SmackDown’s lead announcer set to be removed!
WWE 2K24 announced!
And Luke’s review of Monday Night Raw.
with THAT CM Punk, Cody Rhodes promo.
I’m Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News-
Ok, let me sit down.
Do the turn gimmick thing.
…just one more thing.
Because after I finished shooting this video, another huge story has come out.
Rock ‘The Dwayne’ Johnson has joined the board of TKO, the company that owns WWE and
the UFC.
Which means The Rock is now an official, bonafide, business business business director of TKO,
and thus, WWE.
Ok…
here we go again.
I literally finished recording this extra Rock part.
Then Tempest bursts into tell me something even bigger.
…Just one more thing.
Netflix just acquired the rights to Monday Night Raw.
After months of speculation that put Raw’s existing Network Peacock, AEW’s hometurf
of Warner Bros Discovery, and the outside chance of Amazon Prime, WWE actually decided
to just Netflix and chill.
Announced by WWE themselves on their website, the promotion reveals Monday Night Raw will
move from the USA Network to Netflix from the beginning of 2025.
“This marks a major programming shift as Raw leaves linear television for the first
time since its inception 31 years ago.”
And it’s not just for the US market.
In an unprecedented deal, Netflix will have the exclusive rights to Raw practically worldwide
- with the “U.S., Canada, U.K. and Latin America, among other territories, with additional
countries and regions to be added over time.”
This will include Netflix becoming the home for all WWE shows and specials - like NXT,
SmackDown, documentaries, series and premium live events - outside of the US.
Those will presumably stay on Peacock in the United States.
It’s a huge play for Netflix, their first major weekly live broadcast show.
It’s not just a revolutionary step for wrestling.
It’s a transformative step for how we all consume media.
Variety add that the deal is valued at at least $400 million per year, and is believed
to run for more than five years.
This is a significant increase on Raw’s current deal with NBCUniversal, which is worth
approximately $250-260 million per year.
What do you think of Raw on Netflix?
Let me know in the comments.
Now back to the previously unscheduled programming.
TKO themselves announced the appointment, with Vince McMahon - remember him - saying:
“Very few people on the planet understand the convergence of sports, entertainment,
media, and business like Rock.
We are proud to have him join the TKO board to help take our company to new heights.”
And Johnson himself, who revealed not only that he’s “very motivated to help continue
to globally expand our TKO, WWE, and UFC businesses as the worldwide leaders in sports and entertainment
— while proudly representing so ma-” Sorry, too much business.
The Dwayne has also revealed his new role gives him “full ownership of my name, ‘The
Rock’”.
His contract will also involve a services and merchandising agreement with TKO.
This comes following Rocky’s surprise appearance on the Day One edition of Raw, and further
fuels speculation he’ll main event WrestleMania 40 against his Tribal cousin Roman Reigns.
In addition to being a wrestler, actor and impossible body image setter, Rocky is a businessman
- being the owner of Seven Bucks Productions, the founder of the Teremana tequila brand,
co-founder of the ZOA energy drink, and the owner of the XFL.
Gasp.
XFL to TKO confirmed.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Kevin Patrick first started for WWE as a backstage interviewer in 2021, where he quickly mastered
the Tom Phillips half crab - the ability to stand in a half crab while interviewing wrestlers,
in case you’re taller than them.
By the following October, he was promoted to Raw’s lead play-by-play commentator,
alongside Corey Graves, who both moved across to SmackDown’s three man booth from August
2023 with Michael Cole.
PWInsider reported at the time this was to help improve Patrick’s announcing, as while
he was “extremely well liked,” those backstage believed he needed “some more seasoning.”
Patrick must’ve become adequately salty by the end of the year, because at the start
of 2024 his Michael Cole stabilizer wheels were taken off.
But according to PWInsider, it was actually more to see how he tastes by himself.
I’m going to stop going along with the seasoning metaphor now, it’s getting weird.
Cole being removed from SmackDown commentary was reportedly a sink or swim test for Patrick,
with WWE officials feeling he needed to really step it up if he hoped to remain in the position.
