In this WrestleTalk News, the real reason behind WWE letting Shane McMahon go?
AEW cancels an advertised debut after controversial videos surface online and Oli will be reviewing
last night’s Dynamite.
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Some pretty crazy news these last couple of days huh?
And that stuff just doesn’t stop coming, to truly prove to you just how mad things
have gone, look at the stealth way WWE came up with for announcing their signing of an
ex WrestleTalk star.
WWE 2K22 has a lot riding on its shoulders, being the first WWE game since 2019’s much
maligned 2K20.
The devs have been quietly beavering away on it for some time, but Rumble season was
clearly a great opportunity to show off some more of the game while the hype was high - with
a new trailer dropping over the weekend.
And who is that nestled there in the Thunderdome?
It’s only the rowdiest lad in wrestling journalism: Louis Dangoor.
You could not have bet good money on that one.
Congratulations on your signing Louis, I hear Vince might be looking for someone to play
his son.
Because the crazy news yesterday coming from Ringside News was that Shane McMahon had been
‘quietly let go’ by WWE after returning at the Royal Rumble and reportedly causing
all sorts of drama backstage while attempting to book the entire Rumble around himself.
Following up on RingsideNews’ report Dave Meltzer tweeted to say: “just a confirmation
that Shane McMahon is out of WWE”.
While many reports had pointed to Shane ‘openly burying’ WWE booker Jamie Noble and being
difficult to work with Andrew Zarian explored another potential reason for the firing saying
a source told him” “There were numerous changes to what number
Bad Bunny would be.
This was a cause for concern and people within WWE were upset.
WWE doesn’t want to come off negatively with such a major outside star.”
If Shane potentially damaged relations with one of WWE’s more popular guest stars in
recent years, that is terrible PR.
Which is a situation AEW also found themselves in yesterday after announcing that Brian Kendrick
would be making his AEW debut on Dynamite to face Jon Moxley.
It was revealed that Kendrick had been granted his WWE release and would be appearing on
AEW all within a whirlwind few hours and then that whirlwind became a tornado as David Bixenspan
and others unearthed a series of old Kendrick interviews in which he touted dangerous and
offensive conspiracy theories up to and including holocaust denial.
With the controversy bubbling away AEW decided to pull Kendrick from the show with Tony Khan
tweeting: “We’ve been made aware of abhorrent & offensive
comments made in the past by Brian Kendrick.
There’s no room in AEW for the views expressed by Brian.
We think it’s best for all that Brian be pulled from tonight’s card as we gather
more info.”
Kendrick himself then tweeted an apology saying: “I apologize for all the hurt and embarrassment
I have caused with my words.
These are not my beliefs and never were beliefs of mine, and I crossed the line.”
Do you think wrestling’s ever gonna just like take a day off?
Anyway hot tag to Oli.
Now it’s time for my review of AEW Dynamite from Chicago where CM Punk is going to finally
shut that loudmouth MJF up once and for all… right, right… in about 5 minutes.
Sticking a big windy city finger up to the snow outside, the Chicago crowd were hot all
night, giving Jon Moxley a huge reaction at the start of the show for his match against…
not Brian Kendrick.
Turns out, Kendrick has some super horrible and objectively reprehensible views.
So AEW admirably decided to not work with him - meaning he was released by WWE, hired
by AEW and then released by AEW in less than 24 hours.
I’m not even mad, I’m impressed.
Sadly, we did not get ‘Here comes the money’ for a shock Shane McMahon debut, instead having
Wheeler Yuta come out accompanied by Best Friend Orange Cassidy and Evil Friend Danhausen.
Hmm, you might go, I’m not sure I like bawdy comedy gimmicks getting this close to Moxley
right now.
I was the same.
Good match, Mox looks great, but do I want Danhausen cursing him?
Turns out: it was all part of the plan.
A plan that was presumably only decided on just hours before the show when they pulled
Kendrick.
AEW even do last minute changes better than WWE.
After Mox beat Yuta, a wild Bryan Danielson appeared in the ring, following several weeks
of teased interactions between the two.
But he didn’t want to fight him, as we all assumed.
He wanted to fight with him, putting forward a case so compelling, I was like, that’s
a good idea, even though you’re a heel.
Channeling his inner Dan Lambert, Danielson pointed out a millennial cowboy is AEW Champion.
A dinosaur is a tag team champion.
Someone who makes vlogs is TNT champion.
And great wrestlers like Yuta, Daniel Garcia and Lee Moriarity are wasting away in comedy
acts.
Moxley and Danielson could team up, recruit those guys and train the future of pro wrestling
together.
Danielson then walked off, giving Moxley time to decide.
It’s such a good idea, I want it to happen.
In the show’s only dud segment, it’s time to enter the Cody Zone!
But this time we got arguably the least best Rhodes, Brandi.
