00:00A wrestler legitimately suspended in TNA, more Hulk Hogan controversy, my review of
00:05the All In Go Home episode of AEW Dynamite, and of course, we talk to our special American
00:13Correspondent MJF, I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:24Following Hulk Hogan endorsing Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention earlier
00:28this month, TMZ released a video of the Hulkster joking about body slamming and dropping the
00:33leg on Kamala Harris, as well as questioning her racial identity.
00:37Hogan addressed the controversy as though it was a heavy night out, explaining that
00:41was the beer talking.
00:42And it turns out that was just the start of beer running wild on the Hulkster's reputation.
00:48According to ABC News Cleveland, a 50-year-old woman received nine stitches after she was
00:52struck by a beer can at a promotional event for Hogan's own Real American Beer.
00:58According to the police report, some witnesses claimed it was Hogan who threw the beer, while
01:02others have stated that it was another crew member throwing beers from the stage like
01:06a baseball pitch.
01:07No one was arrested or charged as a result of the conflicting information.
01:10But while Hogan himself hasn't been cancelled, his movie sure has.
01:15A Hulk Hogan biopic starring Chris Hemsworth as the Hulkster has been in the works since
01:202019, but Netflix pulled out last year.
01:23While Hemsworth has recently said he still wants to make the film, the project's director,
01:27Joker's Todd Phillips, has now told Variety he won't be a part of it.
01:32Spare a thought for former Hit Row star AJ Francis, who has posted,
01:36It is consistently so embarrassing as a black man and a wrestler when people ask me who
01:40my favorite wrestler was when I started watching wrestling as a kid and I have to admit it
01:45was Hulk Hogan.
01:46Former Impact World Champion Rich Swann has been suspended following a June 8th arrest
01:50for disorderly public intoxication and causing a disturbance in Florida.
01:55According to the arrest report filed, it was due to two incidents.
01:58One where Swann attempted to forcefully enter an apartment door, and another where he followed
02:02a woman in the same neighbourhood.
02:04Police described Swann as incoherent and appearing to be intoxicated.
02:08Swann admitted that he'd had a lot to drink, starting around three hours earlier.
02:12Swann was released from John E. Polk Correction Facility in Sanford, Florida the following
02:16day on a $250 bond.
02:18It was revealed that Swann was actually arrested for the same charge in September 2022, but
02:24this hadn't been previously reported, and TNA were only made aware of this recent arrest
02:28when Post Wrestling contacted them for comment on August 20th.
02:32TNA said in a statement to Post that Swann is voluntarily entering a rehab program for
02:37substance abuse, with TNA choosing to suspend Swann pending completion of its own investigation.
02:43Back into the much nicer, worked world of kayfabe, WWE have removed Roman Reigns from
02:47his next scheduled appearance, which was supposed to be the September 13th episode of SmackDown.
02:53This is a big deal, as that is the show's debut episode on the USA Network following
02:58their move from Fox.
03:00This follows Jacob Fatu attacking him on last Friday's episode, and implies Roman won't
03:04be around for the next several weeks around bashing Berlin.
03:08But now it's time to hear from our special American Correspondent, MJF.
03:14Hey MJF.
03:16Hey Dickhead.
03:18And, of course, Dynamite took place from the UK last night.
03:25I wanted to tell you thanks for saying that my part of the television show was the best
03:30bit of TV you've ever seen as a fan.
03:32I mean, that was absolutely incredible of you.
03:35Thank you so much.
03:37I'll just make a note to...
03:39I was going to say it anyway.
03:40Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:41Well, you already said it, I thought.
03:43Yeah.
03:44Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:45But what's your take on, you know, being our American Correspondent, what's the United
03:49States perspective?
03:50It was weird being in Wales, a place where they're obviously very well known for, let's
03:55be honest here, having sex with sheep.
03:58And also, obviously being very poor, fledgling, smelly, and just all around horrible people.
04:06I felt, for the most part, they were okay out there.
04:10Little loud, for my taste.
