Story of the Year 2022

[Defrost]

2022 has been a pretty insane year in Wrestling. The top story being so obvious in a year full of stories that would be the biggest deal in any other year is insane. I am going to start off listing a few stories. Please fill in this thread with stories I may miss here or just give your thoughts on the stories listed here.

The Vince McMahon Sex Scandals/WWE Palace Coup

Obviously the most important man in the history of Wrestling being forced out of his company is the biggest story of the year, and increasingly the story looks like it started before we heard a word of the hush money Vince McMahon was paying out to cover up being a sex pest.

First you have the demotion of Paul Levesque and what appeared to be the outright firing of Stephanie McMahon including a blistering hit piece in the Wall Street Journal planted from inside WWE about how incompetent she was. This led to a series of memes portraying Nick Khan as a mastermind taking down one McMahon at a time.

Then also in the aforementioned Wall Street Journal a story appeared about Vince McMahon paying hush money to a former mistress. This story would extend to paying hush money to a talent who had been forced into sex by McMahon.

No one knows who leaked this to the WWE Board or to the Press but the big winners of this appear not to be Nick Khan but the aforementioned Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon who seem to have had a preemptive strike launched against them before this happened. If anyone could ever figure out how all the knives ended up in all the backs in this one that would be an all time story to tell.


The Gripe Bomb/Brawl Out

CM Punk the top draw of All Elite Wrestling spent the summer on his couch with a broken foot. Seems in that time he stewed in his own resentments over two words in a promo no one understood the meaning of and had a complete and utter meltdown over several weeks after his return from injury. This led to Ace Steel biting Kenny Omega who was trying to save CM Punk's dog and CM Punk being so deathly afraid of Matt and Nick Jackson he had to start throwing hands which if you saw his "fights" in UFC is not exactly that scary a proposition.


Old Phil is expected to leave AEW and return to WWE which he said he would never do, but all but begged to get back in with Vince by slumming it on some 1 AM Smackdown talk show on the 5th biggest sports channel in America.


Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestles first match in almost 20 years in main event of Wrestlemania

Stone Cold Steve Austin wrestled Kevin Steen, who in the wake of Brawl Out made sure to sub tweet CM Punk about that one and if you know the history there that was sweet, in the main event of the first night of Wrestlemania I want to say 39 and it is at best the third biggest story of the year. That's insane. Also Kevin Steen main evented Wrestlemania. That's also pretty insane.


Cody Rhodes returns to WWE becomes first major jump from AEW to WWE

Speaking of Wrestlemania Cody returned to WWE at that show. After seemingly wearing out his welcome on and off screen in AEW Cody left the territory and returned to WWE to a heroes' welcome. Seemed to be in line for a super push before a major Pec Tear took him out, but did lead to probably WWE's MOTY.


Kota Ibushi loses mind on twitter. Tries to get fired from New Japan

Kota Ibushi went on twitter with all sorts of accusations against New Japan Pro Wrestling starting mostly with his problems with an executive named Kikuchi, but would escalate to blaming the company for his mother's suicide attempt and accusing the company of having ties to the Yakuza. Things seemed to eventually settle down. Now it seems that both sides are just waiting out Ibushi's contract which rumor has it will come due in January.


The death of Antonio Inoki

Wrestler, Promotor, Politician, so many other things. Summing up Antonio Inoki is impossible. He fought Muhammad Ali, he created NJPW, he stole from NJPW, he at least got the credit for getting the hostages Saddam Hussein was holding pre Gulf War released. He had ties to the North Korean government. He accidently once converted to Islam and stopped a riot in Pakistan and became a hero there. Also investigated UFOs for the Japanese government. The man lived a life.

[Defrost]

I'd love to hear what anyone has to add

[BGMaverick]

Clearly lower than what you've listed:

- Big E suffers a broken neck
- Scott Hall passes away
- Tony Khan buys ROH
- Sasha and Naomi walk out on WWE
- AEW and NJPW have Forbidden Door
- Bray Wyatt returns to WWE
- Logan Paul in WWE

[Nash Diesel]

You can tell someone doesn't like CM Punk when they omit the part where his shit hands knocked out one of your boyfriends lol.

