Tag: 2022 Year In Review

I regret to inform you that the Josh Nason’s Punch-Out journey through the year that was in pro wrestling has arrived at its final stop.

And while the topics covered this week did just happen less than 40 days ago, there’s still a lot to sift through from the final 31 days of 2022 — 90 minutes worth.

Joining me for this look at December is Davie Portman of POST Wrestling and co-host of the Poisonrana podcast (the former upNXT) with Braden Herrington.

The headline doesn’t just indicate the grand finale of this year’s series, but for that of William Regal in AEW and Mandy Rose in NXT. We discuss the much different situations about their departures and what led to them.

We discuss the beginning of the Vince McMahon power play to return to WWE as that news emerged in December as did legal demands from two women wanting financial restitution for McMahon allegedly assaulting them.

The rumblings of Sasha Banks heading to NJPW began as we approached some closure (we think?) from she and Naomi walking out of WWE in April.

We talk the great action from ROH Final Battle and the womp womp announcement about their upcoming (?) TV product that followed.

Plus, the best of the rest from WWE, AEW, Japan, Impact, the indies, and more.

If you have missed any of this or the MMA year in review series, check out the archives. You can also subscribe to our free show RSS feed and get them in your podcast app of choice.

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The heralded JNPO pro wrestling year in review series continues with a stop in November 2022.

While our time here is almost done, there’s still more fun to be had as Rich Kraetsch of Voices of Wrestling makes his return to talk over this recently completed 31-day stretch.

On the topic board:

• WWE held two big events with Crown Jewel and Survivor Series. One featured Logan Paul putting on a great performance against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns while the other saw the main roster debut of the WarGames match.
• MJF highlighted AEW’s month as he won their World title at Full Gear which also saw the return of The Elite, the “interim” being awkwardly dropped from the Women’s title, and Saraya’s return.
• Speaking of awkward, we talk about The Elite mocking CM Punk in their return to Chicago.
• GCW announced their move to FITE+ while the NWA said Nick Aldis wasn’t welcome there anymore after he made some inflammatory comments.

Plus, the best of the rest of WWE, AEW, Impact, Japan, the indies and everything else.

If you have missed any of this or the MMA year in review series, check out the archives. You can also subscribe to our free show RSS feed and get them in your podcast app of choice.

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The famed pro wrestling year in review series on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out arrives in October 2022.

Acting as my co-pilot for this look at the 31 days that were is the great Trevor Dame of ThROH The Years and Wrestling Inc.

Here’s a few of things we discuss in this 90-minute long episode:

• The end of the road for the White Rabbit mystery as Bray Wyatt officially returned to WWE at Extreme Rules. But then what?
• More AEW drama as a war of words between Sammy Guevara and Andrade El Idolo spilled over from Twitter to the real world as they fought prior to Dynamite.
• The continued fallout from AEW All Out
• The passing of wrestling legend Antonio Inoki at 79 years old.
• The saga of the DX reunion and Billy Gunn’s non-appearance
• Plus the rest of the month in WWE, AEW, Japan, Impact, and everything else.

If you have missed any of this or the MMA year in review series, check out the archives. All shows are free.

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While the Vince McMahon WWE story was the biggest of 2022, coming in a close second has to be the situation involving CM Punk, the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Ace Steel, and the Brawl Out after AEW All Out.

We talk about that and more in the latest entry in my 2022 pro wrestling year in review series, specifically looking at the month of September. Joining me is first time guest Colin McGuire, a columnist and writer for ProWrestling.net.

Colin and I discuss the event itself and all of the fallout which was shrouded in mystery and shoulder shrugs as no one knew what was going on, perpetuated by a questionable narrative of legal reasons that prevented anything from being said.

We also talk about the highly-successful WWE Clash at the Castle and, perhaps, a missed moment for the company as it relates to Drew McIntyre. We also talk the debut of the much-ballyhooed White Rabbit social media campaign.

We chat about the second annual AEW Grand Slam Dynamite & Rampage, more WWE returns, the constant drumbeat in NJPW, Impact, the indies, and everything in between.

If you have missed any of this 12-part series, catch up here.

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The Josh Nason’s Punch-Out 2022 pro wrestling year in review series says farewell to summer with a final look back at August.

Joining me on the beach is first-time guest Kate Elizabeth of Fightful.

It’s a heavy AEW month with the build to All Out which saw the return of CM Punk to confront Jon Moxley leading to a title unification match first on Dynamite instead of at the pay-per-view.

And then, the result and shortness of that first match had fans wondering what the deal was. We discuss all that, plus the return of Kenny Omega after a long absence due to multiple surgeries.

Kate and I also talk about all the internal issues for AEW in August which included WWE contract tampering, talents growing tired of issues backstage, and an all-hands talent meeting.

It was a quiet month for WWE as the Paul Levesque creative era began to take effect with multiple returns including Johnny Gargano, Hit Row, Karrion Kross and others.

