00:00Roman Reigns' babyface plans, a CM Punk cover up, real reasons for the WWE draft picks
00:06and more.
00:07I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:13I don't know if you've heard, but WWE is in a new era.
00:21Blood and swearing is back.
00:22Long term storylines are in.
00:25They even bought a new Steadicam.
00:27It's a new era, which means it's time for brand new rosters with its first WWE draft
00:40that started on Friday where?
00:45Nia Jax is moving to SmackDown.
00:48And so is Carmelo Hayes, who was… he's kind of there already.
00:52The first night of the draft, at least, was disappointing.
00:55And with Nia and Hayes, who was shockingly the first round pick, although not the first
00:58ever NXT first round pick, as Wade Barrett claimed on commentary, that would be Finn Balor.
01:03The only actual moves were Brom Breaker and Keanu James to Raw, and Andrade to SmackDown.
01:08Social media announcements then added Baron Corbin to SmackDown, and Alba Fire and Isla
01:12Dawn to Raw as the only other actual trades.
01:16Lightful Select is reporting that this is because WWE prioritised each brand retaining familiar
01:22talent in the draft.
01:24But there are more swaps expected for Monday's Raw, where even more NXT stars were anticipated
01:29to be called sideways, it's an equal third brand now, like former NXT Champion Ilya Droganov.
01:35With Breaker going to Raw, and Corbin call rebounded to SmackDown, NXT's beloved Wolf
01:40Dogs tag team is officially broken up.
01:42Dashing hopes they continue as an act on the adjacent roster.
01:46Fightful Select is reporting this is because both men are going to get repackaged in singles
01:50pushes.
01:51Braun is viewed as a wrestler with major singles star potential, and Corbin is planned to get
01:56a renewed look after not being on the main roster since 2022.
02:01While these moves were expected, talent apparently didn't know for sure where they'd be going.
02:06And in Keanu James' case, it was a genuine surprise when she found out.
02:10Even though WWE had started making her video package earlier in the week, one NXT talent
02:15had called James one of the best on the roster.
02:18As for Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman revealed on the episode he had chosen to remove himself
02:23from the draft, as he didn't want to take the top pick spot when he's not planning
02:27to come back any time soon, as that is not befitting of a tribal chief.
02:33This directly impacted Solo Sokoa and Tama Tonga, as the Bloodline became a third round pick
02:38without Roman's star power.
02:40It's a very intriguing development in the Bloodline story.
02:43Roman has both caused tension with the heel Sokoa and Tonga, and performed a babyface act
02:49in removing himself from the draft if he's not going to be around to perform.
02:53While Reigns is taking a break from WWE to film the movie Good Fortune right now, WrestleVotes
02:58have reported he has substantial creative input in the evolving Bloodline story over the course
03:04of the next few months.
03:06With his next advertised TV appearance as the 2nd August episode of SmackDown, the go-home
03:10episode for SummerSlam, perhaps this means he could be returning as a face.
03:16And he's really earned that good guy spot, as he's spent four years with us all wanting
03:20him to lose.
03:21Here's a clip of our brand new video reacting to every time Roman Reigns should have lost.
03:26Just cut in a promo mid-match, he's so good, and it's captivating, the sweat dripping off
03:50of his nose as he does it, he looks incredible.
03:54Watch every time Roman Reigns should have lost right after you're done watching this video
03:58using the link below.
03:59One top wrestler appears to have seen the draft and worked themselves into a shoot brother
04:03much love HH Kiss, because Drew McIntyre has finally signed a real contract to stay with
04:09WWE.
04:10Finally finishing the other one year long story about whether Drew would re-sign with WWE or
04:15not, Rock the Dwayne Johnson broke the news on his Instagram, posting, man of my word,
04:21sword emoji, Scottish flag emoji, as you're a man of yours.
04:25Congratulations Drew McIntyre on signing your new WWE deal.
04:29As we talked about after your WrestleMania match, I know this Scottish Claymore represents
04:34everything that you, your family and your country embody.
04:38As you know, I wanted to personally hand deliver this gift to you at your meeting with Nick
04:48Khan, but I had warm cheat meals and chilled tequila waiting for me.
04:52Another sword emoji, tequila emoji, winking face emoji.
04:56Congrats again brother, and cheers to hunger, passion, climbing that mountain and always entertaining
05:01our fans.
05:02Signed off, the final boss.
05:04Another video of Drew receiving an actual Claymore as a gift from The Rock and Nick Khan.
05:09I'm guessing Triple H didn't contribute to the office whip around.
05:12So I'll make up for that by bringing back an old segment.
05:18It's been such a long contract journey with twists and turns, Drew creatively stifled, legit
05:27storming out after CM Punk's Survivor Series return, using that to fuel his best character
05:32reinvention ever.
