Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk Super News - I’m Oli Davis.
Poke the thumbs up button in the eye, and hit the subscribe one with a chair when the
referee is conveniently distracted. When All Elite Wrestling officially announced
itself at the start of this year, it seemed the wrestling world was about to form a mega-faction
against WWE’s decades-long resthold-through-a-commercial-break over the industry. Surely the new promotion
would team up with the second most financially successful wrestling company in the world
after WWE - and arguably the artform’s leader - New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Problem was, AEW took four of New Japan’s biggest stars, gutting their biggest faction,
the Bullet Club, Understandably leaving New Japan a bit miffed - with Dave Meltzer reporting
back in July that AEW was a “taboo” subject backstage in New Japan, and the relationship
was “fractured”. And it’s not just the bad feels between
the two sides that’s stopping them from working together, but also the global wrestling
chessboard’s historic alliances and rivalries - with New Japan’s longstanding working
relationships with Ring Of Honor and CMLL, which are direct competitors with AEW and
AEW’s Mexican partner promotion AAA respectively. But that hasn’t stopped two of AEW’s highest
profile stars in Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho wrestling for New Japan this year - with Jericho,
the AEW champion, set to fight Hiroshi Tanahashi at next month’s WrestleKingdom. Nevertheless,
Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks tweeted about the potential relationship: “it’s really
not happening. Been asked this thousands of times and telling the truth is always best.
Don't want fans holding onto something that has zero chance of happening.”
Which is exactly what a co-executive vice president of a wrestling promotion trying
to cover up a larger working relationship with another wrestling promotion would say!
New Japan and AEW working together confirmed - which New Japan big boss President man Harold
Meij has potentially foreshadowed in an interview with Fox Sports:
"We're very open to working with anyone, we don't exclude anyone. But it does take time
to create that trust between companies... We'll have to see if that brand fits our brand
of course. At this stage, they still have different styles than we do, and that's the
only thing. We're looking at what their brand positioning is and whether it complements
ours." If Orange Cassidy doesn’t scream hard-hitting
New Japan strong style, I don’t know what does!
Do you want to see AEW and New Japan work together and why? Let me know in the comments
because I’ll be replying FROM OUTTA NOWHERE for the first 30 minutes after this video
goes live! But then Meij went onto say that New Japan
is there “for the long run with partners that we tie up with.” Meaning their current
US-exclusive wrestling BFFs Ring of Honor. Put the bubbly on ice, Luke. And while you’re
at it, order 10,000 more Jericho-branded bottles for the Christmas party.
Following AEW Le Champion Chris Jericho announcing that his own brand of sparkling wine was now
on sale at last Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, he’s revealed on Instagram how that product
launch went. “Unbelievable to hear that #ALittleBitOfTheBubbly
sold 10,000 bottles in just over 2 days! The demand was so crazy that you crashed 19 servers
on the Bubbly website!! Thanks to all of you who wanted to be a part of this libation sensation...Order
yours now at littlebitofthebubbly.com! (link in bio) #LeChampion”
Because AEW are far more than just a t-shirt company. They’re also a novelty wine company.
Man, wrestling fans will buy anything. Did I mention we here at WrestleTalk launched
our brand new WrestleTalkMerch.com shop last Friday with brand new designs including WrestleTalk
classics, presenter logos and our very cool Foreign Objects line with little wrestling
weapons on the left pec drawn by our amazing fan @luckyrabbitrobb on Instagram! Please
buy some. And because ‘tis the season of consumerism’,
maybe treat yourself to a ridiculously expensive Fiend-specific WWE Universal championship
belt! Last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter
revealed Bray Wyatt’s Fiend is the number 1 merchandise seller in the company - with
Hurt & Heal Gloves, Firefly Fun House puppets, and at some live events, Bray Wyatt head replica
lanterns. As Kenner toy development executive Bernard Loomis famously once said about Star
Wars, it’s a toyetic franchise. What Bray has created with such a rich and fascinating
lore around the Fiend, is a merchetic wrestling gimmick.
And true to form, WWE are immediately going to run that well dry and make as much merch
as possible did I mention we’ve got new t-shirts too.
Rather ingeniously, on Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Bray said that he has his Blueniversal
title, so it’s only fair that his Fiend alter-ego gets his own design too: The Fiend’s
face stretched across a belt as though it’s made of human skin.
And that can be yours for the small price of $6,499.99.
To be fair to that very highly priced product, the belt is a limited run collector's edition
and is handcrafted by the studio of famed horror special effects maestro Tom Savini.
I guess I’ll have to make do with the far more terrifying Paige Here variant. Thanks
to Harrison Berry for emailing that in! But Bray isn’t just responsible for letting
the Fiend into WWE… he also kind of made Woken Matt Hardy happen too.
