In this WrestleTalk News, CM Punk resurfaces after All out brawl fall out, Bray Wyatt has
a shopping list for WWE returns, Braun Strowman heat update - not cooling and so much more.
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It’s Friday and we’re here again, another visit to Punk-sutawney and Punxsutawney Phil
the Groundhog says Winter Is Coming and CM Punk likely won’t be there.
That’s because the major belief is that after the backstage brawl following All Out,
that ended with Punk and The Elite being doled out suspensions and vacated their titles,
CM Punk will not be returning to AEW and will more than likely have his contract bought
out.
Adding to that speculation is last night’s occurrence which saw CM Punk take up a commentary
role for Cage Fury Fighting Championship or CFFC 114 which aired on UFC FIghter Pass.
Fans who watched the event said that Punk and co-commentator John Morgan did not broach
the subject of his recent triceps injury, or when/if he will return to a wrestling ring,
or anything to do with his AEW suspension.
So no squeeze and absolutely no juice either.
Punk has been a longtime collaborator with CFFC, making his commentary debut for the
promotion in December 2018 at CFFC 71.
Though his appearances for the MMA promotion tapered off once he signed with AEW, he did
appear for them back in July 2022 though he missed events in July and August likely while
rehabbing his foot injury.
I think because he has appeared for the promotion during his AEW tenure it's hard to read too
much into this either way of him staying or going with AEW.
But I do think we can take this as a sign that we might know an answer sooner rather
than later as this is Punk resurfacing and talking in public, which he hasn’t been
doing since the incident.
Moving on to WWE where the comeback train keeps on chugging as Mia Yim returned on Raw
this week, that makes 15 people who have been brought back to screens since the regime switched
over to Triple H’s leadership.
Another of those names who has been brought back is Bray Wyatt who is said to have a “lot
of say over his storylines” and has higher-ups “listening to all of his ideas” according
to WrestleVotes, in an interview with some weirdo called Louis Dangoor over at GiveMeSport.
And according to Votes some of the say he wants to have over his storylines involves
bringing back even more familiar and familiar faces.
"There's people that Bray likes, people he wants to work with, Bo Dallas is one of them
and so is Erick Rowan.
If Erick wants to come back, I'm sure they'd allow that, if Bray also wanted it."
WrestleVotes noted that Bray is in a much different position to last time he was in
WWE, saying: "I know for a fact that they will listen to every single idea that man
has, and they will try to do it to perfection.
That's the kind of respect that he has."
Wyatt’s new influence within WWE will seem unsurprising to most fans, as he is often
touted as one of the most creative performers on their roster, crafting entire worlds and
lore for each of his different iterations, someone did like a whole series explaining
them all on PFK if you wanted to go and check those out.
And WWE will likely double down on his influence over his own stories as Bray has become the
top merch seller within the company since his comeback, knocking the Bloodline off the
top spot, we the twos.
The ‘monster among monsters’ Braun Strowman has been no stranger to garnering heat via
social media throughout his career.
Most notably for his ill-advised posts on indie workers’ financial struggles on the
advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, over two years and one firing later Strowman is back in the news once again for his ill-advised
social media game.
His recent “floppy floppers” tweet garnered heat from all corners of the wrestling world,
from Will Ospreay, to fellow WWE superstar Mustafa Ali and recently AEW’s Jeff Jarrett
who called Strowman a “make believe monster in red skinny tights” on this week’s Dynamite.
Sick burn Double J.
But despite all the attention Strowman has received from outside the company, the most
important thing is obviously how it is being viewed internally.
Unsurprisingly the reaction in WWE isn’t much better with WWE aware of “very real”
heat on Strowman from some of his co-workers according to Fightful Select.
The same report has noted that while Strowman has mostly been on his best behavior since
his return in September, “social media Braun” is a whole other ball game.
While there has been speculation that Strowman’s antics could be story related or turn into
a story down the line however, Fightful has shot this down.
Not only this but according to PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, Strowman has also reportedly
received heat for issues unrelated to his social media, with reports of his tendency
to arrive late and leave early to WWE events painting a rather unprofessional picture of
Strowman.
Moving on to another individual who has been garnering himself his fair share of heat lately,
the soon to be outgoing Nick Aldis of NWA, who has been suspended indefinitely after
Instagram posts criticizing the company and president Billy Corgan.
In response to the whole hoo-ha two current NWA talent’s Matt Cardona and Trevor Murdoch
have chimed in with different takes on Aldis and the ongoing situation.
Speaking with Busted Open Radio, Cardona revealed while he initially believed Aldis and Corgan’s
beef was story related, he realized quickly that wasn’t the case.
"I didn't know if this was legit or not, because something similar happened before NWA 74,
I was like 'Oh.
Another Billy/Nick thing.'
But apparently this is legit.
Nick and I, we never saw eye to eye, but he is a hell of a talent.”
