00:00Is WWE bringing back the Hardcore title?
00:03Kevin Owens isn't friends with CM Punk?
00:06The real reason the Bloodline missed Friday's SmackDown and Saturday's Bash in Berlin?
00:11And more.
00:13I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:22Because watching wrestling is the equivalent of working two full-time jobs now, WWE's
00:26Bash in Berlin wasn't the only show happening over this past weekend.
00:29There was also TNA Emergence, AEW Collision, WWE SmackDown and NXT No Mercy.
00:36Friday's Emergence show saw Zachary Wentz become the X Division Champion in an Ultimate
00:41X match, Nick Nemeth retain his TNA World title against Josh Alexander in a one hour
00:46Iron Man match, 3 falls to 2, and JBL making yet another surprise debut in a wrestling
00:51promotion, coming down after the main event and whispering something in Nemeth's ear.
00:56This follows JBL also showing up at AAA's TripleMania show, where he turned heel to
01:00side with Konnan and Delberto Del Rio, all wearing the same trench coat and cowboy hat.
01:06He's like a crap Nick Fury in a WWE's anti-AEW partner promotion universe.
01:11AEW Collision saw Shida become Mercedes Monet's TBS title challenger for All Out, and Carl
01:17Fletcher had a fantastic match against Tomohiro Ishii, but the biggest non-Bash in Berlin
01:21show of the weekend was definitely No Mercy.
01:26The show opened with Axiom and Nathan Frazier beating Chase University for the tag team
01:30titles, prompting Ridge Holland to turn heel on his own faction afterwards, taking everyone
01:35out and then putting Andre Chase through the commentary table.
01:39Speaking of heel turns, Zachary Wentz beat the recently heeled Wes Lee, thanks to their
01:43former Rascals faction mate and freshly crowned TNA X Division Champion Trey Maguirel stopping
01:48Lee from using a chair.
01:50Jelani Jordan and Oba Femi retained their North American championships.
01:53Roxanne Perez also retained against Jada Parker, because this was more about the post-match
01:58angle.
01:59After being teased since WrestleMania, we got the actual debut of former Stardom and
02:03Marigold wrestler Julia.
02:06And the main event had Ethan Page retain his NXT title against Joe Hendry.
02:27Further in his feud with Trick, who was the special guest referee, that's a lot of
02:33wrestling belts I just covered.
02:35So let's add another one.
02:37Raw star Karrion Kross has publicly pitched for WWE to introduce a new Hardcore Championship.
02:43It would be awesome to hold an Extreme Rules tournament right now in WWE to introduce a
02:48new Extreme Wrestling Championship.
02:51No rules, no DQ, pinfall, submission or knockout.
02:56WWE did try to recapture the chaos of the beloved Attitude Era Hardcore title by introducing
03:01the 24-7 title in 2019.
03:04They quietly retired the belt in November 2022, though, because it sucked.
03:08It was partly because they only had half the equation.
03:11Yes, the Hardcore titles 24-7 period was enormous fun, but it was also just as much about the
03:16actual Hardcore wrestling matches with weapons and blood.
03:20Matches WWE couldn't feasibly do as a PG product on the USA Network and Fox.
03:26But as of 2025, Monday Night Raw will be moving to Netflix, where WWE are expected to make
03:32their programming more adult-oriented.
03:34Be more liberal with swear words, for instance.
03:36And Kross teased just that, replying to a fan who asked about Netflix wanting more programming
03:41BINGO.
03:43The weekend also saw WWE SmackDown, which acted as the go-home show for the following
03:47night's Bash in Berlin.
03:49Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens going face to face in the ring, revealing Cody had picked
03:52up a leg injury ahead of their WWE Championship match.
03:56But there was a notable absence of one of the brand's biggest acts.
04:00The entire Bloodline.
04:02F4WOnline is reporting Solo, Sakoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa and Roman Reigns
04:08were missing from Friday's SmackDown because much of the family went home for Affer's
04:12funeral, which took place this weekend.
04:14Jey Uso had also posted a picture of him at the funeral wearing a badge commemorating
04:18Affer and the caption RIP Uncle.
04:22Affer was a WWE Hall of Famer, not just as one half of the Wild Samoans tag team, but
04:27also as one of the main figures in the Anoa'i family the Bloodline is based on.
04:31He's the uncle of Yokozuna, Roman Reigns, Emaga and Rikishi, and a great uncle to Jacob
04:36Fatu, Solo and the Usos, and was responsible for training many of the younger members.
04:41I've put a link to my Bloodline Explained video in the video description below where
04:44you can learn the full story behind that fascinating family.
04:48Affer died on the 16th August, aged 80 from a heart attack, less than two months after
04:53his brother and wrestling tag partner Siga had also passed away.
