00:00 A new WWE for 2024, Cody Rhodes winning at WrestleMania and Mercedes Monét's next
00:07 move revealed… maybe.
00:10 Until another report comes out saying the exact opposite.
00:13 I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:23 Much like your basic cousin on Instagram who blamed everything wrong in their life on just
00:27 the fact it was 2023, but 2024 is going to be so different.
00:32 2024 is his year.
00:34 He's finally going to open his own vape shop.
00:37 There's too many vape shops in the street you're looking to open on already, Ian.
00:41 Maybe just stop getting fired from your retail jobs.
00:44 Endeavor has also declared New Year, New Me.
00:48 Or should I say New Year, New WWE Me.
00:52 It's a pun.
00:55 Despite the WWE sale being first announced in April 2023, the corporate merger - which
01:00 saw Endeavor take a 51% stake in the new company TKO, which contained WWE and the UFC - the
01:07 deal wasn't fully complete for another five months, finally being closed in September.
01:12 Yet it's only now, another four months after that, that WWE is finally completing its transformation
01:18 into a post-Vince McMahon world.
01:21 Even though Vince is still one of the main owners.
01:23 Initially, that feels like a pretty drawn out timeline.
01:26 Triple H first took control of WWE creative on Vince's first departure in July 2022.
01:32 The effects were felt instantly, as the promotion would go on to arguably their greatest run
01:36 of 'premium live events' in its history for almost a year.
01:40 Morale reportedly improved backstage, and weekly television started to clear WWE's
01:45 very low bar of just making sense.
01:48 But like any good horror movie, you think you've killed the monster, but you actually
01:51 only wounded it, and it's going to come back even scarier with a creepy moustache
01:56 for a whole other final act.
01:58 You could argue Triple H and WWE's CEO Nick Khan couldn't fully realise their vision
02:03 because of the looming, shoulder-padded ghost of McMahon leering from forced exile.
02:08 Many Vince loyalists, like longtime head of production Kevin Dunn, were also still in
02:13 their roles.
02:14 But the Endeavor deal Vince potentially pulled off to regain control of WWE didn't work
02:19 out that way.
02:20 Instead, Endeavor have empowered Khan and Triple H to make changes, particularly to
02:25 the old regime, mindset and personnel that McMahon had entrenched.
02:30 These New Year's resolutions came into effect even before 2024 started, with news that Dunn
02:35 was leaving WWE.
02:37 PWInsider have reported many felt his exit was because he felt disrespected for being
02:42 a Vince McMahon guy, with the relationship getting ugly in his final month post-handing
02:47 in his notice.
02:48 Express and Observer Newsletter has added Dunn actually made his decision two months
02:52 ago, so just over a month into the full Endeavor era, when the new parent company started wanting
02:58 to make budget cuts to improve profitability in the department and started making decisions
03:03 on the production side without relying on his opinions.
03:07 With Dunn's divisive visual style gone, which can be summed up by saying ALL THE CRASH
03:12 ZOOMS, we might be pointing back to the Day One Monday Night Raw special in the future
03:17 as the moment Triple H's more NXT presentation fully realised itself on the main roster.
03:24 And it's not just a literal new look for WWE's programming.
03:27 If Nick Khan has his way, it'll be a whole new way of operating behind the scenes.
03:34 Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that both Khan and Triple H are
03:38 seeking Japanese allies to partner WWE with.
03:42 The first step of this plan has already been executed.
03:45 When NXT star Charlie Dempsey wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling on January 3rd, apparently
03:50 WWE are also targeting both the women's promotion Stardom and its partner company,
03:55 the third biggest promotion in the world, New Japan Pro Wrestling.
03:59 Who are kind of in a relationship right now with AEW.
04:03 Fightful Select has now added what they've heard about this story, with several sources
04:07 noting WWE was in a new era, and things could be done a lot differently.
04:13 "We're leaving the Vince age and entering the Hunter Khan epoch," which hints at significant
04:19 changes in how they'll be doing business.
04:22 McMahon didn't just refuse to work with other wrestling promotions, he often actively
04:26 ignored their existence on WWE programming.
04:29 That's why CM Punk saying "maybe I'll go to New Japan, maybe I'll go back to Ring
04:33 of Honor" was such a big deal in his 2011 Pipe Bomb.
04:37 You never heard other promotions referenced in that time.
04:40 But with you kids nowadays with your forbidden doors and your tickety tocks, you don't
04:46 know how hard it was in 2010.
04:48 Perhaps because of NXT's original mission to discover and develop new wrestling talent,
04:53 Triple H had to think differently.
04:55 He needed to look outside WWE for the next superstars, and, as a huge fan of the Old
05:00 Territories system, he brokered working relationships with Evolve, British Promotions, Progress
05:04 and ICW, and Germany's WXW.