04:12I mean, they really wouldn't shut up.
04:13I was trying to speak, they kept interrupting me, but for the most part, I think that they
04:17respected the fact that I'm an American hero, I'm the American champion, and they're fully
04:21aware that their English boy is really not going to be up to snuff when it comes to this
04:28Sunday, August 25th, at Wembley Stadium.
04:30So for the most part, I would say those sheepshaggers were okay with me.
04:36It's Thursday, you know what that means, my review of AEW Dynamite in about 5 minutes.
04:45The episode opened on Mercedes Monet and Britt Baker's TBS title match contract signing,
04:49where the rule was neither could physically assault the other.
04:51Verbally assaulting, though, was fair game, and with this being the first ever Dynamite
04:56from the United Kingdom, our typically fantastic crowd was happy to oblige, chanting shut the
05:02eff up at Monet.
05:04They shifted their story into a discussion on the legacy of women's wrestling.
05:08Personally, that makes me less into the feud, as I find it a bit patronising when lady feuds
05:12in 2024 all seem to have to be about the women's revolution.
05:16I just want them to hate each other on equal grounds.
05:19Britt couldn't touch Monet, but she could hit Camille, so she bonked her in the head
05:22with the mic, and dove onto both of them on a chair.
05:25Chris Jericho got an anti-local hometown pop by saying how great it is to be in Cardiff
05:29England, and then took on Tommy Billington, the nephew of British wrestling legend the
05:36Dynamite Kid.
05:37Jericho gave Billington a lot, only getting on top when Brian Keith and Big Bill interfered,
05:41but ended up catching Dynamite Kid's flying headbutt into a codebreaker to win.
05:45A nice example of a signature move finishing the match.
05:48And not the Judas effect, because it kinda sucks.
05:51Hook ran down afterwards, and Big Bill laid him out with a chokeslam, as Hook hasn't
05:55learned anything about attacking people in 3-on-1 situations despite being in this feud
05:59for 7 months.
06:00Because nobody grows in Jericho Vortex feuds, they're just there for Jericho to feed off
06:05their life force.
06:07Toni Storm is so over, the crowd actually cheered her over the local, albeit heel, Soraya.
06:11This was mostly a comedy match, with Harley Cameron interference, dueling pose-offs and
06:16two Greco-Roman lip locks.
06:18Toni won with the Storm Zero, to be jumped by Mariah May's literal heel attack afterwards.
06:22There wasn't anything new here.
06:24Mark Briscoe revealed him and Karl O'Reilly will be in the Casino Gauntlet match in a
06:27typically fun backstage conglomeration promo.
06:30Then came the kind of segment fitting for a go-home episode of AEW's biggest show
06:35of the year.
06:36Will Ospreay go in face-to-face with MJF, finally, on kind of home turf?
06:42Ospreay soaked in the thunderous reaction from his countrymen, and played directly to
06:46my teenage years from 2004 to 2006 by referencing the sitcom Gavin and Stacey, and also Barry
06:53Scott's Cillit Bang Kitchen Cleaner commercials.
06:56MJF, however, changed tact from his USA vs UK promos over the last month.
07:02He instead made this about wrestling business and philosophy, first saying Will's not
07:06the best wrestler, as it's just the fans who like his flips, Max, however, is recognised
07:11by critics and TV networks as a generational talent, and AEW and Warner Bros begged him
07:16to return from injury early because Ospreay wasn't a ratings draw.
07:20But Ospreay countered, saying this is where the best wrestle, yet last year's All In
07:25was main evented by two friends jerking each other off, a shot at Max's more sports entertainment
07:30tendencies.
07:31And Tony Khan had rang Will while he was with New Japan, even though he had like 3,000 people
07:36under contract and their nan, Trent's mum actually, to put on a great in-ring match
07:40because he didn't trust his champion MJF would do it in the main event.
07:45He said the fans used to love Max, but they don't love him anymore.
07:49Which is when the prestige happened, the reveal of MJF's true motivation throughout
07:55this feud.
