WWE was in the midst of a transformative shift. What had once worked wasn’t working in the market where substance was again being valued over style. As fans turned from the larger-than-life personalities to everyman, so pro wrestling follows. From the remanence of a long-tenured tag team arose a workhorse. A competitor whose talent could…
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In 2020, Katsuhiko Nakajima turned on his tag team partner, Go Shiozaki, who was then the GHC Champion. Nakajima was a prodigy and student of the legendary Kensuke Sasaki, who he shared a father-son relationship with, but when Nakajima struck out on his own, he found long-term success difficult. Early in his career, Nakajima was…
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Jordan Burroughs, who for a decade had been the bedrock of USA Wrestling’s Freestyle program, was defeated by Kyle Dake in two straight matches at the 2020 Olympic Trials. It would be the first time since Burroughs graduated from the University of Nebraska that he failed to make a World or Olympic team. During the…
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Major League Wrestling’s storylines continued building toward the Fightland tapings in Philadelphia this weekend, with in-ring tensions rising across the promotion. MLW Fusion Alpha has helped the company redirect its focus after a lengthy layoff for the second week in a row. The show opened with a fun lucha-style match between Aramis and Arez. MLW’s…
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While most wrestling fans’ eyes were locked on Flushing Meadows (and Twitter), Major League Wrestling took advantage. After being mostly inactive since last fall, MLW restarted their television program with the season premiere of MLW Fusion: ALPHA. In 2019, Court Bauer’s group seemed to have carved a nice position for themselves after the success of…
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Early Monday morning, belt maker RED Leather’s Facebook page posted a picture featuring a potential new belt. RED Leather created the AEW TNT Championship. The post immediately went viral, and fans began pondering what the new Championship title could be. RED Leather took the post down later in the day, claiming that it was just…
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After more than a week of speculation, WWE announced the signing of the 2020 Olympic Gold medalist Gable Steveson. The signing comes as no surprise as the company, and Paul Heyman in particular, has been actively recruiting the Minnesota junior since his days as a four-time state champion at Apple Valley High School. However, it’s…
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Last night’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio featured Dave Meltzer going into detail on one of the creative ideas made to Adam Cole during his meeting with Vince McMahon two weeks ago. Apparently, Cole was offered a main roster position to work in a managerial role for a heel Keith Lee. Cole was also told…
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Motörhead’s Lemmy once sang that “Evolution is a mystery.” In 2003, Triple H fashioned his own version of the Four Horseman, proclaiming the group as the best of past (Ric Flair), present (himself), and future (Randy Orton and Batista) of professional wrestling. WWE wasn’t just being coy with the statement: In the collapse of 2001,…
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As the pro wrestling industry relishes in the fantastic weekend between AEW’s second episode of Rampage, a controversial SummerSlam and an universally praised NXT Takeover, questions about the direction of both WWE and AEW linger. After the phenomenal ratings of CM Punk’s AEW debut on Rampage, many expect additional former WWE combatants to make their…
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