00:00Did CM Punk just turn heel? AJ Styles says I quit. A shock WWE title change. And more.
00:08I'm Talent Name, and this is my review of WWE's biannual Let's Screw Drew McIntyre
00:14in the UK PLE.
00:20For Clash of the Castle, my lady partner was away for the weekend. We weren't doing live
00:24reactions here at WrestleTalk, and the show was on at 7pm UK time. Meaning for the first
00:29time in literally years, I got to watch a major wrestling show for leisure, not really
00:35for work. So I enjoyed Clash of the Castle the way it's meant to be done.
00:40In my pyjamas with my cat and a glass of wine. I'm hardcore. I'm hardcore. And yes, that
00:46is Daryl the Cat in the background. She's my cat Kiki's boyfriend.
00:50After Michael Cole narrated an advert for the Scottish Tourist Board, Scotland is a
00:54magical land full of lakes, locks and the drug capital of Europe, and wished us all
00:59a happy Father's Day. No, Christian, this is the wrong promotion.
01:02WWE wisely saved the closer for the real main event of Scotland's own Drew McIntyre going
01:07for Damian Priest's World Heavyweight title, meaning the main card opened with AJ Styles
01:11challenging for Talent Name's Women's Tag Team Championship. Move aside, vacant.
01:18There's a new placeholder star in town. It was, of course, actually Cody Rhodes defending
01:23his WWE Championship in a I Quit match. Cody was incredibly over with the Glasgow
01:33crowd, who made sure of a proper babyface heel dynamic by booing everything AJ did,
01:38i.e. a successful version of 2011 John Cena. Because this ain't PG era WWE, this is the
01:45Lavec Era. Which is really the Attitude Era, with a much better work rate. AJ and Cody
01:50brawled through the crowd and backstage area. Cody bladed, because of course he did, and
01:55the crowd started chanting FU AJ, probably much to the panic of standards and practices
02:00back home. Cody's bleeding was actually a smart defensive
02:03play, as it meant AJ's belt kept slipping off his head during a submission. Styles switched
02:07to a crossface instead, making Cody pass out. In another match, AJ would've won, but here
02:13Rhodes couldn't say I quit while he was unconscious. It was an inventive plot point,
02:17which could give AJ reason for one more match to make it a trilogy. Which I wouldn't mind
02:22at all. One of the parts that makes Cody's character
02:25work where Cena was one dimensional is that Rhodes has an edge. No, no, Copeland, wrong
02:30promotion too. Cody was trying to be a fair fighting man, but AJ, even in an ODQ match,
02:36went too far. He handcuffed Rhodes and threatened his mum at ringside, so Cody turned his own
02:41limitation into a weapon, busting AJ open using the cuffs, and finally making Styles
02:46say I quit by threatening to squish him in the corner with the steel steps.
02:52A very good, morally consistent story of Homelander, I mean Cody, overcoming Styles, keeping both
02:57men looking strong. You might have to wait until after AJ's potential run in TNA to
03:02get the third match, though. Watch my news video to find out what's going on there.
03:06Because New Blood attacked Cody on the ramp afterwards for Kevin Owens and Randy Orton
03:10from out of nowhere to make the save. You'd think that sets up Solo as Cody's
03:14next challenger, but I reckon it's more for some six man action at Money in the Bank
03:18to build Rhodes vs Orton at SummerSlam, as Randy looked at Cody's title the same way
03:23he once looked at that woman's breasts. The Unholy Union got the They're From Here
03:27treatment with a video package about them being from Scotland, and the crowd gave them
03:31the appropriate They're From Here pop before dying down. Because nobody thought they would
03:36win. This is a match purely designed to get over
03:39Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair. So it was rather surprising when Alba Fire and Issa
03:43Dawn became the new women's tag team champions. Belair and Cargill looked great for the first
03:4890% of the match, but unfortunately Jade slipped on a top rope springboard for her hot tag
03:53and never really recovered, also looking like she tapped in Shayna Baszler's Kirifuda
03:57Clutch. After being expertly packaged in all her WWE appearances, this was probably the
04:02worst she's looked. Her and Belair then hit their wheelbarrow suplex
04:05finisher on Baszler for Dawn to steal the pin. It was a wonderful moment for them in
04:09their home country, especially for Fire, who lost her mother last month. But I couldn't
04:14fully enjoy it, because that immediately put the fear in me that it meant Drew was losing
04:17in the main event. Chad Gable and Sami Zayn had a terrific mixture
04:21of excellent in-ring pro wrestling and sports entertainment drama for the Intercontinental
04:25Championship, as Chad kept berating Otis and Maxine at ringside, while Sami would tell
04:30them to listen to the crowd and stand up to Gable.