Plus, the best of Impact, Japanese wrestling, the indies and more.

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One of the most interesting year in pro wrestling news history peaked in July 2022 with Vince McMahon announcing his retirement/resignation from WWE.

We talk about that and more in the latest installment in the pro wrestling year in review series on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out.

Joining me is past guest and wrestling podcaster Jon Alba.

Jon and I talk about the McMahon announcement and the fallout (coincidental considering this week’s news) including a newsworthy WWE SummerSlam that saw returns…and a forklift.

While it was a quiet month for AEW, the path to September’s All Out began to cleared which included the announcement of the new Trios titles.

ROH held their second pay-per-view under the Tony Khan regime with the well-regarded Death Before Dishonor, headlined by FTR vs. The Briscoes in a two-of-three falls match.

We also talk about the Ric Flair’s Last Match pay-per-view and the uncomfortableness of watching Flair compete — hopefully for the last time.

Jon and I also talk all the news from Japan/NJPW, Impact Wrestling and the indies.

If this is your first time here, check out the rest of the series!

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On a new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, I take a break from the award-winning pro wrestling year in review series to return to the granddaddy of them all: the MMA year in review series.

In the first of four parts, the returning Paul Fontaine (also a granddaddy) of this website and Fight Game Media joins me to recap the first three months of 2022.

Headlining the January through March news was the growing dissension between the UFC and its heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Ngannou began the year by unifying the title with a win over interim champion Cyril Gane and then had surgery on his knee, all the while being very vocal about his contract situation and wanting to do boxing.

It continued with the Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal feud — both in the Octagon with a lackluster February fight and out of the cage with Masvidal punching his rival outside a Miami restaurant that resulted in charges being filed.

Paul and I also talk about Israel Adesanya’s middleweight title defense over Robert Whittaker, the Joe Rogan controversy that saw him out of UFC 271, and plenty more.

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On a new Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, the clubhouse leader for the best pro wrestling year in review series continues with a stop in June 2022 — the month that saw the first of the Vince McMahon allegations come out.

Helping me through this month is first-time guest and Brace for Impact podcast host Mike Gilbert of Fight Game Media.

Mike and I talk about the emergence of the McMahon story by the Wall Street Journal and the immediate fallout that saw McMahon appear on WWE TV in a show of confidence, defiance and false bravado.

June also saw a strange path to AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door including a notable post-Double or Nothing AEW Dynamite that included CM Punk getting injured on a stage drive, Hiroshi Tanahashi appearing to set up a match that never happened, and MJF deliver a scathing promo before his three-month disappearance.

We also get into everything that happened in Impact, Japan, and the indies.

Enjoy this latest deep dive into the pro wrestling year that was.

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In the May 2022 stop in my JNPO pro wrestling year in review series, we arrive at two different types of situations where wrestlers took a stand against their employers but for completely different reasons.

The returning Jesse Collings of Voices of Wrestling and Wrestlenomics is my guest as we look back on all the happenings over that 31-day stretch.

Of course, the aforementioned situations included MJF no-showing an AEW fan event autograph/meet & greet session that led to an avalanche of speculation as to whether he would even appear at that weekend’s Double or Nothing. He did, but would later disappear for three months.

The other includes two talents that have yet to return after walking out before an episode of WWE Raw in Sasha Banks & Naomi. Upset about their upcoming creative direction given they were Women’s Tag Team Champions, they left the venue that night and what followed on TV was something we usually don’t see in WWE.

Jesse and I also hit on the following in our hour-long talk:

• All of the happenings from Double or Nothing including CM Punk winning the AEW World title and the conclusions for both Owen Hart tournament final matches
• Roman Reigns entering “a new phase” of his WWE career that would see him work less dates
• The last-minute decision to unify the WWE Raw and SmackDown Tag Team titles
• All the news from Impact, Japan, the indies and everything in between

Just click below to listen and catch up in the archives — all for free. You can also subscribe to our website’s free show feed to listen in your podcast device of choice.

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On the landmark 200th episode of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out, we unveil a supersized edition of the show as the 2022 pro wrestling year in review series rolls on.

Post Wrestling’s Andrew Thompson joins me for two hours (!) to talk everything that happened in the month of April, highlighted by WWE WrestleMania 38.

That show featured the in-ring return of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Roman Reigns unifying the WWE World and Universal titles, an all-time awful Vince McMahon bump that was scrubbed from Peacock, the return of Cody Rhodes, and more.

The month also saw an accusation from Tony Khan of an army of anti-AEW Twitter bots powered by a staff running thousands of accounts.

AEW also announced the NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view and the main event for Double or Nothing.

ROH held their first show under the Khan regime that saw surprises, title changes and debuts which included Samoa Joe and a great match between FTR and The Briscoes.

Andrew and I also talk all the news in Japan, Impact and all the other major headlines throughout the month.

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