A new WWE for 2024.
Cody Rhodes winning at WrestleMania?
And Mercedes Mone’s next move revealed.
Maybe.
Until another report comes out saying the exact opposite.
I’m Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
Much like your basic cousin on Instagram, who blamed everything wrong in their life
on just the fact it was ‘2023’, but 2024 is going to be so different.
2024 is his year.
He’s finally going to open his own vape shop.
There’s too many vape shops in the street you’re looking to open on, Ian.
Maybe just stop getting fired from your retail jobs!
Endeavour has also declared ‘New Year, New Me’.
Or should I say, New Year, New WW-me..
That’s a pun.
Despite the WWE sale being first announced in April 2023, the corporate merger - which
saw Endeavor take a 51% stake in the new company TKO, which contained WWE and the UFC - the
deal wasn’t fully complete for another 5 months, finally being closed in September.
Yet it’s only now, another four months after that, that WWE is finally completing its transformation
into a post-Vince McMahon world…
even though Vince is still one of the main owners.
Initially, that feels like a really drawn out timeline.
Triple H first took control of WWE creative on Vince’s first departure in July 2022.
The effects were felt instantly, as the promotion would go onto arguably their greatest run
of Premium Live Events in its history for almost a year.
Morale reportedly improved backstage, and weekly television started to clear WWE’s
very low bar of just making sense.
But like any good horror movie, you think you’ve killed the monster, but you actually
only wounded it, and it’s going to come back even scarier with a creepy moustache
for a whole other final act.
You could argue Triple H, and WWE’s CEO Nick Khan, couldn’t full realise their vision
because of the looming, shoulder-padded ghost of McMahon leering from forced exile.
Many of Vince loyalists, like long time head of production Kevin Dunn, were also still
in their roles.
But the Endeavor deal Vince potentially pulled off to regain control of WWE didn’t work
out that way.
Instead, Endeavor have empowered Khan and Triple H to make changes - particularly to
the old regime, mindset and personnel that McMahon had entrenched.
These New Year’s Resolutions came into effect even before 2024 started, with news that Dunn
was leaving WWE.
PWInsider have reported many feel his exit was because he felt “disrespected” for
being a “Vince McMahon guy”, with the relationship getting ugly in his final month
post-handing in his notice.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has added Dunn actually made his decision two months
ago, so just over a month into the full Endeavor era, when the new parent company “started
wanting to make budget cuts to improve profitability in the department and started making decisions
on the production side without relying on his opinions.”
With Dunn’s divisive visual style gone - which can be summed up by saying ALL THE CRASH ZOOMS
- we may point back to the Day One Monday Night Raw special in the future as the moment
Triple H’s more NXT presentation fully realised itself on the main roster.
And it’s not just a literal new look for WWE programming.
If Nick Khan has his way, it’ll be a whole new way of operating behind the scenes.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that both Khan and Triple H are
seeking “Japanese allies” to partner WWE with.
The first step of this plan has already been executed, when NXT star Charlie Dempsey wrestled
for All-Japan Pro Wrestling on January 3rd.
Apparently WWE are also targeting both the women’s promotion STARDOM, and it’s partner
company, the third biggest promotion in the world, New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Who are kind of in a relationship with AEW.
Fightful Select has now added what they’ve heard about this story - with several sources
noting WWE: “was in a new era and things could be done
a lot differently.“ We’re leaving the Vince age and entering
the Hunter/Khan epoch, which hints at a significant changes in how they’ll be doing business.
McMahon didn’t just refuse to work with other wrestling promotions, he often actively
ignored their existence on WWE programming.
That’s why CM Punk saying ‘maybe I’ll go to New Japan, maybe I’ll go back to Ring
of Honor’ was such a big deal in his 2011 Pipebomb.
You never heard other promotions referenced in that time.
Not with you kids nowadays with your Forbidden Doors and your TikkityToks.
You don’t know how hard it was in 2010.
Perhaps because of NXT’s original mission - to discover and develop new wrestling talent
- Triple H had to think differently.
He needed to look outside WWE for the next Superstars, and as a huge fan of the old territories
system, he brokered working relationships with EVOLVE, British promotions PROGRESS and
ICW, and Germany’s WXW.
