Chris Jericho knocked out in a real fight with a WWE star.
Jeff Hardy upset with AEW.
And my review of AEW Dynamite Homecoming.
I’m Oli Davis and this is the WrestleTalk News.
In 2021, Chris Jericho released a book called The Complete List of Jericho - a compilation
of his notes on every single pro wrestling match he had had in the first 30 years of
his career, a one-of-a-kind documentation of 2,722 bouts in the ring.
It might be time to release the revised and updated one, as it’s being reported he’s
had quite a few behind-the-scenes fights too.
Along with his infamous backstage fight with Goldberg - where Goldberg has since admitted
Jericho “kicked my ass” - and him confronting Brock Lesnar after SummerSlam 2016, believing
Lesnar had gone into business for himself and legitimately beat Randy Orton up - my
favourite part of that is where Lesnar reportedly kiss Jericho on the forehead and threatened
him to kiss him back - it’s now being reported Jericho had a real life fight with MVP back
in 2020.
During the second Jericho Cruise - entitled Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager At Sea - Part
Deux: Second Wave - Cassidy Haynes from Bodyslam.net is reporting Jericho himself, on his own cruise,
got into a verbal altercation with MVP - who was days away from returning to WWE at that
year’s Royal Rumble.
The two allegedly exchanged heated words, before MVP knocked Jericho out.
Sean Ross Sapp has also corroborated the Cruise knockout story on X.
Haynes added Jericho and MVP crossed paths again a year or two later in a hotel lobby,
where they had another heated exchange, which led to Jericho:
“hurrying to the elevator, and as the door closed saying “I don’t fight jobbers.”
Adding new context to the Judas by Fozzy lyric “And I will drag you down and sell you out.
Run away!”
That incident was reported on in 2022 by Fightful and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Apparently MVP was visiting friends who work for AEW at a hotel after a show, when Jericho
approached him to discuss their issues.
MVP invited him to discuss it outside, which is when Jericho allegedly got on an elevator
and said he “doesn’t fight jobbers”.
Run away!
MVP himself tweeted at the time: “Even when they get the story right, they
get the details wrong.
Gotta love the dirt sheets.
😏” Meanwhile, Jeff Hardy’s decided to just
vent his frustrations on-air.
Following a promo on Rampage where Jeff said “somebody needs to get us on AEW Dynamite
so we can boost those ratings”, he’s posted the card for the AEW Dynamite Homecoming special
episode on Instagram with the caption: “We,”TheHardys”will not be appearing
on this live show called #AEWDynamite.
We, “TheHardys”are stuck in the dimension of,”AEWRampage””
This could be part of a new disgruntled veteran heel character for the Hardys, or legitimate
frustration over the brothers’ minimised role since Jeff joined the promotion.
At one point, they looked likely to win the AEW Tag Team Championships, but Jeff found
himself suspended just five months after debuting for being arrested for driving under the influence.
AEW appears to not trust pushing Jeff as a singles or tag wrestler since.
Pro wrestling is taking over our board gaming channel today
with
the Crokinole Rumble!
Here’s a tease.
Now it’s Thursday, you know what that means - my review of AEW Dynamite, in about 5 minutes.
Making me feel like I had to suddenly wash all my online deliveries - I’ve got lockdown
wrestling PTSD, ok!
- this show took place in the unique, pandemic era staging of Daily’s Place.
There might as well have been no one in the crowd, though, because it felt like Hangman
Page and Claudio Castignoli were going to beat the hell out of each other for just themselves.
Page jumped Claudio as he got in the ring, prompting a non-stop, back and forth, first
time ever match between the two . You got all your favourite spots - Claudio’s Swing,
Hangman moonsaulting off the stage, and Page swigging a fan’s beer.
Throughout was Hangman’s new level of intensity.
This isn’t your old self-destructive Hangman Page with no friends.
It an evolved, post-Swerve self-destructive Hangman Page with no friends.
Page won with two Buckshot Lariats, positioning him for a World title challenge, in an absolutely
flawless match.
In honour of Brodie Lee, his handpicked protegee Preston Vance tagged with Orange Cassidy,
Dustin Rhodes and Adam Copeland against Brian Cage, the Gates of Agony, and pandemic-era
Daily’s Place fixture, Lance Archer - even complete with Jake the Snake manager outside.
Lance and Cage were too meaty to coexist, though, taking each other out, letting Vance
get the win for the babyface team.
Bullet Club Gold’s backstage interview was interrupted by The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass,
once again pitching they unite as the Bang Bang Scissor Gang.