05:08 He would even bring in wrestlers on a freelance basis like Jushin Thunder Liger, Kota Ibushi
05:13 and Zack Sabre Jr - appearances unthinkable under Vince McMahon's main roster.
05:18 Nick Khan seems to feel the same way, with Fightful revealing he had spoken to New Japan's
05:23 Rocky Romero about a partnership years ago, likely early 2021, which was reportedly a
05:28 way to keep Bryan Danielson in WWE.
05:31 But Vince would quickly shut down any discussions about working with them.
05:36 It's unlikely even Triple H and Khan can make a WWE/New Japan forbidden door scenario
05:41 happen now, though, because of New Japan's strong partnership with AEW.
05:45 Fightful writes that neither side sees it happening, but it is at the most possible
05:49 point that it's ever been, with WWE showing consistent interest, and a change in management
05:54 at the very top of New Japan, with Hiroshi Tanahashi becoming its new president.
05:59 At some point, if Tanahashi feels WWE can be trusted, or grows frustrated with AEW,
06:05 just taking all their top stars, in a pure business sense, New Japan partnering with
06:10 WWE will be far bigger for them.
06:13 Even then, though, the culture of Japanese companies is to prioritise loyalty.
06:17 Which is why New Japan had stuck with Ring of Honor and CMLL for so long, despite those
06:22 relationships not making the most business sense.
06:24 In the meantime, WWE will have to plug away at convincing New Japan that they're a new
06:30 person, they've changed, they're not going to keep cheating on their girlfriend anymore.
06:34 Seriously, Ian, sort your life out and stop cheating on Tracy.
06:37 She's a nice girl.
06:38 Fightful writes that early signs between WWE and All Japan Pro Wrestling are positive,
06:44 with their All Japan sources being happy with Dempsey's performance and conduct.
06:48 That said, they're understandably wary of the, until very recently, Giant Evil Corporation,
06:53 and are adopting a cautious 'wait and see' strategy.
06:56 Which is coincidentally what I advise us all to do about Cody Rhodes beating Roman Reigns
07:01 at WrestleMania.
07:13 Cody lost to Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 39, a decision so unfathomable
07:17 at the time, someone threw a rubber chicken in the ring.
07:20 But in WWE's defence, their business has gone from strength to strength in the years
07:25 since, and Cody has continued to rise as one of the company's top stars.
07:30 Unfortunately, though, the chances of him finishing his story are caught between the
07:34 rock and a hard place, as Dwayne Johnson has now set himself up for a match against Reigns.
07:40 While that could happen at the WrestleMania-sized Elimination Chamber in Australia, it's largely
07:44 expected to take place at WrestleMania itself - which could take priority over Cody's
07:50 championship match.
07:51 Cody, however, remains unperturbed, and has posted a silhouette of Rocky on his Instagram
07:57 story - for the benefit of CM Punk, who has never seen a Rocky movie, not his fault.
08:01 This is significant in three ways.
08:04 1.
08:05 Rocky is famously set in Philadelphia, the site of WrestleMania 40.
08:09 2.
08:10 Rocky is sometimes what people chant at The Rock.
08:13 I don't know what that means, I just thought of that one.
08:16 And C) in the first Rocky movie, Rocky lost to the dominant champion Apollo, but in the
08:21 sequel he manages to defeat him.
08:29 The story could be as many of us expected.
08:32 Cody lost at WrestleMania 39, but set up a bigger story and rematch, finally beating
08:37 Roman at WrestleMania 40.
08:39 There's many ways to build this.
08:41 You could win back-to-back Royal Rumbles, you could win the Elimination Chamber, or
08:46 you could turn into Wrestling Oprah.
08:48 Cody has gone on a heartwarming run of granting fan dreams recently - first giving away a
08:53 Christmas tree to a fan in the crowd at Raw's festive special, then giving The Wrestling
08:57 Club - a school club of young wrestling fans - tickets to WrestleMania XL.
09:02 And now, at WWE's 6th January live event, he did this.
09:29 Cody did go on to say it's going to be a logistical mess, but they'll figure it
09:36 out.
09:37 It's a new story to finish.
09:38 And I bet, by the time that magical wedding happens, maybe later this year, maybe next
09:43 year, Mercedes Monet will still be debating whether to go to AEW or WWE.
09:48 After Fightful Select reported on January 1st that the former Sasha Banks and WWE, Mercedes
09:52 Monet, was set for an imminent debut on AEW, with conflicting reports coming out that a
09:58 WWE return remains a possibility, Dave Meltzer has now written, "What I know is that AEW
10:03 does expect her to start on TV soon, but has noted, until it happens, and the contract
10:09 itself is signed, I wouldn't consider anything 100%."
10:14 What are the 10 worst wrestling entrance themes of all time?
10:17 They're some real stinkers.
10:19 Some aren't even technically music.
10:21 Click the video on the right to watch Tables, Lists and Chairs.
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