00:00WWE talent wants Stephanie McMahon back, WWE block Adam Copeland, Tempest review of AEW
00:07Dynamite and more. I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk
00:10News, complete with wonderful moustaches. The last few years between WWE and Stephanie
00:22McMahon have been, well, pretty fraught. She left the company in 2022, shortly before the
00:27first sexual misconduct allegations came out against her father Vince McMahon, but was
00:32brought back and made the interim CEO when those allegations came out, and then co-CEO
00:37with Nick Khan when Vince retired. When Vince returned in January 2023, Stephanie stepped
00:43down again from her position and left the company.
00:46Following Vince being ousted earlier this year from TKO following a lawsuit filed by
00:50Janelle Grant that accused Vince of sex trafficking among other things, Stephanie made an unannounced
00:54return to WWE at WrestleMania 40, announced the 2024 draft picks and was in the crowd
01:00for this year's SummerSlam. It was at the SummerSlam post-show press conference that
01:04Triple H, her IRL husband and current head of creative for WWE, announced that she didn't
01:10have a position in WWE right now, but would welcome her return.
01:15Stephanie McMahon wasn't fully named in Janelle Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon,
01:19John Laurinaitis and WWE, but it came out that she, along with Nick Khan, were two of
01:23the unnamed executives in the lawsuit. But she is clearly liked backstage in WWE, as
01:29she has been credited for a lot of the push for women's wrestling back in the early
01:33black and gold era of NXT.
01:35And as fan discontent with the treatment WWE's women's division has got across 2024 grows
01:40online, WWE's own Cathy Kelly has said in an interview with Before The Bell, it's
01:45a little bit of a detriment that we don't have Stephanie McMahon there full time right
01:50now.
01:51She said, I love her so much. She is the reason I came back. We had multiple conversations
01:56before I came back and she is the one that really encouraged me to come back. It was
02:01her being at the helm, her and Triple H.
02:04Kelly returned in October 2022, shortly after the new Triple H regime took over.
02:09Would you like to see a Stephanie McMahon return? WWE are clearly unafraid of bringing
02:14back names that aren't directly named in the Vince lawsuit as Triple H has spoken publicly
02:20about a Brock Lesnar return. So what would you do if Stephanie did come back and what
02:25would you have her do? Let me know in the comments down below.
02:28Someone who probably won't be back in WWE anytime soon is Adam Copeland, who is also
02:33awaiting an AEW return following his injury he suffered at Double or Nothing. However
02:37when he does come back, he will have to remain under the name Adam Copeland, as WWE have
02:43filed for the trademark Edge for wrestling exhibitions and performances by professional
02:48wrestler and entertainer. This is less of a tease that Copeland will be heading back
02:53to WWE soon, but more WWE protecting their IP and ensuring that Copeland cannot use the
02:59name outside of their four walls. Something they clearly care about, as it was revealed
03:03recently that AEW have been able to use the old ECW trademark November to Remember when
03:09promoting Full Gear, which many thought would be under WWE's umbrella when they purchased
03:14ECW in 2001. But it turns out WWE didn't re-up their trademark on it. Fightful Select
03:21write, WWE let the trademark lapse at some point. They acquired the IP, but if they let
03:26it lapse and don't challenge it, there's not much they can do. They didn't have much
03:29use for it for a decade or two.
03:32Before we get into the AEW Dynamite review from The Wonderful Tempest standing over there,
03:36a small correction from our last Mustache Break as we shouted out the wrong names. So
03:41it should have been Dan, Gilberto Vasquez, Julian Bond, Ruben George and Aaron Wax. Sorry
03:47about that, but thank you very much for your donations and we hope you enjoyed your Mustache
03:51Break. So with that said, let's get to our next Mustache Break featuring Brodie Halter,
03:57Danny Button, Ian McComish, Mark Salmik and Steve Ortiz. Hit it!
04:26And now I'm going to hot tag to The Wonderful Tempest for his review of AEW Dynamite. Ready
04:30for it? Hot tag! Careful.
04:34Hello I'm Tempest and my hips are not flexible enough to have done that. This is my review
04:38of AEW Dynamite in about 5 minutes.
04:40We opened the show with an abridged version of the November Reign video package and then
04:45went right into the All Star 8-Man tag as Will Ospreay, Ricochet, Mark Davis and Powerhouse
04:50Hobbs took on the Don Callis family.
04:53Action started right away as both teams brawled in the entranceway, and after a few dives
04:57the family took out Hobbs by throwing Ospreay into the stairs while Hobbs' knee was trapped.
