Matty Breisch Articles - Page 174

It’s always weird to see wrestlers from the WWE, AEW, or another promotion appear on “normal” sports media. Sure, outside athletes will occasionally make their way into the squared circle, with Shaq wrestling for AEW in an ill-fated angle that berthed the streak of Jade Cargill, Ennis Kanter winning the 24/7 Championship in the WWE, […]

When asked about who was the “most consequential figure in pro wrestling over the past 40 years” following Vince McMahon’s retirement from the WWE, Dave Meltzer gave a surprisingly detailed response with multiple candidates; he pointed to Hulk Hogan, Antonio Peña, Rey Mysterio, Antonio Inoki, and even Ronda Rousey as folks worthy of being in […]

It’s officially been a week since Vince McMahon retired from the WWE, and frankly, not much has changed. Sure, Madusa returned to NXT to help out Roxanne Perez, Brock Lesnar maybe almost quit, and Goldberg was reportedly called to almost take his place, but since then, other than the absence of the 24/7 Championship and […]

LA Knight is one of the most talented talkers in the WWE Universe. Though he’s never pulled an Eddie Kingston and cut a compelling promo on a cookie – at least not on camera – he got himself over in no time on NXT with his LA Knight persona, even if it’s a sort of […]

Anytime a major wrestling promotion, from AEW to WWE, NJPW, Ring of Honor, and Impact, holds a Pay-Per-View – or, as The Fed calls it, a “Premium Live Event” – fans wait eagerly for Dave Meltzer, the proprietor of The Wrestling Observer, to release his star ratings and officially etch the quality of every match […]

On an appearance on the Sports Illustrated Media podcast, Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer gave the following response to a question about whether the retirement of Vince McMahon could inspire the WWE to bring back disgruntled Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Naomi, as dictated by Ian Carey. “It’s kind of up in […]

Dax Harwood and his FTR brother in arms, Cash Wheeler, are on a bit of a role in the greater AEW/Ring of Honor Tony Khan-sian Universe. They won the Lucha Libre AAA belts in an AEW ring, won the IWGP Tag Team titles at AEW x NJPW’s Forbidden Door, and even pulled off the shocking […]

One of the worst parts of AEW founder Tony Khan’s buying Ring of Honor was the decision to take the ROH Pure Championship off of Josh Woods at Supercard of Honor. Now granted, if that’s the lowest light of Khan’s tenure running the promotion, then he is off to a fantastic start, as it makes […]

As if their long and increasingly violent feud couldn’t get any more contentious, Brody King wanted to make his intentions of quite literally putting his fellow AEW wrestler Darby Allin into the ground by permanently etching his intentions forever into his skin via a new, American Traditional style tattoo. That’s right, after beating the brick […]

Mere weeks after Evil Uno and company took to the ring in Brodie Lee’s hometown of Rochester to declare that the Dark Order is, in fact, fine, a turn has been taken that could throw AEW‘s little faction that could into flux. That’s right, after watching founding member Stu Grayson, the Player Dos to Evil’s […]

You have to give it to AEW‘s Ricky Starks, he sure knows how to make an entrance. That’s right, after having his open challenge for the FTW Championship answered by none other than the very nicest, very evilest man on the AEW roster, Danhausen, at Fyter Fest Week 2, Starks preempted his own in-ring entrance […]

When WWE made the decision to release William Regal from his contract due to “budget cuts,” it felt like a mistake. While he hadn’t been an in-ring performer in, oh, almost a decade, being “retired” by his former pupal, Claudio “Don’t-call-him-Cesaro” Castagnoli, Regal was a fixture of NXT as an in-universe authority figure and a […]

Ask, and you shall receive, AEW fans. After keeping track of trios match results since all the way back in 2019, Tony Khan and company have officially announced the arrival of the AEW World Trios Championship, with the belts’ initial winners being decided via a tournament that will culminate at All Out in Chicago. TRIOS […]

With less than a week to go before WWE‘s SummerSlam, Kayla Becker delivered the following bad news about a highly anticipated match via The Bump. “Breaking news, and here it is: After that attack on Riddle by Seth Rollins on Monday, Riddle has suffered a brachial plexus injury, which is a really bad stinger that […]

It’s been a pretty good week for AEW‘s Wheeler Yuta He and his Blackpool Combat Club faction-mate Jon Moxley beat the bricks off of his former friends Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta, collectively known as the Best Friends, and then doubled-down on his winning ways with a big-time bout against Daniel Garcia at Ring of […]

With an episode of SmackDown, RAW, and NXT now officially in the books, it’s clear the WWE Universe has officially entered into a new era. The 24/7 title was nowhere to be found on any of the shows – which is a welcomed change from the certified spot-fest on the July 18th edition of RAW […]

There’s an old saying in professional wrestling, from WWE, to AEW, ROH, NJPW, and even Impact that goes a little something like this: A wrestler is only as good as their opponent. Sure, a veteran pro can get a fantastic match out of a much less experienced foe, as pretty much any (successful) celebrity-featuring match […]

When The Bloodline, Roman Reigns, and The Usos left the ring after thoroughly taking care of Riddle and The Street Profits in a six-man Main Event on WWE‘s RAW, a very familiar but sort of unexpected song hit the PA system and generated a massive pop among the fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden. […]

When an outside “celebrity” enters a WWE ring, things can go in a variety of different ways. On occasion, it’s a magical thing, like when Bad Bunny and Damian Priest took care of The Miz and John Morrison at WrestleMania 37, or even Sami Zayn’s bout versus Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass crew at WrestleMania […]

