Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk MECHA NEWS.
I am Luke Owen.
Press subscribe, press the thumbs up button, and leave a comment down below to answer our
question of the day: Do you agree with what Kenny Omega had to
say about NXT?
We’ll be talking about that interview later in the show, along with a top NXT star’s
response to it.
And which NXT star suffered an injury on the show’s debut on the USA Network?
You can click the timestamps down below to jump to any of those news stories.
But first: We all had a good chuckle earlier this week
when WWEshop.com unveiled their latest batch of NXT t-shirts ahead of their USA Network
debut.
We had a chuckle of course because they’re very, very terrible.
I mean, who would just put plain text on a plain background?
Buy this WrestleTalk t-shirt using the link in the video description below.
But it appears the reason those NXT shirts are so bad, and they are so bad, is because
the merchandise department was spending all their time on Bray Wyatt’s new t-shirt.
The man who could be our next Universal Champion - as he takes on Seth Rollins inside Hell
in a Cell in just a few weeks - got a new t-shirt yesterday which features his severed
head lantern.
But better yet - it’s glow in the dark!
Add 19 to basket.
WWE clearly have big plans for Bray Wyatt and his new Fiend character, pushing him straight
into a Universal Championship feud with Rollins as well as keep him off TV in an effort to
not overexpose the character.
Maybe next year he’ll be the cover star for WWE2K21.
But for now, that honour belongs to Roman Reigns and the current Raw Women’s Champion
Becky Lynch - who have been the focal point for a lot of the advertising too.
But that’s not the only partnership these two will be doing.
As it was announced yesterday that WWE have partnered with Paramount Studios for a new
animated feature film called Rumble, which, “ is set in a world where monster wrestling
is a global sport and monsters are superstar athletes.
Winnie seeks to follow in her father’s footsteps by coaching a lovable underdog monster into
a wrestling champion.”
The film will also star Will Arnett, Ben Schwartz, Terry Crews and Tony Danza, and will be released
next summer.
Speaking of things expected to be released by next Summer, Luke Harper made his shock
WWE return this past Sunday at Clash of Champions to help Erick Rowan defeat Roman Reigns.
It had been reported that Harper was set to sit out the rest of his WWE contract after
publicly asking for his release earlier this year citing his unhappiness in the company.
This led to some speculation that Harper had signed a new contract with WWE.
But unlike Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and the Kannellisi, it’s being reported by Dave
Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Luke Harper has not signed a new deal
with WWE.
Of course that could change, but for now it’s still expected that Harper will leave WWE
when his contract is up early next year.
But Luke Harper wasn’t the only person who returned to WWE this week!
This past Monday, Rusev made his shock return to WWE in a segment with Maria Kannellis,
beating up her husband Mike.
It was an angle that didn’t get the best reception from fans, as many felt that the
Bulgarian Brute should be in a much stronger position than being announced as the father
of Maria’s unborn child, and feuding with a joke character.
But we can all rest easy, as according to Meltzer, “the eventual plan is to reveal
who the father [of Maria’s child] is and build to that as a mystery for a ratings boost.
[But] Rusev is not the answer.”
However those who were hoping this baby daddy storyline was going to be a super serious
one will be disappointed, as Meltzer adds: “It was described that this will be more
a running joke than an angle building to a major reveal.”
DISAPPOINTED.
Something that isn’t a running joke or disappointing however is the rating for NXT.
Yes, that was a nice segue, thank you for asking.
WWE’s “developmental brand”, which features some of the best wrestlers on the entire planet,
debuted in its new live weekly slot on USA Network this past Wednesday, with the second
hour airing on the WWE Network due to the current season of Suits still airing.
It’s been reported that WWE were offered the chance to wait until Suits had finished
airing, but they wanted to get a 2 week lead on All Elite Wrestling before they debut on
TNT.
But remember they don’t see them as competition.
It was good news for NXT though, as the show pulled in over 1 million viewers for its hour
on USA Network, which means they retained 60% of Smackdown Live’s audience from Tuesday.
The show did a better number than Suits did, and should be a good indication of what USA
can expect for this new show going forward.
WWE will be hoping for a similar number next week, as they have advertised a rematch between
Matt Riddle and Killian Dain for a future shot at Adam Cole, as well as a monster clash
between Dominik Dijavoic and Keith Lee.
