00:00AJ Styles' WWE deal is apparently running out, concern over WWE's new Evolve project,
00:07WWE change Ricky Starks' name and more.
00:10I'm Oli Saints, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:16Like my proctologist always tells me, it's not the size of the ring that counts, it's
00:20how many cool moves you can do inside it.
00:22But AEW oddly experienced their own ring problems over Grand Slam weekend, where a small but
00:28vocal portion of wrestling fans criticised the company for using a fractionally smaller
00:33ring than normal on their Australia-based event.
00:35AEW and WWE both use 20x20 foot rings.
00:39These are relatively massive.
00:41WCW used to use 18x18 feet ones, which is a reason why their cruiserweight matches felt
00:46so fast paced.
00:47Most independent promotions in the US also use 18x18.
00:51Over here in the UK, the standard is 16x16, because our scout huts are smaller.
00:56So rather than lug a 20x20 foot ring from the US to Australia, AEW apparently sourced
01:01the best local ring they could find, Go Environment, which was an 18x18 one.
01:07And I guess because the show ended up being really great, some people had to find something
01:10else to critique.
01:11Or maybe it's all just a matter of perspective, as legendary AEW tag team The Outrunners have
01:18now revealed.
01:19Breaking news!
01:20Inside sources confirmed the ring wasn't smaller, it just looked that way when Los
01:24Outrunners were in it.
01:26WWE wrestlers and fans are going to have to get used to rings other than 20 foot across,
01:30because Triple H has just unveiled the next step in his evil plan for world domination.
01:34I mean the large corporation's totally benevolent grassroots scheme.
01:38Because NXT has now gotten so big it needs its own NXT, WWE will be launching a new brand
01:43called Evolve on the 5th March.
01:45Ironically using the Evolve name that was once a thriving indie promotion in the 2010s
01:50that WWE purchased and then shuttered for five years.
01:53The show will be broadcast on 2B in the US and on YouTube for the rest of the world.
01:57And it will have its own male and female champions, bringing WWE's total number of active title
02:03belts to 21.
02:06For comparison, AEW, including their ROH brand, has 15.
02:10The most Machiavellian, I mean interesting part of WWE's new Evolve project, though,
02:15is how it ties into their ID development scheme.
02:18When that was first announced last year, it was hailed as an incredibly positive step
02:22for the industry, providing independent wrestlers a pathway from starting out at approved training
02:27schools, doing their first shows, and then potentially being picked up by WWE.
02:32Signees would get financial opportunity and assistance with training, mentorship and development.
02:38For an occasionally dodgy business at the bottom level, having WWE approved schools
02:43could be an important step into making professional wrestling safer for everyone.
02:48But then it was announced wrestlers signed to the ID scheme would have matches with stakes
02:53on the independent scene, which Triple H has now confirmed is to do with the ID title belts.
02:59Which in typical WWE style, has the name of the belt in massive letters slap bang in the
03:03middle.
03:04The first WWE ID champions will be determined in a tournament across the top independent
03:09wrestling promotions.
03:10The WWE ID championships will then be defended on the indies.
03:15The concern is that WWE won't let their ID champions lose when they appear on independent
03:20level shows, which limits what those promotions can book.
03:24It's essentially the old NWA championship in the territory system.
03:27The difference there was that all the wrestling promotions involved voted on who the champion
03:32would be.
03:33Here, it's one giant company imposing who they want to push on the rest of the industry.
03:39It could work out.
03:40It could elevate the US independent scene by being attached to WWE.
03:44But there is a long history of it never working in similar ways before.
03:49Like how WWE's NXT UK project essentially gutted this country's thriving business
03:54even before the pandemic.
03:56Over in WWE's no longer really a developmental system NXT, while it's not the most viewed
04:00brand, it's kind of become the hottest under Shawn Michaels' booking, with it consistently
04:05hugely beating ratings expectations since it moved to the CW late last year.
04:10The most recent influx of talent was the shock debut of Ricky Starks on last Tuesday's
04:15episode, who was reportedly only released from his AEW contract the day before.
04:19He only appeared briefly in the crowd on that episode, so this week we had a full in-ring
04:24segment with Ava, where he signed his NXT contract for his new name, Ricky Saints.
04:31Saints spoke on Busted Open Radio afterwards, explaining the re-gimmick.
04:34It's as close as you're going to get the Starks.
04:37I like the name.
04:38It's going to take time for them to get used to it.
04:40I respect that they care so deeply about me that they rebel against the name change.
04:45But at the same time, I am a product of New Orleans, first and foremost, and I want to
04:49pay respect to that as well.
04:51I think that this is the best of both worlds, and that means a lot to me.
04:55But Saints by name isn't necessarily by nature, as he then went on to talk about his
04:58frustrating final years in AEW.
05:01I can't tell you exactly what the moment was.
05:04You could say it was punk leaving and things kind of fell apart.
05:07Absolutely, I probably agree with you on that, alright.
05:10Or you could say that Ricky didn't play the politics well enough.
05:13Alright, for sure.