After weeks of back and forth tag team bouts with The Mysterios – Rey, and Dominik – on WWE‘s RAW, Judgement Day finally returned to full strength at Madison Square Garden, where, after dropping another match to the first father-son tag team champions in WWE history, none other than Rhea Ripley took to the backstage […]

20 years ago, Rey Mysterio made his debut in the WWE, defeating Chavo Guerrero on an episode of SmackDown. Dropping the Jr. from his moniker but regaining the mask he ditched at the end of his tenure in WCW, Mysterio rapidly became a fan favorite with WWE fans who weren’t typically used to seeing his […]

Does any member of the WWE Universe get a harder time than Theory? Despite being a solid in-ring performer, a dedicated worker who can take a Stone Cold Stunner like a pro, and both the youngest Money in the Bank briefcase winner and the youngest United States Champion of all time, there’s just something about […]

When Zoey Stark won the Women’s Battle Royal on NXT to become the next challenger for Mandy Rose’s Women’s Championship, it felt like a big deal. After suffering a torn MCL in a backstage brawl with Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, Stark has been out of action for the better part of nine […]

In case you haven’t heard, Paul “Triple H” Levesque has officially been handed chief creative control over the entirety of the WWE Universe, from RAW and SmackDown to NXT, Main Event, and even NXT Level Up. His time away from the company to recover from his heart condition effectively served as the calm before the […]

Oh, how the WWE tables have turned. After being ousted from creative control of NXT After their ‘loss’ in the Wednesday night wars, Paul “Triple H” Levesque has not only regained his reigns over the black and gold brand, but will now be running the entire creative show for the WWE, as per Dave Meltzer […]

Darby Allin is one of the biggest babyfaces in AEW; kids of all ages love his very “toyetic” appearance, his reckless style/innovative move set, and the fact that no matter who he wrestles in a match, he will almost assuredly be the babyface. And yet, because he’s such a babyface, he sometimes gets taken advantage […]

When Wade Keller of Pro Wrestling Torch, took to his company’s VIP Audio Show, he provided some interesting insight on the relationships within the McMahon family, especially since Vince retired from his WWE position. While much has been said about Vince and his many scandals that ultimately led to his retirement, there is also the […]

Since being released from the WWE at the end of 2021, Swerve Scott is having a moment. He’s wrestled across multiple promotions, won the DEFY Tag Team Championship improbably teamed up with Christopher Daniels, and… oh yeah, took the AEW Tag Team Championship belts off of the Young Bucks alongside his fellow former NXT standout […]

After four decades with the WWE/WWF/WWWF, Vince McMahon has officially retired from the company. Though he didn’t do it by choice, as the ramifications of his incredibly reprehensible decision-making and pension for paying off women he had inappropriate relationships with had finally caught up with him, the thought of the WWE without Vinnic Mac was […]

In case you haven’t heard, Jonathan Gresham has reportedly asked for his release from AEW/Ring of Honor after a falling out with Tony Khan over his booking in the company (more on that here). While this news hasn’t exactly soured the overall reception to Death Before Dishonor in the greater independent wrestling world, as most […]

When SmackDown went off the air on Friday night, one question rose above all others: Where, oh where in the WWE Universe is Max Dupri? …Okay, maybe that wasn’t the biggest question occupying the WWE Universe, as Vince McMahon did announce his retirement earlier in the day, with the new-old dynamic duo of Stephanie McMahon […]

It’s hard to call Death Before Dishonor XIX, the second Ring of Honor Pay-Per-View with AEW CEO Tony Khan at the helm, anything but a resounding success. The card was loaded, with six title matches plus an awesome brother versus brother bout featuring Rush and Dragon Lee on the main card, and four very interesting […]

After turning in an absolutely enthralling bout against his brother/fellow Los Ingobernables member Dragon Lee at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor, Rush is riding the momentum and putting his 10-match win streak on the line at AEW‘s Fight for the Fallen, where he will take on Interim Champion Jon Moxley for the strap in […]

When Tony Khan decided to kick off Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor Pay-Per-View with the ROH World Championship bout between Claudio Castagnoli and Jonathan Gresham, it turned more than a few eyes around the greater wrestling world. Sure, the prospect of running another FTR-Briscoes match was going to be good and surely drew more […]

Jay Lethal really doesn’t like Ring of Honor TV Champion Samoa Joe. He doesn’t like that he ended his streak, that he left ROH for WWE, or that he’s been notably absent from the AEW television due to his previous Hollywood commitments. And yet, in his hatred of Joe, Lethal has lost what made him […]

After missing both Forbidden Door and Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor, Bryan Danielson has officially announced his return to the AEW ring with a match booked for Fight for the Fallen. But who, pretell, will his opponent be? Will Tony Khan call up NJPW and import in Zack Sabre Jr. for the match fans […]

When Mercedes Martinez won her match at Ring of Honor‘s Supercard of Honor, she held up a championship once the bell was rung. That belt, however, was not for the Ring of Honor Woman’s Championship previously held by Rok-C; no, it was the Interim Championship, as the rightful champion, Deonna Purrazzo, was unable to wrestle […]

In case you haven’t heard, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia entered Ring of Honor‘s Death Before Dishonor with something to prove (more on that here). The duo duked it out at IWTV 100 for the IWTV Championship in a match that went to a 60-minute draw despite Garcia having his Red Death submission locked in, […]

If there’s one thing fans of AEW have been openly pining for since the promotion came into existence back in 2019, it’s a trios title. The company, much like Ring of Honor and NJPW, keeps track of trios match records and books the matches all of the time, but in Tony Khan’s promotion, trios either […]