Matty Breisch Articles - Page 163

When news broke that Alan “5” Angels of the Dark Order was leaving AEW after failing to agree to a new contract with Tony Khan and company, it felt like a pretty big deal in the grand scheme of the faction’s future in the promotion. Sure, they lost Stu Grayson to a similar contract dispute […]

2022 hasn’t gone as planned for NXT Superstar Indi Hartwell. She lost her father figure, Johnny Gargano, when he let his contract expire, her mother figure, Candice LeRae, when her contract expired in May and, after getting Kayfabe married to Dexter Lumis in a good old-fashioned wedding segment, she lost him too, as he was […]

If there’s one decision the WWE probably wishes they could do differently over the past few years, at least in the ring, it’s probably having Bill Goldberg defeat “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at their Super ShowDown show in Saudi Arabia. The Fiend was smoking hot, winning the WWE Universal Championship over Seth Rollins in a Falls […]

When Tony Khan delivered the following quote – as dictated by Wrestling Inc. – on Busted Open Radio about Santana’s much-speculated about injury suffered at Blood and Guts, it put a cloud over a match that many an AEW fan considered a resounding success. “Obviously, it’s a very dangerous match, and going into it, we […]

The Street Profits have been one of the best tag teams in the WWE for a very, very, very long time. Since initially debuting all the way back in 2016, when Montez Ford was then known as Kenneth Crawford, the duo have gone on to wrestle together on 403 occasions in every city imaginable as […]

When WWE signed Parker Boudreaux as part of their 2020 NXT recruiting class, it felt like a really big deal. A collegiate offensive lineman who started his career off at Notre Dame before transferring to Center Florida, the tackle-turned-grappler stood an imposing 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, and had a certain kind of look – muscular and […]

It’s July, which means that 2022 the calendar year is officially half over. The days will start to get shorter, the weather will eventually cool off, and the WWE Universe will prepare for the back half of their slate of Big Four Premium Live Events, with SummerSlam coming later this month and Survivor Series scheduled […]

Jade Cargill came into AEW like a flash flood; she arrived with little warning, changed the landscape of the promotion forever, and the results will resonate for years to come. Initially serving a Silver Surfer-style herald of sorts for the impending arrival of the sporting world’s Galactus, aka Shaquille O’Neal, she stuck around once her […]

When Bret Hart was screwed out of his WWF Championship in front of a packed Montreal crowd at Survivor Series 1997, it shook the wrestling world to its very core. The move shocked the local crowd who loved their home country hero, heated up the feud between the company now known as WWE and the […]

After being released by the WWE in June due to a “policy violation” and then being Kayfabe killed off of NXT television in a move that would make Lucha Underground blush, the man formerly known as Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan is headed back to the independent wrestling scene, where he previously performed as Cole Karter. […]

When Lio Rush arrived in AEW as the joker entrant of the Double or Nothing Casino Battle Royal, it felt special. Rush was incredibly hot due to his time in MLW, GCW, CZW, and Ring of Honor, and even if he’s flirted with retirement in the past, the prospects of adding the “Man of the […]

Though he wrestles for AEW now, Claudio Castagnoli is a Ring of Honor legend. The mainstream wrestling world may largely know him for his decade-spanning run in WWE from 2011-2022, and fans have been getting really familiar with his time in Chikara to prepare for his eventual feud with Eddie Kingston – read up on […]

When Jonathan Gresham exited the tunnel for his first solo match on AEW Rampage ever, a bout for the Ring of Honor World Championship versus Lee Moriarty no less, a familiar face flanked the blue-dressed man in a Cthulhu-looking octopus mask that got the internet buzzing. No, it wasn’t ex-FTR/Shawn Spears manager Tully Blanchard or […]

When Billy Gunn turned his back on The Acclaimed’s Max Caster and Anthony Bowens in favor of his sons Austin and Colton, it felt like the end of a very disappointing era in AEW. Sure, the quintet never all shared the ring together, though that had more to do with Bowens’ injury than Tony Khan’s […]

When it comes to being creative in their intimidation tactics, leave it to WWE’s The New Day to bring their own brand of zaniness to the table. After weeks of going back and forth, this week’s SmackDown featured a new look for The New Day, or rather The New Raid, as Kofi Kingston and Xavier […]

For one reason or another, matches between The Usos and The Street Profits just can’t get a clean ending in the WWE Universe. At Money in the Bank, Jimmy and Jay secured the W despite failing to keep both of Montez Ford’s shoulders on the mat, and a few weeks later in Orlando, the Profits […]

You have to give it to the WWE and to the man formerly known as LA Knight/Eli Drake/Shaun Ricker, the commitment to Max Dupri and his Maximum Male Models has been honestly pretty impressive. No matter how much fans boo, social media users make fun of them, and OGs like Jim Cornette ridicule the trio […]

When AEW signed “The Big Show” Paul Wight away from WWE when that chapter of his career came to a close, it was to be a commentator. Sure, many expected to see Wight in the ring at least for a moment, maybe in an enforcer’s role, or simply a spot or two from time to […]

In case you haven’t heard, Triple H is officially back in the WWE after an extended absence brought on by his dismissal from the top spot at NXT and the discovery of a heart condition that forced him to officially retire from the ring once and for all. With Vince McMahon replaced by his daughter […]

Since being released from WWE, Killer don’t-call-him-Karrion Kross has been up to quite a bit; he’s reunited with in-ring manager/out-of-the-ring wife Scarlett Bordeaux, recaptured his powerhouse status as an in-ring monster, and wrestled for a half a dozen different promotions, including Warrior, MLW, NJPW, and even Control Your Narrative (CYN), the promotion started by EC3 […]

