Matty Breisch Articles - Page 79

When Nick Aldis made the jump from independent promotions like TNA/Impact and NWA to WWE, it should have felt like a whole new world, right? Bigger production, new wrestlers, and a whole new way of doing business that would seemingly be much more professional due to the extensive number of names who have to sign […]

When Rhea Ripley and Buddy Matthews began dating, they were in a very different place. It was 2022, the pandemic was slowing down but not fully finished, and after being a mainstay of WWE for years, Matthews had to put his time as Buddy Murphy in the rearview in order to reinvent himself as a […]

When Becky Lynch and the rest of her Four Horsewomen made their way up from NXT developmental to the main roster, WWE wanted to make it feel like a very big deal. Sure, there were popular female performers in WWE before, with Paige having become a phenomenon a few short years prior, but when she […]

When Bobby Lashley attempted to put together a new faction after saying goodbye to the Hurt Business a few years back, it was with the intention of getting himself and all of his friends back to the top of the WWE Universe. So far, that hasn’t really worked out too well, largely because Karrion Kross […]

When news broke that Adam Copeland, now a two-time TNT Champion after defeating Christian Cage in Toronto, was going to bring back the CopeOpen with his new belt on the line, it left the door open for all sorts of different options for the future. Would Copeland continue to work with some of the young […]

After pulling the old security guard switch-a-roo on the way to a massive sneak attack, LA Knight was feeling pretty good about himself, and not just because he was able to get in a few shots on his current enemy No. 1 on the SmackDown roster, AJ Styles. Stopping by the SmackDown LowDown with Byron […]

Though some fans still desperately want to see him turn heel, with Bully Ray suggesting he’s an Emperor Palpatine away from becoming the next Darth Vader, Cody Rhodes remains firmly committed to being the sort of true, red, white, and blue babyface who can headline both nights of WrestleMania 40 and maybe, just maybe, bring […]

Becky Lynch has been a member of the WWE Universe since 2013 when she joined NXT after moving to America from her native Ireland. That’s right, before she was “The Man,” before she dazzled fans as “Big Time Becks” and even before she won her first-ever title within the grander WWE Universe, Lynch was just […]

On paper, Roman Reigns is the biggest adversary on the path to Cody Rhodes finishing his story, right? I mean think about it, Rhodes wants to finish his story and do what his father never could and the biggest opponent standing between himself and that goal is the “Tribal Chief” and the rest of his […]

After spending the longest continuous period of time as a member of the WWE roster of any female Superstar and/or Diva in the promotion’s history, it would make sense if Natalya started to slow down and prepare for her inevitable call to join the WWE Hall of Fame, but even at 41, the second-oldest female […]

After asserting that he definitely wouldn’t put a hit out on his cousin Jey Uso ahead of his match against the Uso that’s still aligned with The Bloodline, Jimmy Uso, in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Roman Reigns did the next best thing on SmackDown, sending Paul Heyman, Solo Sikoa, and the Eldest […]

After breaking the news that Jade Cargill was heading to Friday Nights as the latest member of the SmackDown roster, Nick Aldis appeared in the first hour of the penultimate episode of WWE’s Friday Night Showcase at the Mohegan Sun Arena to formally introduce the WWE Universe to “That Chick” ahead of WrestleMania 40. “Ladies […]

With WrestleMania 40 rapidly approaching, fans of the sport have been keying in on which matches they are most excited about at the “Showcase of the Immortals,” from Sami Zayn’s match against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship to the Damage CTRL Civil War between IYO SKY and Bayley, and the two matches featuring Cody Rhodes […]

While Becky Lynch is currently the talk of the wrestling literature world, she’s far from the first wrestling personality to pursue the prospects of literature after years in the business, as there’s practically a whole subgenre of sports literature revolving around the squared circle, with everyone from Jim Ross to the Young Bucks getting in […]

In the decades and decades that Paul Heyman has been in the wrestling business, he’s elevated some of the biggest stars in professional wrestling to incredible heights, with his influence so ubiquitous and undeniable that performers have literally been identified as “Paul Heyman Guys” due to his impact on their careers. But would Heyman, who […]

When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is on WWE television, it’s safe to say he’s going to take up more time than he was allotted. From his opening promo segments on SmackDown that caused performers like Naomi to have to work their matches without their entrances, to his closing segment shortly thereafter, where the show clearly […]

As Becky Lynch hits the proverbial road to do media for her new book “The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl,” she finds herself in a bit of a back-and-forth brawl for the attention of the general wrestling fan book buyers, as Ronda Rousey, one of the other women who can boast they main evented […]

Though it’s hard to remember now, as she’s since become one of the most dominant in-ring performers in professional wrestling today, when Rhea Ripley came up to the main roster, she wasn’t the strongest promo on the roster, with WWE pairing her off with Liv Morgan and Nikki ASH to help ease her journey along […]

When Nick Aldis wrestled Cody Rhodes at All In in 2018, the professional wrestling industry was in a very different place. For one thing, there was no AEW, with the company coming into existence in large part because of the Chicago-based show, and at the time, Aldis and Rhodes were feuding over the NWA World […]