The crowd hated her so much, they cheered Dan Lambert instead.
He brought out Paige VanZant to brawl with her, and the women’s locker room emptied
to pull them apart.
AEW heard that we wanted more women’s stories and matches… and we’re getting a Brandi
Rhodes celebrity feud.
It stinks of nepotism, and comes at the expense of loads of other women’s wrestlers the
promotion should be focusing on.
Meanwhile, I’ll take all the Kings of the Black Throne you got.
I’m not a metal man.
I don’t partake in the goth.
But hot damn, whenever Brody King and Malakai Black make their entrance I was to sacrifice
a goat and smear it’s blood over my body and then run naked under the moonlight.
That’s what goths do.
Laurie told me.
This match wasn’t the full-on PWG masterpiece it had the potential to be, but I think that’s
being saved for later on.
This had enough action, PAC revealing he isn’t actually blind, and Penta getting misted by
Black for the Kings to win to set up a rematch.
Adam Cole cut a promo on his Evil Uno match on Rampage, which I’m guessing will start
a feud with Hangman Page.
Nyle Rose beat Ruby Soho relatively clean in a decent match.
And the Ass Boys attacked Jungle Boy in the snow, where Christian was luckily placed just
off camera to chase them off.
The world title continues to feel like the third or fourth most important thing on the
show, with Hangman Page brawling with the cast of the 2007 John Travolta movie Wild
Hogs, and doing his best to establish Lance Archer as a credible threat, taking hellacious
bumps on the steel steps and a Blackout through a table, but it’s too little, too late.
And Chris Jericho has a new gimmick.
Jericho the Infleuncer, where he claimed he’s more of an influencer than Kylie Jenner on
Instagram.
Which came across about as cringy as my mum talking about the TikTok.
He called an Inner Circle meeting next week to settle the Santana and Ortiz tension.
And then came the main event - CM Punk vs MJF in Chicago.
You’d think that would be to his advantage, but maybe there’s actually more pressure
on him than Max?
This feud has been pro wrestling perfection, with story and character fusing impeccably.
And now they had 45 minutes remaining for the actual match, and Punk finally beating
MJF… right, that’s right isn’t it Tony?
You wouldn’t beat Punk in Chicago- I’ll get this out the way first.
This was a five star match.
It’s one of the best matches AEW have ever done, be it on TV or pay-per-view.
Watch it on Fite so you can appreciate it without the ads.
Both men paid off moments from their feud so far, the brawl into the fans, not having
touched yet, and added in multiple extra layers for the in-ring psychology too: chiefly, all
the body parts, with Punk’s left shoulder and knee being picked apart, crucially meaning
he could never hit the GTS, and Max brilliantly selling a stinger in the final ten minutes;
and MJF’s heelish tactics.
Feet on the ropes, low blows, pokes to the eye.
MJF even got a cheat finish midway through the match when he choked Punk out with his
wrist tape.
Referee Bryce Rembsburg saw the tape on the matt afterwards, and restarted the bout.
I’ve watched wrestling before.
You give MJF that spot to win, because Punk is ultimately going over.
Wrong.
It was a misdirect of the most heartbreaking variety, because in the final moments, Wardlow
got in Punk’s face, distracted the referee, and MJF won with a Diamond Ring punch.
And then in a wonderful detail, it was the replay where we and the commentators realised
Wardlow had slid MJF the ring.
The Pinnacle story continues.
AEW just booked MJF to beat Punk in his hometown of Chicago.
Twice.
There’s stories about Bruno Sammartino thinking he had burst his ear drums when Ivan Koloff
beat him in Madison Square Garden.
He was expecting to hear boos, but instead, it was silence.
Stunned heartbreak.
And that’s kind of what Chicago felt like here, and me at home, thousands of hands on
their heads in silent disbelief.
As much as it pains me, and believe me when I say I am genuinely sad because my hero lost,
this is an incredibly brave and admirable booking decision.
There’s always the risk that you kill a market with a loss like this, and Tony Khan
did it in their most important town.
Whether it pays off or not, I applaud him.
It’s the wrestling business, and sequels, when done right, do even better box office.
And it was perfectly booked to set up the even bigger rematch.
What did you think of AEW Dynamite?
Let me know in the comments.
93% of you voted for Oli might have cried again for CM Punk on our poll on a pole match.
I didn’t, this guy did.
I don’t need to sleep on it.
I don’t need a week to reassess.
Punk vs MJF was magic.
There were multiple parts of this match where I forgot what I was doing.
I forgot I was making a video on this episode.
I had to go back and rewatch parts to get my notes complete.
That has only happened a handful of times, and I’m not afraid to call it what it is:
it’s transcendence.
This was one of the best episodes AEW have ever done, mostly because of the main event.
This week’s Dynamite is 97%.
Now go watch the emotional part 1 of Board Game Club playing Fiasco!