Austin Gunn seems open to trading the gun fingers for the scissor fingers.
Samoa Joe came out to a huge reaction as his first in-ring promo as AEW World Champion.
He explained there’s a new way of getting title shots.
No more whiny promos or social media posts (*Jeff Hardy cough*).
Instead, you submit your record to the championship committee.
With no clear information on who that championship committee is, though, everyone just came out
to challenge Joe face to face.
Swerve Strickland entered with his whole Mogul Embassy, to be interrupted by Hangman Page
- causing Strickland to walk away, almost like he is a bit afraid of Page.
Hangman got directly into Joe’s face and said he’s coming for that world title.
Much like MJF’s reign, AEW are doing a great job of setting up multiple challengers for
the top belt, as once Hangman and Swerve had left, we got another one in Hook, entering
for a staredown of his own.
They’ll fight on next Wednesday’s Dynamite, which Excalibur announced on commentary.
I would’ve had Joe announce that himself in the segment, saying the committee had already
approved it following Hook’s Collision promo.
Ahead of their tag title match at Battle of the Belts on Saturday, Ricky Starks took on
He’s A Babyface Again Sammy Guevara - which had a sudden end ten minutes in.
Sammy hit a superkick from outta nowhere and put on a technical pin to get the win.
Ricky went to shake Sammy’s hand afterwards - because Sammy’s a babyface again, don’t
you know - which was very obviously a ploy for Big Bill to attack Guevara from behind.
In a stroke of production risk management genius, AEW then played Chris Jericho’s
music while Jericho ran down to make the save, and never stopped - making it impossible for
anyone in Daily’s Place to boo him, as the lyrics to Judas are just so fun to sing.
It gave the segment a chaotic Wild Thing for Anarchy in the Arena feel, providing a fiery
go-home angle while papering over any negative feelings from the crowd.
The second Brodie Lee tribute match focused on his other protegee Anna Jay, who tagged
in the babyface team with Thunder Rosa, Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander - with Stokely
Hathaway still trying to be her manager, holding up a sign in the crowd.
They took on the heels of Saraya, Ruby Soho, Julia Hart and Skye Blue.
Willow Nightingale was worked over during the break, which set up a 8-woman suplex spot,
the match breaking down, and Anna Jay facing off against Hart - perhaps setting up a match
there - and tapping out Skye Blue to win.
Roderick Strong beat Brian Keith to build himself for the International Championship.
Which is classic momentum-building booking… if it wasn’t for the fact that Orange Cassidy
is granting title shots to people who don’t even ask.
Perhaps there was an opportunity to put over this faction in a mega way, just have Strong
win the belt near immediately.
Adam Cole cut a decent promo rehashing the Undisputed Kingdom’s strength and respect
for each other afterwards.
This felt like treading water, when they should be escalating their faction’s threat on
the promotion of AEW.
You could have had them come out in the Joe segment too, keeping them close to the world
title, having them on more segments, and explaining away why they aren’t challenging immediately,
with Cole laying out a stay of execution for Joe from Wardlow because they worked together
to take out MJF.
And the main event saw Sting and Darby Allin, accompanied by Ric Flair, take on the Callis
Family’s Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs in a brilliantly fun tornado tag, that kicked
off partying like it’s 2010 TNA - immediate starting with Sting crowd brawling!
The same week IMPACT is going to become TNA again?
Sting to TNA confirmed.
Sting took actual bumps, Ric Flair poked Hobbs in the eyes, while Allin and Takeshita continued
their amazing chemistry from last week.
The craziest spots were Allin’s Coffin Drop off the bleachers, and Sting hitting a Scorpion
Death Drop on Hobbs off the stage, only going through one of the two tables.
For a moment, Sting looked hurt, only able to make a very weak cover, with the ringside
doctor and Darby rushing over to check on him.
But he was able to get to his feet for the show’s closing angle - revealing who his
final opponent will be: a returning Young Bucks!
Yes, Sting’s final match isn’t to put over Darby.
Yes, the Bucks don’t really have much obvious storyline or historic reasoning to wrestle
his last ever match.
For now.
But I quite like the idea that Darby never has to turn on Sting.
And protecting Sting in a tag match, against the Bucks, will probably create the best possible
wrestling he could go out on.
And, most importantly of all, the Bucks have moustaches now!
Mustache break!
This week’s Dynamite is 80%.
But AEW is in the news for the wrong reasons.
Click the video on the left to find out about Tony Khan’s Twitter meltdown about WWE…