Table of contents for August 2022 in Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PROMOTION: ALL ELITE WRESTLING DATE: 03.06.22 LOCATION: ORLANDO, FLORIDA STORYTELLING IN PRO wrestling is often considered a lost art. Then, a show like All Elite Wrestling’s Revolution pay-per-view comes along. The event saw multiple heated rivalries boil over after strong builds. That time and care translated into great anticipation from a passionate fanbase, including the sold-out crowd at the Addition Financial Arena. Even with a marathon four-hour show (not counting the Buy-In preshow), the AEW faithful remained largely invested. The stacked main card kicked off with Eddie Kingston getting the biggest win of his career so far against Chris Jericho. Kingston’s everyman authenticity struck a chord as “Eddie!” chants echoed throughout the building—a familiar refrain for Jericho, who worked classic matches against Eddie Guerrero. The physical confrontation saw back-and-forth chops,…

PROMOTION: RING OF HONOR DATE: 04.01.22 LOCATION: GARLAND, TEXAS ON APRIL 4, 2022, a new era of honor began in Garland, Texas, as Ring of Honor held Supercard of Honor—its first show in nearly four months, and its first ever under new owner, Tony Khan. The main card opened with Swerve Strickland taking on Alex Zayne. There were early displays of athleticism from both men as each tried to gain the upper hand physically … and early displays of mind games as they tried to do so psychologically. After a breakneck start, the pace did slow somewhat (although still fast by most standards). A jarring TKO by Strickland and an inside-out Poisonrana by Zayne to the outside were just some of the big moves deployed throughout. The back-and-forth continued until…

POMOTION: EAST COAST WRESTLING ASSOCIATION DATE: 03.26.22 LOCATION: MORGANVILLE, NEW JERSEY FOR 26 YEARS, ECWA’s Super 8 tournament has represented greatness among up-and-coming wrestlers. Stars such as Matt & Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Bryan Danielson, Christopher Daniels, and Austin Aries made names for themselves by running the single-elimination bracket. According to wrestling lore, even Ring of Honor’s earliest officials were inspired, after attending the Super 8, to create their entire promotion based around this unique athletic presentation. For a tournament so steeped in tradition, respect, and nostalgia, the 2022 incarnation broke a lot of new ground. It was the first time that a 65-year-old vied for the trophy, as Ricky Morton, of Rock ’n’ Roll Express fame, joined the field of eight. It was also the first time that a…

PROMOTION: GAME CHANGER WRESTLING DATE: 03.31.22-04.02.22 LOCATION: DALLAS, TEXAS EARLY-APRIL IS A busy time in pro wrestling. WWE’s WrestleMania has created an offshoot ecosystem of its own, with numerous shows taking place the week surrounding the event. The GCW-helmed Collective has become one of the centerpieces of independent wrestling during said week, and Joey Janela’s Spring Break is the hallmark of that multi-show extravaganza. This year, Spring Break, in its sixth iteration, was a two-night affair. As usual, the supercard offered dream matches, rivalry blow-offs, and numerous surprises … and, of course, the annual massive, chaotic battle royal, The Cluster****. NIGHT ONE Part one of Spring Break 6 took place the evening of March 31 and boasted seven matches—three with championships at stake. A three-way bout for the GCW tag…

MEDIA REVIEWS WWE EVIL It’s tempting to dismiss a new WWE documentary series with the same degree of contempt that George Harrison showed to The Be Sharps as they performed on the rooftop of Moe’s Tavern. Truth is, after decades of home video retrospectives and two incarnations of the WWE Network, some of the best stuff has already been done. But it’s only natural that Peacock, which prides itself on its own brand of truth-based storytelling, gets a crack at reframing some of WWE’s best content. And that’s precisely what is happening in the new series, WWE Evil. While NBC and the ’E could well have been content in stitching together some classic archival footage to create content for their shared venture, WWE Evil immediately distinguishes itself as anything but…

WRESTLEMANIA HAS LONG been known as a place where history is made: Brock Lesnar ending The Undertaker’s undefeated streak in 2014; Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair becoming the first women to main-event in 2019; Ultimate Warrior becoming the first to cleanly pin Hulk Hogan for the World title in 1990. And, this year—though perhaps not enough fanfare was made of it—there was another important history-making moment at WrestleMania 38 from AT&T Stadium. By emerging victorious in their fatal four-way match on night two, Sasha Banks and Naomi became the first Black tag team to win the Women’s World tag team title in the history of WWE … and only the third Black team to win a Women’s world tag team title anywhere, in the history of pro wrestling.…

PROMOTION: NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE DATE: 03.19.22-03.20.22 LOCATION: NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE THE CROCKETT CUP was an invitational tournament held in the 1980s in honor of Jim Crockett Sr., whose North Carolina-based territory had been a hotbed of tag team action. Billy Corgan resurrected the tournament in 2019 to build on that legacy. In 2022, which team would be worthy of the exclusive winners’ circle that previously included The Road Warriors, The Superpowers, Lex Luger & Sting, and Brody King & PCO? FIRST ROUND The Briscoe Brothers defeated Hale Collins & Vik Dalishus during the preshow to advance … Luke & PJ Hawx used their father-son cohesiveness to exploit tensions between Odinson & Parrow, bringing an end to The End … NWA World champ Matt Cardona lobbied to have fellow Long Islander, VSK,…

