00:00Fans unhappy with new WWE deal with Disney, Paul Heyman says Brock Lesnar can't be cancelled,
00:07my review of AEW Dynamite and more. I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:14Yesterday at 6am WWE got up, got up, got up and dropped the bombshell that they had signed
00:19a new deal with ESPN to air PLE starting in 2026. This is off the back of their deal with
00:25Peacock coming to an end, and while a lot of fans presumed they would go all in on Netflix
00:29like they have with the rest of the world, they instead announced a deal with Disney.
00:34This is also part of ESPN launching a streaming service, which WWE PLEs will air on, while
00:39select PLEs will be available to watch on ESPN's cable channel. ESPN also recently got the rights
00:44to the NFL Network, which will become part of this new streaming service. This is just
00:49in the US, and will not affect the Netflix deal that WWE have elsewhere in the world like
00:53in the UK. According to CNBC, the deal is worth $325 million per year, and with the deal lasting
01:00for the next five years, that is a whopping $1.6 billion for WWE. It kicks off with WrestleMania
01:0742 and will last until just before WrestleMania 46. As Fightful Select reports, this is likely
01:13a strategic move so that when WWE looks to renew their PLA deal or shop it elsewhere, WrestleMania
01:182021 would be one of the first things new customers would get. So how much will this cost WWE fans
01:24to watch PLEs on this new ESPN service? $29.99 a month. Or $300 for a year's subscription.
01:34Which, maths fans will want to point out, is a lot more than Peacock, Netflix, and of course,
01:39the WWE Network which famously pushed its $9.99 price tag on TV. An ESPN representative
01:45told Fightful Select subscribers to ESPN via any traditional TV provider, including cable
01:49or satellite, will be automatically granted access to the full ESPN direct-to-consumer
01:54service via authentication in an existing ESPN app, without paying the $29.99 a month fee.
02:00So for example, if you subscribe to DirecTV, you will just need to sign in via the ESPN app,
02:06and you will have access to everything that ESPN platforms have to offer, including WWE PLAs.
02:12It's worth noting, this is not an official statement from ESPN, just a representative's
02:17comments. While not confirmed as of yet, there's some speculation that this ESPN direct-to-consumer
02:22service could be added to a bundle deal with Disney+, the same way that Hulu is set to become
02:27part of a bundle deal while also being sold separately.
02:31As for the WWE archive on Peacock, one user on Reddit posted, if you look at Peacock's
02:35internal code, all WWE videos are set to be removed on March 18th, 2026. Fightful added
02:41in their own report that WWE have an advanced deal with Google, which means the WWE Vault
02:46YouTube channel could become the new home for all of WWE's archival footage. However, nothing
02:52has been confirmed, and it's this lack of clarity in some areas that has angered fans
02:56outside of the fact that this new service is more expensive than Peacock. On top of that,
03:01while that ESPN representative has said that you can access the direct-to-consumer service
03:06through cable providers, Brandon Thurston of WrestleNomics has been told by someone close
03:10to the deal that Charter, Spectrum, DirecTV, FuboTV, Hulu Live TV and Verizon Fios are the
03:16only cable providers that have that luxury. He notes this only accounts for half of the paying
03:22homes in the US, as Xfinity, Comcast, YouTube TV, Dish TV and Sling are not part of this deal.
03:29However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has said that the deal is still a work in
03:34progress, adding that while that is true for the minute, many, if not most, of those listed
03:39as not getting it for free will have it for free at launch. Deals just haven't been cut.
03:45So if the deal wasn't all sorted, why announce it now? Well, Disney had an earnings call two
03:50and a half hours after the deal announcement, so it's probably a stock market thing.
03:54What do you make of the news? Leave a comment down below, and remember you can use the promo
03:57code WrestleTalk at SurfShark.com forward slash WrestleTalk to get a great deal on a great
04:02VPN. Wink.
04:03It's been a few days since the shock return of Brock Lesnar to WWE at the end of Summerslam
04:08who F5 John Cena to set up a new feud. While Lesnar has not been on WWE TV for two years,
04:13he was persona non grata in WWE following January 2024, when Janelle Grant filed a lawsuit against
04:19Vince McMahon, WWE and John Laurinaitis with accusations of sexual abuse and trafficking. Lesnar was
04:24not named in that original lawsuit, but was reported to be the ex-WWE star that Grant was
04:30offered to as a playmate that would produce personalized sexual content as part of a deal
04:34to come back, according to those accusations. Grant's team then confirmed these reports
04:39when they filed an updated complaint that explicitly named Brock Lesnar as that ex-WWE star. Lesnar
04:45was planned for a return at the 2024 Royal Rumble, which he was then pulled from following
04:50the lawsuit. He was removed as a playable character in WWE 2K24 and he, along with Vince McMahon,
04:55became a name that could not be said on TV and was edited out of video packages.
05:00According to the Wrestling Observer, WWE's legal team signed off around four weeks ago
05:04on the idea of Lesnar coming back, something WWE themselves more or less confirmed on this
05:09past Monday's Raw, when they said that Triple H and Nick Khan reached out to Brock about
05:12him coming home. When asked how talent felt about Lesnar coming back, Sean Ross Sapp wrote
05:17in a Fightful Select Q&A, very mixed emotions. Not everyone is sweeping it under the rug,
05:21but if you're asking if people are actively going to walk out of the company, I don't
05:25see that happening.
05:26When asked if talent were given a heads up about the return, Sean Ross Sapp replied,
05:30not even cameraman Stu was given a heads up on Brock. WWE didn't tell anyone and doesn't
05:35care how talent feels.
