HEYDORN’S TAKE: Don’t hold me to this – WWE Payback 2020
File me under the category of “I have no earthly idea why WWE is running a PPV a mere seven days after the second biggest show of their calendar year.” Is it to get Roman […]
Opinion & Analysis
8/27 AEW DYNAMITE TV PRIMER: Moxley-MJF contract signing, Brodie Lee celebrates, Hardy vs. Guevara tables match, Tag Team Gauntlet match, more
AEW DYNAMITE PRIMER AUGUST 27, 2020 AIRS ON TNT, 8:00 PM EST BY JOSHUA CHAMBERS (@Josh_Chambers), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Arena This week’s episode will emanate from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Fla. The 5,500 seat arena first […]
NXT HITS & MISSES 8/26: NXT Title vacated by Kross, Regal announcement about NXT Title four-way, Ciampa’s return, Shirai & Ripley vs. Kai & Gonzalez, Wade Barrett, more
•Guest Commentator, Wade Barrett Now, I have nothing against Vic Joseph even if sometimes I can barely tell his voice from Tom Philips. But once Mauro returns to NXT, I would love nothing more than […]
FEUD TRACKER – IMPACT WRESTLING: Tracking the length and key developments with Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young, Moose vs. EC3, Grace vs. Purrazzo, The North vs. Machine Gunns, Rhino & Heath vs. Reno Scum
TOP TIER FEUDS (1) Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young New Developments: Young attacked Edwards after he successfully defended the Impact World Title against RVD. After taking Edwards down and stomping him repeatedly, Young finally announced […]
WWE RAW HITS & MISSES 8/24: Summerslam follow-up, Drew-Orton and Three Punts, Arm Wrestling, Jax-Baszler exchange, Raw Underground, Keith Lee debut, Asuka-Banks rematch
Summerslam Follow Up – HIT: WWE did a nice job of following up on Summerslam. They featured several video packages on the big matches to make it seem like if you missed the PPV, you […]
IMPACT HITS & MISSES 8/25: Emergence Part 2, Edwards vs. RVD, Wrestle House, Callihan, EC3 must destroy his past, Purrazzo vs. Grace
Final impact – HIT: If you slap both Emergence specials together, you’d get a solid second tier PPV. While not a rousing success, it is still a success in my book. Surprisingly, next week’s episode […]
8/26 NXT ON USA PRIMER: Kross and Scarlett kick off show, Ciampa returns, Swerve vs. Escobar, Imperium vs. Breezango, Shirai & Ripley vs. Kai & Gonalez
The fallout from NXT Takeover XXX takes place tonight as new NXT Champion Karrion Kross will kick off the show. But that’s not all as NXT Women’s Champion my favorite Io Shirai will team with […]
AEW DYNAMITE HITS & MISSES 8/22: Brodie Lee beats Cody for TNT Title, Jericho-Orange Cassidy, Elite vs. Dark Order, FTR vs. Private Party, MJF promo, Moxley promo
•FTR vs. Private Party – HIT Dynamite began over twenty minutes past the top of the hour because of an NBA playoff game that ran long. With the largest audience lead-in on TNT, I would […]
NXT TAKEOVER XXX HITS & MISSES 8/22: Kross rises to the occasion, McAfee impresses, car crash ladder match, Balor booked backwards
•General Presentation WWE moving all main roster programming to the “ThunderDome”-branded residency at Orlando’s Amway Center begs the question as to why NXT is remaining at Full Sail Live. Of several arguments, including my opinion […]
Early reviews for WWE Thunderdome largely positive, indications it could help viewership compared to P.C. setting
Just over 50 percent of respondents in our Twitter poll indicate the Thunderdome set for Smackdown is “Way better” than the Performance Center set-up. Another 23 percent said it’s “a little better.” That’s nearly three-fourths […]
8/23 WWE SUMMERSLAM PRIMER: Storyline recaps and predictions for entire line-up plus “You’ll Never See It Coming” ideas for each match
Originally scheduled to take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, Summerslam has been moved to the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida due to the current pandemic. The Amway Center will house the Thunderdome, […]
WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 8/21: Thunderdome, Styles-Hardy IC Title, Universal Title storyline with Fiend-Strowman, Big E’s singles push, Deville, Sasha-Bayley
