00:00Shane McMahon's crazy AEW demands, The Rock announces his WWE return, where he's probably
00:07going to ruin all of Triple H's carefully laid plans, and breaking news! Vince McMahon
00:12has really bad creative ideas. I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk
00:17News.
00:20Earlier this week, in mid-February, Rock the Dwayne Johnson posted a video of him sitting
00:25at his desk, drinking a tequila and enjoying the 1995 Martin Scorsese crime drama Casino.
00:32In the clip, you can clearly see a row of Christmas presents on the floor. So either
00:35Rocky is super behind on the festivities, or he actually recorded this two months ago
00:40to post in advance of a bigger, pre-planned announcement. It's what us in the biz call
00:44social media content planning. I hate to break it to you, influencer lovers, it's more
00:49work than pro wrestling. The Rock posting a clip of him watching the
00:52movie Casino of course meant The Rock Wrestling at WrestleMania 41 confirmed.
00:56Mania 41 is in Las Vegas this year. The Rock posted about watching Casino. There's casinos
01:02in Las Vegas. Ergo, he's teasing a WWE match where he'll beat Cody Rhodes and become
01:07the WWE Champion. It's all logical. The teases intensified yesterday, when The
01:12Rock posted this generic motivational advice on Instagram. He spoke about how he's had
01:16a thing or two in his life that he's been in the One Day Camp on. As in, I'll get
01:21to it one day. But this morning, he woke up and said screw that, it's day one. He's
01:27going to get that one thing done. Could it actually be finishing the major
01:31feud he was building for over a year against Cody Rhodes? Could it be finally facing Roman
01:35Reigns, a match he and WWE have been trying to do for six years? No, it turns out The
01:41Rock watching the 1995 Martin Scorsese crime film Casino was a tease for him being cast
01:48in a Martin Scorsese movie. Who could have foreseen this? The teases are too cryptic.
01:53Deadline is reporting that a project is in the funding stage that will be directed by
01:57Scorsese starring his longtime collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio, along with Emily Blunt
02:03and The Rock. The Blunt Rock have already made two films
02:06together, Jungle Cruise and the upcoming Smashing Machine movie. The plot is described as a
02:10cross between Goodfellas and The Departed, which focuses on the rise of a powerful mob
02:15boss and his crime empire in 1960s and 70s Hawaii. Apparently Blunt and Johnson are the
02:20ones who pitched the idea to Scorsese in the first place.
02:24This is Rocky's latest step away from his action movie persona, which has seen diminishing
02:28critical and commercial returns over the years, with his Black Adam and Red One movies tanking
02:33at the box office. Even though both definitely were successes in multiple verticals on streaming
02:38platforms when you account for all overseas territories.
02:41The Rock's next movie, The Smashing Machine, is an A24 produced film by auteur director
02:46Benny Safdie, who made Uncut Gems, and the excellent TV series The Curse. Rock's a
02:51smart guy, he knows he can't be an action movie star forever, so a pivot into drama
02:57could revamp his image. So there it is. Might as well start calling him Rocker De Niro.
03:02He'll start doing more and more dramatic movies rather than good old fashioned professional
03:07wrestling. But just one more thing. He's also coming
03:11back to WWE. But before I get into that, here's a message from this video's sponsor…
03:17I went to the police like a good American. Oli and Luke were brought in for watching
03:25the Royal Rumble without me. And the judge said that this wasn't a crime. Not a crime.
03:34I stood in the courtroom like a fool. And those bastards, they smiled at me. And I said
03:42to my wife, for justice, I need to go to Don Dom.
03:47Why don't you go to the police? Why don't you come to me? Oh, wait a second. Have you
03:53seen my vape? Your what, Don Dom?
03:56My vape. God, I need my vape. Anyway, what is it you want me to do?
04:04That I cannot do. I'll give you anything you ask.
04:13I understand. You found paradise in America. Had a good trade. Made a good li- I really
04:19do need to find my vape. Do you have a vape I can have a puff of?
04:23Isn't this a workplace? I'm not sure you're allowed to vape in a workplace.