He would even bring in wrestlers on a freelance basis - like Jushin Thunder Liger, Kota Ibushi
and Zack Sabre Jr.
Nick Khan reportedly feels the same way, with Fightful revealing he had spoken to New Japan’s
Rocky Romero about a partnership years ago - likely early 2021, which was reportedly
a way to keep Bryan Danielson in WWE - but Vince would quickly shut down any discussions
about working with them.
It’s unlikely even Triple H and Khan can make a WWE/New Japan Forbidden Door scenario
happen now, though, because of New Japan’s strong partnership with AEW.
Fightful writes that neither side sees it happening, but it is at the most possible
point that it’s ever been - with WWE showing consistent interest, and a change in management
at the very top of New Japan, with Hiroshi Tanahashi becoming its new President.
At some point, if Tanahashi feels WWE can be trusted, or grows frustrated with AEW just
taking all their top stars, in a pure business sense, New Japan partnering with WWE will
be far bigger for them.
Even then, though, the culture of Japanese companies is to prioritise loyalty, which
is why New Japan had stuck with Ring of Honor and CMLL for so long, despite those relationships
not making the most business sense.
In the meantime, WWE will have to plug away at convincing New Japan ‘that they’re
a new person, they’ve changed, they’re not going to keep cheating on their girlfriend
anymore’.
Look, seriously Ian, sort your life out and stop cheating on Tracey.
She’s a nice girl.
Fightful writes that early signs between WWE and All Japan Pro Wrestling are positive - with
their All Japan sources being happy with Dempsey’s performance and conduct.
That said, they’re understandably wary of the, until very recently, giant evil corporation,
and are adopting a cautious “wait and see” strategy.
Which is coincidentally what I advise us all to do about Cody Rhodes beating Roman Reigns
at WrestleMania.
It’s the neverending story, ahahahahahahaha.
Story!
Cody lost to Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
A decision so unfathomable at the time, someone threw a rubber chicken in the ring.
But, in WWE’s defence, their business has gone from strength to strength in the year
since, and Cody has continued to rise as one of the company’s top stars.
Unfortunately, though, the chances of him finishing his story are caught between The
Rock and a hard place, as Dwayne Johnson has now set himself up for a match against Reigns.
While it could happen at the WrestleMania-sized Elimination Chamber in Australia, it’s largely
expected to take place at WrestleMania - which could take priority over Cody’s championship
match.
Cody, however, remains unperturbed, and has posted a silhouette of Rocky on his Instagram
story.
For the benefit of CM Punk, who has never seen a Rocky movie, this is significant in
three ways: 1.
Rocky is famously set in Philadelphia, the site of WrestleMania 40.
2.
Rocky is sometimes what people chant at The Rock.
I don’t know what that means, I just kind of thought of it.
And C, in the first Rocky movie, Rocky lost to the dominant champion Apollo.
But in the sequel, he manages to defeat him.
‘Yo Adrian, I did it!’
The story could be as many of us expect it: Cody lost at WrestleMania 39 to set up a bigger
story and rematch, finally beating Roman at WrestleMania 40.
There’s many ways to build this.
You could win back-to-back Royal Rumbles.
You could win the Elimination Chamber.
Or… you could turn into wrestling Oprah.
Cody has gone on a heartwarming run of granting fan dreams, first giving away a Christmas
tree to a fan in the crowd at Raw’s festive special; then giving the Wrestling Club - a
school club of young wrestling fans - tickets to WrestleMania 40; and now, at WWE’s 6th
January live event, he did this: Cody went onto say it’s going to be a logistical
mess, but they’ll figure it out.
It’s a new story to finish!
And I bet, by the time that magical wedding happens, maybe later this year, maybe next
year, Mercedes Mone will still be debating whether to go to AEW or WWE.
After Fightful Select reported on January 1st that the former Sasha Banks in WWE, Mercedes
Mone, was set for an “imminent” debut on AEW, with conflicting reports coming out
that a WWE return remains a possibility, Dave Meltzer has now written:
“What I know is that AEW does expect her to start on TV soon, but as noted, until it
happens and the contract itself is signed, I wouldn't consider anything 100 percent.
“ What are the 10 worst wrestling entrance themes
of all time?
There’s some real stinkers.
Some aren’t even technically music.
Click the video on the right for Tables, Lists and Chairs.