WrestleTalk News | April 2024 by WrestleTalk - Dailymotion

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00:00Were some of the WWE draft plans changed?

00:03Some actual good news for AEW's TV rights negotiations, possibly?

00:08And my review of Monday Night Raw.

00:10I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk News.

00:19I think it's fair to say that fans felt a little bit… underwhelmed by the first night

00:25of the 2024 draft.

00:26It also led to the lowest Smackdown viewership of the year, not helped by competing against

00:30the actual NFL draft.

00:32So it left fans wondering if WWE would do a WrestleMania 40 and have Night 2 eclipse Night

00:391.

00:40And, well, they did that in terms of changes.

00:42More than double of the wrestlers changed brands as compared to Friday, albeit with an extra

00:48round of drafting.

00:49Amongst those changes last night were some exciting NXT call-ups as Blair Davenport got picked

00:53for Smackdown, Ilya Dragunov and Lyra Valkyria were drafted to Raw, along with Mr Ratio himself,

00:59Dijak, who was announced for the red brand after the show went off the air.

01:02They joined Carmelo Hayes, Baron Corbin and Kiana James, who were plucked from NXT on Friday.

01:07Interestingly, it had been reported that Dijak's contract was coming up soon, and it was reported

01:12that if he re-signed with the company, he would likely remain in NXT.

01:16Perhaps more importantly though, Fight4Select reports Dijak ate a lot of Taco Bell before

01:20having to sit for over three hours straight at the WWE Performance Center.

01:24Keep your eye on WrestleTalk.com for the latest breaking news as that story moves.

01:28It was reported throughout the week by Sean Ross Sapp that talents were not being informed

01:32of potential call-ups ahead of time, which made for some lovely, genuine emotional reactions.

01:37It had been reported by Fight4Select's Corey Brennan a couple of weeks ago that NXT stars

01:42were asking about draft plans, and head booker Shawn Michaels could only reply with a shrug,

01:47as no concrete plans had been made.

01:50Which might be why there were some names being floated around as potential call-ups that did

01:54not happen.

01:55Brennan had reported ahead of Raw that many at the PC are expecting Gallus to be drafted,

02:00presumably because they were instrumental in helping The Rock get back into ring shape ahead

02:05of his WrestleMania 40 match, which for my money still features the best sell of the year.

02:12Another name being tossed around as a potential call-up was Fallon Henley, and Brennan had

02:15previously reported that Tony, D'Angelo and Stax were names being talked about getting

02:19called up.

02:20Another interesting one is The Final Testament, who had been rumoured to be heading to NXT

02:26as part of the 2024 draft, but instead were drafted to Raw in the final round.

02:30Natalya, who was also rumoured to be headed towards NXT according to Corey Brennan, was

02:34also drafted to Raw after Raw went off the air.

02:37Lastly, while Dijak was headed for a Bowel Breaker, Bron Breaker was drafted to Raw and

02:42his Wolf Dogs partner Baron Corbin was moved to SmackDown, despite reports there had been

02:46several pictures made to keep them as a team on the main roster.

02:50Sean Ross Sapp has now revealed the real reason the team was broken up, reporting that WWE

02:54sees a major single star in Breaker, and that Corbin is likely to get a renewed look

02:59on SmackDown after not being pushed on the main roster since 2022.

03:03To round out the draft news, Giovanni Vinci, Tegan Nox and Apollo Crews were drafted to SmackDown,

03:07while Raw drafted New Catch Republic and kept hold of the Party Girls, The Creed and Ivy

03:11Nile.

03:12And this is the one I know you've all been waiting for, this is the one you've been on

03:16tenterhooks for, Raw somehow managed to keep hold of Odyssey Jones after drafting him last

03:22year.

03:23Anyway, I bet you that was some tense negotiating periods between the brands.

03:26Moving over to AEW now, and unlike WWE who have had all of their TV deals locked in, Tony

03:32Khan still has it all to do.

03:35While outwardly confident regarding AEW's future with Warner Bros. Discovery, things have

03:40been quite up in the air for a bit due to one big factor, the presence of the NBA on TNT.

03:46And according to The Athletic, Amazon have reached a massive agreement regarding the broadcasting

03:51rights for the NBA beginning with the 2025-2026 season.

03:56To quote top tier WrestleTalk fan Dan, NBA is a big one.

04:01So this is obviously a major blow to Warner, but it could prove to be a big positive for

04:06AEW's chances of remaining on the network, as detailed by Dave Meltzer on Twitter, who

04:11noted that TNT's revenue will likely decline significantly, making the retention of AEW more

04:17valuable to them.