After months of rumors, speculation, and internal reporting that hasn’t quite resulted in tangible updates, fans the WWE Universe over have one simple question: Is Sasha Banks – and Naomi – still employed by WWE? Has the promotion officially released their most recent Tag Team Champions, with only a 90-day non-compete clause standing between their […]

Though he wasn’t allowed to wrestle on Forbidden Door due to inter-promotional disagreements between CMLL, AAA, and NJPW, Andrade El Idolo made his presence known in AEW during the month of June, going 2-0 in singles competition in addition to re-forming La Faccion Ingobernable alongside former Ring of Honor Champion Rush. And yet, after securing […]

Though he continues to promote Night 2 of Fyter Fest for AEW, Tony Khan took a little time out of his afternoon to drop an absolute bombshell ahead of Ring of Honor’s forthcoming Pay-Per-View Death Before Dishonor: FTR-Briscoes II has a stipulation. Yup, you read that correctly; after putting on the best tag team match […]

After a few months away from a wrestling ring, some wondered what would come next for Claudio “don’t-call-him-Cesaro” Castagnoli following his decision not to re-sign with WWE. Would he go to AEW, what about NJPW? Goodness, could it have all been a charade, with the Swiss Superman returning to SmackDown as a Maximum Male Model? […]

When Roxanne Perez was stabbed – or should I say skateboarded – in the back by her NXT Tag Team Championship-winning partner Cora Jade, it sent the WWE Universe into a bit of a tizzy. The team just won the belts the week before, had been buddies for months, and felt like they could have […]

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when it looked like Swerve Scott and Keith Lee were going to be two of the biggest stars in the WWE. On paper, the two had everything going for them; Scott was the leader of a white-hot faction with the potential for real world entertainment tie-ins in […]

Fresh off of watching their archrivals, the Young Bucks, lose their AEW Tag Team Championships without either Jackson eating a pin – making their FTYB hashtag totally invalid – FTR have officially landed another choice match in their wrestling careers, taking on the trio of Aussie Open and TJP alongside NJPW standout Alex Zayne at […]

The Young Bucks were never supposed to be AEW‘s first-ever two-time Tag Team Champions, at least not as of the summer of 2022. It has all but been confirmed that The Hardy Brothers, Matt, and Jeff were supposed to win the belts over The Bucks and the Jurassic Express, and considering the Christian Cage story […]

After teasing a major announcement about All Out 2022 on social media all week, Tony Khan made it official midway through this week’s edition of Dynamite: AEW is returning to the Now Arena in Chicago for their end-of-summer Pay-Per-View extravaganza. Now, for fans out of the know, the Now Arena holds a particularly important place […]

In quite possibly the weirdest story you will read all day, a largely forgotten WWE team from the mid-2010s has re-emerged in AEW. No, not The Nexus, the Hype Bros, or even the Edgeheads – now called something like the Christian Chads – but the Real Americans, Cesaro and Jack Swagger, now wrestling against each […]

When it was announced that Orange Cassidy was going to wrestle Wardlow on the first night of AEW‘s Fyter Fest, it raised a few eyebrows across the internet. Both men were coming off of impressive showings in their more recent contests, including big-time bouts on Pay-Per-View, and the prospects of potentially slowing one of their […]

FTR have been the number one contenders for the AEW Tag Team Champions for months now… literally. They were the number one contenders throughout the majority of Jurassic Express’s title run – despite never actually earning a championship match – and while they did have a few big-time bouts over that tenure, most notably their […]

Three years ago, AEW was a very different place. They weren’t yet on television, the promotion was Pay-Per-View only, and many of their biggest stars, from CM Punk to FTR, Thunder Rosa, Jade Cargill, and even Wardlow, weren’t yet on the roster. And yet, when one looks back at that weird, weird time in the […]

When Keith Lee sent out the following tweet a day before his three-way AEW Tag Team Championship match alongside Swerve Strickland versus the Young Bucks and Team Taz, it sent some serious confusion throughout the greater wrestling universe. Got some very much less than stellar news today…. No matter the results, tomorrow's match belongs to […]

What happens when a pair of tag team champions start a feud with each other? Well, the WWE Universe is about to find out, as the lone Women’s Tag Team Champions in the company, Cora Jade and Roxanne Perez of NXT, just saw their union foiled by the former turning a totally not gimmicked skateboard […]

The build to WWE‘s SummerSlam has been interesting. Riding high off of the momentum of a very successful Money in the Bank, folks were excited to see how the card would shake out and which new, fun, or exciting matches would be booked for the big-time show in Nashville, Tennessee. The Usos will wrestle The […]

After weeks of anticipation, Mercedes Varnado, the artist formerly known as Sasha Banks, has announced her first big move outside of the WWE… sort of. That’s right, though she hasn’t officially been released from the company in a public way and has reportedly sought out a lawyer to get out of her contract in order […]

When news broke that Tommaso Ciampa’s long-time DIY tag team partner, Johnny Gargano, wasn’t going to re-sign with NXT, it felt like one of the final vestiges of a fantastically underrated in wrestling era was exiting the WWE Universe for good. The Undisputed Era? Gone. The Diamond Mine? Gutted. Marina Shafir released – and that’s […]

AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation is a unique experience for the various seasoned commentators of the promotion. With the benefit of quicker, less consequential matches and the magic of editing, the commentators often get to let loose a little more and have some fun while working the various matches. This has especially been true for […]