Someone who might not be on the show, however, is the former North American Champion Velveteen
Dream.
Dream was unsuccessful in defending his title against Roderick Strong, who picked up his
first singles title win in NXT, giving Undisputed Era all the men’s gold on the brand.
Apart from the Cruiserweight Championship, of course, because I guess that one doesn’t
count.
Sadly it’s been reported by WWE themselves that Dream picked up an injury in his match
with Strong, with WWE Now saying that Dream suffered from lumbar pain and was walking
gingerly backstage after the match - adding he’s not currently cleared for in-ring competition.
Of course with WWE reporting the injury, it could all be storyline and a way to write
Dream off TV for a while.
And they’re going to want all the talent they have, as in just 12 days time the Wednesday
Night War officially begins when AEW air their new weekly show on TNT.
And as had been expected for quite some time now, seen as though they trademarked the name
last year when trademarking names like All Elite Wrestling, AEW’s TV show will be called
Dynamite - with TNT releasing a brand new poster for the show, and a trailer which you
can watch now: AEW Dynamite kicks off on October 2nd, and
a new match for the show has been announced for it.
It was announced this week that MJF - who turned super heel this week when he took down
Dungeons and Dragons - you better believe I’m looking for the perfect speel to cast
to show how you wrong you are, MJF.
You better hope you’ve got good dexterity as my spell slots are way open, pal! - will
be taking on Brandon Cutler on the first episode of AEW Dynamite.
That match joins Cody vs. Sammy Guverra, Riho vs. Nyla Rose to crown the inaugural AEW Women’s
Champion, and The Elite taking on La Champion Chris Jericho and two mystery partners - who
will likely be the former LAX, Ortiz and Santana.
And the second episode of Dynamite will kick off a tag team tournament to crown the first-ever
AEW Tag Team Champions.
The brackets for this tournament were revealed on this week’s Road To TNT, with the first
round matches being The Young Bucks vs. Private Party, Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros., and
SCU vs. Best Friends - with Dark Order getting a buy into the second round following their
win at All Out.
But one of those results might have already been revealed, so if you want to avoid spoilers
for the AEW Tag Team Tournament, skip ahead to this section of the show for our lead story.
We’re heading into the Spoiler Room Brawl in 3..2..1.
Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio recently that despite being favourites to
win the whole tournament, The Lucha Brothers are currently double booked for the same night
the semi-finals are set to take place.
So unless that card is subject to change, or the semi-final match is moved, we should
see the winner of Young Bucks and Private Party take on Jurassic Express for a shot
at the finals.
Right so we’re all back from the Spoiler Room Brawl, eh?
Can’t believe two CM Punks are going to win the tag titles.
CM Punk to AEW confirmed.
But the Wednesday Night War isn’t just a war of TV ratings, as it also appears to be
a war of words.
We’ve heard jibes from all parties, including Triple H calling AEW a “piss ant company”
at the WWE Hall of Fame Earlier this year, and now Kenny Omega has stepped up his aggression
on NXT in an interview with Sporskeeda.
Here’s what he had to say: Omega’s comments are clearly in jest, joking
that NXT are often referred to as WWE’s developmental brand despite having talent
like Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Tomasso Ciampa, Io Shirai, Candice
LaRea, and Kushida to name but a few.
You know, some of the best wrestlers in the world.
And Omega himself confirmed this jest, responding to someone saying he should call himself The
Best Bait Machine with a gif that says “he knows too much”.
And Dominik Dijavoic - who will be featured on next week’s NXT - got involved with the
war of words posting on Twitter: “Hey @KennyOmegamanX remember when my match with
@RealKeithLee embarrassed yours on your PWG homecoming weekend of BOLA 2017?
Tune in this Wednesday to NXT TV on USA at 8pm so two developmental guys can show a real
star how it’s done, again.”
Which Omega responded to with a laughing gif.
Fellow AEW star Joey Janela also jumped in adding, “Well I had the second best match
that weekend, was extremely hungover, no sold a burning hammer and got yelled at by regal
for falling on my head 50 times.....
10 hours late with that response but WHATS UP?”
No guys you’re doing it all wrong, you’re supposed to talk about food being taken off
your table and comparing bank accounts.
You’ll never get over with that attitude.
Check out the latest episode of ScreenStalker, where Oli Davis and I previewed Rambo: Last
Blood with this little bit of art.
Enjoy!