He might’ve only lasted three episodes, as now Aaron Varble, a writer for SEScoops,
has posted on X: “SmackDown set for a change.
Kevin Patrick is out.
No replacement named yet.
Reason I was given: “It just wasn’t working out.”
If true, this will mark WWE’s latest failed attempt to find their future replacement for
Michael Cole.
In the last five years alone, we’ve had the commentators come and go of Tom Phillips,
Vic Joseph, Jimmy Smith, Adnan ‘We’re Going to need a Bigger Boat’ Virk and now,
potentially, Kevin Patrick.
The Wikipedia table looks like the last five years of Tory party leadership.
That’s a political joke, I made a joke about how bad our UK government is.
Please, tell me how smart and informed I am in the comments.
But there is one guy who did really, really work out.
He was different, he was excited, he was instantly likable.
It’s the time of the year for magical wrestling returns - so please let the, I don’t know,
number 19 entrant in the men’s Royal Rumble be Mauro Ranallo, signaling his return to
the lead play-by-play role on SmackDown.
What are your dream WWE commentary line-ups?
Tell me really quickly in one continuous breath like Excalibur in AEW in the comments down
below - because I’ll be replying to people FROM OUTTA INSIPID TAZ COMMENTARY!
Or you could be like me, and pretend you’re secretly the best choice.
Because you’re really good at commenting on your own matches when you play 2K23.
Oh yeah, he’s beating him up.
He’s beating up real strong.
And now you can practice on WWE 2K24!
2K have announced that this year’s edition of the game will be released on Friday 8th
March, with the Deluxe and Forty Years of WrestleMania editions coming out three days
earlier.
The deluxe editions will have Raw’s real main character, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair
as their cover stars.
But the main cover star will be Cody Rhodes… who’s definitely main eventing WrestleMania
40… surely… the whole game’s marketing plan is based around him finishing his sto-
It’s now time for my review of Monday Night Raw - aka the impressive 1,600th episode of
Monday Night Raw… in about 5 minutes.
The show opened with Seth Rollins’ promo to confirm the reports that he’s injured
and would be out of action for 3-4 months - which certainly puts him in doubt for WrestleMania.
Gunther came out to praise Rollins for his hard work and how he’s the workhorse champion
of WWE, a champion people can be proud of.
Just like Gunther.
Seth says that Gunther and his goons - his Goonthers?
- came out early, as while the doctors don’t think Seth can make it to WrestleMania, Seth
is going to do whatever it takes to make it to WrestleMania.
Gunther was pleased about this, and told him when he wins the Rumble he’ll be picking
Seth to face.
Sean Ross Sapp said over the weekend on Fightful that he wouldn’t be surprised if Seth didn’t
vacate the world title, if there was a chance he can be back by Mania.
He’s not booked for a title match at the Rumble, the card for the Elimination Chamber
isn’t set, and then it’s Mania.
In a world where Roman defended the belt only a handful of times last year, you can easily
write around an injured champ who will miss a few months of TV.
You’ve got more than enough big time champs like Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky to build a PPV
card around.
If Seth can be back for Mania - and I would presume they think he can - not stripping
him of the belt makes way more sense than taking it off him only for him to come back
a few months later and fight to win it back.
As we all know, the best option and one that always works would be an interim champion.
[by the way I was being sarcastic] I don’t think WWE would play a game like
this unless they were sure he’d be back by Mania.
But maybe they are playing that game and it won’t work out for them.
For now, though, I think this is the right move.
New Day then attacked the Goonthers at ringside, which led into a great fight between the two
teams.
I won’t use the word ‘match’ here, because this was a fight - a fight that got double
counted out and saw all four men crash through tables in the production area.
It was wickedly cool and - it’s a new Dunn-less era yes it is - it was shot well and I could
see everything that was happening.
New Day later cut a promo wanting the winners of the tag title match between Judgement Day
and DIY.
Our first big 2024 return happened on the show as Keith David narrated a video package
for Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre.
Judgement Day watched this from their Judgement Den and argued about their current failures.
