00:00A WWE move has been publicly denied, a former WWE star wants to come back, huge WWE Raw
00:07success and more.
00:09I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:16Several weeks ago we here at WrestleTalk along with Fightful exclusively revealed photo evidence
00:22that Shane McMahon was in talks with AEW CEO Tony Khan.
00:27And the scoops keep on coming, because I can now exclusively reveal a major wrestling star
00:33is in talks with WrestleTalk.
00:36It's AEW American Champion MJF.
00:41Woah woah woah, Luke what the hell man?
00:45I don't want MJF here, I've got some serious wrestling heat with him because of what his
00:49entrance confetti did to my beer.
00:51I know, I know, I know, but it's all good.
00:54It's ok.
00:55This is a good thing.
00:56This is going to stop us being so tribalistic about Will Ospreay vs MJF at All In at Wembley
01:02Stadium.
01:03This is so we can have an American viewpoint.
01:05He's going to be our American Correspondent.
01:07Woah woah woah, I did not sign off on this.
01:10I think MJF only cares about himself.
01:13I think he says some very mean things.
01:16And at All In, I think Will Ospreay is going to kick his ass.
01:26He's right behind me, isn't he?
01:28Yeah, I'm afraid he is.
01:29I'm here with British Bald Bitch and Doctor Who, as in who will possibly sleep with this
01:34man ever.
01:35My name is Maxwell Jacob Friedman, I'm better than you and you know it, I'm an American
01:38hero, I am the American Champion and today, I will be interviewed by two buffoons who
01:42have absolutely no right to call themselves journalists.
01:45They'll tell you they don't, meanwhile they'll keep trying to make money off of
01:49people like me.
01:50More at 11.
01:51Yeah, we'll be interviewing MJF.
01:54Shut up.
01:55Someone who likely won't be on the All In card is Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix
02:00of the Lucha Bros who are reportedly heading to WWE.
02:03The news broke last week that the Lucha Bros had had discussions with WWE ahead of their
02:07AEW contracts expiring, and will be heading straight to the main roster, bypassing NXT
02:13and debuting as a tag team.
02:14Ibu of WrestlePurist reported that, originally, they were set to team with PAC as Death Triangle
02:20to take on the Patriarchy for the AEW Trios Championships at All In, but those plans were
02:24pulled when the Lucha Bros decided that they would not re-sign with All Elite Wrestling.
02:29That match is now looking to be a three-way match between the Patriarchy, House of Black
02:33and the Gang Bang Gang.
02:35Penta's deal is up at the end of August, while his brothers will expire in September.
02:40And Ibu of WrestlePurist has now revealed that Penta reportedly will be visiting Orlando
02:45this week, which is the home of WWE's Performance Center.
02:50But not so according to Penta himself.
02:53He took to Twitter to reply to WrestlePurist saying, please stop posting fake news, my
02:57present is AEW.
02:59He later put out another tweet saying, no more gossip, my present is AEW.
03:04So what exactly is going on here?
03:07Well according to Fightful Select, Penta and Fenix are heading to WWE.
03:12They reiterate their report from last week, which is that Penta and Fenix will bypass
03:15NXT and head straight to the main roster, and they'll come in as a package piledriver
03:19deal.
03:20Fightful Select add that WWE are fine with this, as they had interest in bringing in
03:23Fenix a while back anyway.
03:25According to Fightful Select, sources close to Penta say he will be in Orlando this week,
03:30but did not specify if he was going to visit the Performance Center.
03:34On the AEW side of things, Fightful Select write that their sources say that they expected
03:39the Lucha Bros to head to WWE, but were shocked to see the reports come out.
03:43Especially as AEW reportedly did offer them a deal to stay, and it was for the same amount
03:48that Penta has told people he and Fenix will make when they go to WWE.
03:52So why is Penta putting out tweets saying this is all fake news and gossip?
03:56Well according to Fightful Select, a claim internally was that the Lucha Bros didn't
04:00to do business in the appropriate ways that many exits from the company, and other companies
04:05in general, have done in the past.
04:07Apparently he has told people in AEW that his deal is already done, but if it isn't
04:13and he is still under contract, there's a chance that All Elite Wrestling could tack
04:17on injury time to those contracts and keep him under the AEW umbrella for the time being.
04:23And that might explain the tweets.
