In this WrestleTalk News, is Goldberg coming back to WWE, there are in fact plans for Roman
Reigns vs Tyson Fury, Kevin Nash shoots on CM Punk and AEW and more.
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It’s almost time for another Saudi Arabia WWE show with the upcoming Crown Jewel event,
where Logan Paul will be facing Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
That sure is a sentence.
Traditionally around this time of year, we’d be seeing the returns of Brock Lesnar, Goldberg,
or The Undertaker, to return to their hometown area of Jeddah or Riyadh, I’m sure that’s
where they feel most at home based on their wrestling history anyway.
We haven’t seen Lesnar since SummerSlam, and we haven’t seen Goldberg since Elimination
Chamber, which was the last Saudi show.
But interestingly, there might be a little hint that we might be seeing the latter on
our screens soon.
WWE regularly uploads Top 10 videos to its YouTube channel, stealing partsFUNknown’s
gimmick there, we invented Top 10 Lists guys, and these Top 10 or ranking videos are more
often than not linked to something topical that’s happening on WWE TV.
So it might seem at least a little noteworthy that one of the recent uploads from WWE’s
YouTube channel is Goldberg’s Top 25 Moments.
It could be nothing.
But it’s also Saudi season, so anything is possible.
Considering that he won’t be coming back to fight for a World Championship though,
as Logan Paul has the honour this time, maybe this return might not be so bad.
Give me Goldberg vs Gunther where Gunther wins.
I’d like that.
Granted, this is also the first Saudi show under Triple H’s watch, so things may be
different.
And speaking of things that will happen at Saudi shows, according to Dave Meltzer on
Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE has plans to book Roman Reigns vs Tyson Fury somewhere
down the line.
And by somewhere we probably mean the next Saudi show before WrestleMania next year.
This was of course teased at Clash at the Castle, right before Fury started doing a
little singsong with Drew McIntyre and undermined the entirety of the main event, but let’s
all try to forget that happened shall we?
But something we can’t forget is the All Out Fallout Brawl Out, where CM Punk said
some things in a media scrum, fisticuffs ensued, suspensions galore, you know the deal by now.
Kevin Nash had some thoughts on the situation, and they weren’t exactly positive.
Speaking on the Kliq This podcast, Nash commented on Punk’s infamous comments that he’s
old and tired and has to work with children: “At 42 years old, Phil is tired.
He's tired.
He's beat up.
I was in the ring at 55 when he was cutting the promo on me, 'click click, I can hear
your knees.
Lol, I thought you were dead.'
That motherf****r is cutting that promo on me and he sits there at 42-years-old…Dude
didn't wrestle for ten f*****g years.
It's like a 75 El Dorado with 102 miles on it.
Motherf****r, don't tell me you're tired.
Don't tell me you're 75.
Shut the f**k up.”
Punk is actually 43 and Nash was actually 52 when Punk did that promo but that’s neither
here nor there.
Nash would go on to call AEW as a whole “dumb motherf*****s”, criticizing the way the
company is managed.
Tell us how you really feel Kevin.
With all this negativity surrounding the media scrum right now, you’d think Tony Khan would
consider not doing them again considering the disastrous consequences.
But it seems they’re set to continue, as when asked about that possibility on the Rasslin
podcast, Khan said: “Well I think to be fair we have had a lot
of positive things, a lot of positive reactions.
It is a great opportunity for the talent to get out and speak.
Obviously there are a lot of positives coming out of them…”
It’s just a few suspensions, it’s still good, it’s still good!
The ratings for Dynamite Grand Slam are in and honestly they didn’t drastic go down,
I just wanted to make the joke.
They did decrease though, which would be considered a disappointment as this is arguably the most
hyped episode of Dynamite all year.
The episode drew an average of 1.039 million viewers, down from the 1.175 mil the previous
week, while many were expecting it to break the 1.2 million mark to continue AEW’s rise.
With next week’s show going back to a regular old Dynamite, perhaps that streak of five
weeks or being over 1 million viewers is about to end.
One of the criticisms of Grand Slam was the over-use of finishes where interference happened
behind the referee’s back without them noticing, as the first three matches on the card all
featured this wrestling trope.
Tony Khan has seemingly caught wind of this, as he tweeted to say:
“Congrats @RefTurnerAEW on refereeing 100 AEW main events!
As Senior Official, Paul manages our refs, who do great work, but missed some illegalities
in the first few bouts last night.
I know we can count on Paul, I’m asking him to tighten it up, starting tomorrow on
#AEWRampage!”
Yeah Paul, sort it out.
