00:00Shane McMahon's heat with WWE, CM Punk calls an AEW move ugly, my review of AEW Dynamite
00:07and more.
00:08I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:15It's now been 24 hours since that image broke wrestling Twitter, and potentially turned
00:21the AEW-WWE war on its head.
00:24I am, of course, talking about…
00:27THIS PHOTO POSTED BY STOKELY HATHAWAY.
00:30I mean, I just can't take my eyes off it.
00:34It's perfect.
00:35Stokely's face.
00:36It's perfect.
00:37I don't even know what else is in that photo.
00:39Oh yeah, and there was also that image we revealed to the world of Shane McMahon having
00:42a secret meeting with AEW CEO Tony Khan.
00:45The meeting wasn't referenced on last night's episode of Dynamite, but Shane himself has
00:49issued a statement to busted open radio.
00:52Tony and I were connected through a mutual friend and we had a great meeting.
00:56We talked about many things, but mostly about our shared love for the business and the rewards
01:00and challenges of working with family.
01:02I congratulated him on the 5 year anniversary of AEW and look forward to how he evolves
01:07the business moving forward.
01:10Some 4D chest does appear to be afoot with WrestleVotes posting.
01:14Asked a longtime WWE employee friendly with Shane for thoughts on the Tony Khan picture.
01:20Shane's as smart as they come.
01:22Taking a preliminary meeting doesn't surprise anyone here.
01:25But what is surprising is the person who's revealed they took the photograph, with AEW
01:31TBS Champion Mercedez Monáe posting, lol I took that pic.
01:35TONGUE OUT WITH MONEY EMOJI OR THEY'RE SICK WITH MONEY EMOJI.
01:39Because the tongue's green.
01:40I don't really understand it.
01:42While Mercedes might have been involved in Tony and Shane coming together, with Monáe
01:46McMahon gave her his number back in June when they bumped into each other at an airport.
01:50As the outlet that released the photo, we can confirm Mercedes Monáe wasn't the one
01:54that sent it to us.
01:56But now Wrestling Observer Radio might have shed some more light on Shane's motivation.
02:00I know Shane McMahon has looked to get back into WWE.
02:04I know that the people in charge of WWE have no interest in him.
02:09It was noted that could change now Shane is hovering around AEW.
02:13In fact, leveraging talks with WWE could be the very reason Shane is chatting to Tony
02:17Khan in the first place.
02:19But there's a lot of negativity that I would say has been there for a long time.
02:25This might be what led to Shane suddenly leaving WWE in 2009, when Vince started to favour
02:30Stephanie and Triple H as his apparent successors.
02:33Apparently it was his mum Linda who pushed very, very hard for Shane to return in 2016,
02:38implying that any heat between the various sides still existed.
02:42It was around that time that Vice revealed there were two warring factions inside WWE
02:47though, the Stephanie-Triple H side, and the Shane and Kevin Dunn axis.
02:52With Dunn also having left WWE last year, Shane has lost another ally there.
02:57Hopefully if Shane does become All Elite, it doesn't backfire like AEW's other big
03:01piece of hotshot booking several months ago.
03:03Back in April, Tony Khan aired the actual footage of CM Punk's backstage fight at
03:08All In, which ultimately led to Punk being fired with cause from the company on an episode
03:13of Dynamite.
03:14Punk was asked on Jimmy Trainor's SI Media podcast about AEW airing the CCTV footage,
03:19where he said he isn't rooting against AEW because he's got a lot of friends that work
03:23there, but, on the All In footage, it felt really ugly, but then I was just like, why?
03:29Showing that footage isn't going to help them or hurt me, so I was just like, whatever.
03:34Getting the top draw in two different companies is pretty wild.
03:37Like thanks guys.
03:39CM Punk to Chris Jericho's earning tree confirmed.
03:41Our brand new episode of Video Game Club is now up to watch on our Let's Play channel
03:45Control Freaks, where Laurie, Sullivan and co are playing Moving Out 2.
03:50It's chaos.
03:52So I'm just going to drop it.
03:53Alright, I have to go around the other side.
03:54Drop it.
03:55Guys, something's gone on.
03:56What's happening?
03:57No, Laurie, you're fine, you're fine.
03:58You're alright.
03:59I think you're going to be okay.
