in an empty Daily’s Place only for his “Broken Nature” to fall apart due to Tony Khan’s disinterest in going down that particular magical rabbit hole. He then, after […]

Bray Wyatt has been back in WWE for roughly a month and a half, but the specter of his return has loomed much longer, with the first hints of a White Rabbit-themed arrival coming all the way back in September. Before he stepped foot in the ring at WWE’s Extreme Rules, there were QR codes, […]

Before Kevin Owens was Kevin Owens: WWE Superstar, he was Kevin Steen, the name on his birth certificate and the name he used while tearing up indie rings all over the world with or without everyone’s favorite luchador, El Generico. Before officially joining the WWE in 2014, Owens worked for what feels like a majority […]

After seemingly putting an end to William Regal’s run in AEW once and for all – though, in actuality, that might have happened later in the show – Jon Moxley returned to Dynamite live from Indianapolis with a bone to pick. Not with anyone in particular, mind you, he didn’t come out and challenge MJF […]

When Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley attacked Rey Mysterio on Thanksgiving in front of Mrs. Mysterio, and the Mysterio-ettes, it took the WWE Universe by storm. Millions watched the incident transpire from their dining room tables, couches, or bathrooms alike, and through it all, one question rose above all others: why did Mysterio and Ripley […]

Dax Harwood is a fan of CM Punk. The duo worked together extensively during their shared time in AEW, with Punk’s first match after winning the AEW World Championship actually coming in trios action with FTR by his side, and even as the then-champ sat on the sidelines waiting to recover from injury, Harwood and […]

When news broke that Malcolm Bivens had turned down a full-time, main event roster with WWE in order to become a free agent and eventually show up on AEW Dynamite as the character he built up on the indies, Stokely Hathaway, it drew confused reactions from around the professional wrestling sphere. Say what you will […]

If there’s one thing Mark Calaway, aka The Undertaker, knows about more than seemingly anyone else, it’s how to be a WWE Superstar. In his prime and even for a good while after it, very few things in professional wrestling got a bigger pop than the opening bell tolls of “Rest In Peace,” as it […]

2022 has been the year of FTR or, more specifically, the year of Dax Harwood, the team’s follicly challenged heavy. Since leaving WWE and, really, since dropping the AEW World Tag Team Championships to the Young Bucks in July of 2021, Harwood has been on a tour de force across the professional wrestling world, with […]