00:00Is John Cena's retirement match being moved to go against AEW, Karrion Kross shoots on
00:05his WWE departure, my review of AEW Dynamite and more.
00:09I'm Luke Owen, we've got a big announcement in this video, so stick around, this is the
00:13WrestleTalk News.
00:14We only have a few more dates left on the John Cena retirement year, and we know a few details
00:21for sure.
00:22He's spending the next couple of shows in a clash in Paris feud with Logan Paul, and
00:26he's got a match set up with Brock Lesnar, which, rumour has it, will take place on
00:29a yet to be announced WWE PLE that will apparently go head to head with AEW's All Out in September,
00:36so yeah, not a lot of concrete details.
00:39But what about Cena's final match?
00:42We know it's in December, and it's been long rumoured to be part of Saturday night's
00:45main event, but we don't know for sure when that will be as no date has been confirmed.
00:50And that could be because WWE are set to move it.
00:54According to Bryan Alvarez, so do take this with a pinch of salt, WWE are looking to go
00:58head to head with AEW again, but this time with the final match of John Cena.
01:05Alvarez said on Wrestling Observer Live, this is not confirmed, but it does look like there
01:09is now a discussion that the Saturday night's main event date will be moved, so it will be
01:14head to head with AEW World's End.
01:16If correct, that would be December 27th.
01:19So what do you make of this rumour?
01:20Let me know in the comments down below.
01:22Anyone who may or may not be there, we just don't know what to work and what to shoot,
01:25what is up and what is down anymore, is Karrion Kross.
01:27It was reported that Kross and his IRL wife Scarlett were in contract year, and as that
01:32date inched closer and closer, there was little movement on a new deal being signed.
01:36It was reported that Kross did receive a new contract, but over the weekend his and Scarlett's
01:41profiles were moved to WWE's alumni section on WWE.com, and Scarlett and Kross released
01:46a video that detailed their leaving WWE.
01:49Contracts running out and talent not getting re-signed isn't all that uncommon in the
01:53TKO era of WWE.
01:55What makes Kross and Scarlett's situation so different is that Kross has spent much
01:58of 2025 being one of the most over guys in the company.
02:02He got huge pops whenever he appeared on TV, which wasn't a lot.
02:05His social media and post-WrestleMania shoot promo made his T-shirt one of the highest
02:09sellers in the whole company.
02:11There were even chants of We Want Kross during the Summerslam post-show, which Triple H mistakenly
02:15took as We Want Brock chants.
02:17But another fascinating bit of the 2025 section of the TKO era is what a lot of the media landscape
02:23have dubbed the new kayfabe.
02:25WWE reportedly worked talent into thinking Seth Rollins' injury was real to keep it from
02:30getting leaked to the dirt sheets.
02:31R-Truth was brought back following social media backlash, but when asked about it in a
02:35press conference, Triple H said, it's all part of the show, WWE Unreal is giving fans
02:40a peek behind the magician's curtain.
02:41But the magician is controlling what you see, which means it's just another trick.
02:46And it has meant that many people truly believe Kross and Scarlett leaving WWE is all part
02:51of one big work to fool the audience so it's a surprise when he comes back.
02:56Fightful Select even reported that some promotions weren't planning on reaching out to Kross to
03:00book him for dates as they believed it was a work and he'll just end up back in WWE.
03:05So now, Karrion Kross has addressed all of this on Ariel Helwani's show.
03:11Kross says that WWE sent him a new contract on the Tuesday before his contract expired,
03:17but he had questions about how they came up with his salary and the offer was rescinded
03:2124 hours later.
03:23He adds that Scarlett was never given a new contract, as he was told, after we deal with
03:27you, we'll deal with her.
03:29When asked if he thought Scarlett would be offered a deal or just let go, Kross replied,
03:33I don't know.
03:35He says earlier in the interview that he informed WWE in January that he wanted to stay with
03:39the company.
03:40He was told that his program with AJ Styles would continue after WrestleMania 41, yet remember
03:44he was involved in the finish of Styles vs. Paul at WrestleMania, which is why he brought
03:49AJ up in his work shoot promo.
03:51And on that promo he says he was told by a producer to make it feel real and was given
03:56the green light to drop an F-bomb.
03:58But perhaps he made it feel too real.
04:00He says that some higher ups in WWE really thought it was real and were upset about it,
04:06and those higher ups included Triple H.
04:09So Kross then waited outside of a production meeting so he could grab Hunter and explain
04:14to him what happened.