04:57It wasn't just the Bloodline missing from Bash in Berlin, though.
05:00Triple H stayed in America because his oldest daughter is going to college.
05:03Can we all just recognise how lovely that is, and how impossible that sentence would
05:08have sounded just two years ago with WWE's toxic work culture?
05:11It meant that Cody Rhodes took the lead on the post-Bash in Berlin media conference,
05:16really showing how highly the company thinks of him as a spokesperson.
05:20Because he was even better than Triple H. After several PR blunders from Leveque at
05:24the post-show media scrums this year, Cody was able to answer questions about Vince McMahon
05:28with immense professionalism, when he was asked if he was going to watch the Netflix
05:32docuseries based on him, which had just been announced as coming out on the 25th September.
05:37In terms of am I going to watch it, not to sound cheeky, I'm deep in a Game of Thrones
05:42rewatch and that is a hell of a lot of commitment.
05:44I think there's a bit of misinformation in terms of WWE has no involvement in this
05:49documentary as far as I know.
05:51Firstly, Cody, just stop at the Battle of Winterfell.
05:54That's where the show ends, there's no more show after that episode.
05:58Secondly, Cody claims WWE has no involvement in the docuseries.
06:02It was actually WWE who announced their involvement four years ago, not any dirt sheets, during
06:07their 2020 Q3 earnings call, saying the project would be produced by them and Bill Simmons.
06:12That's why there's direct interviews with Vince before his resignation in the show.
06:17Four years is a long time, though, with Vince's multiple scandals and WWE being merged into
06:22TKO with new leadership.
06:24Perhaps WWE has scaled back on how involved they are since McMahon's controversies.
06:28Cody did admit he'll likely watch the series at some point, and was then asked if he and
06:32the locker room personally believes Janelle Grant's accusations, as the WWE roster have
06:38been silent on the matter.
06:39I don't think that's a matter of belief vs non-belief, but I wouldn't look at it
06:43as an active attempt from the locker room to be silent.
06:46We just are doing what we're doing day-to-day WWE business.
06:49The journalist pressed again as to whether he believes Grant's accusations, and Cody
06:53replied, I don't know enough about the information to give you a good enough answer there.
06:57I'm sorry.
06:58On to nicer things, Cody posted a video of him and Kevin Owens following their Bash in
07:02Berlin match with the title Friends Then, Friends Now, Friends Forever.
07:08Just turn on each other already.
07:09Which is more than Kevin Owens can say for CM Punk.
07:13KO and Cody's friendship isn't just a pro wrestling storyline.
07:16In fact, it's so much of a shoot, there's an argument it indirectly caused the formation
07:21of AEW.
07:22When Cody decided to leave WWE in 2016, it was Owens who hooked him up with his very
07:28good friends the Young Bucks to help introduce him into the independent wrestling scene.
07:32That relationship went pretty well, with Cody, the Bucks and Kenny Omega leading the rise
07:36of mid-2010's Ring of Honor, Cody joining the Bullet Club, them all running a little
07:41show called All In, and them all becoming EVPs of the first serious opposition to WWE
07:46in two decades, AEW.
07:49Which gives some context to KO's comments about famed Young Bucks hater CM Punk in an
07:54interview with Malesport.
07:56We never talk.
07:57We have no reason to talk.
07:59We're not friends.
08:00We're not.
08:01We don't, you know, we're just not.
08:02I don't know.
08:03We have no reason to talk.
08:05If we work together, we will talk, but just not a thing we do.
08:08Owens also told Gorilla Position.
08:10We have no relationship.
08:11No, we're not each other's type of people, I don't think.
08:14There's like a 10-foot vicinity, I'd say, that if we enter in, then we have to kind
08:18of, hey, hi, otherwise we don't, and that's fine.
08:21It's perfectly fine the way it is.
08:24And when asked about the perception that Punk has changed as a person, KO said,
08:28I don't know that, and I don't care, to be honest.
08:30He is who he is, I am who I am, and it's fine that way.
08:34Wrestling friends.
08:36Another person who's friends with Cody is AEW's Ricky Starks, who attended WrestleMania
08:4140 in person to watch Rhodes win.
08:43Starks hasn't been seen on AEW TV since that previous week's AEW collision, where
08:48he seemed to suffer an injury.
08:50Ever since, there's been reports and rumours about Ricky's AEW contract being up imminently,
08:54him being bound for NXT, and that he had turned down a storyline for his AEW return.
09:00Now Starks himself has denied that last one.
09:04Enough is enough.
09:05Usually I don't even speak on this, but it's tired.
09:07I never turn down anything, ever.
09:11Just stop.
09:12Now go watch our review of Bash in Berlin by clicking the video on the right.
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