The top story is definitely the Vince situation. It is going to be very interesting once we find out how all of this came to be, did one of the kids leak this stuff? I wouldn't be shocked. Triple H was the guy who told Vince to screw Bret. Trips is a fucking mastermind, the best worker of all time no doubt about it. Terra Rizin to the end all be all of WWE production. Nobody not even Bruno or Hogan pulled that off.

I remember when PWI used to drop the yearly almanac. I still have one that covers 1997 talking about Rodman coming into WCW.

[Tyson]

Vince getting turfed, er retiring, from his own company is the biggest story of the year, by a country mile.

Stone Cold mixing it up in-ring one last time (?) edges out Phil “Drama King” Brooks for second.

[Mazer]

In 2 years, Cody is a story that we could be looking back, and thinking it was even bigger than we gave it credit for at the time.



Obvs, Vince is 1. But those others are pretty big.


Way bigger than 2020's top story of Roman getting veneers.

[3puppies]

In 2 years, Cody is a story that we could be looking back, and thinking it was even bigger than we gave it credit for at the time.



Obvs, Vince is 1. But those others are pretty big.


Way bigger than 2020's top story of Roman getting veneers.

It only becomes a bigger story if the Rock doesn't come back to take on Roman at Mania, but Cody defeats him instead.

Clearly lower than what you've listed:

- Big E suffers a broken neck
- Scott Hall passes away
- Tony Khan buys ROH
- Sasha and Naomi walk out on WWE
- AEW and NJPW have Forbidden Door
- Bray Wyatt returns to WWE
- Logan Paul in WWE

I'd argue that the Usos' undisputed domination of the tag division has been bigger than some of these. And for pure TV time, the retirement of the 24/7 title belongs on the list of important developments this year.

But yeah, Vince's ouster is the story of the year by a long long margin.

[Defrost]

You can tell someone doesn't like CM Punk when they omit the part where his shit hands knocked out one of your boyfriends lol.

The top story is definitely the Vince situation. It is going to be very interesting once we find out how all of this came to be, did one of the kids leak this stuff? I wouldn't be shocked. Triple H was the guy who told Vince to screw Bret. Trips is a fucking mastermind, the best worker of all time no doubt about it. Terra Rizin to the end all be all of WWE production. Nobody not even Bruno or Hogan pulled that off.

I remember when PWI used to drop the yearly almanac. I still have one that covers 1997 talking about Rodman coming into WCW.

I may have editorialized a bit.

But yeah the whole thing where Vince's last act was to take all of HHH's power and basically fire and leak dirt on his children before he was shivved himself is movie worthy.

[Mazer]

I may have editorialized a bit.

But yeah the whole thing where Vince's last act was to take all of HHH's power and basically fire and leak dirt on his children before he was shivved himself is movie worthy.

That whole story has to be something.

[Mazer]

It only becomes a bigger story if the Rock doesn't come back to take on Roman at Mania, but Cody defeats him instead.

.

I'm still kind of thinking a 2 nights (Rock vs. Roman/Roman vs. Cody) is a possibility.

If Cody runs high for a while, and more AEW jump ship after, I still think it becomes a bigger story.



Nowhere near Vince. I don't wanna get crazy. But possibly a bit bigger than it is today.

[Defrost]

That whole story has to be something.

Remember Shane was thrown under the bus right before that too

[Romford Pele]

Lol at Defrost shitting on CM Punk and Vince and boning his New Japan boys.

[Mazer]

Remember Shane was thrown under the bus right before that too

True. It's weird, because that seemed almost separate.


It's also interesting because a lot of the cuts, different directions than Trips, etc.....at the time, many people were tying those back into Nick Khan. Looks different in retrospect.