05:37And now Paul Heyman has spoken about Brock's return to Ariel Helwani where he said, obviously,
05:42the decision was made, it's time to bring back Brock Lesnar. Whatever that decision is based
05:46on, I respect it. If there are critics of it, get over it. He's here, and he's going
05:51to be here, and you ain't going to be able to cancel him. And I'm happy to have him back
05:55because the audience is happy to have him back. If we brought him back and the audience rebelled
05:59against it, I wouldn't be happy to have him back.
06:02He also said, there's always going to be critics of anything that we do, and very few
06:06people ever make it to the top in life without either making mistakes or having skeletons in
06:11their closets. In response to Lesnar's return to WWE, Grant's lawyers put out a statement
06:15saying, we look forward to the full set of facts, including those about Mr. Lesnar, coming
06:20out in a court of law where they belong.
06:23And lastly, before we get into the AEW Dynamite review, there was some confusion following a
06:27PW Insider report that Austin Theory had been removed from WWE's internal roster, which
06:33some read and aggregated as, he'd been released by the company. Fightful Select reports that
06:38they'd reached out for clarification and were told he isn't off the roster completely,
06:43and instead has just been moved to the injured list alongside names like Ilya Dragunov and
06:48Zoe Stark. Theory's long running tag partnership with Grayson Waller ended abruptly on TV recently,
06:53and Waller instead has been working with The New Day.
06:55But it's now time for my review of AEW Dynamite in about five minutes.
06:59The show opened with an announcement that Jon Moxley demanded a match this week, as he's
07:03frustrated having lost to Hangman last week, and speedball Mike Bailey stepped up to the
07:07challenge. Well, he's not going to get a win over Bobby Lashley any time soon, is he? LOL. More on that in a bit.
07:13This was a great match, and it shows why names like Bayley and Kevin Knight have been such
07:16great additions to the AEW roster. Not only are they great wrestlers, but they can connect
07:21with the crowd and get over. It means the crowd buy into the heel heat and go nut for the babyface
07:26comeback.
07:27Wheelie used to trip Bayley, but was dragged away by Darby Allin, and speedball got a superb
07:31niffle off the back of that distraction. But Moxley put him away with the bulldog choke
07:34and death rider. Moxley and Shafir later found Yuta in a body bag with a challenge for
07:38Forbidden Door. Mercedes Monet called Renee and Mark, and then found one of her three contenders
07:42for the TBS Championship at Forbidden Door, when Alex Windsor beat Queen Almanada, Sky
07:46Blue and Billy Starks in a good match. A bit clunky and choreographed at times, but fun
07:50overall. Tony Storm came down to be in the corner of Windsor, as her Forbidden Door opponent
07:54Athena was in Billy's corner, and the two collided as Windsor got the roll up win.
07:58Monet and Athena then laid out the faces after the match, I smell a tag match player.
08:02Carl Fletcher had a championship celebration with Don Callis, where Callis got him a new oil
08:05painting of them looking all jacked and nude together, and he'll be facing Tomohiro Ishii for
08:10the TNT Championship on Collision, which, let's be honest, feels more Forbidden Door than
08:13anything announced for Forbidden Door so far. Adam Copeland cut a promo saying he's having
08:17a match with Stokely Hathaway next week as he's not allowed to touch FTR, and the Young
08:20Box got their latest humiliating entrance as production didn't fully raise their stage
08:25door, changed their music and called them Max and Jeremy. Shoutout to you 2010 TNA.
08:31They then lost to Brodido in a superb match that went through two commercial breaks. It told
08:35a great story of Brodido having cool tag moves, but their inexperience as a tag team was no
08:40match for the overwhelming experience of the Bucks. However, the Bucks are in their own
08:45head having lost their EVP ship and still don't even know what to call their finish, which
08:49allowed Brodido to hit their cool move and get a shock win.
08:52Rene interviewed the Hurt Syndicate and MVP gave MJF a thumbs down, officially removing
08:56him from the group. There was a report that this was supposed to last longer, and MVP has
09:00heat in AEW, and while Fightful Slug reported that there is heat with MVP and some members
09:05of the locker room, particularly Mike Bailey, there is no heat with MJF.
09:10Clearly responding to and shutting down this report, MVP posted a video of him and the rest
09:13of Hurt Syndicate jokingly telling Mike Bailey to F off while recording a vlog to social media,
09:18which Bailey replied to with heat.
09:2112 Strickton cut a good promo on Kazuchika Okada, and a trio's match was set up for collision
09:24as the Triangle of Madness will take on Queen Aminada, Willow Nightingale and a far too enthusiastic
09:29Chris Statlander. And the main event was a great match between MJF and Mark Briscoe.
09:34Hilariously they promoted that MJF won the CMLL Light Heavyweight Championship over the
09:38weekend, but called him the CMLL World Champion in his name bar. Nice gaslighting there.
09:45The story of the match was proving Hangman's point. Max is a coward, and Mark is more deserving
09:50of a shot at the title. MJF kept rolling away from attempts with a froggy bow, and he kept
09:54running away and only got the heat with underhanded tactics. My only real complaint about the match
09:58is the consistency of rules. As Mark got out of the table, which the commentator said,
10:01well that'll get him DQ'd, but the referee wasn't stopping him, and then he crashed
10:05through the table when MJF again rolled out of the way with a froggy bow. Max looked to
10:08get the count out win. When Mark made it back in, MJF hit the heat seeker, and the referee
10:12missed Briscoe's foot on the ropes and Max got the win. MJF attacked Mark after the match
10:16and busted him open, bringing out a cowboy to brawl with Max. A good ending, to a really
10:21good show.
10:28You're born to do this. You earned this. You stop getting in your own head. I'm happy.
10:48You're happy? Yeah, I think I'm happy. Yeah, I did okay. Just woof. It's crazy out there.
10:55It's crazy. That's why we do these things. It's moments like that when you get them.
11:03when you get them.
Comments