07:56It wasn't about the US vs the UK, it wasn't about flips vs working smart, it wasn't
08:01even who's the best wrestler.
08:04Max, after being composed for this entire promo, broke and screamed, they loved me until
08:10you showed up and ruined it.
08:13MJF's true motivation behind his hate of Ospreay is his own insecurity, and once again,
08:19and technically all along, Max reveals himself as the most psychologically fascinating character
08:24in all of wrestling.
08:26In an effort to regain status, MJF went to the bottom of the barrel, saying how Will's
08:30kid isn't biologically his, and after Max spoke to Ospreay's wife earlier today, the
08:34next kid she has won't be Will's either.
08:37Will was told he'd be fined £100,000 if he hit Max, and he thought, well, worth it,
08:42and had a pull apart brawl.
08:43But MJF got the better of him using the diamond ring, bloodying Will, and just being stopped
08:48from using the Tiger Driver by security.
08:50But later on, Bryan Danielson went up to a blooded Ospreay backstage, and finally gave
08:55him permission to use that move against Max, quoting the Great Shia LaBeouf.
09:19Hangman Page revealed backstage he's in the casino gauntlet, and he's going to run
09:22through anyone in his way to swerve Strickland.
09:25Poor Evil Uno chose this moment to walk past and reveal he's in the match too, so Page
09:29cracked him in the skull with a chair.
09:31Okada and Claudio Castagnoli went to a 20 minute time limit draw in a really good Continental
09:35Championship match that, in true Okada style, was very decent for the first 15 minutes,
09:40and absolutely awesome for the final five.
09:43Okada spilled into the ropes near the end from a Claudio uppercut with just seconds
09:46left to go, holding onto the bottom rope like a coward, meaning he retained on a draw.
09:52Hopefully this sets up a longer match for All Out.
09:54The Jacksons and Jack Perry then came down to deny the crowd five more minutes, which
09:58turned into a brawl, which turned into the next match.
10:01Your weekly six man fun segment, this time with The Elite vs Darby Allin and FDR.
10:05Do you think Darby has a dangerously fast bullet dive outside?
10:08Wait until you've seen Cash Wheeler run full speed with a tope through the ropes.
10:12It's just as fast as Darby, but like, five times more dense.
10:16The babyface challengers got the win with a superplex splash and coffin drop combo on
10:20Matt Jackson ahead of their respective title matches this Sunday.
10:23And then the Acclaimed came out to remind us they're also in the tag match.
10:27It's not that I've not been into Bryan Danielson vs Swerve Strictland, it's that
10:31I've felt Bryan Danielson isn't into Bryan Danielson vs Swerve Strictland.
10:35It's tough for me to believe in a career vs title stipulation when the guy whose career
10:39is on the line keeps saying, yeah, I want to stop wrestling so I can be a dad.
10:43But he's been the best wrestler in the world for the last 20 years for a reason.
10:47He can make you believe whenever he wants.
10:50After Nigel McGuinness healed it up by putting over Swerve Strictland, and Strictland implied
10:54he'll attack Danielson's family home, Bryan ran down, hit the knee, and then cut
10:59the kind of promo that instantly adds 20,000 more buys for the pay-per-view.
11:04It was simple and sweary.
11:06He said he's the best effing wrestler in the world, he's going to leave his soul
11:09in the ring for all the fans, everyone backstage, and his wife and family, and he asked the
11:15crowd can Danielson, the American effing dragon, beat Swerve for the title, where, of course,
11:21they erupted in yes chants.
11:24That's a go-home show.
11:26This week's Dynamite is 88%.
11:28We've also made a mighty fine show.
11:31Some are calling it one of the funniest videos we've ever made.
11:34So go to our video game channel Control Freaks now to watch us play Gang Beasts.
11:38Here's a clip.
12:08Well done.
12:09Well done.
12:10He's just holding his jaw down.
12:11Knockout!
12:12Knockout!
12:13Knockout!
12:14Knockout!
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