04:26I don't know the rules. Anyway, as I was saying, you didn't need a friend of me.
04:31And now you come to me and you say, Don Dom, give me justice. But you don't ask with respect.
04:38You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Godfather. Instead, you come
04:43into my house on the day of my daughter is to be married, and you ask me to do murder
04:47for money. No, seriously, I need this vape. Is it under the table? Have a look under the
04:51table.
04:52Don Dom, um, have you ever tried fume?
04:56What's fume?
04:59Fume is an award-winning flavored air device that draws flavor to your mouth, not your
05:02lungs. It's a great way to satisfy your oral fixation with non-toxic flavors, free from
05:07nicotine or vapor, and it's safe to use anywhere. Fume's design is also about more than just
05:13flavor. It's an awesome fidget tool with magnets and clicks that help calm anxiety.
05:16You'll love how fume feels. Premium quality, sleek design, and perfect for taking with
05:20you on the go. Flavored air isn't like vaping. If vapor was compared to sticky soda, fume
05:26cores are closer to herbal teas. Fume has lots of delicious flavors to choose from,
05:31like crisp mint and orange vanilla. With flavored air, you can satisfy your oral fixation through
05:36a passive diffusion system that utilizes no electronics, vapor, or combustion. Fume has
05:41already helped over 300,000 people build better habits. Try fume today, and if you order the
05:46journey pack now using the code WrestleTalk, you'll get a free fume topper, an awesome
05:51accessory to level up your experience. Go to tryfume.com slash WrestleTalk or scan the QR
05:56code on screen. My God, this is fantastic. And no nicotine as well. You can accept this justice
06:06as a gift on my daughter's wedding day. What did you want done again? I want you to murder
06:12Oli and Luke. Oh, yeah, wow, that's, uh, that's quite extreme. But, um, luckily for you,
06:21I really like fume. Back to the Rock, he has posted that it's not just him coming back to
06:32tonight's episode of SmackDown, it's his final boss character. Bold and disruptive,
06:37unpredictable and dangerous, the final boss returns live on SmackDown.
06:42And if it's anything like the final boss character we saw on the Netflix debut Raw
06:46and the next night's NXT, I'd also add rambly and inconsistent. There's another Instagram post
06:51that's been going around on Reddit and a few news sites, but I can't find the actual source
06:55of it anywhere, so do take this with a big pinch of Rock salt. It reads…
06:59The final boss is coming to handle business. Deliver a big beautiful gift to the city of New
07:05Orleans. And f*** up a certain someone's life with the final boss gospel. Shush face emoji.
07:11The final boss returning to WWE to f*** up someone's life could apply to many
07:16different situations. It could be Cody Rhodes' the man who, remember,
07:19he was absolutely building a long feud with. It could be Roman Reigns, who curiously doesn't have
07:25an onscreen direction right now, not being involved in the Chamber and having not been
07:29seen since getting killed by Seth Rollins in the Royal Rumble. And it could be Triple H,
07:34who just got all his mania plans sorted out, for The Rock to suddenly decide he is free to work
07:38the show and throw that all into whack again. Sorry Jey Uso, you gotta give your Rumble win
07:42to The Rock. Triple H hinted as much in his reply statement on WWE.com, where he said…
07:47Strap in. When the final boss shows up at this time of year,
07:51the audience knows absolutely anything is possible. Everything could change in an instant.
07:56Or, much more likely, it's just a cameo appearance. The gift for New Orleans,
08:02where SmackDown is taking place, is speculated to be the site of next year's WrestleMania.
08:06The Rock could get to make that announcement, and the effing up someone's life could just
08:10be a random midcarder he lays out on the show. I'm sorry in advance, Carmelo Hayes.
08:15But as much chaos as The Rock suddenly deciding to have a match at Mania would throw up,
08:19it's still a gazillion times better than anything in the Vince McMahon era.