04:25Fightful Select add in their report, multiple sources in AEW today believe Penta pushing
04:29back on the reports so his brother will be able to leave without contractual hurdles.
04:35What do you think is going on, and would you like to see Penta and Fenix stay in AEW or
04:39head to WWE?
04:41Let me know in the comments down below.
04:43According to WrestleTix, around 45,000 tickets have been shifted for AEW's All In, and
04:48while some might argue that is down from last year, it is still a huge number.
04:53And it would appear that AEW are not slowing down.
04:57They've already announced they're running the Tokyo Dome the day after WrestleKingdom
05:00with New Japan, Ring of Honor and CMLL, Fightful Select had reported they were planning on
05:04running a stadium show in the US next year, and now according to the Sporting News, there's
05:09another big show planned.
05:12The website reports that AEW will be heading to Australia next year for a blockbuster show.
05:18Sydney's Aliens Stadium, Melbourne's Marvel Stadium and Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium are
05:22potential homes for this show, with the website writing that, it's understood planned for
05:26the company's Maiden Australian show are well advanced.
05:30And speaking of wrestling companies doing very well for themselves, this week's episode
05:33of WWE Raw did a monster number in the TV ratings.
05:38Back on their usual home of the USA Network and with no major sports or Olympic coverage
05:42to battle against, WWE Raw drew its best total viewership since the Raw After Mania episode,
05:48drawing 1.89 million viewers.
05:51It also drew its best number in the 18-49 demo since the Raw After Mania as well.
05:56As we talked about last week, had Raw not been on sci-fi and going against Olympics
06:00coverage last week, the Raw After SummerSlam likely would have done over 2 million viewers,
06:05and this huge number here for the follow-up episode seems to indicate that would have
06:09been the case.
06:10Maybe what they need for them to get over that 2 million mark, however, is a return.
06:14And it just so happens that Kelly Kelly, point to nothing, wants a return.
06:18This week's Raw saw Candice Michelle in the crowd and Fightful Select are reporting that
06:21Michelle McCool was backstage for the show, and speaking with WrestlingNews.co, another
06:26diva in Kelly Kelly has said that she would like to come back for another run in WWE.
06:31She said,
06:32I love Triple H. We worked together.
06:34He was great to work with.
06:35I mean, I would love to come back and work for him.
06:38He's awesome.
06:39However, there are some small hurdles that Kelly Kelly would have to get over, those
06:43hurdles being children.
06:45She added,
06:46I definitely don't think I could do it full time, especially with the twins.
06:49And then I'd talk about wanting one more baby, so I don't know.
06:53But I would definitely come back part time.
06:55My dream is for my twins to watch me in the ring one day.
06:58Kelly Kelly left WWE in 2012 and has since had three cameo appearances in Royal Rumbles.
07:03Would you like to see Kelly Kelly return to WWE?
07:05Let me know in the comments below and fantasy book those first feuds.
07:09Someone who is making their return, but it will be their last, is John Cena.
07:13Cena announced at this year's Money in the Bank that he will be officially retiring from
07:17professional wrestling at the end of 2025.
07:20He clarified in the post-show press conference that he will be working limited dates on this
07:24retirement tour as he needs to work around his other work commitments, and has now revealed
07:29how many dates he will be doing in a new interview with Collider.
07:33He said,
07:34I am retiring in 2025 and I start that farewell tour in January and I'll end it in December.
07:39It's going to be around 36 dates around the world to pay thanks and gratitude to the
07:44WWE audiences around the world.
07:46Dates of course include episodes of TV, any house show appearances and any PPV appearances.
07:52And lastly before we get out of here, last night's NXT saw two different title changes
07:56as well as an appearance by Say His Name and He Appears, Joe Hendry, clap clap.
08:01The No Quarter Catch crew recaptured the Heritage Cup when Charlie Dempsey beat Tony DeAngelo
08:052-1, and Chase Yu won the tag titles from Nathan Fraser and Axiom in the show's main
08:10event.
08:11The champs had several miscommunication spots leading to Andre Chase and Ridge Holland capturing
08:15the belt.
08:16And finally, Obafemi retained his title.
08:18Because I've got him booked for Summerslam 2025.
08:21Of course I've got him booked for that because Oli, Pete and I gave our predictions for Summerslam
08:252025 way too far in advance.
08:27Go and watch it now.
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