Matty Breisch Articles - Page 84

There was a time when Carmelo Hayes was the certified face of NXT, and arguably the top priority in WWE’s developmental system. On paper, it made sense, right? After working his way up the ranks, beating darn near every performer the brand had to offer and establishing himself as the next great do-it-all cruiserweight, Hayes […]

After listening to Drew McIntyre deliver an impassioned speech about the pain he felt winning the WWE Championship at the Performance Center in 2020 without the exultation of fans cheering him on to victory against the “Beast Incarnate,” Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins marched down to the ring for his tune-up match against JD McDonagh ahead […]

After finally and fully taking creative control of the WWE Universe away from his father-in-law, Vince McMahon, one would think that Paul “Triple H” Levesque could sleep soundly knowing that his reign as the booker extraordinaire of RAW, SmackDown, and NXT would go unchallenged, right? Well, well, well, not so fast, my friend, for it […]

With Crown Jewel rapidly approaching, Drew McIntyre was afforded one final chance to address the WWE Universe before he takes the ring against Seth Rollins for his most important match since 2020, the year everything changed for him in more ways than one. Though McIntyre remains insistent on the fact that he has no ill […]

As they have become accustomed to doing in the WWE Universe, the members of Judgment Day, this time Rhea Ripley, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh, decided to open up the RAW show as a state of the union of their faction, letting fans know that they are not only good but that they, in […]

Back when he was still in power as the do-it-all CEO/booker/creative lead of the WWE Universe, going up against Tony Khan and AEW weekly for ratings supremacy, Vince McMahon had a bad habit of changing his plans on the fly, with the promotion’s weekly plans being ripped up routinely in favor of on-the-fly ideas that […]

When WWE loaded up the NXT card on 10/10 to compete head-to-head against AEW Dynamite and the in-ring debut of Adam Copeland, booking current and future Hall of Famers like Paul Heyman, John Cena, Asuka, and The Undertaker in addition to the television debut of Carmelo Hayes versus Bron Breakker, it generated all sorts of […]

After taking a loss to the New Day on Monday Night RAW, Chad Gable and his Alpha Academy members Otis, Maxxine Dupri, and Akira Tozawa – who is now apparently an auxiliary member – wanted to test their mettle against any team in the WWE Universe, be that from RAW, SmackDown, or even a tag […]

When news broke that Dean Ambrose’s contract with WWE was coming to an end in 2019, fans were incredibly interested to see what the man once and currently known as Jon Moxley would do next. Sure, AEW was just starting up, with the promotion adding a few former WWE stars like Pac and Chris Jericho […]

After recording quite possibly the signature moment of the penultimate edition of SmackDown before Crown Jewel, laying out both members of A-Town Down Under, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory with a single punch like he pseudo-predicted he would in an interview with Cathy Kelley the previous week, Kevin Owens stopped by the SmackDown LowDown to […]

When Sting announced to the professional wrestling world that he was going to hang up his boots once and for all and call it a career at Revolution 2024, it was met with (almost) universal acclaim from fans inside and out of AEW. After seemingly leaving the business behind two times before, the “Man Called […]

When Ric Flair made his long-anticipated debut in AEW, managing String instead of his son-in-law Andrade El Idolo, it drew all sorts of different reactions from around the professional wrestling world. Some fans celebrated the decision, touched by the idea of Sting getting to ride off into the sunset with one of his best friends, […]

When Lyra Valkyria, the plucky 27-year-old babyface from Dublin, Ireland, was booked for a main event match against Becky Lynch, the 36-year-old veteran babyface from Limerick, Ireland, it felt like nothing more than a pair of fellow countrymen attempting to put each other over. Sure, Valkyria can certainly go, as she’d already held four titles […]

Though he hasn’t wrestled a match since late August and may not even be technically allowed to wrestle for another promotion moving forward, as he may or may not have a non-compete contract with AEW that runs through November, there’s still one question that stubbornly remains in the front of fans minds around the professional […]

When Nia Jax thundered back to the WWE Universe with a bang, leaving a string of bodies in her wake and putting the most dominant female performer in the entire promotion, Rhea Ripley, on the shelf for close to a month, it got folks talking around the professional wrestling world. Sure, when booked correctly, Jax […]

It feels like fans have been fantasy booking who will dethrone Roman Reigns as the Universal Champion, from Bryan Danielson to Jey Uso, John Cena, Sami Zayn, and now LA Knight since… well, since he initially won the title all the way back in August of 2020 at Payback. Now granted, Reigns has grown considerably […]

After lamenting his singles losing streak to the WWE Universe on the previous edition of SmackDown, leading to an attack by The Bloodline, John Cena decided to get candid on the Blue Brand once more, letting fans know that he doesn’t know how much longer his body can go at a high level. Now sure, […]

When news broke that LA Knight and Roman Reigns were not only going to share the ring on a very special FS1 edition of SmackDown coming to fans live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but were going to open the show, wrestling fans the world over had to know that WWE had something up their sleeves. Now […]

As it looks increasingly unlikely that CM Punk will appear at Survivor Series in WWE, fans have begun to wonder where the “Best in the World” will land next, be it a return to AEW as the man behind MJF’s devil mask, a future debut in WWE at a show like the Royal Rumble, or […]

