00:00The Vince McMahon Netflix documentary series is actually happening, a WWE legend's AEW
00:06debut scrapped, Nikki Bella's husband arrested and more.
00:10I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:16Now we've heard of getting wrestling heat, but the dark match between Colt Cabana and
00:20Satinam Singh on Wednesday's episode of AEW Dynamite took it to another level when
00:24the venue's fire alarms started going off, derailing the action when Cabana had to come
00:29to the outside as the system announced that everyone should immediately evacuate the building.
00:34Well, like any fire alarm that's gone off anywhere ever, everyone just tried to ignore
00:38it for the longest time possible.
00:40A little joke story there to start things off, because now… we have to talk about
00:45Vince McMahon.
00:46Back in October 2020, Netflix announced they would be making a documentary series on Vince
00:51called Mr McMahon.
00:53The six hour long episodes would be produced by the filmmaker behind the Tiger King series,
00:57Chris Smith, and also The Ringer founder Bill Simmons, who co-created ESPN's brilliant
01:0230 for 30 sports documentary series.
01:05This was to be a big prestige project for Netflix, reportedly one of the highest budgeted
01:09of all time with WWE and Vince's direct cooperation, where McMahon apparently wanted
01:15this to be a warts and all portrayal of him.
01:19And the next four years more than granted his wish.
01:22The project was apparently 99% completed when the Washington Post first broke the news that
01:27Vince had paid almost $20 million in hush money payments to women who had accused him
01:31of sexual misconduct.
01:32He then announced his retirement, prompting the Netflix documentary to start reshoots
01:36to cover the new revelations.
01:39Then at the start of 2023, Vince forced himself back in control of WWE and oversaw the merger
01:44with the UFC to create the new company TKO.
01:47The project now required more updates.
01:50And then in January this year, Janelle Grant filed a graphic lawsuit accusing McMahon of
01:54sexual assault and trafficking.
01:57She's swiftly resigned from TKO and has been engaged in a legal battle with Grant
02:01and a federal investigation since.
02:04On top of all that, Netflix then bought the rights to Monday Night Raw starting from 2025.
02:09It seemed like releasing a documentary series about Vince, while they'll have to cover
02:13all the allegations of sexual assault, was no longer in either side's best interests.
02:19So it was pretty shocking when Netflix announced that the Mr McMahon show will debut on the
02:2425th September, along with its first official poster showing Vince McMahon manipulating
02:30a puppet Mr McMahon character in, um, yep, that's a boxing ring there.
02:36It's a boxing ring graphic.
02:38Because it's got four ropes instead of three.
02:40The press release also calls McMahon a co-founder of WWE, which isn't strictly true.
02:46The company can trace its origins back to the early 1950s, and shows ran by either Vince's
02:51father, Vincent J McMahon, or his grandfather, Jess.
02:54And Vince would've been about 8 years old.
02:56I presume the documentary will argue Vince founded the Titan Sports version of the company
03:00in the 1980s.
03:02But the announcement does claim it will cover the explosive sexual misconduct allegations
03:07that led to his eventual resignation.
03:08Don't know which one.
03:10And it has been made from over 200 hours of interviews with McMahon himself prior to his
03:15resignation, his family members, business associates, and some of the most iconic names
03:20in wrestling history, as well as the journalists who uncovered McMahon's allegations.
03:25WWE documentaries can often unfortunately struggle with objective truth.
03:29They have a far more North Korean approach to history, where they rewrite and sometimes
03:34outright lie to construct their own narrative.
03:37Like the Monday Night War series, the Ruthless Aggression series, the Rise and Fall of the
03:41Ultimate Warrior.
03:42They've actually done it so many times, we made a list video for it over on parts
03:47And the current cultural landscape is worryingly
03:54open to brands or celebrities controlling their own portrayals under the premise of
03:58it being a real look into their lives, where shows about everything from the Dallas Cowboy
04:03cheerleaders to Harry and Meghan have editorial control over these truthful documentaries.
04:09But in truth, they're far more like puff piece autobiographies, written or ghostwritten
04:13by the celebrity themselves, as opposed to an actual serious biography diving into their
04:18lives or careers.
04:19It remains to be seen what side the Mr McMahon show could take.
04:23Perhaps it focuses far more on his business or creative exploits.
04:26Perhaps it doesn't cover the Grant allegations in depth, because that's still an ongoing
04:30case.
04:31Janelle Grant's lawyers have even told WrestleNomics and Post Wrestling that her side hasn't been
04:35interviewed for the show.
04:36Or perhaps, and this is my best guess, it's damning of Vince.
04:40But it portrays WWE in a very positive light ahead of their Netflix debut, even though
04:46McMahon shaped the company's toxic culture for the previous four decades with many of
04:51the same people working there.
04:52What do you think about the McMahon documentary?
04:54Let me know in the comments down below.
