00:00 A controversial wrestling return, backstage reactions to John Laurinaitis and more.
00:05 My thoughts on Smackdown, I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:15 Just as a little warning, the first couple of stories on the WrestleTalk News that we're
00:19 going to cover do come with trigger warnings of sexual assault and sexual misconduct.
00:23 If you would like to skip these, there are timestamps in the video description down below
00:27 to avoid them.
00:28 Patrick Clark, known in WWE as Velveteen Dream, last had a wrestling match in December 2020,
00:34 losing to Adam Cole.
00:35 He was released a few months later in May of 2021 under controversial circumstances.
00:40 Clark had several allegations made against him during speaking out, which included allegations
00:45 of sending sexually explicit images to minors.
00:48 Clark has denied these allegations and during his time in NXT, Triple H said an investigation
00:53 was conducted and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.
00:56 He was used sparingly on TV prior to his release and Sean Ross Sapp reported following his
01:00 release that there was growing concern in the company that he was going to be set up
01:03 to be a coach.
01:04 In August of 2021, Clark was arrested twice in one week, firstly for first degree battery
01:09 and trespassing and secondly for possession of drug paraphernalia.
01:12 The first charges against him were dropped.
01:14 He was also arrested in August of 2022 for allegedly getting into a fight with a gym
01:19 employee and biting him in the chest.
01:21 Former NXT star and current NWA World Champion EC3 has previously accused Clark of filming
01:27 fellow NXT wrestlers in the bathroom while they were urinating.
01:31 Clark recently released a video apologising for his behaviour and appeared on Chris Van
01:34 Vliet's podcast to seemingly set up his wrestling return.
01:38 And that return has now happened, with Clark making a surprise appearance at a Dynasty
01:42 show in New York, laying out an open challenge which was answered by American Muscle Alec
01:47 Oden, who he later beat in the main event.
01:49 Clark had previously been advertised for an SWF show in July of 2021, but the online backlash
01:54 to the announcement caused the promotion to pull him from the show.
01:58 His appearance with Dynasty has also received a lot of backlash from wrestling fans.
02:02 And the promotion put this out on Twitter, "Last night we did what most others wouldn't.
02:06 We took a risk on a person and gave them an opportunity for a second chance.
02:10 A second chance to fulfill their dream.
02:13 We stand by that decision.
02:15 Thank you to the packed house for last night's events."
02:18 Tara Calloway, who had previously wrestled for the promotion, responded, "As a former
02:22 member of your roster and a sexual assault victim, I am so beyond disappointed and disgusted.
02:28 Thank you for showing other victims they are not safe in your locker room or your crowd.
02:33 This is of course a very serious story with a lot of very serious allegations so I would
02:36 like you to be sensible in the comments."
02:39 It's been a few weeks since Janelle Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis
02:43 and WWE was released, which accused McMahon of sex trafficking.
02:47 Since then Laurinaitis' lawyers had released a statement arguing he was also a victim of
02:51 McMahon's.
02:52 Though he was not officially named, the case has seen the removal of Brock Lesnar from
02:55 the company seemingly for good as he was reportedly involved in the allegations.
03:00 Vice released an article which brought Ashley Mazzaro's claims against WWE that she was
03:04 sexually assaulted during a tribute to the Troop Show, which Laurinaitis' lawyers have
03:08 claimed WWE were aware of despite their previous denials.
03:11 Grant's case accuses McMahon and Laurinaitis of sexual assault as well as other "unnamed
03:17 top level executives".
03:18 Fightful Select are reporting that these unnamed executives are a mystery to many within WWE,
03:24 however one high level source they spoke to said they are of the belief that one of them
03:28 had long been gone from WWE.
03:31 Another source told Fightful Select that many in WWE saw Laurinaitis turning on McMahon
03:35 coming, adding, "The source said that the looming possibility of actual charges being
03:39 filed is what many in the company saw as the main turning point of Laurinaitis on McMahon."
03:45 Another person they spoke with also said, "I'm sure he thinks he's doing himself
03:48 favours by saying management knew and proper WWE protocols were followed, but too many
03:53 things happened there under his watch."
03:55 Fightful add that they were scheduled to interview Ashley Mazzaro at Starrcast 2 in 2019, where
04:00 she was weighing whether or not to open up further about her claims that she was raped
04:04 while on a WWE tribute to the Troop's tour, but sadly she passed away a couple of weeks
04:09 before the event.
04:10 Fightful note that WWE talent have not been told that they cannot speak about the lawsuit
04:15 during interviews - in fact some like Natalya and Seth Rollins have - and while no companies
04:20 are participating in investigations, talent from US based companies have been given the
04:24 green light to speak about issues or participate in the investigations if they feel comfortable
04:30 doing so.
04:31 Fightful have spoken to one talent who is weighing up their options of whether they
04:34 want to take their story to the media or take legal action.
04:37 If you've been affected by anything we have discussed today there is a link in the
04:40 video description for our support each other page which has various links to charities
04:44 and organisations around the world.
04:46 Look, it's kind of awkward to shift gears now to other wrestling stories and the Smackdown
04:51 recap so I'll just use this clip from our most recent episode of Three Counts where
04:55 Oli and I reviewed every Elimination Chamber in three words or less/fewer.
05:25 Last night Rev Pro hosted their high stakes event in Crystal Palace which not only saw
05:29 a dream match of Robbie X vs. Mustafa Ali, Luke Jacobs beat the tar out of J.J. Gale
05:34 in a barn burner and Zack Sabre Jr. just be awesome against Conor Mills, but it also saw
05:38 the final independent date for Will Ospreay before he heads to All Elite Wrestling.