[Nash Diesel]

Nick Khan welcomed the heat as well. He said that if people want to give him credit for all the negative stuff happening, he'll gladly take it. This was also around the time he bought that ridiculously expensive home. I'll be honest though IDK if this guy already had money. I know he's tight with The Rock and The Rock isn't some piece of shit who only associates with other millionaires, but I could see Khan being a wealthy man already. He definitely wasn't working at McDonald's prior to this lol.

I'll also say this, even if Vince didn't try to sabotage his own kids they should make that into a movie. It's like the Attitude Era came to life 20 years later.

What we can't forget though is that we didn't know what Triple H's status was going to be. He had a heart attack. They gave the keys to Shawn Michaels who I felt bad for when he was saying how he knows people think it's Vince and Bruce that were doing NXT 2.0 but it was actually him. HBK is the master of making you feel bad for him even though he was a piece of shit too back in the day. Just a humble guy now.

[Mazer]

Nick Khan welcomed the heat as well. He said that if people want to give him credit for all the negative stuff happening, he'll gladly take it. This was also around the time he bought that ridiculously expensive home. I'll be honest though IDK if this guy already had money. I know he's tight with The Rock and The Rock isn't some piece of shit who only associates with other millionaires, but I could see Khan being a wealthy man already. He definitely wasn't working at McDonald's prior to this lol.

I'll also say this, even if Vince didn't try to sabotage his own kids they should make that into a movie. It's like the Attitude Era came to life 20 years later.

What we can't forget though is that we didn't know what Triple H's status was going to be. He had a heart attack. They gave the keys to Shawn Michaels who I felt bad for when he was saying how he knows people think it's Vince and Bruce that were doing NXT 2.0 but it was actually him. HBK is the master of making you feel bad for him even though he was a piece of shit too back in the day. Just a humble guy now.

Nick was a pretty influential and a high-end player in the Talent Agency/Television rights world prior to coming over.

That had to be interesting, because while all the public statements have been positive, and none of us know the McMahons as people, just have a hard time imaging Steph being "That's just dad. He fucks around on Mom with his own employees. Covered up his tracks, and paid off people for BJs with company money....OH DAD!"

[Donald]

Ric Flair's "last" match was a fairly big story this year too, though not as much as others mentioned.

[Nash Diesel]

Nick was a pretty influential and a high-end player in the Talent Agency/Television rights world prior to coming over.

That had to be interesting, because while all the public statements have been positive, and none of us know the McMahons as people, just have a hard time imaging Steph being "That's just dad. He fucks around on Mom with his own employees. Covered up his tracks, and paid off people for BJs with company money....OH DAD!"

See I think Stephanie is exactly like that. This is the reality of many wealthy, famous families. You think all these years Stephanie never at the very least caught wind of her dad fucking around? I mean it had to have been hard with her being behind the camera while her dad made out with every single diva on the roster within a 4 year period.

I've always felt wrestling fans were no different than my mom and her friends but instead of reading Entertainment Weekly and watching morning gossip shows we're reading the Wrestling Observer and listening to "from my point of view" podcasts. We want there to be something wild and crazy so we start forming these stories which aren't very far fetched. Rich old guy found to be paying off women? Wow what a shocker lol.

[Defrost]

See I think Stephanie is exactly like that. This is the reality of many wealthy, famous families. You think all these years Stephanie never at the very least caught wind of her dad fucking around? I mean it had to have been hard with her being behind the camera while her dad made out with every single diva on the roster within a 4 year period.

I've always felt wrestling fans were no different than my mom and her friends but instead of reading Entertainment Weekly and watching morning gossip shows we're reading the Wrestling Observer and listening to "from my point of view" podcasts. We want there to be something wild and crazy so we start forming these stories which aren't very far fetched. Rich old guy found to be paying off women? Wow what a shocker lol.

It's also been made very obvious in the last few years that while there has never been a divorce Vince and Linda are no longer married.

Which is kind of another wrinkle in this, while all this was going down there were some rumblings that Paul and Stepanie weren't together anymore.

[Defrost]

Ric Flair's "last" match was a fairly big story this year too, though not as much as others mentioned.

