CM Punk is trolled by AEW clip.
A major wrestling debut is announced.
WWE re-signs two top stars.
And Luke Owens reviews the 18th December episode of Raw.
I’m Oli Davis, this is the WrestleTalk News.
CM Punk returned to WWE at Survivor Series 2023 because he always loved it there, it’s
always been his home.
It’s not his fault he hasn’t seen Rocky III.
He’s had several in-ring promo appearances on TV since, but it appears his in-ring wrestling
return is being held off until 2024’s Royal Rumble match - making it a neat ten years
to the show from when he last wrestled in WWE.
But like most stats in WWE, it’s based on lies.
Punk’s actual in-ring return will happen a month earlier, just not on TV, where he’s
been announced to wrestle Dominic Mysterio at house shows in Madison Square Garden on
the 26th December, and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on the 30th.
Punk promoted the match while commentating on the MMA promotion Cage Fury Fighting Championship
- saying he’s wanted to punch Dom since he was 8 years old.
A reference to Punk’s fantastic 2010 feud with Rey Mysterio, which saw an actually 12
year old Dominic watch on as Punk creepily sang happy birthday to Rey’s daughter.
But Dominic has grown up a lot since those days, and he’s not afraid to fight dirty
- replying to Punk: “Punch me like this please…@CMPunk #bestintheworld”
with a gif of Punk botching a springboard flying punch off the top rope in AEW.
I’m getting breaking news just in: Dominic has now been banned from Collision.
But Dom posted from a place of security, as PWInsider has reported he signed a new WWE
contract “a month or so back” which one source believes is five years long.
Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer followed this up by revealing Dom’s father Rey had
also re-signed.
Despite wrestling in the main event of the AEW prologue show All In back in 2018, where
he could’ve been one of the major players early in the promotion, Rey chose to return
to WWE as he thought that would be the best place for his son to train as a wrestler.
A bet that was pretty risky in 2018, given Vince McMahon’s erratic booking at the time,
but one that has paid off massively, with Dominic becoming one of WWE’s breakout stars
over the last year - with some of the loudest crowd reactions you can add in post.
It’s also interesting to note that both of their new WWE contracts would’ve been
agreed before their existing ones expired - meaning they missed out on the chance to
become free agents and play WWE off AEW for more money.
It implies they’re both very happy with their roles at the moment, and the rumoured
contract length of five years backs up reports Endeavour want to lock up talent for long
periods of time.
This will likely be the last full-time contract of Rey’s illustrious career.
And it also rules out Mike Tenay screaming: What’s the Mysterions doing in the IMPACT
Zone?
IMPACT Wrestling will be reverting to its original name, TNA Wrestling, from their Hard
to Kill pay-per-view on January 13th.
And to promote their biggest event in years, the company’s President Scott D’Amore
has told Busted Open Radio: "We're going to have some surprises for you.
We are right there at the goal line of finalizing one of ... the biggest signings in TNA.
I think it's something that is really going to shake things up here on January 13th."
Sean Ross Sapp has said he doesn’t think this is Mercedes Mone, as he’s seen the
MONEY she’s asking for, and he thinks it’s out of TNA’s budget.
Instead, it’s far more likely to be one of the wrestlers released by WWE in September,
as their non-competes expire on the 21st December.
The only name that could really touch what A’More is hyping are Dolph Ziggler and Matt
Riddle.
I…
I
still don’t know what Sullivan was joking about.
But anyway it’s time for my review of Monday Night Raw - aka the ‘Five Star Miz’ Edition
of Monday Night Raw… in about 5 minutes.
The final live Raw of 2023 opened like it was the summer of 2023, with Judgement Day
coming out for a promo to do their usual schtick.
But this time, R-Truth came out to ask why he - a member of Judgement Day - was not asked
to come out with them for a Judgement Day promo segment.
They told him, rather politely, he was invited because he’s not a member of Judgement Day.
He responded by saying that neither is JD McDonaugh, and in fact, maybe their Miracle
on 34th Street Fight should be a Loser Leaves Judgement Day match.
Finding this charming, Damian Priest was about to accept the terms but Rhea Ripley stopped
him.
That didn’t stop the stip feeling real, though - especially as Michael Cole kept bringing
it up despite the protestations of Wade Barrett that Priest was just joking.
It added a nice layer to this silly plunder match which saw Truth and JD hit each other
with Christmas based things while Michael Cole just said Christmas-related phrases.
“He won’t have a silent night”, “he hit him in the jingle bells”, “what a
present for JD”, etc.
Truth won by accidentally falling off the top rope holding JD and crashing through a
table.
Later, Priest joked with JD that he was kicked out of the group, but then Tom Wanskanz’d
him by saying that he can still be in the group.