05:44 Ospreay went nearly 15 minutes in the main event against Michael Oku in an absolutely
05:49 brilliant match that was breathtaking live, and he gave an emotional speech afterwards
05:53 thanking the fans in attendance and his new boss Tony Khan who was at the show.
05:58 The crowd spotted TK early on during the match as he watched on from a box alongside Darby
06:02 Allen and Orange Cassidy, the latter of which was a surprise entrant in the opening match
06:06 defending his international championship.
06:08 We've got plenty of photos and videos from the event being posted to our Instagram.
06:12 It was an emotional goodbye from Will and yes I shed a tear and felt like a true celebration
06:18 of independent wrestling in the UK.
06:20 But hey, what about what happened on Smackdown?
06:22 It's time for my quick recap of Smackdown, aka the one where The Rock pointed his thumb
06:26 at Roman Reigns let speculation run wild edition of Smackdown, in a couple of minutes.
06:31 The show opened with our penultimate Elimination Chamber qualifying match where Kevin Owens
06:35 beat Dominik Mysterio to get into the chamber.
06:37 Owens is a really good choice for the match considering who would qualify later, but I
06:40 was hoping we would see Dom in the chamber.
06:43 I think there could have been some great comedy there.
06:45 And I have missed seeing uber heel heat magnet Dom.
06:48 Truth distracted Dom for the finish, which continues to spin the plate of R-Truth winning
06:52 the tag titles from Judgment Day at Mania.
06:54 Drew McIntyre had some heated words with LA Knight backstage, the latter of which called
06:57 Drew an "old timer" despite the fact that Knight is a couple of years older than
07:02 Drew - something which Drew also pointed out on Twitter.
07:05 Fun fact, Drew's a few months older than me and he's only a few more bits handsome
07:08 than me too.
07:09 Yeah, I said what I said, Drew.
07:11 Roman happily reunited with Solo and Jimmy - oh yeah they are part of this story - and
07:15 Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate announced their new tag team name of New Catch Republic.
07:19 I think British Strong Style was better and was, you know, right there.
07:23 But what do I know, I'm a near 40 year old on YouTube who's just a bit more handsome
07:27 than Drew McIntyre.
07:28 Yeah, I said what I said, Drew.
07:29 Tiffany Stratton qualified for the Elimination Chamber by placing all of her knees right
07:33 into the midsection of Zelina Vega in their match.
07:35 Vega got herself distracted by Elektra Lopez at ringside, and AJ Styles and Karl Anderson
07:39 had a grunt off backstage.
07:41 Damage Control cut a promo on Bayley and Dakota Kai - Bayley later told Kai that she's not
07:45 sure who she can trust.
07:46 Ortha Supaine won a quick squash match, and Logan Paul beat The Miz in a really good match
07:50 to qualify for the Chamber.
07:52 Paul tried to use the Brass Knucks, but Miz knocked them away and Logan hit his version
07:56 of the Skull Crushing finale for the win.
07:58 Tiffany Stratton had a backstage argument with Jade Cargill, Grayson Waller was seen
08:01 chatting with Paul Heyman, and Naomi beat Alba Fire to qualify for the Chamber.
08:06 Braun Breaker was announced as the newest signing for Smackdown - sorry Adam Pearce,
08:09 you'll just have to get a drink or something - and then the Bloodline came out for their
08:13 main event segment.
08:15 Roman and crew came out first and called the crowd dumb and officially welcomed The Rock
08:19 into their faction.
08:20 Rocky came out to another mixed response, and he proper played up the Hollywood heel
08:25 Rock persona.
08:26 He wore a vest, he called the crowd fat and inbred, he said sing-alongs were over and
08:30 it was all just wonderful.
08:32 I know a lot of people are saying this is like '97, '98 Rock, but for me this was
08:36 2003 Rock, you know, the Hollywood Rock one.
08:40 The crowd booed him when he did his heel stuff, but also cheered for him because he's The
08:44 Rock and he's a legend and he's a big star.
08:47 Rock told the fans that they had everything for a great mania and they blew it by wanting
08:51 Cody and then… well he said that didn't make sense.
08:55 He said that the 49ers lost to the Saints so they've gone to the back of the line
08:58 and now have to fight to get another shot at the Super Bowl.
09:01 He said that Cody lost last year so now he needs to do the same thing and not just demand
09:06 a title shot.
09:08 Um, Rock, Cody won the Rumble.
09:11 Rock I get that he's supposed to be heel Hollywood Rock, but it also makes him sound
09:15 like deluded Rock and I don't think that's the better look.
09:18 It's hard to feel like a credible baddie when you just say that Cody should do the
09:22 thing that he just did.
09:24 Thankfully the final moments were ace, as Rock asked if we could smell what the bloodline
09:28 were cooking and they all raised their wands, with Rock pointing his thumb out, seemingly
09:33 pointing at Roman.
09:35 It has been reported that this whole segment was heavily scripted, so there's a good
09:39 chance that this is foreshadowing for something at Mania.
09:43 It capped off a really good episode of Smackdown, and Tempest will be reviewing the show in
09:47 full with Dan Layton later on the WrestleTalk Podcast channel, so go over there and subscribe
09:51 to that so you can check that out.
09:53 And you can also watch the full episode of Three Count by clicking the video on screen.
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