04:00Now you're okay here.
04:01I'll help you there.
04:02Give me a hand.
04:03Let me just push it out.
04:04What is this?
04:05Get in the way.
04:06I don't need help, Laurie.
04:07I'm all good.
04:08Yeah.
04:09So I'm going to catch this.
04:10Who wants to catch this?
04:11There we go.
04:12There we go.
04:13There we go.
04:14Oh, you broke it.
04:15I need you to catch it.
04:16You broke it.
04:17Laurie's the worst thrower I've ever seen.
04:18Go on, chuck it in.
04:21Go on, there you go.
04:22Oh, good throw, mate.
04:23Oh, wow.
04:24Good throw, mate.
04:25Shut the f*** up.
04:26Do the same thing you did last time.
04:27That'll work.
04:28What did Einstein say?
04:29Keep doing the same s*** and it'll eventually work, I think.
04:36Now it's time for my review of AEW Dynamite… in about 5 minutes.
04:41MJF opened the show for the third week running, where the newly rebranded American Champion
04:45immediately started crapping on America, saying that South Carolina is addicted to meth.
04:51Only one man can save the honour of America…
04:54British guy Will Ospreay.
04:56He chased Max off and talked up the legacy of the international championship that MJF
05:01has disrespected.
05:02Champions like PAC, Orange Cassidy, Jon Moxley, the other people since Jon Moxley.
05:09Rey Fenix?
05:10I don't know, this isn't Survival Series.
05:11I'm not doing this.
05:13This turned into our opening match of Ospreay vs Lance Archer, a tale of Will doing a flip
05:17and getting caught in a chokeslam.
05:19Well third time's the charm, he reversed a chokeslam off the second rope into an awesome
05:23Spanish fly.
05:25Will won with two hidden blades, in the best match him and Lance could've had for the
05:28time they were given.
05:29But MJF wasn't done, so he attacked Will from behind and started to prepare his heelish
05:34diamond ring.
05:35Only one other man can now save the honour of America…
05:39Australian guy Kyle Fletcher.
05:42Fletcher chased off MJF and got on the mic to tell Don Callis he's going to help Will,
05:46even though he's not in the family anymore because he's his best friend.
05:50It set up MJF vs Fletcher for next week, where Max promised to break Kyle's neck in front
05:55of Ospreay, just like he did when he beat down Daniel Garcia.
05:59Interestingly, the Wrestling Observer is reporting Fletcher wasn't originally planned for this
06:04spot.
06:05He was a late replacement for a mystery, very outside the box guy who had commitments they
06:09couldn't get out of.
06:11Do you… do you…
06:16Could it be?
06:17Overall, this was a really solid focus segment, blending promo with match with angle in a
06:22very substantial way.
06:23My only criticism is that the country vs country heat isn't hitting 100% with me.
06:28Big Bill presented Chris Jericho with a celebratory cake for having held the FTW title for 102
06:33days.
06:34But then, in a moment more shocking than Shane meeting with Tony, the cake was not put into
06:39anyone's face on a wrestling show.
06:42Brian Keith will wrestle Shabbatta next week.
06:44After first colliding in the Owen Hart tournament, Mortal Foe's Chris Statlander and Willow
06:48Nightingale had a championship eliminator match for the CMLL Women's title.
06:52Yay.
06:53Another title in AEW.
06:55The crowd weren't as loud as I thought they'd be for what's been a very decent blood feud
06:58between Willow and Chris, but they got into the final few moments.
07:02Stokely Hathaway distracted referee Aubrey Edwards, letting Chris cheat with a chain
07:06to win.
07:07Statlander continued the beatdown with a chair afterwards, knocking down some security too.
07:10A decent match, with a winner I didn't see coming.
07:13After months of doing interviews saying he doesn't really want the world championship
07:16and he's winding down his in-ring career, Bryan Danielson had the rather difficult task
07:21of making us believe he's winning a All In.
07:23But did he succeed?
07:25Yes.
07:26Yes.
07:27Yes.
07:28He first spoke about being present in the moment.
07:32Because his career was ended in 2014, the last seven years have all been a bonus.
07:37Then he spoke about promises.
07:39How he promised his daughter he'd stop wrestling when she was 7, and that this AEW deal was
07:44the last contract he'd ever sign.