This was a lot of fun, and a great way to open this festive edition.
Also, can you tell that I just finished watching Succession.
Quite a good show, that.
Nia Jax came out for a promo but was immediately interrupted by Becky Lynch, who challenged
Jax to a match at Day 1.
This was another great promo from Becky, and the brawl the two had was pretty decent.
Backstage, Kofi Klaus gave DIY a Jey Uso t-shirt, and The Miz hyped up his match with Gunther.
The stakes of which were that - should Miz lose - he could never challenge for the IC
title again while Gunther is champ.
And what a match this was.
I’m not the biggest Miz guy.
I think he is a solid midcard wrestler, a reliable hand.
If you need a talk show segment, you might not find better.
If you need a 3 star match for TV or PPV, you could do a lot worse.
I think The Miz is good.
I just found a lot of his comedy and jokes had grown stale, and I just don’t love him
the same way a lot of you in the comments do.
And that’s fine.
We’re not all going to like and love the same people, it would be boring if we did.
But when I bring up that I think The Miz ‘is good’, I don’t get a ‘you’re entitled
to your opinion but I disagree’, I always get the same reply: ‘you’re wrong, he
had a great 2016’.
And he did.
The Talking Smack promo, the Dolph Ziggler match, it was a good 2016.
But that was also 7 years ago.
Captain America: Civil War came out in 2016.
2016 was a long time ago.
But now, if I ever say I think The Miz ‘is good’, I expect the replies to be: “he
had a great feud with Gunther in 2023”.
And I would reply: ‘you are entitled to your opinion, and I agree’.
I was skeptical of Babyface Miz - because the last two times we’ve tried it was a
disaster - but this has totally worked.
I am eating crow, I am eating hats, this is working and the crowd are so into him.
And that drama - the guy who desperately wants to win this belt because he thinks he can
and should be thought of as the best IC champ in history - versus the actual best champ
in IC title history was superb.
Gunther is on another level.
He’s the perfect wrestler.
He’s an all-rounder.
He’s just perfect.
And he played off Miz so well, even making Miz being Submission Miz look credible.
And my word these nearfalls.
As someone who wanted to see Gunther retain because he’s a perfect champ and the best
thing in WWE right now in my humble opinion, these nearfalls made my heart leap into my
throat.
The roll-up of the Sleeper, the Skull Crushing Finale, the Avalanche Skull Crushing Finale.
Each one getting the crowd more and more hyped.
Which then made Gunther’s destruction of The Miz - powerbomb, Rainmaker (Okada to WWE
confirmed) and another powerbomb - all the more devastating.
This was - frankly - f***ing brilliant.
With that said, STOP TRYING TO BREAK UP IMPERIUM.
Gunther scolded Kaiser and Vinci backstage, which later led to Kaiser getting beaten by
Jey Uso after they attacked Kofi Klaus.
So much for all that protecting of Kaiser we were doing a few months back.
The idea of Jey and Kofi teaming together fills my heart with joy given all their history
together.
Shinsuke Nakamura read from The American Nightmare Before Christmas - very clever - and he brawled
with Cody Rhodes.
The Party Girls then took on Chelsea Green and Piper Niven for the women’s tag titles
- and surprisingly, won the bloody things.
Yeah, they won the tag belts.
Okay then.
Ivar quickly beat Akira Tozawa and later asked to be part of the conversation to face Gunther
for the IC title, and Seth Rollins came out for a promo with Drew McIntyre.
Drew talked openly about leaving his family to chase his dreams, even though it hurts
to miss the moments with your family that matter.
He doesn’t want Seth’s title, he needs that title; just so he knows that all of his
sacrifices were worth it.
Seth fired back by saying that he’s not sure what to make of Drew when he’s being
sincere like this - because he doesn’t believe he’s sincere.
He may hate CM Punk, but he doesn’t hate Drew McIntyre - he pities him.
Which - amazingly - is also taken from THAT Hangman promo, so, yeah, last week was not
a coincidence.
Drew and Seth brawled, and Drew left him laying with an Alabama Slam into the stairs.
This was very good.
They announced that Ivy Nile will be facing Rhea Ripley for the women’s title at Day
1, and Bronson Reed also wanted to be part of the Gunther conversation.
And the main event saw Judgement Day retain their tag titles over The Creed Brothers in
a decent match which really put Julius and Brutus over as future tag champs, just not
now.
The few nearfalls there were really popped the crowd.
And it was a fine ending to what was a very good edition of Raw.
The show flew by, and caps off what has been a great year for the red brand.
This week’s Raw is 4 out of 5.
Our WrestleTalk End of Year Awards kick off on the WrestleTalk Podcast channel tomorrow
with the Wrestler of the Year episode, but for now check out our list of 13 worst wrestling
matches of 2023.