05:02Will Ospreay's hot tag was about the most vicious you've ever seen high-flying offense
05:06performed, but Ospreay getting launched into a blue thunder bomb by Archer and Cage was
05:11maybe the biggest highlight of the match.
05:13Hobbs returned and made a tremendous comeback hitting the Forever Meat clotheslines before
05:17everyone hit a parade of signature moves, culminating in Ospreay accidentally hitting
05:22Davis with the hidden blade.
05:24That will definitely not come back to haunt Will at full gear.
05:29Definitely not.
05:30Takeshita got the pin on Davis after a Wagamama knee to cap off a great opener.
05:34Jon Moxley informed Orange Cassidy that his mind may make it to full gear, but his body
05:39will not.
05:40And Claudio shouted down Darby Allin in one of the five languages he knows, and then they
05:44cut away to Darby who said that each of the Death Riders will have their day, and today
05:49is Rusev Day.
05:50I mean, it's Claudio's day.
05:53MVP arrived with the Hurt Syndicate and announced that Bobby Lashley would be in action tonight.
05:58This did come after AEW had already announced this during the opener, but they treated it
06:03as if this was the first we'd heard of it.
06:05Anyway, Swerve hit Bobby with a chain and ran off.
06:08Adam Cole came out for a promo and said that he and Roddy have the same goals, but he was
06:12quickly interrupted by Kyle O'Reilly, who told Cole to drop the vendetta against MJF
06:17before someone gets hurt.
06:19This was a really weird segment that was extremely flat.
06:23I mean, there really wasn't a resolution to it, and this storyline has been particularly
06:27cold as of late.
06:29Certainly didn't make me more interested in seeing Roddy and MJF this weekend, but
06:33more on that later.
06:34Orange Cassidy got very worked up telling the conglomeration not to accompany him tonight,
06:38and then we got Hikaru Shida vs. Chris Statlander.
06:41This began with a show of respect, but Shida quickly threw Chris Stat into the barricades
06:45again and again and again and again.
06:48This was a very competitive match, and they are telling the story that Shida is lacking
06:51confidence in her Katana finishing move, and honestly, that's more of a storyline than
06:56Shida's had to work with in my recent memory.
06:58Chris Stat got the win with the Statlander, and then Mercedes came out to trash talk the
07:0276ers, which I can fully endorse, and support the Boston Celtics.
07:05Never mind, she's lost me.
07:07Mercedes sent Camille, who still is in a sling, to fight Shida and Statlander, further teasing
07:12the dissension between the two, but really it just led to two babyfaces beating up one
07:17injured heel, which I don't think was the desired result.
07:20Thankfully, Mercedes tried to junk Chris Stat and got the Tombstone for her trouble, and
07:24the fans did seem into that bit.
07:27Fun match, Chris and Shida are both fantastic, and I have no doubt this match at Full Gear
07:31will deliver as well.
07:32MVP and Sheldon Benjamin beat up a guy in a fur coat thinking he was Swerve, and then
07:36Bobby Lashley made his debut against Joe Keyes and ROH Legend Cheeseburger.
07:42The two of them argued over who would have to start, and so Bobby just beat them both
07:46up at once.
07:47The people love Cheeseburger because they have taste, but Bobby turned him into a smash
07:51burger and beat them both with ease.
07:53I guess Bobby was taking out the pent up aggression he has because WWE didn't let him run that
07:58storyline where he would get fat.
08:00That's a real thing, look it up.
08:01But then Swerve jumped Bobby again, and the people were very into Swerve, which is encouraging
08:06after the Bridgeport debacle.
08:07This was definitely a bounce back angle, and made this feud feel hot going into Full Gear.
08:12Mariah May and Mina Shirakawa hyped up their championship celebration, and then they shook
08:17their breasts.
08:18Mariah did cut a solid promo here for what it's worth.
08:20Darby Allin and Claudio Castagnoli was up next, and I don't know if there is a single
08:24wrestling equation that has a better batting average than Darby Allin vs. Very Strong Man
08:30Who Throws Him Ass Over Tea Kettle.
08:31Claudio threw Darby all over ringside, and then carried Darby up the steps in a vertical
08:36suplex position, because Claudio is actually not a human being.
08:40Gut wrench superplexes and giant swings into the steps later, and Darby was getting thrown
08:44off the announce table and landing on the timekeeper's table, and Darby wrapped himself
08:49up in a lovely little blanket and took a much needed nap.
08:51The relatable wrestler that we all need.
08:53It wouldn't last long though, as he had to break the count, but Claudio immediately
08:57hit a huge lariat for the win.