04:15He says that he felt his SummerSlam match would be his last, but adds that he still thinks
04:20of WWE as home and is open to him and Scarlett renegotiating their new deals, going as far
04:25to say that staying with WWE would be his preferred option.
04:29He says that while AEW have not reached out to him, several promotions have.
04:33And he believes AEW haven't reached out because everyone thinks this is all a work, especially
04:38after the situations with Seth Rollins and R-Truth.
04:41He added, people are following the events that have happened, and they're going, how
04:44did this happen?
04:45This must not be real because this makes no sense.
04:49Believe me, I also think this makes no sense.
04:52He was very clear in the interview, this is not a work.
04:55So what do you think?
04:56Where do you sit on the work shoot fence divide?
04:59Let me know in the comments down below.
05:00Kross wasn't the only person to leave WWE this year as Shayna Baszler was released from
05:04her WWE contract back in May.
05:06She also featured on Ariel Helmani's show and was asked about the chance of her appearing
05:09in All Elite Wrestling.
05:10She said, obviously it's not a secret, I'm really good friends with Marina Shafir, I have
05:14a lot of friends there.
05:15So there's been some discussion on what the future could hold.
05:19It has been reported that Baszler had worked with WWE as a producer following her release,
05:24but she is now a free agent and can work wherever she wants.
05:27A lot of WrestleTalk news coming up shortly, but first we've got a very exciting announcement
05:32because I think we've been very clear that YouTube ad revenue is pretty poor at the moment.
05:37So we are diversifying our portfolio by launching Wrestle Beers.
05:43That's right, we've got our own beer brands now and we've heard your feedback.
05:49We've heard from people that there are two things they don't like about beer, alcohol
05:54and the taste.
05:55So we've removed both of those for Wrestle Beers.
05:59And who better to be a taste tester for this brand new exciting line than the cowboy James
06:05Storm, a former beer drinking champion.
06:08James, thank you so much for being on the WrestleTalk News.
06:11Thank you, but I'm really confused here.
06:13So your viewers commented that they don't like the taste of beer or the alcohol.
06:20Correct.
06:21Well, it was more us.
06:22That's how we feel.
06:23And we just assume everyone feels the same out there.
06:26I'm sure it's a fair comment.
06:27So there was no survey?
06:29No, it was a vibes thing mostly.
06:32You know, I asked you and you asked me.
06:35I asked him back.
06:36Yeah, that's a survey.
06:37Yeah, no, I'm going to say no on that.
06:41Because the two best things about beer is the way it tastes and the alcohol.
06:45Well, just work with us.
06:46Wait, were you guys drunk when you came out with this?
06:49I don't know.
06:50Heaven's not.
06:51Heaven's not.
06:52So let me show our first beer.
06:54This is called the Low Impact Zone.
06:56The Low Impact Zone.
06:57This is an apricot and lychee flavoured beer for me.
07:01We're pretty pleased with this one.
07:03What did you say?
07:05It's apricot and light cheese.
07:07Light cheese.
07:08No, no.
07:09Not light cheese.
07:10Lychee.
07:11Lychee.
07:12Oh, yeah.
07:13It's got a really good mouth feel.
07:14I think you'll agree on this.
07:15Great mouth feel.
07:16Great mouth.
07:17All right.
07:18Here we go.
07:19Drum roll.
07:20This looks like...
07:22It's not what it is.
07:23I just want to throw it out there that it has a very acquired taste.
07:36Okay, thanks.
07:37That's good.
07:38Like, if I had to take a guess of what beaver piss tastes like, this would be it.
07:42This is horrible.
07:43This is not...
07:45I really hope the next ones are better because, guys, you got to go back to the drawing board
07:49on this stuff.
07:50I don't even taste the cheese.
07:52The mouth feel?
07:53Yeah, no.
07:54It made my tongue, like, just want to leave my mouth.
07:57Like, if my tongue can grow legs, it'd be gone by now.
08:00Okay, well, we've got some more, but we'll try something out next week.
08:05Okay.
08:06Anyway, if you want to hear a full interview with James Storm, head on over to patreon.com
08:10forward slash WrestleTalk, because we're going to have a full podcast interview with
08:14Mr. Storm tomorrow, as well as he'll be on the WrestleTalk Podcast as well.
08:19What's that?
08:20What's that floating?
08:21That might be some of the lychee.
08:22That's the cheese, yeah.
08:23The flavour.
08:24That didn't make it.
08:25Okay.
08:26That might be what it was.
08:27We'll try again next week.
08:28Yeah.
08:29Well, that was disappointing to let down a former TNA world champion.
08:36Still, I'll get him next time, and I'm sure he won't get so hot about it next time.