04:32There were effectively two matches happening, one for the IC belt, and the other for Otis
04:37and Maxine's souls, making this a really fleshed out story.
04:41Chad gave Maxine the belt to hit Sami with behind the referee's back, but she couldn't
04:45do it. Gable started to shout at her, but Otis blocked him off to a huge pop. Then,
04:50somehow, Sami reversed an ankle lock on the outside, sending Chad seamlessly into a chop
04:55block on Maxine's injured foot. That's how natural a wrestler Gable is. Even when
05:00he's tripping over, he accidentally hits really well executed wrestling moves.
05:04This made Otis even more furious, but he opted to help Maxine and carry her to the
05:08back instead of fight Gable. The distraction cost Chad the match, and all the veins in
05:13his head, as he held this incredibly pissed off face for about three minutes.
05:17Chad had revealed earlier that day that he had re-signed with WWE. He didn't win the
05:21belt here, so I reckon WWE have something even bigger for him. He turns on Otis and
05:26Maxine on Monday with a new Alpha Academy of the Creed's. We get a trios feud of them
05:31vs Sami, Otis and Maxine, which builds to Chad winning the IC belt then.
05:36We also got a Wyatt 60s onscreen, because this is the Leveque era, which means factions.
05:41All the factions. Piper and Evan got a She's From Here video package too, with WWE really
05:46getting their money's worth for those drone shots at the coastline. But that only confused
05:50Scotland's feelings. Piper is a heel on weekly TV, but from here.
05:55Bayley is a face, and it was legitimately her birthday yesterday, but she's not from
05:59here. But we also do like singing the Hey Bayley song.
06:02It meant the crowd didn't quite know who to cheer, so they booed and popped in equal
06:05measure. I know who I was cheering for though. Samoa
06:08Niven. I love it when she does Joe's spots like the running cent on Inurunagi in the
06:12corner. It effectively told the story of her size against Bayley.
06:16Chelsea Green was ejected from ringside early for shenanigans, but came back down in a lucha
06:21mask, distracting the referee from counting Bayley's pin. For a moment, they mainly
06:25believed that happened because Niven was winning. So the next few minutes were really exciting
06:29with a brutal Piper driver, but Bayley retained with a Crucifix Bomb.
06:33Because they were in Scotland, WWE plugged The Open just one day after AEW had trademarked
06:39the golf-themed Fairway to Hell name. Could this mean we're getting FOUR Bidden Door?
06:59It's a golf thing. And then it's time for the main event.
07:09Damian Priest defending his World Heavyweight title against Drew McIntyre, who, just in
07:13case you missed the references, is from Scotland. He got a Scottish Pipe band for a special
07:18entrance. The Glasgow crowd popped 100 decibels when he came out. He came off as a bigger
07:23babyface than Cody, signing a kid's sign, and Michael Cole mentioning the K on his wrist
07:28tape is for Drew's wife, who's currently unwell in the States. It, ironically, felt
07:33a lot like Chicago for CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011, especially when you couldn't
07:38actually hear Priest's entrance music as the crowd chanted over it. The atmosphere,
07:42Drew's presence, this felt like a big fight deal, and is arguably the most important the
07:47heavyweight belt has ever felt. Tonight, it did not feel like the World Consolation Weight
07:52Prize. Just as Cargill had found earlier, the Scottish
07:55Ropes were appropriately Born Slippy. Priest went for a springboard sent on outside, but
08:00he slipped and got his ankle caught in the ropes. Damian was favouring his leg from that
08:04point on, and he would later say in the press conference, it feels like trash right now.