08:59It's very nice to see Claudio getting such a dominant win, and even nicer to see it come
09:03in such a fantastic match.
09:05Private Party say they are going to win on Saturday, and then they are interrupted by
09:09the Costco guys, who say they have an announcement.
09:11MJF then cut a pre-taped promo from the back of a run down building, and talked about the
09:16trauma Roddy feels from having watched his mother shoot his father, and the positive
09:20feelings Roddy must get from Cole to keep doing so much for him, and closed by saying
09:25after Full Gear, Roddy will wish that he was shot by his mother instead.
09:29The Costco guys cut a promo on KT Marshall, and I mean, this guy is a proper worker.
09:33I don't know what the fuck chocolate chunk cookies have to do with anything, but I believe
09:37it when he says he cares about it.
09:39They say the Rizzler is going to be there, and I'm only just now learning that the Rizzler
09:43is a child, and not a cool Gen Z Batman villain.
09:46Roddy Strong came out for a live promo, and said that MJF shouldn't feel sorry for him,
09:50because he feels sorry for MJF.
09:52This was a very earnest babyface promo, and again, the crowd really weren't that interested
09:58in it.
09:59To me, this still reflects on the lack of overall excitement surrounding this feud in
10:02general.
10:03Hopefully that changes with MJF actually in the building starting this weekend, but this
10:07has been a trend for quite a while now.
10:09Daniel Garcia and Daddy Magic showed the Reservoir Dogs footage of them and Jack Perry from Collision,
10:14and Danny said Jack doesn't know what he's had to sacrifice to get here.
10:17Jack spat in his face, and Danny produced a crowbar and hit Jack's bus a few times.
10:22I thought the point of the bus was that it already looked dilapidated.
10:26What are a few dents in a busted headlight going to do?
10:29Even Jack was like, that's it?
10:30And that's how I felt.
10:31That's not how I'm supposed to feel.
10:33Then Chris Jericho and Tomohiro Ishii engaged in the longest and slowest chase scene since
10:38the entirety of The Last Jedi, as Jericho neglected to sign the contract for their match,
10:43and then they walked all the way to the ring, with Jericho placing a trash can in front
10:47of him.
10:48Placing a stage hand in front of him.
10:50Putting a doctor- it was a very good segment.
10:52This was probably the most absurd thing I've seen in wrestling this year, and possibly
10:57the most entertaining.
10:58Jericho said he doesn't have a pen, and then Ishii gave him a pen.
11:01Jericho signed it, and then the Learning Tree brawled with the conglomeration with
11:04the babyfaces standing tall.
11:06Then we had Jamie Hayter interview backstage, where she wondered why Julia Hart felt the
11:09need to interrupt her last week, at which point she was once again interrupted by Julia
11:13Hart, who is an archer now.
11:15Again, a very cool vignette showing Julia killing the weaker versions of herself.
11:19You may have noticed something by this point, and if not, I will point it out now.
11:24This was the SEVENTH non-match segment in a row, and I was beyond restless by this point,
11:31but now it's time to wrap up the show with the main event, between Orange Cassidy and
11:35Wheeler Uda.
11:36It was Uda who targeted Orange's neck, which is becoming a theme among the Death Riders,
11:40by hitting a brain buster on the barricade.
11:42Wheeler used many of Bryan Danielson's moves, with the hammer and anvil elbows, and the
11:47cattle mutilation, but when Wheeler tried to use a chair, Orange rolled him up for the
11:51win.
11:52The Death Riders all jumped Orange after the match, and duct-taped his hands in his pockets.
11:57Orange did his lazy kicks, and got knocked out for it.
12:00They left, Orange was cut free, put his hands in his pockets, and put on sunglasses as the
12:04show went off the air.
12:06Man I tell ya, this was a very hit and miss dynamite.
12:09Most of the matches themselves were hot, particularly the Darby and Claudio match and the opening
12:13eight man tag, but the crowd fell asleep in the second hour, and they closed with what
12:17I thought was a very weak ending to the show.
12:20The main event went probably 80-20 in Uda's favor, before Orange won with a flash rollup,
12:26and I don't know man, we were gonna struggle to believe that Orange was winning the title
12:30this weekend as it is, but if he's struggling to even beat Wheeler, I don't know how I'm
12:35meant to believe he's going to beat Jon Moxley even slightly.
12:39This dynamite gets a 3 out of 5.
12:41And now before we get out of here, make sure you check out Oli's breakdown of Secret Wrestling
12:45Terms Explained.
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