08:40Anyway, it's Thursday, you know what that means.
08:42It's time for my review of AEW Dynamite in about five minutes.
08:45The show opened with a face-to-face between MJF and Hangman Adam Page, as Max has been
08:50trying to goad Adam into giving him a world title match at Forbidden Door without using
08:55his casino gauntlet contract.
08:56And following last week's show, it felt like Hangman was going to do that because he just
09:00wanted to get his hands on Max.
09:01But this segment took a different direction.
09:03MJF told him, I'm going to make you angry because an angry cowboy is when he's at his
09:08most vulnerable.
09:09But Page wasn't going to fool for his Edgelord B movie villain crap.
09:13Max has two options to get a title shot.
09:15Earn it by winning matches, or use the contract.
09:18He then in fact goaded Max into using that contract to get the title shot.
09:23Instantly, MJF realised that he'd fallen into his own trap, which is wonderfully Max,
09:27and Page called him a dumbass.
09:29This was an awesome opening segment, and I love how we've gotten to this title match,
09:33and I'm very excited to see it live.
09:35The in-ring action kicked off with Jon Moxley beating Kevin Knight in a match that wasn't
09:38as good as the Speedball match last week, but was still really good.
09:41Darby Allin appeared afterwards and put Wheelie Yuta in a body bag, but Claudio Castagnoli
09:45made the save before Will Ospreay made his return to save Darby.
09:49Ospreay called out Jon Moxley and challenged him to find some friends for a lights out cage
09:54match at Forbidden Door.
09:55Later in the show, Ospreay announced that Hiroshi Tanahashi will be on his team, and a graphic
10:00later showed Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi will be joining them.
10:03We're never going to get an AEW singles match in the UK, are we?
10:07Mox approached the Young Bucks in the Extra's dressing room to recruit them, and a graphic
10:10confirmed that Gabe Kidd will be part of his team.
10:13Look, I am stoked for this bonkers match, and it is very exciting to see a cave match at
10:18this level, which I actually don't think I've seen live before, but 10 men inside one cage
10:25sounds like a TNA clusterf**k.
10:27And when I put it like that, I'm actually more here for it.
10:30Mercedes Monet teamed with Tecla and Sky Blue of the Triangle of Madness to take on Alex Winter,
10:34Queen Aminata and Willow Nightingale.
10:36This was so much fun, and Athena tapped out Sky Blue with the sharpshooter.
10:39I'm sure she'll then go home to listen to the latest Cave-In album, like me, when I
10:43was a teenager.
10:44Athena Ramone brawled with Toni Storm and Windsor after the match, and a tag match has
10:48been made for Glasgow next week.
10:49Cope took on Stoke in a fun little bit of comedy with some good audience interaction that
10:53oddly ended in DQ.
10:55I guess we're really protecting Stoke at this point.
10:58And then Cope brawled with FTR, Christian Cage came out for the save, and the pair worked
11:02together to take out Kip Sabian and Nick Wayne.
11:04Cage gave Cope his nail bat, and Cope hugged him, because I guess Christian found himself.
11:09They announced Cope and Christian vs Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian for Forbidden Door, and
11:13as a wrestling fan of a certain vintage, I'm a big edging Christian guy.
11:17So getting to see their reunion match live is incredibly exciting.
11:21But the story of them coming back together has felt rushed, and I am surprised that they're
11:24not doing the reunion match at all out in Canada.
11:26I guess they're going to do the title match there instead.
11:29They announced Hook would be back soon, and Hiromu Takahashi was revealed as a surprise
11:33tag partner for Brody King, Hologram and Tomohiro Ishii as they took on the Young Bucks and
11:36the Don Callis family.
11:38This was a brilliantly bonkers match, and Takahashi got the win, and was then announced
11:42to be facing Kyle Fletcher for the TNT Championship and Forbidden Door.
11:45Swerve Strickland, Kazuchika Okada, and Technical Issues had a promo segment.
11:48The main event saw the Ops beat Ella Fine a decent match, and MJF attacked Hangman Page
11:52backstage to end the show.
11:54Well that was a packed old episode of AEW Dynamite.
11:57Loads of stuff got confirmed for Forbidden Door, which I am stoked for.
12:01And there was some superb wrestling, particularly the men's 8-man tag and the women's trios
12:06match.
12:07That's all from me today.
12:08James Storm will be on the WrestleTalk podcast tomorrow, talking about the Karrion Kross situation
12:13and the idea of working the boys.
12:16Make sure you check that out tomorrow, and make sure you check out yesterday's WrestleTalk
12:19news by clicking the video on screen.
