Author: M. Swift

MMA fighters entering the wrestling ring is a trend now. Some were wrestlers at one point, left the industry, and returned when the returning was good. Most of them are entering the business or training following the downturn of their MMA careers. There are new, larger draws now. There was one guy who really should’ve gotten into the ring a few years back: “The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen.  A couple of the guys joining now had their best periods during the 90s and 00s. You have Tito Ortiz at WWE’s Performance Center, Cain Velasquez doing whatever he’s doing at the moment with WWE, and Ken Shamrock…

Did you miss MLW Fusion #97? I tend to binge Major League Wrestling since it’s readily available on YouTube but the February episodes have been worth catching live. The shows that are “Presented By…” tend to be the primo episodes.   MLW Fusion #97 You want to follow all of a promotion’s shows weekly but as we know every episode isn’t gold. As a matter of fact, you’ll often get some coal, tin, or bronze episodes. Sometimes, the gold episodes are the ones you’ll DVR and watch later.   In the case of Major League Wrestling, their “Presented By…” episodes are similar to mini Clash of…

Here’s a bit of behind the scenes of The Overtimer, once the WBF was brought up while discussing Vince McMahon’s business aspirations. Yes, such as Alpha Entertainment and XFL 2020. For those who forgot—lucky you—the WBF or World Bodybuilding Federation was a project of McMahon and promoted on WWE television in the early 90s.   As a matter of fact, it aired on the USA Network with the program WBF Body Stars. This was a vehicle for his ICOPRO supplement line which disappeared shorted after the WBF folded. Now, WBF was doomed from the start. In some competitions, there’s really only room for one per market. The WBF being doomed set the pace…

MLW Fusion is one of those shows worth catching every Saturday. The build of each show is generally solid and Major League Wrestling lets you know what to expect as the next episode approaches. The 2/8 episode—MLW Fusion #96—featured three matches and some strong build for the storylines going on in the company. Let’s dive in before this week’s episode.  Josef Samuel Threatens Brian Pillman Ahead of MLW World Title Bout  The show opens with an announcement from CONTRA Unit, one of the three main heel factions in the company. It’s also the faction with probably the coolest logo in the industry. Headed…

I’ve always wondered is “Who has the creative say in AEW?” I figured it was a loose booking team of Cody, The Bucks, Omega, and so on. The shows have a feeling of a direction but at times, they lacked the flow to say “This was a tight show start to finish.” PW Insider recently revealed that Tony Khan has been pushing the booking direction of All Elite Wrestling this year. Tony Khan: Booker Man  I wasn’t entirely surprised when Khan’s name was mentioned as the key creative force. This has been the case since the start of the year. His name…

The wrestling business is a bit crowded now. There are four companies to go to now with television and three of those have national TV that most fans can easily access. That doesn’t factor in two other companies with weekly programs on YouTube. If you run a multi-billion dollar company, it’s probably best to have a creative team that uses the bulky roster of on-screen talent you have signed well. Case in point: Cedric Alexander.  A Disgruntled Cedric Alexander  The former WWE Cruiserweight champion hasn’t had the best luck in-ring recently. On WWE RAW, Cedric Alexander lost to Angel Garza in the latter’s debut for the…

There has been talk about a second All Elite Wrestling television show for some time. In the same interview with Dave Meltzer mentioned before, Cody touched briefly on what the new show would like. One thing he made sure to point out is that it wouldn’t be “a repacked AEW Dark.” This begs two questions off the bat.  What Will The Second All Elite Wrestling Show Be?  Here’s the million-dollar question. From what Cody said, it’s looking like a one-hour show. Perfect. With it being this early in the game for All Elite Wrestling, there’s no need for a second two-hour program. AEW Dark is a B-show where…

In talking with Wrestling Observer Radio, Cody Rhodes talked about expansion in the way of a new title. A new AEW championship and the new show were going to be the main takeaways given fans and the industry is interested in seeing how All Elite Wrestling grows in 2020.  The Next All Elite Wrestling Championship  Cody wasn’t big on calling it a midcard championship at all. There’s a stigma to the term “midcard.” It’s a kind of hell on the roster that is hard for talent to escape. When a wrestler is firmly in the midcard, advancing is like moving through quicksand when depending on…

Mark Copani was a bright prospect in the early 2000s. He was decent enough in-ring and on the mic where he could’ve improved in the right place. Copani had a look that made for a natural foreign heel. Now, it was the early 2000s and running with foreign heels was iffy, to begin with but WWE rolled Muhammad Hassan out there.   The Timing of Muhammad Hassan   Off the bat, WWE went the Strongbow route and went with someone who wasn’t Arab-American. This wasn’t unusual for wrestling. Rikishi was The Sultan, Giant Bernard was Tensai, Fritz was an evil German, Nikita was an evil Russian,…

There’s always time for a throwback. Wrestling magazines had a long period of being the most accessible means for wrestling news. This is especially true for the Apter mags with the awesome photos. The covers caught your attention and one that caught mine was October 1991’s Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The headline was “Sid Justice: The Second Coming of Hulk Hogan.”  You also had the full-color foldout for Flexy Lexy if you were a Luger fan.   Sid Vicious: Big Promotion Double Tapper  That headline was heavy. We’re talking Hulk Hogan, the biggest draw in wrestling at that time. Never mind Hulkamania was circling the drain in the early 90s, PWI just put this weight on Sid Vicious’ shoulders! At the time of…