Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News.
I am Luke Owen and I’ll be replying to comments for the first 15 minutes of this video going
live.
So if you have any burning questions like why do I tuck my ears into my hat ( because
it looks weird when I don’t), then drop on by and I’ll reply.
Headline: Jericho Talks Vince McMahon Relationship
On November 5th 2017, Chris Jericho shocked the wrestling world by announcing via a video
package that he wanted to challenge IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega to a match at
WrestleKingdom 12.
Omega accepted the match and New Japan made it official for January 4th 2018, Jericho’s
first non-WWE match since 1999.
Since then there has been a lot of speculation about Jericho’s relationship with WWE.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer that Y2J isn’t under contract with WWE,
which New Japan also confirmed.
There’s also the conspiracy theories surrounding the match, with some thinking Jericho has
been sent to New Japan by Vince in order to lure Omega to WWE for a match at WrestleMania.
Over the last few years, Jericho has talked about the great relationship he has with McMahon,
even going as far as to call them friends - and told Jim Ross last month on The Ross
Report that Vince has an open door policy for him.
“I really love working for Vince McMahon.
I have a really great relationship with him now, and have for the past 5-6 years; it's
actually really fun to see the creative side of Vince, to go in there and disagree and
agree and not have to worry.”
Part of that trust comes from the fact that Jericho never went to the competition, even
during his hiatuses from the company.
He’s been loyal to WWE since he joined them in 1999.
In 2007 Jericho had a meeting with Dixie Carter and Jeff Jarrett for negotiations about him
possibly joining TNA, but Y2J only took that meeting to improve his contract negotiations
for a WWE return.
Shortly after the WrestleKingdom challenge, WrestleZone reported that WWE had no idea
of Jericho’s dealings with New Japan.
However Tokyo Sports released an article that said an anonymous New Japan employee told
them he’s still under contract with WWE and Vince McMahon signed off on the match.
So which is it?
Jericho recently appeared on The Ross Report and indicated that he did have a conversation
with Vince about the match, saying he didn’t get this far in the business by stabbing people
in the back.
“You know how smart I am throughout my career, and you know the relationship I have with
Vince, and I would never jeopardize that, or give him any nasty surprises.
So, I’ll just leave it at that.”
This could confirm Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer report that the WrestleKingdom match
is a one off, and we could see a Chris Jericho WWE return at some point.
Headline: Michelle McCool Teases WWE Return
And maybe he could join Michelle McCool, who recently teased a WWE return on Twitter.
McCool left WWE in 2011 and retired from professional wrestling, last seen ringside at WrestleMania
during her husband The Undertaker’s final match.
With more time on her hands she’s taken up reading, recently posting about how much
she enjoyed Ric and Charlotte Flair’s book Second Nature.
To which Charlotte replied, “Thank you Woman 💜 one more more match?!?
😉”. Prompting McCool to reply a few days later, I’ve been dying for someone to ask!!!!💙”
Headline: Smackdown Live Ratings
Following AJ Style’s WWE Championship win, the go home show for Smackdown Live brought
in roughly the same number as last week - averaging 2.6 million viewers.
But more importantly is the Raw v Smackdown battle from WrestleRamble.
We asked you to decide which show you preferred this week, and a whopping 78% of you agreed
with Oli and Smackdown Live, with only 21% siding with me thinking Raw was the better
show.
And you can watch the full episode of WrestleRamble right now.
And is Hulk Hogan returning to WWE?
Click the videos to the left to find out more.
Press subscribe, support WrestleTalk on Patreon, order issue one of the magazine and download
the WrestleRamble podcast.
I’ve been Luke Owen and that was wrestling.