08:24Exhibit A. Fightful has reported that some female talent in WWE are currently frustrated
08:29with their WrestleMania plans, which have nowhere near the level of direction as the
08:33men's division. But Sean Ross Sapp made sure to note that while the wrestlers are upset,
08:38it is nothing compared to the backstage anger at one of the worst Royal Rumbles of all time,
08:44Royal Rumble 2022. While the men's match had Shane McMahon's botched return at the wrong number,
08:49Fightful is now reporting that the women's match could've been the big talking point
08:53coming out of the show. Because, at one point, early in the planning stage,
08:58Vince McMahon had pitched to have Ronda Rousey eliminate the entire field of the Royal Rumble
09:05in what would be her first match in over two and a half years. We're told that early on,
09:10Vince was very steadfast in wanting to do something like this,
09:14because they had Rousey on a full-time advance schedule for all of 2022.
09:19TJ Wilson, the former Tyson kid, husband of Natalya, was so against the idea,
09:24he apparently walked away from the company for a period of time ahead of the show. He's been a
09:29long time and respected producer for the women's division, so WWE had to call in Fit Finlay to help
09:34produce the match. There was also frustration over how the vast majority of the cameos,
09:38like Summer Rae, Sarah Logan, Cameron, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Molly Holly and Ivory,
09:44had no real plan. They were in for barely a minute, because Vince had instructed them
09:49to get in and get out. Sasha Banks was the wrestler most
09:52backstage were pitching to win the match, but Vince opted for a Ronda win,
09:56thankfully only coming back at No. 28 and eliminating just four people.
10:00Even though it was not liked at the time, it could've been so much worse.
10:05Several months later, Sasha and Naomi would walk out on WWE due to a creative dispute with McMahon.
10:10How do you think Ronda eliminating all 29 other wrestlers in the 2022 Women's Royal Rumble would
10:16have been received? Let me know in the comments down below.
10:20Last year, we came very close to a McMahon in AEW, but the contract wouldn't say Vince,
10:26it'd say Shane. We, along with Fightful, broke the news that Shane McMahon had had a secret meeting
10:32with AEW President Tony Khan last August. Former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman has now claimed
10:38on his Coach & Bro podcast that during that meeting, Shane had asked for equity in AEW,
10:44and he wanted to come in and run the entire show. In response, Khan has ghosted McMahon since.
10:51Fightful haven't been able to verify Shane's request for getting a share of AEW,
10:56but they can confirm that Khan didn't follow up with McMahon after the meeting. Apparently Shane
11:01did seem like he wanted to run the promotion, but he didn't have the product knowledge or
11:05familiarity with AEW or their business model, which are usually pretty important parts to
11:11have a handle on. As a result, Khan apparently thought Shane was joking when he mentioned the
11:15possibility of taking control. Apparently everything is on good terms, though, and Fightful
11:19sources wouldn't rule out a cameo appearance down the line, but not one that comes with any business
11:24involvement. Interestingly, it's come out that Khan has another wrestling brain helping him run
11:29shows. Former AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson. Despite retiring from being a full-time performer
11:36last October, PWInsider is reporting that Danielson was backstage at this week's Dynamite
11:41and Collision tapings. Fightful believes he's still working there in a creative capacity.
11:45With Triple H being announced as the headliner in this year's WWE Hall of Fame class, it's about
11:51time they sorted out the format. Over the last few years, the Hall of Fame ceremony has taken
11:56place directly after the pre-WrestleMania episode of SmackDown in the same venue,
12:01somewhat undermining the event's prestige. That it's just something tacked onto weekly TV
12:06like a dark match. It also means the stage is set up like a wrestling show,
12:10rather than a traditional awards ceremony in a theatre. WrestleVotes is now reporting
12:15that some in the company agree. After speaking with sources,
12:18we've heard varying speculation about when and where the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony
12:24will take place. Some within the company strongly dislike the recent format of the
12:28ceremony following SmackDown. We're told WWE is considering a change, with no mention of the
12:33time or place in any WrestleMania promotional material so far. What are the 10 worst WWE
12:40Elimination Chamber matches of all time? Click the video onscreen now to find out in tables, lists
12:46and shares.
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