08:08The match could've fallen apart, so it's incredible how quickly Drew worked it into
08:12the story, and Priest fought through the pain, somehow still managing a one-legged Razor's
08:17Edge, his fast spinning kicks and even a top rope hurricanrana. Drew Claymode Priest through
08:22the timekeeper's barricade, Drew kicked out of the South of Heaven, Priest kicked
08:26out of a second Claymore. But then the referee got bumped before the third Claymore, which
08:30got McIntyre a long visual pin. Don't worry though, because Caucasian Red
08:35Shoes ran in to count for the save, the camera just showing he's back, 1, 2… and he holds
08:42up the count. Because Judgment Day might've been banned from ringside, but CM Punk sure
08:47wasn't. In WWE's latest bit of incredible camera
08:51work, the next shot revealed it was Punk in a referee's shirt, and he held up the
08:55two count fingers like a British swear. Punk would immortalise this moment in Drew's
09:00own meme. Oh yeah, but why's Punk back there already
09:04in a ref's shirt? That makes no sense. How dare you doubt the logical booking of
09:07Paul Levesque. WWE explained that in a social media video
09:11of Punk watching backstage and quickly stealing an official's top.
09:14Punk low blow Drew, Priest hit a South of Heaven and retained, absolutely killing the
09:19nuclear hot crowd silent. Apart from Punk finding the three Conan O'Briens who were
09:24wearing Punk shirts in the front row. So is this a Punk heel turn? I guess the
09:28answer is geographical, although a low blow interference is below the belt no matter what
09:31country you're in. Do you think Punk is now a heel, or is he
09:34a Michael Oku's favourite word, a tweener? Let me know in the comments down below because
09:38I'll be replying to people FROM OUTTA ONE, TWO, I'M CM PUNK.
09:45Wade Barrett certainly thinks Punk's a heel, saying as the show went off air, that was
09:48the biggest screwjob in history. It's just beaten Bret Hart. That is the new number one.
09:54There is a huge shadow cast upon this entire industry thanks to the actions of CM Punk.
09:59CM Punk needs to be fired by WWE management. For once, show some balls. Do what you're
10:06supposed to do. Restore some honour, some integrity to this industry.
10:10After Triple H said some very nice things about Punk in the media conference afterwards,
10:14Barrett venomously disagreed. Which makes it feel like Wade might align with Drew in
10:24a feud against Punk, again referencing Punk's toxic persona that got him fired by AEW.
10:30The Drew loss is heartbreaking, but it makes perfect booking sense. McIntyre's feud with
10:35Punk is even more heated and doesn't really need the title, and you can keep the belt
10:39on Priest longer, making Gunther likely beating him at SummerSlam more significant.
10:43Clash at the Castle 2024 is 80%. Now go watch the brand new episode of Survival Series,
10:49where we try and name every King of the Ring winner ever. Here's a look.
10:54Hello and welcome to another edition of Survival Series, the show that helps distract you from
10:59the decline of Western society. Today, I need you to name me every single WWE King of the
11:09Ring winner. So Woods is the most recent one because they didn't do one last year
11:13because they were Gunner then they changed it to Night of Champions, so then before then,
11:16it was King Nakamura. But he didn't win one. If I gave you 1 million Canadian dollars,
11:21would you tell me one answer? Surely Hornswoggle. Are you crazy? You know what I mean, Tempest,
11:28right? That's worth a ding. Have I said- oh no, it's that thing where I don't know if
11:31I've said someone. He did the 316 promo, I remember it. Well. He's even got the name
11:37it is surname Regal King, King Regal. It's like it's, it's written in the stars.
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