07:47Which expires today, the 1st August.
07:52But even with all that, he promises he's going to give it his all at All In.
07:58Crucially, though, he never promised he'd win the belt.
08:00But I don't know how much to read into that, because I also think Bryan is playing 4D chess
08:04with me.
08:05Aka the Shane Game.
08:07Ah, it's the 2017 SmackDown General Manager and Commissioner Game.
08:12Swerve Strickland interrupted, perfectly balancing his heel and face tendencies, pointing out
08:16Danielson lost to Ospreay when Swerve won, that Danielson lost to the Elite when Swerve's
08:21team won.
08:22He's the most dangerous man in wrestling, and Bryan might not walk out of All In.
08:26That was enough to make Danielson go truly All In.
08:29He said if he doesn't win the belt, he'll never wrestle again.
08:33At Wembley, it's going to be title vs career.
08:36This is what the match needed.
08:38Epic stakes, fitting of the epic occasion.
08:40And usually when someone puts their career on the line, it's a bit of a giveaway they're
08:44going to win.
08:45But with Danielson, it's far more 50-50, and it'll make for a uniquely emotional
08:49time at All In.
08:50Danielson now fired up, challenged Jeff Jarrett backstage to a match next week.
08:55It's Dynamite's weekly six man fun spot!
08:57The conglomerations Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy and Ishii, aka AEW's Chaos, took on a new
09:03hodgepodge trio of Roderick Strong, The Beast Mortos and Roosh.
09:07I've been watching Collision the last few weeks, I know what's going to happen here.
09:11Mortos looks awesome going up against Ishii.
09:13He looks awesome going up against Cassidy.
09:16And then he takes the pin to get someone else over.
09:19So I was pleasantly surprised at unexpected result number two on this show.
09:22Mortos pinned Briscoe to win after a really fun match.
09:25Perhaps that's to set up a ROH title feud.
09:28The Acclaimed called out FTR when those two teams should really be focusing on the Young
09:32Bucks, who haven't defended their tag titles since winning them at Dynasty three months
09:36ago.
09:37Renee Paquette had a pre-recorded sit-down interview with Mariah May.
09:39She didn't say anything new on why she turned on Toni Storm, but this was a far better presentation
09:44than her heel in-ring exposition promo several weeks back.
09:47Toni then appeared on the ramp screaming about how Mariah broke her heart.
09:50Mercedes Monáe declared that her and her new muscle Camille are a faction called the
09:54Monáe Corporation.
09:55Someone's saying two people are a faction, that's my kind of heel.
09:59Camille squashed enhancement talent Brittany Jade to establish her physical dominance,
10:02and Mercedes revealed that EVP suspended Britt Baker for her actions at Comic Con.
10:07I know I say this every week, but I want to keep repeating it so we never turn her face
10:10again.
10:11Monáe is so much better as a heel.
10:13However, why doesn't Toni Khan just unsuspend Britt Baker?
10:16And the main event saw Hangman Page vs Darby Allin.
10:19If you asked me before this episode, I would've probably told you Hangman and Darby have wrestled
10:23at least 20 times in the past.
10:24In fact, I would've probably described the great feud they had in the pandemic.
10:28Well slap down my Mandela effect, turns out none of that ever happened.
10:32And this is somehow the first time these two have ever fought.
10:36They had a terrific match with Darby doing a coffin drop off the entrance tunnel in the
10:40opening few minutes, Hangman hitting a fallaway slam on Darby into the hard edges of the steel
10:45steps in our third unexpected result of the episode.
10:48Hangman's anger probably getting the better of him, so Darby was able to win with a technical
10:53pin.
10:54I've criticised Dynamite in the past for being too predictable in their match results,
10:57but it's only fair I praise them when they do it right.
11:00Anything I would've added here was some motivation for the match.
11:03I get that they were on opposite sides of last week's blood and guts, but what is
11:06Hangman's relationship with the Elite right now?
11:09Is he being sent out here to soften up Darby for Jack Perry?
11:12There was some storyline potential missed here.
11:14Overall, a very enjoyable and solid episode at 80%.
11:18Now go watch our video game channel Control Freaks, where Laurie, Sullivan and co are
11:21playing Moving Out 2.
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