In this WrestleTalk News, NXT star deletes Twitter after controversial Tweet, Tony khan
addresses unhappiness backstage at AEW and Pete will be reviewing AEW Dynamite.
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Be careful what you Tweet folks, lest ye be cancelled.
So should read the warning above Twitter’s terms and conditions page - not that one single
person has ever read that, who knows what they own, my face?!
MY FACE?!
Anyhow, the advice is the same as in real life tbh ‘don’t say dumb sh*t’, but
somebody should tell that to NXT star Amari Miller who has deleted her Twitter after facing
backlash after a series of tweets about Sasha Banks.
It all started when Miller tweeted: “Shoutout to Ember Moon being the first and only African
American @WWENXT Women’s champion…
NXT Goal!
Let’s make it 2!!”
When people then pointed out that Sasha Banks was actually first to hold the belt, Miller
added: “No thanks:)
Sasha is German and black I said African American:)” Then attempting to explain further posting
info from Banks’ Wikipedia page which says her mother is of German descent and her father
is African American and: “For everyone on Twitter Fully Black NXT
champion (Ember Moon).
I’m aware what I posted.
Sasha is great and legendary for sure let’s never forget!”
VIEWER IT DID NOT GO WELL.
And seemingly rather than face the backlash Miller has deleted her Twitter.
WWE has famously tried to shy away from politics in its programming, but backstage there seems
to be something of a political divide too as revealed in a new report from Fightful
Select.
Oh goody now I have to get into politics.
This’ll make for a fun read of the comments.
During the Thunderdome era one staffer snapped a picture of a production truck which would
have been lead by Kevin Dunn adorned with a “Trump 2020” flag, the image was said
to be taken around December 2020 when Trump was publicly denying the results of the 2020
elections which he lost.
The reason this has caused a stir is because during the Thunderdome era and election run
Vince McMahon had Titus O’Neil cut a promo to kick off Raw that said "WWE doesn't do
politics" which frustrated people after seeing this duct taped to one of the trucks.
Sources also told Fightful that in the midst of constant cuts it reminded them that "the
talent didn't matter to the higher ups."
While it can’t be confirmed who hung the flag or asked for it to be put up, the truck
was run by Kevin Dunn, and sources had indicated to Fightful that Dunn was known to make his
political beliefs know backstage, something Vince McMahon who is also a Trump advocate
generally discouraged.
Fightful had heard about the flag in early 2021, but had been unable to confirm the story
until this week.
Over the other side of the barricade things are reportedly not that rosie either as the
WWE regime change has shifted the dialogue about AEW to there being unhappiness backstage.
Tony Khan addressed the rumors in an interview with John Martinez on the Superstar Crossover
podcast.
In it he addressed the oft criticized communication in AEW, something recent releases like Joey
Janela slammed them for: “I recently did some promotions and added to the team, and
I think with the new group, hopefully the communication’s only gonna get better.
Because I can only be in so many places at one time, talk to so many people with such
a big team.
So I think that’ll help.”
He also then touched on TV time for talent, which was tweeted about by Ethan Page and
Sonny Kiss just the other week: “I can’t get everybody on the show.
It is challenging, in some ways, when you have three hours of television.
“ “but it also means people have to do the
most to maximize the time they do get, wherever it is, whether it’s on TV or streaming.”
And now it’s time for my review of AEW Dynamite Quake By The Lake, in about 5 minutes.
And yes, I did win the right to do these reviews because of QuizzleMania 50, I didn’t forget
about that last week, shut up.
This show was called Quake By The Lake.
A bad name.
But a very, very good show.
It started on the right foot with the Coffin Match between Darby Allin and Brody King.
This started off hot as Darby attack Brody during his entrance, and the pace didn’t
let up.
Brody started immediately bleeding following the thumbtack skateboard to the face, there
was interference from House of Black and a great cannonball through a table, but of course,
Sting was inside the coffin!
Classic Sting.
He threw his bat to Malakai Black, who decided not to use it against him and instead walked
away?
I don’t really get why, but sure.
This led into a fantastic finish though, of Darby using Brody’s chain to choke him out
on the apron, in an echo of the spot where Brody choked out Darby in the Battle Royal.
Brody passed out, fell to the floor, rolled into the open coffin waiting for him and the
lid shut by itself - a wonderfully orchestrated final spot, and a great way to end this little
Brody/Darby feud which was a bunch of fun from start to finish.
Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho cut typically great promos ahead of their main event match,
and then the Trios Tournament brackets were revealed - with the opening matches being
Death Triangle vs Will Ospreay & Aussie Open, Andrade, Dragon Lee & Rush vs Young Bucks
and their mystery partner next week, House of Black vs Dark Order, and Trustbusters vs
Best Friends.
And speaking of the Bucks’ partner, they went backstage and offered that role to Hangman
Adam Page, saying they were sorry for everything they said and did to him, that if they could
take it back, they could, and the money and the fame and the dynamics after AEW started
got weird and it changed them, and they just want the Hung Bucks back.
But Hangman said no, he can’t.
He needs to stand by The Dark Order, the people who have been there for him for the last couple
of years.
They’re in the tournament, he can’t take that opportunity away from them, so he’ll
be in their corner and won’t be competing in the tournament at all.
He ended by saying that besides, if the Bucks are going to have a partner, they should have
someone who hasn’t turned their back on them.