04:18Meltzer also alluded to the possibility of Warner moving AEW's A-show Dynamite from

04:23TBS to TNT in NBA's absence.

04:27By all accounts, the Warner and AEW relationship is as good as ever.

04:31Warner is reportedly really happy with AEW Dynamite's low numbers last week and its position

04:36of 6th overall in the cable charts according to PWInsider.

04:39While the numbers were low, it faced stiff sports competition, with many of the shows that had

04:44better numbers than Dynamite being within the same family, aka NBA games on TNT.

04:49The latest episode of the Monday Night War went live yesterday with injuries ruining my

04:53plans.

04:54And if you don't know what I'm talking about, here's what you need to know.

04:58The Monday Night War.

04:59Oh, I'm over budget.

05:00I'm proposing a trade with Raw.

05:01Oh!

05:02He's done it!

05:03He's done it!

05:04He's done it!

05:05I've gone over time!

05:06F*** it!

05:07Andrew Dawkins' contract is up at the end of the week.

05:09I'm not going to renew the contract.

05:10Let's hope he doesn't become champion.

05:11Please be champ!

05:12Please be champ!

05:13Please be champ!

05:14Yes!

05:15He finally pulled it out!

05:18He pulled out the big one!

05:19I then had an email from Shinsuke Nakamura that said, I've got travel issues.

05:23So I fired him.

05:24Oh my god!

05:25A brand new record!

05:27Luke, I had the exact same thing with Nikki Cross, right?

05:30You have no champion!

05:31Just being bail.

05:32It's normal.

05:33Now it's going to be...

05:34Braun.

05:35Why are you guys talking?!

05:36I might have released Bayley!

05:38Dude, isn't Bayley your champion?

05:40Yeah.

05:45We've linked to a whole playlist of Monday Night War Season 4 in the video description,

05:50so set time aside and start your Monday Night War Watch Along today.

05:54And now it's time for my review of Monday Night Raw aka Better Than Night 1 edition of

05:59Monday Night Raw in about 5 minutes.

06:01The show opened with Logan Paul arriving at the arena drinking his terrible drink like

06:05the big heel that he is, making friends with the Judgement Day which will pay off later

06:08in the show.

06:09Becky Lynch opened the show proper to put over how she is the new Women's World Champion

06:14and wanted to find her new number one contender.

06:16This brought out Liv Morgan, who said that Becky was only champion because she did what

06:20Becky could not do.

06:22She took out Rhea Ripley.

06:24Smackdown draftee Nia Jax came out and said that Becky only won because she and Liv double

06:28teamed her, and this set up a match between Liv and Nia for later in the night.

06:33Morgan was full on babyface here, as it looks like they're doing a bit of a slow burn on

06:37that heel turn.

06:38It would have been nice to see a new face in this division though, considering the draft is

06:41supposed to be a signal for new directions for brands.

06:44Stephanie McMahon came out to announce the first round draft for the episode, as Raw picked

06:49up Imperium and Damage Control, while Smackdown kept hold of Jade Cargill and Kevin Owens.

06:53Pat McAfee said that Nick Aldis is an idiot, because Adam Pearce drafted 6 people, while Smackdown

06:58only got 2.

06:59You know, he has a point.

07:00Gunther then beat Xavier Woods in a great showcase that showed off his dominance.

07:04He worked over Woods' knee, which prompted a drama-filled half-crab.

07:08Shoutout to Michael Oku, good luck in your riot cabaret title defence against Mark Andrews

07:12tonight, and Kofi Kingston Tease throwing in the towel.

07:15Woods begged for Kofi to let him continue and got to the ropes, but Gunther dragged him

07:19back to the centre of the ring and tapped him out Zack Sabre Jr style.

07:22A great showing for Gunther this was.

07:25Logan Paul and some YouTube geek came out for the next draft picks.

07:29You know, you could have at least picked someone half-famous in the world of wrestling YouTube.

07:34Keep it on theme.

07:35Oh I don't know, maybe someone who's bald and who has a beard, looks good in a suit.

07:42Someone who is known for their excellent, insightful wrestling opinions.

07:47You know, Simon Miller.

07:48Raw kept hold of CM Punk and got a returning Braun Strowman, while Smackdown kept hold of

07:52The Pride and Tiffany Stratton.