I think people want to forget this one because of how sad Flair looked

[Nash Diesel]

It's also been made very obvious in the last few years that while there has never been a divorce Vince and Linda are no longer married.

Which is kind of another wrinkle in this, while all this was going down there were some rumblings that Paul and Stepanie weren't together anymore.

It's really one of those "why now?" scenarios. I think a lot of us, no matter how smart we are to the business, believe that what we see on tv isn't far from the truth with a lot of reality based wrestlers. So you see Vince on there making out with Trish, Sable, wanting to be the father of Stephanie's baby being pitched, that was all like 20-25 years ago by now. Fast forward and all this shit is coming out like why now? It's fascinating to me and it would be insane if this was some sort of in-family fighting.

[Nash Diesel]

I think people want to forget this one because of how sad Flair looked

I mean shit how many times has Flair retired since the 90's? 4? And according to him he's unretired, ready to go have the 2nd last match ever again maybe but who knows.

[Mazer]

It's also been made very obvious in the last few years that while there has never been a divorce Vince and Linda are no longer married.

Which is kind of another wrinkle in this, while all this was going down there were some rumblings that Paul and Stepanie weren't together anymore.

there were those rumblings, but nothing seemed to have come from that. Obviously every relationship has issues, and when it's in a family business that has people constantly trying to get scoops on, shit's getting out.

Obviously none of us know Stephanie, but not leaving the company (where her and her husband have their financial future tied to), and still being mad at her Dad seems like a completely viable course of behavior.

[Mazer]

It's really one of those "why now?" scenarios. I think a lot of us, no matter how smart we are to the business, believe that what we see on tv isn't far from the truth with a lot of reality based wrestlers. So you see Vince on there making out with Trish, Sable, wanting to be the father of Stephanie's baby being pitched, that was all like 20-25 years ago by now. Fast forward and all this shit is coming out like why now? It's fascinating to me and it would be insane if this was some sort of in-family fighting.

Why now is a good question.

But one factor is what you can keep covered up in 2022, with more electronic records, more sophisticated audits, higher burdens on financial disclosures for publicly traded company-is not the same as what you could keep covered up in 2002.


And obviously the nature of the accusations went beyond Vince likes to have affairs.

[Defrost]

I mean shit how many times has Flair retired since the 90's? 4? And according to him he's unretired, ready to go have the 2nd last match ever again maybe but who knows.

After the Hogan cage match in 1994, after the Shawn match at Wrestlemania, when his TNA run ended, and now this. So yeah it would be 4 I think.


Steamboat looked way better than Flair when he did his last match thing a couple of weeks ago.

[Nash Diesel]

Why now is a good question.

But one factor is what you can keep covered up in 2022, with more electronic records, more sophisticated audits, higher burdens on financial disclosures for publicly traded company-is not the same as what you could keep covered up in 2002.


And obviously the nature of the accusations went beyond Vince likes to have affairs.

I mean supposedly he was paying off someone that was released or left back in like 2005-2006 which is why people think it was Christy Hemme. And there was a rumor back then that it was supposedly her fucking around on tour with Batista and Triple H. But that's how rumors go in this crazy business lol.

I mean the accusations were pretty typical. Here's a push for your sexual services.

After the Hogan cage match in 1994, after the Shawn match at Wrestlemania, when his TNA run ended, and now this. So yeah it would be 4 I think.


Steamboat looked way better than Flair when he did his last match thing a couple of weeks ago.

Steamboat's also probably lived a much cleaner lifestyle over the last 4-5 decades than Naitch. I was watching that classic shoot with Flair from 2008 and I think that he aged about 10 years from the time he retired in WWE to the time he retired in TNA.

[Donald]

Can't remember when Flair started to look old. I mean in 2001 he looked like the old Ric Flair. Must have been some time between 2001 and the beginnings of Evolution where he aged 20 years.

I get the passion to be in the ring. Missing it, all that good stuff, but at least you can still be around the business. Backstage roles, managers, etc.