04:56TMZ has reported that Artem Chingvinstev, the husband of former WWE star Nikki Bella,
05:01was arrested for domestic violence on the morning of the 29th August.
05:05TMZ notes that Nikki's potential involvement in the incident isn't known, and the Sheriff's
05:10Office handling the case has noted the victim in the case has asked for total confidentiality.
05:15PWInsider has added that Artem is still listed as incarcerated in Napa Valley Jail with a
05:20bail of $25,000, and that he was booked under California Penal Code Section 273.5a, which
05:27means it is illegal to injure a spouse, cohabitant or fellow parent in an act of domestic violence.
05:34This offence is also referred to as domestic abuse, domestic violence or corporal injury
05:39to a spouse.
05:40The investigation remains ongoing.
05:42Into a much nicer kayfabe story now, wrestling legend Mick Foley has revealed he was having
05:47talks about an AEW run, which would've ended in, like, his 39th retirement match.
05:53Speaking at MickleCity Comic Con, Foley revealed that after he announced he'd like one final
05:57match ahead of his 60th birthday next year, he had a secret meeting with a top AEW star.
06:04There was no shortage of people from every promotion reaching out to me, and one guy
06:08I probably would've gone with because he'd clearly done some thinking about it and lined
06:12out six great weeks of TV was MJF.
06:16We didn't take a photo together because we didn't want to ruin the secret meeting,
06:20but I heard what he had to say.
06:21I really liked it.
06:23I had no doubt he would've pulled it off perfectly and, you know, he's so good and
06:27in his prime that he could've worked around my weaknesses and played to my strengths and
06:31I think we could've done something pretty cool.
06:34Unfortunately, Foley had to scrap the plans due to suffering a concussion while preparing
06:38for an in-ring return.
06:40Speaking of wrestlers who should know when to retire, here's 80s wrestler Turbo Jack.
06:45No one talks about the 80s anymore, Turbo Jack.
06:48You need to be relevant again.
06:49You need to freshen up your gimmick.
06:51Oh hi there, I'm 90s wrestler Turbo Jack.
06:55How about that Jerry Springer show?
06:58It's fly.
06:59No one else is fly?
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07:18Like these 5 people.
07:20So thank you The Cleaner Kenny Charlotte, The British Bulldog Philip Boyd J Smith Jr.
07:26He can last short for longer than you and the ring.
07:29Starbucks Steven Custer Shield Maiden The Zornis Magic Man Barriclane The Prettiest
07:37Pirate D.A.M.
07:38Yo Adrian!
07:39Rocky!
07:40And Go Ace!
07:41The Ace of Spades Adrian St-Til If you want to be cool and relevant like
07:4790s wrestler Turbo Jack, go to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk now.
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07:55keep making videos.
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08:01And you get loads of exclusive videos if you do too, like the first episode of our brand
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08:22And subscribe to us here at WrestleTalk because we'll have loads of Bash in Berlin coverage
08:26this weekend, where WrestleVotes is reporting CM Punk and Drew McIntyre's match won't
08:30just have a strap stipulation, it'll also be brought to you by sponsor The Killers Game.
08:36Starring Dave Bautista and Drew McIntyre.
08:39The movie follows Bautista's Hitman character Joe Flood, who orders a hit on himself when
08:44he's diagnosed with a fatal illness to go out in style.
08:47But SIKE, the diagnosis was a mix-up, and now he has to stop the unstoppable assassins
08:52he contracted to kill him.
08:53McIntyre is one of the Hitmen.
08:55Drew has actually told the Nerd Reactor podcast that Bautista became his Hollywood mentor
08:59on set.
09:01Wrestling friends.
09:02In other Scottish wrestler news, Fightful Select is reporting Wyatt's 6th member Nikki
09:06Cross has signed a new multi-year deal with WWE.
09:09Daniel Garcia still hasn't signed a new deal over in AEW, but the promotion is reportedly
09:14happy with his return at All In, and then his MJF attack angle on the following episode
09:18of Dynamite.
09:19It was also speculated that former WWE stars Zack Gibson and James Drake had signed a contract
09:25with AEW following their return All In 2, but Fightful Select writes they don't yet
09:29have a deal.
09:30Their next match will be against the Outrunners on tonight's episode of Rampage.
09:34You would've expected Dynamite to get a ratings bump after one of the biggest shows
09:38of the year, All In on Sunday.
09:40But continuing the frustrating trend of no matter how great their pay-per-views are,
09:44no difference is made in the TV viewership.
09:47Wednesday's episode of Dynamite pulled 691,000 viewers and a .22 rating in the 18-49 demographic,
09:55numbers almost identical to the previous week's 698,000 viewers and a .24.
10:02It did finish first on cable for the night, though.
10:04Now go watch our Bash in Berlin predictions ahead of the pay-per-view tomorrow!
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