After being one of the hottest acts in wrestling through 2016 and 17 with his insane Broken
Universe gimmick, developing a cult following at Impact Wrestling, where he received almost
complete creative freedom, getting entire TV episodes devoted to his vision, Matt Hardy
left the promotion because of contract renegotiations falling through, had one fantastic ladder
match against the Young Bucks in Ring of Honor, then made his WWE return with his brother
Jeff at WrestleMania 33. They did so as the Hardy Boyz gimmick, one
that was already about 15 years out of date, and the nostalgia pop quickly wore off despite
them holding the tag team championships. The brothers were split up with Jeff getting a
singles push, leaving Matt to finally create a WWE version of his Broken character - Woken
Matt Hardy. Unfortunately, despite being critically well-received
in a WWE Network House Hardy special and an Ultimate Deletion segment on Raw, the promotion
never seemed to truly believe in the gimmick. Which is totally understandable, as it’s
a very divisive act, and potentially could turn off part of the mainstream audience.
But perhaps seeing how his former Deletors of Worlds tag partner Bray has found so much
success with creative freedom over his own rather wacky character - Matt is reportedly
clashing with WWE officials over his contract renegotiations.
According to PWInsider, after signing a two year deal back in 2017, which was extended
another year by WWE before WrestleMania 35, Matt’s deal will now expire in February
2020 - but “While the two sides have been in discussions, [PWInsider is] told that how
Hardy will be used going forward has been the biggest sticking point in negotiations.”
Apparently Hardy and WWE aren’t that “far apart on financial considerations” - meaning
WWE have probably offered him a load of money like they are everyone else out of fear talent
will go to AEW - but they won’t commit to using him consistently on TV. An idea that
was very clear last Monday, when Matt made his onscreen return to WWE from outta nowhere
- i.e. unannounced - to lose in a squash match to Buddy Murphy while dressed as the late
90s. And that could push him to WWE’s biggest competitor…
PWInsider also notes that Matt realises this could be one of the last contracts he ever
signs, given that he’s just turned 45 and how he almost retired last year because of
injury. With WWE looking to sign most people for five year deals - like the recent contracts
announced for The Miz, Paige and Randy Orton, that would keep Matt in the promotion until
he’s 50, which would likely mean the end of his in-ring career.
Given Matt’s history with the Bucks, how AEW have given their wrestlers significant
creative freedom, and that they’re really the only other promotion in the US that can
match WWE’s money offer, the educated guess would be Hardy takes his Broken gimmick there
if he can’t reach an agreement with Vince McMahon.
An educated guess that Matt himself has been keen to tease, launching his new YouTube series
‘Free the Delete’ last month, an obvious play on the Young Bucks’ long-running show
Being the Elite - which PWInsider claim is a way to reintroduce his Broken Matt character,
a gimmick he smartly retained the rights to when returning to WWE.
“[Matt] is planning ahead by using YouTube and social media to prepare for his potential
return to the independent scene and beyond, obviously, as "Broken" Matt, a persona that
he's had phenomenal success with, both from a creative and a merchandise standpoint.”
And nowhere is that more obvious than in his latest Free the Delete episode, which begins
with the voiceover: “Gotta get in shape, gotta build a reservoir,
gotta be a dad. No time, no direction. 13 weeks...”
13 weeks from the date of upload just so happens to be the end of February, where PWInsider
report Matt’s WWE contract expires. One spanner in the wrestling work, however,
is that episode also appears to set up a feud with Bray Wyatt - as a lady voice whispers
‘Let Me In’, while the background piano music sounds like a rendition of Bray’s
Broken Out In Love theme tune. A main event feud over the Universal Champions for Hardy,
however, is sadly very unlikely given WWE’s treatment of Matt over the last two years.
It’s far more possible the Wyatt references are just a continuation of the last time we
saw the Lake of Reincarnation, where Matt used it to rid Wyatt of the Sister Abigail
spirit during the Ultimate Deletion segment on Raw.
Matt has also tweeted over the last few days: “ALWAYS MOVE FORWARD” and “Considering
I’m in a very secure place in my life, being creatively fulfilled & pushing the business
forward is very important to me now.” Where do you think Matt Hardy will end up?
Vote in the poll above my head! Season 3 of our fantasy wrestling predictions
league WrestleLeague - available to participate in for all $5 a month of more Pledgehammers
on Patreon! - controversially concluded at Survivor Series last week which saw Chopper
Pete lose the office rankings, meaning he has to do a music video punishment.
And thanks to your suggestions and votes, the result is… Tyler Breeze’s #MMMGorgeous
with a massive 53% of the Question on a Poll match!
Chopper’s off this week, so we’ll get that made next week, and we’ll make him
do loads of embarrassing things he really doesn’t want to do.
Three big stars returned on last Friday’s SmackDown! Find out in our review by clicking
the video on the right! And we’ve got merch! Watch our super artistic advert #ThankYouJaden
by clicking the video below that. I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.