Ivy Nile beat Valhalla who Michael Cole said was - and I quote - “One of the most strangest
individuals” he’s ever seen.
I know that is wrong because there’s a blue squiggle underneath it in my Google Docs.
The crowd didn’t care about this match, but it was good to give Nile a win on TV .
Nia Jax got what’d during her rather sitlted promo, and Becky Lynch came out to save the
segment.
Bayley then came out to make it even better, and the three brawled with Jax standing tall.
I feel like this might be your final three, with my girl Bayley getting the win.
Guys, guy, guys!
It’s the go-home show before Mania, you know what that means.
[Slow zoom in] IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS.
Our new dumbest stat for this silly video is this:
Only 2.6% of Rumble entrants have won the Royal Rumble.
Well, yeah.
The match only has one winner.
Well, apart from that one time.
Dominik Mysterio beat The Miz when the numbers game got the best of him, and Truth tried
to give Priest more of his merchandise cut but was told to speak to him later.
More on that later.
Bronson Reed challenged Jey Uso to a match for next week, and Ivar beat Chad Gable in
a fantastic match after a distraction from Valhalla.
Wade Barrett claimed on commentary that it’s been a rough few weeks for Alpha Academy facing
Ivar.
Mate, Tozawa beat him last week.
The crowd loved this match, and so did I. And then came, easily, the best thing on the
show.
In a sight that didn’t seem like a possibility just a few months ago, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes
came face-to-face in a WWE ring.
I don’t think they even came face-to-face in an AEW ring.
Tears for Fears were right, wrestling is a mad, mad world.
That is what that songs about, right?
What did Punk want to talk about?
Well, Cody Rhodes is there, so he wants to talk about Dusty Rhodes.
He told a story of how Dusty called him in 2007 to tell him to keep an eye on Cody as
he’d just signed with OVW, and when the American Dream asks for a favour, you don’t
say no.
So he kept an eye for him.
But this Saturday - at the Rumble - he won’t be looking out for Cody, he’ll be looking
for him to make sure that Punk wins.
Cody admitted he was a nepo hire in OVW due to his famous dad, and he’s glad he and
Punk became friends, but in the Rumble there are no friends.
Punk responded by talking about how Dusty was the son of a plumber, while Cody is the
son of a famous wrestler.
Punk didn’t have a famous father, he had a blue collar electrician father.
The irony being that he’s more of the American Dream than Cody is.
Cody brought up the 2011 Pipebomb and how Punk said he was going to do loads of things
that changed the wrestling industry, but instead he just walked out on it.
Punk didn’t pass the torch, so Cody picked it up and did all the things Punk said he
was going to do.
He’s more CM Punk than CM Punk is.
The two got heated and eventually got nose to nose - KISS HIM YOU FOOL - and they both
left in opposite directions.
This was exceptional, and phenomenal.
Brilliant on multiple levels.
The building of tension, the ramping up of it getting more and more personal.
All without saying the words All, Elite or Wrestling.
Two masters of their craft making me very excited for the Rumble.
Five stars, no notes.
Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark beat The Way in an unfortunate death spot where the crowd
were very, very quiet, and Damage CTRL argued with Tegan Nox and Natalya backstage.
Jinder Mahal wanted a meeting with Adam Pearce, who wanted a drink.
And the main event - ONE MATCH TO GO - saw Drew McIntyre beat Damian Priest when Truth
did what he was told and came back later to speak with Priest about his merch cut.
This caused a multitude of distractions - including Priest getting a visual pin on McIntyre - and
Drew hit the Claymore for the win.
Which wrapped up a very good edition of Raw, which was more about its talking segments
than in-ring work.
Not that the action was bad - Gable vs. Ivar was great as was New Day vs. Imperium were
the stand outs - but the wrestling took a backseat to the chatting.
Seth’s promo, Bayley and Becky, Cody/Punk.
All great stuff.
This week’s Raw is 4 out of 5.
We were challenged to name every single Royal Rumble entrant in the most recent Survival
Series, with a very challenging twist.
Go and watch that right now - it’s an awesome episode!