Especially with his known health issues, I'm surprised anyone let him back in a ring. But money talks I suppose.

[Defrost]

Well you could say the mid 1990s. That's why he got the face lift they covered by doing that Wargames angle where Hennig bashed his face with the door.

[Nash Diesel]

Hearing him talk about that face lift is fucked up lol. They took his entire face off! I don't much about plastic surgery so maybe that's normal for a facelift but damn was it worth it Naitch??

[Defrost]

Well we have an update to the story of the year

https://twitter.com/rebeccaballhaus/...96769523126275

I'd be like the guy in the window in the Sickos meme if this happens.

Also I hope he get taken to the cleaners in that lawsuit.

[Nash Diesel]

Well we have an update to the story of the year

https://twitter.com/rebeccaballhaus/...96769523126275

I'd be like the guy in the window in the Sickos meme if this happens.

Also I hope he get taken to the cleaners in that lawsuit.

I read a few comments that reminded me that Vince apparently still has the power to waltz back in like nothing happened and take over.

Vince won't get taken to the cleaners he's worth more than 11 million but damn, you can sued for something that supposedly happened 30 years ago? So he raped a guy 30 years ago and we're just now hearing about it? Where was this guy 30 years ago? It says it was a ref , back in 1992. That's wild! I mean I've heard the stories from Hawk about Vince and Shawn on the bearskin rug but that just seemed like alpha male talk from a drunk.

[3puppies]

It never occured to you that the ref involved is female?

[Defrost]

I read a few comments that reminded me that Vince apparently still has the power to waltz back in like nothing happened and take over.

Vince won't get taken to the cleaners he's worth more than 11 million but damn, you can sued for something that supposedly happened 30 years ago? So he raped a guy 30 years ago and we're just now hearing about it? Where was this guy 30 years ago? It says it was a ref , back in 1992. That's wild! I mean I've heard the stories from Hawk about Vince and Shawn on the bearskin rug but that just seemed like alpha male talk from a drunk.

A. The referee is a woman Rita Chatterton.
B. That story has been known for over thirty years

[VHS]

I hold grudges for shit that happened back in preschool.

[Nash Diesel]

It never occured to you that the ref involved is female?

I couldn't think of any female refs. The article didn't specify gender and back in that time, moreso the 80's I guess there were some allegations toward people from the likes of Barry O who by the way is man.

A. The referee is a woman Rita Chatterton.
B. That story has been known for over thirty years

My apologies this is the first I've heard of Vince McMahon raping a female ref back in 1992. I don't remember any female refs in the WWE until NXT. Why did it take until now for this lawsuit to come to fruition if this was a well known story? I'm not going to deep dive into it so if there were other attempts at suing him or having him arrested that I'm unaware of that wouldn't be a shocker.

[Nash Diesel]

I hold grudges for shit that happened back in preschool.

I think you holding a grudge is a little different than rape.....I could be wrong as a lot of people think rape and asking for a blowjob are one in the same these days so yeah, I guess you being mad that some kid didn't share his glue is the same as a woman being raped by Vince McMahon.................

[Defrost]

I couldn't think of any female refs. The article didn't specify gender and back in that time, moreso the 80's I guess there were some allegations toward people from the likes of Barry O who by the way is man.





My apologies this is the first I've heard of Vince McMahon raping a female ref back in 1992. I don't remember any female refs in the WWE until NXT. Why did it take until now for this lawsuit to come to fruition if this was a well known story? I'm not going to deep dive into it so if there were other attempts at suing him or having him arrested that I'm unaware of that wouldn't be a shocker.

The only arrest attempt is the woman at the sun tan parlor in 2006 I want to sat who told a story that lines up a lot with a lot the stuff coming out now. Plus had the crazy bit where Vince moved his car to the front of the place and sat in it staring daggers at the woman while waiting for the cops.


Rita Chatterton told her story and then kinda disappeared again until the ring boy sex abuse scandal and told her story several places.