When Tony Schiavone broke the news that none other than Ric Flair was his special gift to Sting following the announcement of his impending retirement at Revolution 2024, it drew incredible reactions from around the professional wrestling world. From fans celebrating the “Nature Boy” being afforded a spot shotgun for his protege’s final half-year in […]

When John Cena made his return to WWE in 2023, it turned heads across the promotion, from champions like Roman Reigns and Austin Theory to young stars like Grayson Waller and even performers in the middle like Baron Corbin, who once famously wrestled “The Face That Runs the Place” at SummerSlam 2017. Would Cena take […]

Before he was named the new SmackDown General Manager by WWE and even unseated as the seventh-longest tenured NWA World Heavyweight Champion behind Lou Thesz (3), Dan Severn, Dory Funk Jr., and Gene Kiniski, Nick Aldis was arguably most well known for his matches against Cody Rhodes, first at All In, where he dropped the […]

When news broke that Nick Aldis was working in WWE on a handshake deal as a producer-in-training, it turned more than a few heads around the professional wrestling world. Sure, the idea of going from inside the ring to out of it is nothing new in the industry, as new RAW GM Adam Pearce followed […]

Though she doesn’t get much time on weekly AEW television, Athena has quietly turned in one of the most dominant years of any female performer in professional wrestling, holding the ROH Women’s World Championship for 320 days and counting after unseating Mercedes Martinez at Final Battle in 2022. Rapidly approaching a full calendar year as […]

When WWE made it official that LA Knight was going to be wrestling Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, it made more than a few fans a bit nervous. Sure, anything can happen in pro wrestling, but Knight is relatively early in his rise to the top of the WWE […]

After spending the better part of a week hyping up that Tony Khan had a very special gift for Sting on Dynamite after announcing his retirement from wrestling the previous week, fans wondered what the CEO of AEW had in store. Would the promotion be announcing a Sting Memorial Trophy a la the Owen Hart […]

When news broke that “The Whole F’N Show,” Rob Van Dam had officially accepted a booking with AEW to challenge Jack Perry for the FTW Championship, it turned eyes around the professional wrestling world. Sure, it’s not like RVD was out of action or had retired from professional wrestling or anything like that, he’d actually […]

As fans of AEW and beyond eagerly await a chance to see what kind of gift Tony Khan has to offer Sting after “The Icon” announced his intentions to retire at Revolution in 2024, the wrestling world has begun to reflect on the 24-time champion‘s career and what story is left to be written before […]

When “The Icon” Sting announced to the professional wrestling world on AEW Dynamite that he was rapidly approaching the finale of his professional wrestling career, with his retirement officially set for AEW Revolution 2024, the fans from far and wide started to talk about who should be the man who retires the 64-year-old WWE Hall […]

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Vince McMahon viewed UFC, not AEW, as the biggest competitor to WWE in terms of market share, even if Dana White was never quite privy to this cross-sport war. That’s right, despite having almost no crossover in terms of talent, with the number of true crossover […]

If there’s one person who knows a thing or two about Will Ospreay in professional wrestling, it’s Dave Meltzer. One of the early champions of Ospreay’s work dating all the way back to the beginning of his professional wrestling career, Ospreay has more five-plus star matches than anyone else in the history of The Wrestling […]

With his second-ever defense of the NXT Championship officially on the books for Week 2 of Halloween Havoc, Ilja Dragunov followed his challenger, Carmelo Hayes, in having a sitdown interview with lead commentator Vic Joseph about his current place in the WWE Universe, the tough road he took to the promotion, and, most importantly of […]

As a WWE Hall of Famer-turned-backstage producer, few performers have had as up close and personal of an experience in the WWE Universe as Molly Holly, the two-time Woman’s World Champion who has since gone on to work with current generation champions like Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and beyond. With 503 matches wrestled, hundreds more […]

When Booker T and Vic Joseph broke the news that Shotzi, the Blackheart-turned-Edward Scissorhands enthusiast, would be returning to NXT for the third-straight year to host the spookiest show of the year, Halloween Havoc, it got fans hyped as you-know-what. Now sure, this year’s edition of the show – and Shotzi – are a bit […]

When CJ Perry, aka WWE’s Lana, made her debut at AEW All Out following Miro‘s shockingly popular “meat” match with Powerhouse Hobbs, it turned heads around the professional wrestling world. Sure, the idea of Perry coming to AEW wasn’t particularly surprising, as she is married to Miro and has been out of WWE for a […]

Where oh where will CM Punk appear next? Will he roll through Survivor Series, getting in the face of anyone from Seth Rollins to Roman Reigns, or even just walking out at the end of the show as Cult of Personality plays over the PA? Or will he return at, say, AEW Full Gear or […]

As the WWE Universe prepares for the much-anticipated debut of Jade Cargill, who has been teasing her proper debut for the promotion since officially signing on the dotted line at the end of the summer when she signed a long-term deal after a near-perfect run in AEW. Soon, fans would get to hear her new […]

After watching Rhea Ripley seemingly get a bit too close and cozy with Drew McIntyre in the lead-up to Crown Jewel, signifying that the Scottish Warrior may, in fact, be in cahoots with the Judgment Day ahead of his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, Seth Rollins found himself face-to-face with the “Eradicator” backstage in Monday […]

After making his way from England to SmackDown in order to call out Rey Mysterio formally for a match at Crown Jewel with the United States Championship on the line, Logan Paul shocked fans in the Lonestar State with his presence, letting fans know exactly why he was there and what he plans to do […]