HITS •Thunder(Dome) in Paradise The Thunderdome was a definite change in the viewing experience that has become typical the past five months, and by and large, the changes were for the better. At times during […]
WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER 8/21: Final Summerslam Hype, Thunderdome, Styles-Hardy for IC Title, Braun’s Final Message, LHP challenge Cesaro & Nakamura
WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN PRIMER AUGUST 21, 2020 ORLANDO, FL. AT THE AMWAY CENTER AIRS ON FOX NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM SPECIALIST Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves Thunderdome Last […]
COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: Remembering Kamala, the Ugandan Giant
Pro wrestling lost one of its all-time great characters on Aug. 9, 2020, with the passing of Kamala, aka Jim Harris. With his large frame, loin cloth, face paint, and spear, Kamala looked just like […]
NXT HITS & MISSES 8/19: Pat McAfee promo, Finn Balor vs. Velveteen Dream, Raquel Gonzalez return, Johnny Gargano vs. Ridge Holland, Tegan Nox interview
•Johnny Gargano vs. Ridge Holland There was no nonsense before we crashed right to our opening contest to qualify for the first of two second-chance entries into the NXT North American Championship ladder match at […]
FEUD TRACKER – IMPACT WRESTLING: Tracking the length and key developments with Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young, EC3 vs. Moose, The North vs. Machine Gunns, RVD vs. Callihan
TOP TIER FEUDS (1) Eddie Edwards vs. Eric Young New Developments: Edwards and Young were not on Night One of Emergence, but Edwards is set to defend the Impact Title next week in the open […]
COUNIHAN – SPECIAL FEATURE: The story of Fujita “Jr.” Hayato and Katsuhiko Nakajima
“Walk blindly to the light and reach out for his hand” Based primarily in the Tohoku region of northern Japan, the Michinoku Pro promotion always attempted to put their best foot forward when they came […]
HEYDORN’S TAKE: Don’t hold me to this – WWE Summerslam 2020
Ladies and gentleman, welcome to WWE Thunderdome! That’s right. Not only is Sunday the second biggest show of the year for WWE, but it’s taking place in the company’s state of the art, virtual fan […]
WWE RAW HITS & MISSES 8/17: Michaels-Orton, Retributuon, Raw Underground, Apollo Crews-MVP saga, Magic Turkey Leg, Sasha & Bayley vs. Baszler & Asuka, Mickie James
Opening Segment – MISS: On the go home show before one of the biggest PPVs, having your WWE Champion interrupted by technical difficulties caused by Retribution while he’s talking about his Championship match is a […]
IMPACT HITS & MISSES 8/18: “Emergence: Night One” with Machine Guns vs. The North for tag titles, Wrestle House,Moose vs. Miguel, Bey vs. TJP vs. Raju for X Title
•Final impact – HIT: Several storylines come to a head in part one of the Impact Emergence special two-part event. With a named show comes the expectation that good wrestling would be involved, and I […]
8/19 NXT ON USA PRIMER: Adam Cole and Pat McAfee go face-to-face before Takeover, Balor vs. Dream, Gargano vs. Holland, Swerve & Breezango vs. Legado del Fantasma
NXT ON USA PREVIEW AUGUST 19, 2020 AIRED ON USA NETWORK We are less then a week away from NXT Takeover XXX as both Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano will have one more to qualify […]
WWE RAW ROSTER OVERVIEW: Heel and Face Depth Chart for Men and Women and Tag Teams headed into Summerslam
The following is a look at the wrestlers currently on the Raw roster officially and appearing regularly. This gives a quick snapshot overview of what WWE’s creative team has to work with. They are divided […]
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 8/17: Final SummerSlam Hype for Raw, Potential Rey Return, HBK Talks RKO
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER ORLANDO, FL. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER AUGUST 17, 2020 AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe […]
WWE SMACKDOWN HITS & MISSES 8/14: Braun-Alexa-Fiend, Sonya-Mandy hair affair, Hardy challenges Styles, Big E’s singles push, Women’s Battle Royal
HITS •Women’s Worth The Women’s Battle Royal had all the makings of a Miss with the opening minutes of rapid-fire eliminations that could harm further battle royals (and the Royal Rumble), but as it went […]