In the lead-up to Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 40 Night 2 main event match against Roman Reigns, it seems like a quarter of WWE’s main roster, from the The Bloodline, to The Rock, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, and even Drew McIntyre, have found a way to enter the feud, even if some, like the “Scottish Warrior,” […]

When Mustafa Ali was released from WWE last September, it genuinely took the professional wrestling world by surprise. Now granted, it wasn’t surprising that Ali’s name was on the promotion’s hit list, as he’d been used sporadically since his time in Retribution and wasn’t even particularly successful in that faction, but the timing of the […]

When LA Knight began to heat up in the WWE Universe at the end of 2022 and especially in the first quarter of 2023, it seemed to genuinely catch the promotion’s creative team by surprise. Sure, he had a match with Bray Wyatt at the 2023 Royal Rumble, which was a much bigger match for […]

After over a decade in the WWE Universe and two decades in professional wrestling as a whole, it’s only natural that any performer, even one as dominant as Becky Lynch, has begun thinking about what comes next after her in-ring career comes to an end. Now granted, with a match at WrestleMania 40 against Rhea […]

When news broke that Windam Rotunda, known to the WWE Universe as Bray Wyatt, had passed away at the age of 36, it felt like only a matter of time before he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Though his run in the promotion was cut short before he could really let fans […]

Though his character largely stands on its own as one of the best in professional wrestling history, The Undertaker knows a thing or two about working with a top-tier manager, as his work alongside Paul Bearer, aka the dearly departed Percy Pringle, truly produced some of the highlights of his careers. From their early run […]

When WWE decided to have Candice LeRae talk some serious trash in the face of Maxxine Dupri during a tag team match on RAW, saying she didn’t belong and referencing her dead brother, it legitimized the criticism the latter had received online and from fans at house shows for not being a main roster wrestling […]

Rhea Ripley has been a professional wrestler for a decade. Since officially making her debut for RCW in South Australia, Australia, back in 2013, Ripley has become champion five times over in the WWE Universe, winning the NXT UK Women’s Championship, the NXT Women’s Championship, the Women’s Tag Team Championships with Nikki ASH and both […]

After spending years in an unusual heel character that bypasses her signature nickname, her usual presentation, and her fan-favorite babyface ways for a leaner, meaner, more angular heel character, “The Man” Becky Lynch is officially back in the WWE Universe, and that decision in large part belongs to Paul “Triple H” Levesque, the current CCO […]

When it comes to professional wrestlers in 2024, there’s Will Ospreay, and there’s everybody else. A dynamic athlete who can do darn-near anything he comes up with with the splash, flash, and physical drama of a young Kenny Omega, Ospreay has quickly established himself as the most prolific wrestler in the history of the Dave […]

If you had to describe Drew McIntyre‘s current WWE character in one word, it would probably be a hater. From siding with the Judgment Day to beating up on Seth Rollins at Survivor Series to his all-time great social media slander of CM Punk ahead of WrestleMania 40, McIntyre went from a sword-wielding white knight […]

When Booker T broke the news on his Hall of Fame podcast that Sami Zayn was disappointed by the response he received to his match with Chad Gable on RAW, it came as a bit of a surprise. Sure, the conditions by which the reporting happened were totally cool, as Booker and Zayn ended up […]

When it comes to female empowerment within the WWE Universe, Becky Lynch is practically the poster girl. From helping to lead the women’s evolution as one of the four horsewomen, to headlining WrestleMania, and quite literally being “The Man” in the company as its most popular act for a wonderful period of time last decade, […]

After coming out to the defense of his friend Jey Uso, during the main event of RAW, Cody Rhodes found himself in a one-on-one battle for the ages against the “Final Boss” of WWE, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “The People’s Champion” who threatened the “American Nightmare” during his promo during the opening segment of the […]

After watching CM Punk and Drew McIntyre get into it on a massive, expansive, genuinely exciting promo segment that felt like it could devolve into a shoot at any moment on RAW, Seth Rollins marched down to the ring, Seth Rollins emerged from the back on RAW t0 provide a calming presence between two of […]

After being off WWE television for the past few weeks rehabbing a torn triceps, CM Punk made the rare return to RAW in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, to unload all his firepower on Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, and pretty much everyone else who has wronged him since he returned to the business. Standing in […]

With two weeks left before WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes has been thinking long and hard about what he can say to his fans and foes alike ahead of the biggest match of his professional wrestling career. He’s attempted to be vulnerable, he’s put on a tough, TV-14 face, and even enlisted some friends to help […]

When it comes to true blue wrestling gimmicks, The Undertaker is in a class of his own. A spooky concept, a funeral undertaker turned living “Deadman” who haunted performers across multiple angles over parts of four decades – including his time as the “American Bada**,” which was scary for a different reason  – Taker has […]

After making his massive main roster return/debut in August of 2022 and reforming his DIY tag team with Tommaso Ciampa the following year, Johnny Gargano is a little over a week away from another first at WrestleMania 40, where he will make his debut at the “Showcase of the Immortals” alongside his long-time NXT frenemy. […]

Liv Morgan has been a member of the WWE Universe since 2014, when she joined the promotion as a member of NXT after splitting her time training at Joe DeFranco’s gym in New Jersey and as a model/server at Hooters. Over her main roster run, Morgan’s been a member of a very popular faction, The […]