Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News!
I’m Oli Davis, and I’ll be replying to as many comments on this video as I can.
Ultimate Warrior, Bruno Sammartino, Kurt Angle - of all the surprising names that have returned
to WWE over the years, the most astonishing one happened yesterday: WWE have announced
on Twitter that Jim Cornette will be inducting The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express at this year’s
Hall of Fame ceremony.
‘Why’s that so unexpected?’
you might ask.
‘Jim Cornette was part of The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express’ greatest rivalries - against
teams like The Midnight Express and the Heavenly Bodies!’
Well, stereotypical 1920s New Yorker - it’s because of Cornette’s shoot comments about
WWE and its various officials in the past.
For instance, like this on Head of Production Kevin Dunn:
“I’m tired of them bucky beaver f****** teeth of yours, and I stand up and I say,
‘I’m going to pull you across this god damned table and beat the f*** out of you.”
On Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative Triple H:
“He was always the guy that worked with the guy that drew the money, and he continues
to push his boring self down the people’s throats.”
And finally, and probably most aptly, on WWE Chairman Vince McMahon:
“Vince McMahon has the worst inferiority complex of anybody in history...He will reconcile
with anybody, supposedly if it’s best for business, but really so he can get them under
his thumb again and he can work with them again.
He can prove that they needed him.”
Speaking of Hall of Fames - a massive thank you everyone who has donated to WrestleTalk’s
Patreon page to be inducted into our monthly Hall of Fames, because we’ve finally hit
our $500 a month first goal - which means weekly Smackdown Live reviews starting from
tomorrow.
Besides a few ‘We want Paige’ chants on last night’s episode of Raw, the fallout
to her and Xavier Woods’ leaked sex tape was relatively calm considering the smart
Brooklyn crowd.
WWE wisely kept the New Day segment backstage, and have disabled comments for version uploaded
to their YouTube channel.
Dave Meltzer has revealed on Wrestling Observer Radio whether WWE will be punishing Paige
or Woods about the leak: “I did hear from WWE, and they didn’t
say anything specific, but they’re not going to do anything to anybody...the jist of it
is that they’re going to wait for it to blow over...if for some reason it doesn’t,
they may have to change.
Right now, they’re waiting for it to blow over.”
Meltzer listed the various possible reasons for this.
Firstly, that Paige is the victim of a very real crime here.
It’s not like she intentionally got her phone hacked.
Also, if you punish Paige, you’d have to do the same to Woods - who’s in a prominent
role at Wrestlemania - and it would complicate the eventual Hulk Hogan return, who was embroiled
in a sex tape leak two years prior.
Rock ‘The Dwayne’ Johnson’s movie Fighting With My Family, based on Paige’s life, also
probably protected her, and, of course, it is very bad form to release someone while
they’re still recovering from an injury sustained on your watch, as it doesn’t look
good in court.
Paige has been out since June last year because of neck issues, and as Meltzer points out,
“the general rule is that they avoid firing anyone until they’re at least healthy after
these kinds of injuries.”
Last week, Triple H tweeted a poster advertising NXT’s live event dates for June in the UK
- notable because of a severe lack of one Shinsuke Nakamura.
This led many to speculate his long-reported main roster call-up would be happening very
soon.
WWE’s UK Twitter account may have thrown a spanner in these works, announcing Nakamura
will be joining the NXT Download Festival dates.
This doesn’t rule Shinsuke out of a post-Wrestlemania main roster call-up, however, as he could
straddle both brands as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn did before him.
CageSideSeats speculate the announcement could actually be because NXT hasn’t been selling
enough tickets recently, and Nakamura is a way to shift more.
Mick Foley’s been fired as General Manager and a Wrestlemania 33 title match has been
changed!
And find out the full story behind Paige and Xavier Woods’ leaked sex tape scandal by
clicking the videos to the left and subscribe.
I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.