[casselmm47]

I remember a lot of these stories coming out (or resurfacing, whatever the case may have been) when the whole Weinstein/#MeToo thing started a few years back. At the time, everyone still thought Vince was bulletproof or that, since most of these cases were so ancient, that no one would come forward to make a case of it. Or that wrestling was such (to the general public) a cesspool of an industry that no one would care if someone tried to make a stink of it, or whatever. Weinstein, Charlie Rose, etc etc all these pillars of the entertainment industry and even the ones that were openly degenerates and similarly bulletproof, they all started crumbling. Even golden-boy Today Show host Matt Lauer, ffs.
The final straw had to have been that 'Plane Ride From Hell' Dark Side of the Ring episode last year. They threw Flair under the bus, Dreamer got put on blast for even the appearance of fully defending it, and I think a few others were quietly sent packing once the stewardess came out with her account. This wasn't something buried in the dirtsheets or a product of rumors and innuendo anymore, it was something people could put a face to and it was only a matter of time before someoone would leak just. one. more. thing. that would result in sending Vince home for the long haul. It was the FO after a long drawn-out FA. There was just enough residual mainstream publicity that came off of that that all anyone had to say was 'look at the books...' and the next thing you know we all find out how much he'd been paying everyone off.

[Nash Diesel]

I remember a lot of these stories coming out (or resurfacing, whatever the case may have been) when the whole Weinstein/#MeToo thing started a few years back. At the time, everyone still thought Vince was bulletproof or that, since most of these cases were so ancient, that no one would come forward to make a case of it. Or that wrestling was such (to the general public) a cesspool of an industry that no one would care if someone tried to make a stink of it, or whatever. Weinstein, Charlie Rose, etc etc all these pillars of the entertainment industry and even the ones that were openly degenerates and similarly bulletproof, they all started crumbling. Even golden-boy Today Show host Matt Lauer, ffs.
The final straw had to have been that 'Plane Ride From Hell' Dark Side of the Ring episode last year. They threw Flair under the bus, Dreamer got put on blast for even the appearance of fully defending it, and I think a few others were quietly sent packing once the stewardess came out with her account. This wasn't something buried in the dirtsheets or a product of rumors and innuendo anymore, it was something people could put a face to and it was only a matter of time before someoone would leak just. one. more. thing. that would result in sending Vince home for the long haul. It was the FO after a long drawn-out FA. There was just enough residual mainstream publicity that came off of that that all anyone had to say was 'look at the books...' and the next thing you know we all find out how much he'd been paying everyone off.

I think this rings true even now. Not to mention Vince's age. He's not going to jail. He's not going to be a homeless bum if he gets sued. Some 60 year old female ref is going to be able to pay for her grandchildren's grandchildren's college and that'll be it.

I don't see him coming back though. He might still be part of the process and he is still the owner of the WWE let's not forget that part. He has the majority voting too so no matter what they try I don't see how they could stop him from doing what the fuck he wants. I mean, could Vince tomorrow put the WWE up for sale? I think so.

[Mazer]

Steamboat's also probably lived a much cleaner lifestyle over the last 4-5 decades than Naitch.

Than NAITCH?

I dunno man. Seems controversial.

[VHS]

I think you holding a grudge is a little different than rape.....I could be wrong as a lot of people think rape and asking for a blowjob are one in the same these days so yeah, I guess you being mad that some kid didn't share his glue is the same as a woman being raped by Vince McMahon.................

So different, but the same?

[Nash Diesel]

So different, but the same?

Not the same at all.

[Defrost]

Update on one of the big stories. Seems that Kota Ibushi was sitting with Takaaki Kidani, owner of Bushiroad parent company of NJPW, and NJPW President Takami Ohbari at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye,

[Defrost]

I have two badly infected ears, a sinus infection, and a deviated septum.


I just spent the last five minutes laughing my ass of because Vince is coming back.

[Nash Diesel]

To sell the company. Makes you wonder if it was one of the family who put all his sexual misconduct stuff out there.