As for Murdoch, he also carries a lot of respect for Aldis however, his recent comments have
not gone down too well with him.
Speaking with PW Torch Murdoch stated:
"My only issue was I didn't agree with Nick dragging the company and dragging the guys
in it, When you start making comments like 'the show is too embarrassing for me to be
a part of,' first off I think that's a little bulls**t.
Secondly, you're disrespecting all the men and women — Nick's not the only part of
the show."
Robert Bobby Roode has not been seen on WWE TV for quite a while now, and while Roode’s
recent social media post from September suggested he has been dealing with some injury issues.
Thankfully however, Triple H may once again be able to call upon one his old NXT favs.
According to Wrestlingnews.co Roode’s WWE return is imminent, not only that but there
has also been talk of a change of scenery for the Glorious one when he does return,
with WWE reportedly considering switching him to the Smackdown brand.
This would be welcome news for sure.
It’s been too long since we’ve heard that iconic theme tune, hopefully Trips can book
a proper main roster run for Roode this time around.
From one NXT alumni to a current NXT star.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio one Cameron Grimes could be set for a long-awaited
main roster call-up very soon.
Grimes has reportedly been told of said call-up however it is unclear what brand he will be
debuting for.
Grimes has most recently been feuding with Joe Gacy and The Schism on NXT, with Gacy
most recently defeating Grimes on this week’s NXT.
Could this well be Grimes’ final appearance for the white and gold?
We will have to stay tuned to find out.
Grimes has definitely been ready for a change of scenery for a while now so these reports
are music to our ears.
Alexa Bliss has been no stranger to evolving across her WWE tenure.
Bliss’ different iterations have seen her remain fresh throughout her lengthy career
however, could more change be incoming?
Speaking to WWE Deutschland Bliss revealed that she feels in a state of flux at present
and more change could be on the horizon.
"It is [strange], and that's why I think about it a lot more recently because I don't really
know where I'm at right now when it comes to character-wise,So I think about like, 'Man,
I've been eight to nine different personas in my career.'"
"I tried to always evolve, and I am actually trying to even change from what I'm doing
now."
Bliss’ current portrayal is rather peculiar as it hasn’t completely abandoned her darker
gimmick she held prior with the Lily doll still a featured part of her entrance presentation.
However, as far as spooky shenanigans, those have mostly been left behind… for now at
least if the latest Wyatt tease from Crown Jewel is anything to go by.
Moving on to AEW’s women's division now and while it may be easy to forget Thunder
Rosa is in fact still the current AEW Women’s Champion.
While Rosa’s absence has been (begrudgingly) filled by the current interim champ Toni Storm,
it seems like there hasn’t been much news on the Rosa front for a good few months.
So how about now?
Any updates?
Well, not quite.
Appearing at her induction into the walk of fame in her hometown of Tijuana, Mexico Rosa
took to Instagram Live ahead of the event, even holding her championship throughout the
video.
However, this wasn’t an indication of an imminent return unfortunately with Rosa stating:
“I know you guys are really eager to know when I’m coming back.
“The news will come later, I’m sorry I don’t have a timeline.
“I just want to thank everybody for being so happy to see me and asking for me to come
back.
Again, I want to thank everyone for that.”
Hopefully we, and Toni Storm won’t have to wait too much longer.
We at Wrestletalk would like to continue to offer our best wishes to Rosa as she heals
up.
While Rosa has been away, her most famous nemesis Britt Baker has had her hands full
with a recently debuting Saraya.
The big news from this week’s Dynamite came when Saraya revealed that she has in fact
been cleared to make her in-ring return after five years out of action.
Now that that long standing question has finally been cleared up, the next comes of what kind
of schedule will the former Paige be working in AEW?
Speaking on The Sessions with her now co-worker Renee Paquette, Saraya spoke of when she got
the good news and her likely schedule going forward.
“Halloween, I went to the doctor in California, one of the best around, I got the x-rays done.
‘These are great, but we have to triple check with CT scans and MRI.’
I did the CT Scan and MRI within the same hour.
It was very quick.
He sat there, we went through them all, and he went, ‘You’re cleared.’
I burst into tears.
‘Are you serious?”
“The fusion was perfect, there were no fractures above or below.
‘Let’s talk about paralysis.’
‘It’s rare.
If you get kicked there, you have a cushion now.
If you ever feel that you’re not feeling too well, take some time off.
You know you’re body.
I will clear you to get back in the ring.’
‘How many matches can I have?’
‘Take it easy, do one match a month and gradually start building it up.”
It remains to be seen just how physical Saraya will get initially and how many bumps she
will take.
Regardless, it’s truly lovely to see her career finally get back going again.
One last thing before we go - and that is that Black Panther Wakanda Forever is out
now in cinemas, to get sufficiently hyped up Luke and Dan over on Cineworld’s Youtube
channel did a reaction video the latest trailer in 4DX so go and check that out.
And have a lovely weekend.