Author: M. Swift

So, we looked at how MLW handled things during COVID-19 as well as expectations of an NWA return. What we didn’t touch on was a Major League Wrestling return. Unlike NWA which just went dark after #SpeakingOut, MLW continued pumping out promos weekly while running MLW Anthology and old MLW Underground episodes. Version 2.0 The company was restarted once with the current Major League Wrestling being a better product than the original. O.G MLW seemed more like an ECW offshoot-indy hybrid than its own thing. The current Major League Wrestling is very much its own thing supported by indy veterans who were in the rising stars…

Sometimes things are just slipped in interviews. A recent example of this is when NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa appeared in AEW and won a match to challenge current AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida at AEW All Out. Tony Khan Believes That The NWA Is Close To Returning It was during a media call while discussing how AEW All Out 2020 did against WrestleMania—among other things—he went a bit into Thunder Rosa wrestling AEW. She was the main person that Khan and Omega wanted in the company. As expected, he was going to address the possibility of an AEW-NWA partnership: The NWA has got great…

We went into expectations of the NWA returning based on an interview with AEW co-owner Tony Khan but the return of Major League Wrestling is more definite. Last Time In Major League Wrestling When Major League Wrestling went on hiatus, the company had several storylines ongoing. The main thing was the Team Filthy vs. Von Erichs and friends. This feud kept several wrestlers in the mix of things. Low Ki and Davey Boy Smith—guys who should have their own separate programs—were involved. We also had Konnan and his lucha libre rising stars dealing with Injustice. Savio Vega, Mance Warner, and big Logan Creed dealt with…

Let’s return to the land of extreme with ECW on TNN for this installment of First Month Fire. Episode two aired on September 3, 1999, and featured three title matches and two important moments in the company’s final years. First off, Joel “she said she loves vanilla ice cream, so he gave her his cone and made scream” Gertner joined Joey Styles as the color commentator for ECW on TNN. Yes, I had to type that out. It was mandatory. During the show’s opening greeting with Styles and Gertner, Jerry Lynn came out, ran down WCW and WWE, and challenged RVD…

Let’s look at some more of the early TNA years of Impact Wrestling with TNA No Surrender 2005. This event took place on July 17th and features Raven defending his NWA World title against “The Monster” Abyss! Low-Tier Remember Apolo? He was this impressive Puerto Rican wrestler who picked up wins in TNA and looked like someone they could use but his momentum started to slow then he no-showed a PPV and was released. Anyway, he teamed with Sonny Siaki—someone who looked to have a bright future in the business—against David Young and Simon Diamond. This match was pretty much a…

Last time we got into WWE and its strength booking face champions over heel champions. Now let’s look at WCW/NWA and its heel approach. The Alliance Heel Champion This time we’ll have to split this into two different periods since the WCW came out of NWA the alliance which became NWA the promotion. The NWA was a vast alliance of territories broken up by major markets and some weaker markets which rested between those major markets. While a promoter could run out of one major city, they usually had a few cities that were either in the metropolitan area or…

This isn’t a question of what WWE is doing with Cain Velasquez, he was released from the company this spring because of COVID-19-related budget cuts. It’s more what happened with WWE actually using him when they had him. On SmackDown’s 20th anniversary show in October 2019, Velasquez made his debut in the company with a lot of buzz surrounding it. Cain Velasquez and His Brief In-Ring WWE Career His former UFC rival Brock Lesnar defeated WWE Champion Kofi Kingston for the belt moments before his debut. Yes, that match. Velasquez took advantage of The Beast’s lowered guard to get revenge for the attack on…

Impact Wrestling has had many wrestlers come through it ropes in over 18 years of operation. The greatest gimmick to ever grace Impact television was Double-M-A with Double J—Jeff Jarrett. Sure, we know Jeff Jarrett as a capable veteran of WWE, WCW, Impact Wrestling, and Mexico but we tend to forget about his elite MMA ability. The Jarrett-Angle Feud Impact Wrestling’s co-founder had been a face since 2007 before all of this. He married Kurt Angle’s ex-wife Karen and was still involved in the company. Not getting into the murkiness of the relationship and having two stars signed to the…

How about we look at five more wasted wrestlers in TNA and Impact Wrestling history. Are some of your favorites on the list? Let’s find out. Mr. Kennedy (2010-2016) Ken Anderson was actually in TNA longer than I thought. As a matter of fact, he also debuted sooner than I remembered. This makes it even worse. He was heavily used upon his debut with the company in 2010. The following year saw him still in the mix of things including feuding with the Immortal faction. This year also saw his first World title win and the second one that summer. …

Often times a wrestler’s real name is like a rapper’s real name. You don’t want it getting it out because it might not have the same umph as their stage name. Just look at Terry Bollea compared to Hulk Hogan. Look back at The Game vs. 50 Cent feud of the 2000s where The Game made sure to call 50 Curtis whenever he got the opportunity. It’s childish but no one wants their government name exposed. Protect your real name at all costs. Especially if you know it sucks when spoken. Drop The “Bollea” Add “Boulder” Let’s go back to Hulk Hogan. It’s not…