07:54Paul kept the talking going for a very wacky segment where he cut a promo on Jey Uso, because

07:59that's how you promote the brand split and the draft, the number one draft pick for

08:03Raw, teasing a match with a Smackdown champion who cannot be drafted.

08:07This brought out Jey Uso, which then brought out Finn Balor and JD McDonough who beat Jey

08:11up.

08:12Paul then went out of the ring and got Super Bowl rings from a hometown player who got big

08:17cheers for helping the heels beat up the top babyface on Raw.

08:21Braun Strowman made his return to even the odds, and then T's getting into a fight with

08:25that local town sports hero until Jey Uso pulled him away.

08:29What an odd segment.

08:30Cathy interviewed Booker T about the draft picks and he put over Raw drafting Damian Priest,

08:34who wasn't eligible to be drafted, and Drew McIntyre walked up annoyed that CM Punk was

08:39drafted before him.

08:40Sami Zayn and Bronson Reed were having a decent match for the Intercontinental Championship until

08:44Jad Cable caused a DQ.

08:46He was then attacked by Bronson Reed to set up a fun three-way feud, which I am all for,

08:50but it's basically the same thing we're doing on Smackdown in the women's title scene.

08:54The APA then came out to announce that Raw had picked up the LWO and kept Drew McIntyre,

09:08while Smackdown kept Legada Del Phantasma and drafted Shinsuke Nakamura.

09:12This brought out McIntyre who was annoyed that it took Raw so long to draft him, great point,

09:16well made, and said CM Punk was not there.

09:19But CM Punk was there, hiding in a luxury suite.

09:23Drew went to find him, and Ron Simmons said damn.

09:26Cathy interviewed Braun Breaker backstage, but more importantly, Dom got caught in 4K sneaking

09:30out of a room with Liv Morgan.

09:32And then Candice LeRae beat Maxine Dupree in less than two minutes to mercifully end this

09:36feud.

09:37The LWO had conflicted feelings about being drafted with Carlito after it was revealed

09:51that he was the one who attacked fellow faction member Dragon Lee, and Rey continued his forever

09:55feud with Dominic Mysterio by calling him Dirty Sanchez.

09:58And for the rest of you, have this instead.

10:26Drew only found a signed picture of CM Punk in his viewing box, and Punk came out for

10:35a promo on Drew and turned his back, and I sure hope that his apology will be as loud

10:39as that level of disrespect.

10:41Teddy Long and Medusa announced that Raw had kept hold of Judgement Day, and drafted

10:44Ilya Dragunov from NXT, and Smackdown kept Naomi, and drafted Chelsea Green and Piper Niven.

10:50While I'm very happy about Dragunov, that has been a long time coming in my books, I am devastated

10:56that I have lost Piper Niven and Chelsea Green to Smackdown.

11:00Liv Morgan beat Nia Jax when Jax got distracted by Naomi and Tiffany Stratton brawling around

11:04ringside, and the Dudley boys did all three of their catchphrases before announcing that

11:07Raw retained New Day and drafted Lyra Valkyria from NXT, while Smackdown kept Pretty Deadly

11:12and drafted The Way from Raw.

11:14Awesome Truth took on Alpha Academy for the tag titles, which had been set up earlier in

11:17the night by Chad Gable, making a deal with Truth, and berated Otis and Tozawa to win

11:22those titles tonight.

11:23They did not, as Awesome Truth hit their tag finish for the win.

11:26The final round of drafting saw Raw pick up Final Testament and Keith Bronson Reed, while

11:30Smackdown drafted DIY from Raw and Belair Davenport, while Smackdown drafted DIY from Raw and

11:40Blair Davenport from NXT, nearly said it again.

11:42It was quite wholesome how much this meant to Davenport, it also means with both of them

11:46being on the same brand, we can have a real-life version of TIFFDAV!

11:53And the main event saw Jey Uso team with Ricochet and Andrade to beat Judgment Day when JD McDonough,

11:58complete with Perlarious makeup to show off his Super Bowl bruises, tried to help Damien

12:02Priest when he didn't need it.

12:03It backfired, Jey Uso pinned Balor with the Spear and the Splash.

12:07A fun match with a fun finish, but his feud still is very mid-card, and it capped off another

12:11fine edition of WWE Raw, which I'm scoring 3 out of 5.

12:15Now go and check out the first episode of Monday Night War over on Parts of Unknown,

12:18and catch up with the whole season using the link in the video description down below.

Canceled WWE Draft Plans, AEW Good News, WWE Raw Review | WrestleTalk

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WrestleTalk News | April 2024

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