PROMOTION: WESTSIDE XTREME WRESTLING DATE: 03.04.22-03.06.22 LOCATION: OBERHAUSEN, GERMANY THE 16 CARAT Gold is the biggest event of the year for wXw, a tournament that, since its inception in 2006, has grown to become Europe’s most important wrestling weekend. A truly international affair, previous winners include WWE’s Sami Zayn (as El Generico), NJPW’s Shingo Takagi, AEW’s Malakai Black, Chris Hero, and many more. FIRST ROUND The opening contest of the tournament saw wXw veteran “Coach” Robert Dreissker defeat Japanese indie veteran Fuminori Abe … 2021 Carat Tournament winner Cara Noir beat the German giant Vincent Heisenberg via Blackout Sleeper… Third match of the evening saw Hungary’s Peter Tihanyi against the French Aigle Blanc; It marked the Carat debut for both men, and they didn’t disappoint, with Tihanyi winning in 13:06…

MULTIVERSE OF MATCHES PROMOTION: IMPACT WRESTLING DATE: 04.01.22 LOCATION: DALLAS, TEXAS HIGHLIGHTS › As part of WrestleCon over WrestleMania weekend, IMPACT continued to hold open the Forbidden Door by showcasing multiple interpromotional contests. The main event saw The Good Brothers down ROH stars The Briscoes, who, earlier in the evening, had the fight of their lives with FTR at Supercard of Honor. › In other “Multiverse” action, IMPACT’s Chris Sabin earned a big win over New Japan’s Jay White. Speaking of NJPW, Tomohiro Ishii beat Eddie Edwards, who waved the proverbial banner of his alma mater, Pro Wrestling NOAH. Reina de Reinas champ Deonna Purrazzo kept the vaunted title in IMPACT with a victory over veteran Faby Apache. And we saw a battle of husband-and-wife teams as NWA’s “National Treasure”…

SINCE BECOMING RING of Honor’s savior, AEW President Tony Khan has delivered four winning moments for the brand: kicking off the March 2 edition of Dynamite with the acquisition announcement itself and a match featuring two of ROH’s founding fathers, Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels; moving forward with Supercard of Honor on April 1, despite the fact it ran directly against Rampage; finalizing a deal with ROH champion Jonathan Gresham … And the fourth? The dramatic AEW debut of Samoa Joe on the April 6 Dynamite. Joe finished off a very game Max Caster with a big elbow and a muscle buster in only four minutes to advance to the inaugural Owen Hart Foundation Cup tourney. Joe capitalized on that momentum on the April 13 edition, defeating Minoru Suzuki in…

PROMOTION: WORLD WONDER RING STARDOM DATE: 03.26.22-03.27.22 LOCATION: TOKYO, JAPAN BUILDING UPON THE increased visibility the promotion has garnered in Japan and internationally, Stardom promoted a hotly anticipated twonight supercard in March 2022. The cards, dubbed “The Best” and “The Top,” respectively, aired live from Ryogoku Kokugikan sumo hall for viewers around the world on March 26 and March 27. Fans witnessed a whopping 17 matches between the two shows—energetic title defenses, bitter rivalries, fighting friends, and the return of KAIRI. CARD 1: THE BEST HANAN VS. RINA The opening bout marked Hanan’s fourth Future of Stardom title defense … and first against wicked younger sister Rina. Stardom founder Rossy Ogawa has shown faith in Hanan, and she solidified the sentiment by retaining here. SAYA IIDA VS. MIRAI Both repping…

PROMOTION: NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING DATE: 03.01.22 LOCATION: TOKYO, JAPAN ON THE FIRST day of March this year, New Japan Pro-Wrestling held its 50th Anniversary Show at Tokyo Nippon Budokan. The actual date of the first NJPW event was March 6, 1972; however, its observed date has been moved a few times over the years. Despite three ownership changes, countless shifts to the business of pro wrestling since its inception, and a global pandemic, NJPW has weathered the storms—even when it did not look like the promotion would—to be around for a half-century of thrills, drama, and excitement. It was expected that Kota Ibushi would be making his long-awaited return to action at this show, following his shoulder dislocation during the G1 Climax 31 final. However, it was determined his recovery…

I THINK IT might actually be time to change the name of WrestleMania weekend. For years, thousands of fans have convened in each ’Mania host city to experience up to a week of live pro wrestling. This year was my 10th time attending the “weekend.” For most of those 10 years, my main focus has been on WWE events. Throughout the last couple, though, Game Changer Wrestling has been putting on my favorite events of the week, by way of The Collective: three days’ worth of awesome independent wrestling events. To me, this weekend is now more about independent pro wrestling, and some of the best athletes from around the world getting together for a number of supercards. This year, companies like Glory Pro, Unsanctioned Pro, Mission Pro, and Black…