00:00CM Punk and AEW are being sued! Was their backstage chaos for The Rock's return on
00:06Smackdown a shock? New WWE star and more. I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk
00:13News.
00:14We've got a big old chunky lawsuit story to get into shortly, so let's clear our
00:20palates with some Monday morning niceness.
00:22Over the weekend, Diamond Dallas Page released his latest video charting the rehabilitation
00:27of Lex Luger, who had severe spinal issues since the late 2000s. Throughout the 2010s,
00:32he was slowly using his wheelchair more and more to get around, and by 2021, was completely
00:37reliant on it. But as DDP has done with other legends from our childhoods, he's been working
00:43with Luger to help him with his mobility. And the most recent video, titled Third Times
00:47The Charm, shows that Luger's hard work has meant he's now able to lift himself
00:52out of his chair and stand up on his own.
00:55An incredible journey, and one that deserves all the praise in the world. So drop your
01:00congratulations to Luger in the comments and let's spread some positivity into this world.
01:06Because sometimes, there isn't a lot of it in the world of wrestling.
01:09Fightful broke the news yesterday that Ryan Nemeth, a former AEW wrestler, has filed a
01:14lawsuit against All Elite Wrestling and Phil Brooks, aka CM Punk. The lawsuit alleges assault,
01:21breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith, and fair dealing and intentional
01:27interference with prospective advantage. That last bit may sound like word salad, but it
01:32basically sums up that Nemeth feels that his career has been impacted by the actions of
01:37AEW and CM Punk.
01:39To get the full story of this, we're going to have to take a step backwards and remind
01:42ourselves how we got here.
01:44Following the 2022 All Out PPV, CM Punk cut a scathing promo during the post-show press
01:50conference on AEW, the management of the company and the Elite, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page and
01:56The Young Bucks. This not only saw an increase in sales for a local muffin company, but also
02:00led to Punk fighting with Omega and The Bucks backstage and all men were stripped of the
02:05titles they'd won earlier in the night and were suspended. They all returned, but there
02:09was clearly uneasy tension, and in the end, Punk became a major pawn in AEW securing a
02:15second TV show with Warner Bros. Discovery, Collision, which became Punk's show. AEW
02:21effectively had a roster split.
02:24During all of this, Ryan Nemeth put out a tweet that referred to CM Punk as literally
02:28the softest man alive, and this led to an incident at a Dynamite taping in Chicago where
02:33Punk confronted Nemeth about the tweet. Reports from the time said that Nemeth claimed he
02:38did it in character to get heat, but Punk believed he did it to score points with his
02:43friend, aka The Young Bucks. Fightful Select's report from August 2023 says Punk asked him
02:49to knock it off because tensions were high and they were trying to move on. Which is
02:53quite ironic given the news story we're covering today. Fightful added at the time
02:57Punk said he didn't want Nemeth being passive-aggressive unless they were handling it another way.
03:03People close to Punk claim that Nemeth apologised and that the two shook hands.
03:07In 2023, Punk got into another backstage altercation with Jack Perry at AEW's first All-In-One
03:13show in Wembley Stadium and was fired, leading to hell freezing over and Punk returned to
03:18WWE, the company he trashed for around a decade, including on All Elite Wrestling television.
03:25Last December, Fightful Select reported that Nemeth had submitted a complaint to All Elite
03:29Wrestling following his exit from the company, which gave a detailed timeline of events and
03:34an alternative version of the Chicago Dynamite incident.
03:38Fightful Select wrote at the time, Nemeth says that on June 21st, 2023, Brooks did threaten
03:44him in an AEW locker room. According to Nemeth, this incident led to him not being booked
03:50by All Elite Wrestling, and when he eventually was booked for a collision show in August,
03:55he was informed by Pat Buck when he arrived to the building that Punk had demanded he
03:59be removed from the venue.
04:01And on February 14th, Valentine's Day, bummer, Nemeth filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles
04:07Superior Court against AEW and CM Punk, which has since been obtained by Fightful. The lawsuit
04:13alleges Brooks undertook a campaign to terrorize and intimidate plaintiff Ryan Nemeth, including
04:18physical assault. AEW and Tony Khan did nothing to protect Ryan Nemeth and other wrestling
04:24performers from despicable conduct on the part of Brooks. AEW turned a blind eye to
04:29Brooks' conduct because of Tony's deep admiration for Brooks and because he was their
04:34most popular wrestling performer. At Brooks and Tony's insistence, AEW and Tony Khan
04:39have undertaken an effort to blackball Nemeth so we can never again work in the wrestling
04:44business.
04:45The lawsuit says of the Chicago Dynamite incident on June 21st, 2023 following Brooks' return
04:50to the wrestling circuit, he assaulted Nemeth in the male talent locker room. In a menacing
04:55manner, Brooks shouted at Nemeth, do we have an effing problem, do we need to step outside
05:01and handle this like men. Nemeth was cornered by Brooks and did everything he could in order
05:06to de-escalate the situation. The next day, Nemeth was contacted by Tony Schiavone and
05:11other executives from AEW to explain what happened. Nemeth calmly and factually explained
05:16that he was attacked by Brooks in the locker room. Following the assault, nothing happened
05:21to Brooks as far as punishment from AEW.