So…Kenny Omega return next week then?
Like…it seemed farfetched to me when I first thought it, but after the conclusion of this
show, and with Tony Khan openly saying that he wouldn’t bring in Trios titles until
Kenny was healthy again…Kenny Omega return confirmed.
Andrade El Idolo & Rush then teamed up to gain some momentum ahead of the Trios tournament,
which I assumed would be against a lower card team, just to give them a solid win.
Instead they faced The Lucha Bros in a tornado tag match.
Oh.
This was great, tons of innovative spots in this one, including a brilliant spot where
Penta sacrificed his mask that was tied to the ropes in order to save Fenix and break
up a pin - which was honestly almost a little too good.
Something that emotional and taxing maybe should have been saved for when stakes are
really high, rather than a throwaway tag match.
Regardless, La Faccion Ingobernable got the win by double teaming Fenix after Penta had
been taken out of the match.
I don’t know what AEW are doing with the Lucha Bros, and I kind of feel bad for them.
Luchasaurus squashed a guy in a very quick match.
I don’t know whether we’re supposed to be cheering or booing him.
Christian Cage cut a promo backstage and Jungle Boy ran back to beat him up but security stopped
him so Luchasaurus beat up the security.
I don’t know whether we’re supposed to be cheering or booing him.
Miro cut a promo where Julia Hart interrupted and tried to tempt him to join them, but Miro
said there’s only one woman who can touch the Redeemer, and it’s not her.
He then said he will accept the House of Black’s gift and will use it to destroy them.
So I assume he’ll also pop out of a coffin before long.
The Factory are still trying to copy Tony D’Angelo from NXT 2.0 and I genuinely cannot
fathom why.
Jay Lethal called out Wardlow for a rematch, for no particular reason, and then Wardlow
said yeah, sure.
Then FTR came out, and they hit a Big Rig on Lethal.
That’s the factual things of what happened in that segment, but I’m not sure I really
like much of it.
Why is Lethal getting a rematch?
Why did FTR back up Wardlow?
Why was the staredown with the six of them so long and why did it end with Lethal looking
like a numpty being the only one of Dutt, Singh and himself to get in the ring?
This was an odd segment.
Jericho Appreciation Society cut a promo backstage, then Ricky Starks quickly beat Aaron Solo.
The rest of the Factory tried to beat up Starks, including Tony D’Angelo knockoff Nick Comoroto,
but he escaped.
Ricky is mega over and it’s great to see.
The Gunn Club were backstage when Stokely Hathaway came in and offered a business card
to the Ass Boys, but Billy took it and tore it up, and then Danhausen came in and said
see you Friday.
Okidoki then.
Best Friends cut a promo backstage but were interrupted by the Trustbusters who I think
look like the most mismatched trio of people I’ve seen in quite a while.
As you may have been able to tell at this point, a lot of promos on this show.
Madison Rayne then challenged Jade Cargill for the TBS Championship, which was a decent
little match, nothing super special.
But a very good finish involving back and forth counters ended with Jade hitting the
Jaded for the win.
Athena stormed the ring and attacked Jade post-match, so looks like that might be the
match for All Out, which Athena legitimately might win.
That’d be cool.
Thunderstorm were backstage, and there’s tension between them.
Kris Statlander is injured, which means Toni Storm is now number one contender to Thunder
Rosa’s title, and the pair of them said what a shame it was that it’s come to this.
It’s just…well I guess if I have to…I didn’t want it to come to this, but if I’m
being forced to fight you then I guess I will.
Y’all have already fought.
For the title.
It’s fine, I promise.
Beardhausen is coming to Rampage.
That’s Danhausen and a returning Erick Redbeard.
I like it.
And then we had the main event of Jon Moxley vs Chris Jericho for the interim AEW Title
- and this was brilliant.
Aside from the overuse of blood in Moxley matches, I thought this was a great encounter,
with Jericho showing the Lionheart side of his character, some early chain and submission
wrestling, and then as the match progressed, some brilliant nearfalls, including one off
a bat shot behind the referee’s back, and another with Moxley being bounced off the
exposed turnbuckle into the Judas Effect, which he kicked out of.
Despite then locking in the Liontamer, Moxley got out of it, choked Jericho out and he tapped
for the Moxley retention.
If the show had ended there, it would have been a pretty good show.
But post-match, here comes JAS, here comes Blackpool Combat Club and Ortiz and Kingston.
Alright, seen this one before.
But then…it’s CM Punk!
Back from injury, he stormed down to the ring, cleared out the remainder of the JAS, and
then stared down with Moxley, meaning more likely than not, it’s Punk vs Moxley to
unify the titles at All Out.
In Chicago.
Not that Moxley needed that much elevation at the time, but this run that Moxley has
been on since winning the belt has been exceptional, and has made him feel like the top guy in
the promotion, as the champion should be.
Punk vs Moxley, which would have felt like a big deal a few months ago, now feels like
the biggest match AEW could put on right now.
And I cannot wait.
Overall, this was a great episode of Dynamite, mainly due to a great opener and a brilliant
main event, with some solid stuff peppered in between.
I’m really torn between a 4 or a 5 out of 5 for this show, so I’ll go 4.5 out of 5.
Why yes, this fence I’m sitting on is very comfortable thank you very much.