05:14There's so many things you can say.
05:16What I can say for myself is that when I got hurt in March, that was it.
05:20I never came back.
05:22And even then, I wasn't hurt.
05:24It was a precaution thing where I got scared as I had a stinger.
05:27Then I was fine.
05:28After that, no.
05:29No dice.
05:30No communication.
05:31No nothing.
05:32I don't know explicitly where it went wrong.
05:34I can't point to one thing.
05:36I can say it was a storm of things, probably.
05:39Did I do something that may have tipped them off?
05:41Sure.
05:42Asking for my release whenever you know.
05:43This past whatever.
05:45That could have been about it, right?
05:46But never once was I not willing to do something.
05:49Never once was I sabotaging anything.
05:52Last year, it was reported Ricky rejected the idea of his tag team partner Big Bill
05:55turning heel on him.
05:57It's unknown where that creative pitch came from, but it seems Saints became frustrated
06:01with some of the more senior wrestlers on the roster.
06:04I will say this, there are some people who stuck their nose in my creative business that
06:09shouldn't have happened.
06:10Veterans.
06:11And that's it.
06:12I'll leave it at that.
06:13And if they got a problem with me, they got my number and text me about it.
06:17I think what it was, is if it didn't work for their creative, then someone had to get
06:22the boot.
06:23That's how I see it.
06:24But I'm not trying to be negative in my thought process about it.
06:27If you want to step on me to get ahead in your illustrious career, everyone has an illustrious
06:31career.
06:32Everyone should have an illustrious career.
06:34That is perfectly fine.
06:35But at the same time, I'm not wet behind my ears.
06:38NXT have confirmed Saints' debut match will take place on next Tuesday's episode, where
06:43he'll team with Javon Evans against Wesley and fellow AEW alumni Ethan Page.
06:48But that's not the only huge story Head Chef Shawn has got cooking.
06:52The No Quarter catch crew called out the TNA Tag Team Champions Matt and Jeff Hardy also
06:57on this episode.
06:58Matt Hardy's replied in a video on social media where they confirmed they'll appear
07:03on next week's show in a match against them.
07:06This will be the Hardy Boys' first WWE appearance as a team since their SmackDown tag title
07:10run in 2019.
07:12But the most exciting was the shock appearance of TNA's ex-Division Champion Moose, who
07:18came out in the opening segment of NXT to challenge over Femi for his title.
07:23Femi accepted, but an official date wasn't given.
07:26In the meantime, Moose will defend his ex-Division title against Lexus King on next week's
07:31episode.
07:32Before I get into this video's final story about AJ Styles' WWE status, here's a
07:36very special message… from Turbo Jack.
07:39I'M AIDAN'S WRESTLER TURBO JACK ON THE ROAD TO TURBOMANIA.
07:43WE'RE IN A DAY NOW, NEW YORK'S GONNA CALL OL' TURBO JACK IN FOR ONE LAST MATCH.
07:56MANIFEST.
07:57MANIFEST.
07:58MANIFEST THE CALL.
07:59While Turbo Jack waits, all you Turbs should go over to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk
08:12where you can watch the whole complete break-up of the Shield series with Luke and Oli.
08:17And if you supported the $30 tier, you get a shoutout from Turbo Jack on this very show.
08:24My Big Jiggy Josh Martin, Born To Do It Evan Shibley, Abominable Michael Abbott, The Machine
08:30Gun Alex Anderson, He's A Sexy Man, A Land You'll Gross Man, Born and Brommy Brett
08:40Linfoff, Go Ace, The Ace of Spades Adrian Santil and The Cleaner Kenny Schur.
08:47Go to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk right now to get your own shoutout and loads
08:53AJ Styles returned to WWE from an ankle injury at the Royal Rumble, after which he was quickly
09:05drafted to the Raw brand.
09:07Ever since, he's been building an Intercontinental title feud with Brom Breaker, including catching
09:11Brom's torn off shirt while not even looking at it.
09:15It was awesome.
09:16But AJ's injury and return has overshadowed his contract status backstage, as Fightful
09:21is reporting his WWE deal is due to expire in the next few months, and it's a significant
09:27enough situation that external companies are seeing if they can book him.
09:31As for whether he re-signs, I know that people in the convention scene, the merchandising
09:36scene, all that stuff, were definitely inquiring about the possibility of him being available
09:42soon.
09:43By the time he got injured, from what I understood, it was only a matter of months before his
09:47contract was up.
09:48Fightful did note that it's a pretty solid possibility that AJ would re-sign with WWE,
09:53but they are unsure about what his priorities are right now.
09:56AJ has been saying since 2019 that the deal he signed back then would be his last, as
10:02he wants to focus on his family and be there for his kids.
10:05He'll be turning 48 this year.
10:07Fantasy booking pitch, it's all a ruse, and he shows up in TNA.
10:11mine and Luke's epic WrestleMania 28 review is out this Sunday, so catch up on our WrestleMania
10:1627 review with maybe the worst WrestleMania main event of all time by clicking the video
10:23onscreen now.
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