05:34So this, this is for you McIntyre.
05:37Swad.
05:38Ah crap, I pressed send before I finished.
05:47Dave Meltzer has added that McIntyre's contract is for three years, so it expires in 2027.
05:52Fightful Select is also reporting that it's worth big money with the end outcome after
05:57a lot of back and forth in negotiations with WWE.
06:00AEW Insider is reporting Drew will now be taking some time off to recover from a hyperextended
06:05elbow, which he received a lot of praise for working through on the recent live event tour.
06:09He's not expected to be out for long.
06:11But he is expected to start a feud with CM Punk when both are healthy enough to return.
06:15Which, I'm sure, will contain loads of insider references to annoy AEW from our next story.
06:21For the first time since he was fired from AEW, Punk spoke about his feelings towards the
06:26company in an interview with Ariel Helwani at the start of April.
06:29It was mostly… not that positive.
06:32AEW first responded with a segment of Adam Copeland saying we should all just enjoy wrestling
06:36and not become too tribalistic, and then followed that up by massively encouraging tribalism by
06:41playing the real CCTV footage of the backstage brawl that got Punk fired.
06:45After both Punk and AEW had seemingly moved on from each other, with both doing great work
06:50in the first three months of this year, April appears to have reopened these wounds.
06:55And yet another person, albeit anonymously, has now given their version of events.
07:01Dave Meltzer has reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that someone from AEW reached out
07:06to them after the Punk Helwani interview to give their perspective on what is ultimately
07:11only my opinion.
07:12The person alleges that Punk did indeed demand Colt to be fired for no other reason than
07:18their previous personal issues, and that Tony Khan covered this up publicly.
07:23Which makes saying anything unsafe for anyone.
07:26Meltzer then adds that another major star told them they feel like they've never been
07:30told the truth about the Punk situation.
07:32That AEW controversy continued when Tony Khan, wearing a neck brace from being beaten up by
07:37The Elite on Wednesday's Dynamite, compared WWE to Harvey Weinstein.
07:42Peering on the other draft over the weekend for the NFL, Khan was asked a question about
07:47what his father thought about the kayfabe attack, and somehow turned it into this.
07:52We are like the Pepsi of pro wrestling.
07:54We're up against a really evil juggernaut.
07:57If WWE is our competitor, that's who we're facing.
08:00AEW, like the Pepsi of pro wrestling, WWE is like the Harvey Weinstein of pro wrestling.
08:06I'm really proud of what we do down here.
08:08I know what you're thinking.
08:09CM Punk has a Pepsi tattoo on his arm.
08:12CM Punk to AEW confirmed!
08:13While it seemed as though the NFL Network quickly tried to wrap Khan up after the Weinstein
08:18name drop, Fightful Select is reporting the network was happy with Khan's appearance,
08:22because the neck brace was a smart bit of fun.
08:25Unfortunately, AEW isn't just facing the biggest TV rights negotiations of their existence,
08:30and CM Punk living rent free in their head, they also have an injury epidemic.
08:35With top stars like Kenny Omega, Adam Cole and Britt Baker on the shelf indefinitely, MJF's
08:40return has also reportedly suffered a setback.
08:43WrestlePurist's right Max has had surgery on his left shoulder, but while he was originally
08:47planned to come back in March, there is now no scheduled timetable for his return.
08:52Fightful Select and Bryan Alvarez have also confirmed that powerhouse Hobbs did indeed
08:56suffer a knee injury on Wednesday's episode of Dynamite, and he isn't expected back
09:00anytime soon.
09:01Miro, who hasn't wrestled for AEW since December's World's End, is also a couple
09:06of months behind on his return schedule after injury.
09:09Julia Hart, who dropped the TBS title at Dynasty, is set to undergo surgery for her injury.
09:15And Dax Harwood is said to have suffered a concussion during the FTR vs Young Bucks ladder
09:20match, but is thankfully feeling much better.
09:23Sometimes when so many injuries happen, it's just a really unfortunate coincidence.
09:26But when one of your top stars who's already out injured also gets hit by a bus, maybe
09:33we are in full cursed territory.
09:35Darby Allin was written off TV in March so he could take a year off and climb Mount Everest.
09:40He then legitimately broke his footer in training, meaning he'd have to delay his expedition.
09:45And now he's posted that awkward moment when you're crossing the street in New York
09:49with a broken foot and get hit by a bus.
09:51Thankfully he seems to be doing okay, or is just doing a really weird no-sell, because
09:56he then went to see a Broadway play.
09:58What is more metal than getting hit by a bus and then going to see a musical?
10:06Now go watch our reacting to every time Roman Reigns should have lost.
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