05:25Nemeth alleges that on the morning of that collision taping that he'd been booked for,
05:29he saw CM Punk in the hotel lobby who then got out his phone to text someone. Nemeth
05:34then claims he received a text shortly after that moment from Pat Buck which led to him
05:38being sent home. The suit reads, Nemeth was embarrassed and humiliated in front of other
05:43wrestlers who witnessed him being kicked out of the arena. More importantly, fans observed
05:48him leaving the arena. Pictures were taken and the expulsion became viral on social media.
05:54This humiliation caused irreparable damage to the markability and reputation of Nemeth.
05:59Throughout the suit, Nemeth's team talks about how much Tony Khan liked CM Punk, at
06:03one point alleges it was bordering on obsession, and even says of Punk returning to WWE, Khan
06:10was heartbroken by the departure of Brooks, his idol that he adored in every way. The
06:16suit claims Khan believes that Brooks left AEW because of Nemeth. Fightful add Nemeth
06:22is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and demands of a jury trial. However
06:27as of the time of this recording, there is no case number assigned to the lawsuit and
06:31it is not yet listed online. And I'll be honest with you, I cannot find a good way
06:36to segue out of that story into this plug, so… CM Punk and Ryan Nemeth's brother
06:41Dolph Ziggler were both featured on WrestleMania 28.
06:46And speaking of WrestleMania 28, Oli Davis and I did a massive three and a half hour
06:51review of that show as part of our deep dive into The Rock's first return to WWE and
06:56his feud with John Cena, which is now available to watch for free. And if you want the next
07:01chapter, head on over to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk to watch our three and a
07:05half hour review of Raw 1000, which is the show where Punk turned heel on The Rock.
07:11And speaking of The Rock, oh, maybe this was the place to put the plug in. On Thursday
07:16it was revealed that Rock would be returning to Smackdown to make a big announcement, which
07:21ended up being the news that next year's WrestleMania will take place in New Orleans.
07:25But he also had some other business on the show, namely addressing Cody Rhodes to ask
07:30him to be his corporate champion. And clearly having re-watched Paul WS Anderson's 1995
07:36masterpiece adaptation of Mortal Kombat, Rock said that he didn't want Cody's title,
07:40he wanted to Shang Tsung him and take his soul. Cody will give his answer this coming
07:45Saturday at Elimination Chamber.
07:48We figure, myself included, that it won't be Cody signing up to be The Rock's corporate
07:52champion, but perhaps someone like John Cena could. And CM Punk has added to his Instagram
07:58stories a comic panel of Doctor Doom and Spider-Man, with Doom saying that old foes must become
08:03new friends.
08:04While the story is quite exciting, the segment has divided opinions online, but it really
08:09leant more towards the negative. Many complained that The Rock felt rambly and incoherent in
08:14his promo, but a more broader point that he once again feels like he's come into
08:18WWE late in the day and seemingly changed up WrestleMania plans.
08:23I was joined by SP3 from TruHeelHeat and Mex from RestTings and Guerrilla Position to talk
08:27about all of this on Saturday which you can check out by clicking the podcast in the video
08:32description.
08:33The Rock's appearance on Smackdown, much like his cameo at the end of last year's
08:36Bad Blood, reportedly came together about a week before the show. With Fightful Select
08:41reporting Creative was told just a few days ahead of Smackdown, with it being a shock
08:45to many in the company.
08:48Several segments on the show were changed. A video of Nick Aldis announcing the line-up
08:52of matches was deleted by WWE as Cody Rhodes was now removed from the six-man main event.
08:58And they also cancelled Liv Morgan vs. Naomi, though that latter match did end up happening
09:04but also didn't actually quite happen as it never got started.
09:07For Fightful Select, there were some time adjustments, including in Naomi vs. Liv Morgan.
09:12They added, "...those that we've spoken to internally say that all of this came together
09:16very late and even they haven't been told the next direction."
09:21Dave Meltzer writes, the writers were confused and thrown for a loop, but it may not be as
09:26bad as some might have thought, as he writes, this was not as last minute as some are trying
09:31to say it was, but it did happen rather quickly.
09:35He suggests, and this is suggesting not reporting, his schedule may have changed about his availability
09:41moving towards or during WrestleMania.
09:44Meltzer was the first to report that Rock would likely not be a part of WrestleMania
09:4841 due to his movie commitment, which has since been corroborated by several other outlets.
09:53Eboo of Self Made PW even noted that WrestleMania was at the mercy of Dwayne, with some reports
09:58suggesting there were two plans in place for Mania 41, one with The Rock and one without.
10:04But what did you make of the Rock segment on Smackdown?
10:07Let me know in the comments down below, and fantasy book your corporate champion.
10:11And lastly for today, there was some fan speculation online about the new WWE trademark, Kalix.
10:18Some speculated this could be the new name for NXT's Soul Rooker, as her real name
10:22is Kalix.
10:23However, according to Fightful Select, it is not for her.
10:27It's actually for a new masked character that has been part of the Evolve tapings.
10:33And who is it that is under the mask?
10:35WWE referee Jessica Carr.
10:39This isn't Carr's first time as a wrestler, as she was one before she became a ref for
10:43WWE.
10:44Wrestling under the names Kennardy Brink and Jesse Kay, and as a one-shot on NXT as Kennedy
10:48Lewis.
10:49Now go and get a cup of tea and sit back and enjoy a three and a half hour review of WrestleMania
10:5428 with myself and Oli Davis, and when you're done with that, sign up for Patreon.com forward
10:59slash WrestleTalk to get another massive review of Raw 1000.
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