Got nothing to do with TK’s booking.
And TK’s booking has some other effects too, like FTR being ranked number one since
like April and not getting a tag title shot, something which Dax and Cash have been vocal
about on social media.
And that trend continued with Dax speaking on the Ringer Wrestling Show podcast:
“If we were worried about rankings, we would be (AEW) tag team champions right now.
We've been number one since ... forever.
For the love of God, Tony, give us a shot.”
And unfortunately there may be some more big injuries to add to AEW’s list, as according
to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Wardlow may have picked up an injury at the
Rampage Grand Slam taping: “...did you hear anything about Wardlow
being hurt?
Wardlow appeared to be hurt.
I don’t know how serious.
He appeared to have a leg injury…”
That would be a huge blow to AEW if their TNT Champion was sidelined, though on the
bright side they could crown yet another Interim Champion which everyone would love, right?
Another confirmed injury comes from one Ruby Soho, who picked up a broken nose following
an awry Tay-KO at the hands of Tay Melo in their All Out Zero Hour match.
Soho confirmed on social media that she needs to undergo surgery for this broken nose, and
because of the timing of it has had to pull out of a scheduled appearance for 1PW in the
UK, instead being replaced at the show by Jamie Hayter, who will face Session Moth Martina.
WrestleTalk would like to wish Ruby Soho the best in her surgery, and Wardlow a speedy
recovery if he is indeed injured.
While the majority of fans and wrestlers alike agree that women’s wrestling in WWE has
improved drastically since the ‘divas’ era in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s,
one former figure from that time disagrees.
Speaking in an interview with Grapsody, Maria Kanellis provided a particularly spicy take:
“I think they should bring back the Butterfly belt.
I do.
I know people will disagree with me and that’s fine.
That’s why wrestling is great because when you watch wrestling, you don’t see everybody
looking exactly the same.”
The reasoning for her argument was because a lot of iconic wrestlers held that belt and
it has its place in history, though my argument would be that history is the right term.
Leave the memories alone and all that.
Unsurprisingly, many of her peers of that time don’t quite agree.
With Mickie James responding on Twitter saying she preferred the OG Women’s Championship,
and Trish Stratus chimed in with a simple “No”.
Good point, well made, Trish.
Moving on to the current number one contender for the SmackDown Women’s Championship Ronda
Rousey, who has recently spoken out on her 2022 Royal Rumble return and subsequent victory
after a lengthy hiatus from WWE.
Speaking to UFC legend Daniel Cormier on the DC Check-In, Ronda revealed that she was not
particularly fond of the match, due to her preconceived notions of how the crowd would
react.
"I was expecting boos.
I came out with my guard up and I didn't get to enjoy that moment because I was expecting
what I got on the way out.
So when I came out and everyone popped, I just blocked them out, didn't let them in,
and just went in, did my job and got out."
Which probably explains why Ronda was a little bit moody upon her return, until Vince told
her to stop doing that because she needed to smile and not be moody.
She loves the fans.
During the original black and gold NXT, call-ups were an exciting proposition with only Vince
McMahon standing in the way of any individual's successful transition to Raw or Smackdown,
(‘cough’ Karrion Kross) However, since the inception of NXT 2.0. and the focus on
younger, less proven athletes, these call-ups have been much less of a sure thing, as seen
with talents such as Parker Boudreaux getting released from the company due to a ‘lack
of development’.
According to WWE’s SVP of Talent Operations and Strategy James Kimball, this approach
to talent progression and development is now the norm.
Speaking with Bleacher Report, Kimball states that NXT prospects are reviewed every six
months: “Literally, six-month intervals.
Two-year mark, you’re up or out.
Obviously, there is a constant evaluation at the Performance Center.
Coaching staff, our staff, on-site, all the time, constantly evaluating, but formal, deliberate
evaluations occur in six-month periods”.
Ouch.
Well jokes on you WWE, Parker Boudreaux has moved on to bigger and better things…what
are they called again?
Truth Smashers or something?
TrustBusters, that’s right.
What a time.
Ending with some truly wholesome news, big match John Cena may have been out of the pro-wrestling
spotlight for a while but it doesn’t mean he has stopped being the ultimate babyface
on the planet.
Guinness World Records have recently announced that Cena has set a truly remarkable new standard
for giving back to those who need it the most by granting a record 650 wishes for the Make-a-Wish
foundation since his partnership with the organization started.
Cena truly is in a league of his own in this regard, as he is the only celebrity to have
granted over 200 wishes, truly remarkable stuff.
Love him or hate him in the ring, he truly is a hero for so many.