00:00Rumours about Vince McMahon starting a new wrestling promotion, NXT's hottest young
00:05act, The Hardy Boys, and WWE Disruption, the title of your WrestleMania soundtrack album.
00:12I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:18Current AEW Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate are one of the coolest acts in all of wrestling
00:23right now.
00:24And a big part of that is their threads.
00:27Each week, MVP Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin dress in really smart suits.
00:31You might think each having a different suit for every episode of TV must add up in cost.
00:37Not so, according to MVP answering a question about how they fund their businesswear attire.
00:43Shelton's mumma picks out ones for us to rent for TV and PPVs, we have to return them to
00:47get our deposits back.
00:48I never thought the Hurt Syndicate would have so much in common with me going to my sixth
00:52form prom.
00:53Speaking of business business business, Vince McMahon is rumoured to be launching a new wrestling
00:58promotion.
00:59Rumour?
01:00Doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
01:02Vince, of course, was once the mastermind slash devil lunatic behind WWE, but he resigned at
01:08the start of 2024 due to a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and trafficking, allegations
01:14which he denies.
01:15In the years since, Vince has been trying to move that lawsuit to private arbitration so
01:19it happens behind closed doors, and in his spare time has been doing some definitely
01:24not made up for PR purposes good deeds, like returning from the sunny Turks and Caucas Islands,
01:29but he wasn't alone according to a person close to him.
01:33He had with him seven kittens and a puppy, all of which he brought back to be adopted by
01:39his friends.
01:40That was a genuine report from NBC News, but after barely being seen in public since his
01:45resignation, he was spotted alongside his son Shane McMahon and The Undertaker at the
01:50Super Bowl earlier this month.
01:52Perhaps that was a strategic appearance, as now it's being rumoured.
01:56Allegedly, Vince McMahon's people have made contact with people who have experienced
02:01shooting wrestling.
02:03Maybe cameramen.
02:04And allegedly, I don't know if this is real or not, but the rumour mill, the whispers,
02:09say perhaps Fox is holding a spot for Vince McMahon.
02:14The Super Bowl was broadcast on Fox, so the speculation was that Vince was there because
02:18he's in preliminary talks with them in some way.
02:21The problem here though is the source of that rumour and innuendo.
02:25Conrad Thompson and Eric Bischoff's podcast, 83 weeks.
02:29The track record of news stories ever being anything more than rumour and innuendo, is
02:34actually pretty slim.
02:35But it was Conrad and JR who first discussed Shane joining AEW last year, which did precede
02:41us and Fightful breaking that Shane had had a meeting with Tony Khan.
02:45Bischoff speculated even further, he didn't know why Fox would want to broadcast wrestling
02:49again, seeing how they were disappointed by their five year deal for SmackDown that ended
02:53in 2024, unless they were going to own a part of it alongside McMahon, similar to how Warner
03:01Bros has a stake in AEW.
03:03What a twist.
03:04It's more dramatic than a pro wrestling storyline.
03:07Vince returns on WWE's former network Fox with Alberto as his world champion, as shock
03:13controversial wrestling for the new shock controversy age.
03:18Yeah, but just one more thing.
03:21A reporter from The Athletic called Andrew Marchand is very well connected in these areas,
03:25and he's posted, there is a report that Vince McMahon might start a wrestling company
03:29with Fox as a partner.
03:31If McMahon is planning that or not, I don't know.
03:34But the Fox part is not true, according to a network spokesman.
03:38One thing that does seem to be true, however, is that Vince has bought a studio and is building
03:43a team for a new entertainment company of some form.
03:46Whatever Vince does, he'll have a crowded wrestling market to compete in.
03:50Not only is WWE the hottest it's ever been, and AEW is gaining traction again, arguably
03:56the most exciting nationally broadcast promotion in the US right now is NXT, and it had another
04:02newsworthy episode last night.
04:04Ricky Starks only left AEW just over two weeks ago, but he made his in-ring debut on NXT yesterday,
04:10now under the name Ricky Saints.
04:12Although technically, Starks did make his WWE debut back in 2012, he's actually wrestled
04:17four WWE matches before this one, with his most recent being a loss to the Revival, now
04:21called FTR, on a 2018 episode of Raw.
04:24Saints tagged with Javon Evans to beat Ethan Page and Wes Lee.
04:27At one point in that match, the crowd began chanting, Tony Fumbled, which is presumably a reference
04:33to AEW's Tony Khan for letting Saints go.
04:36But the proudest person of all is likely Ricky's new NXT dad, CM Punk, who posted a photo of
04:43them on Instagram with the caption, Couple of Saints.
04:46The joke there being Ricky now has the last name Saints, and Punk's ROH faction with
04:50Colt Cabana and Ace Steel used to be called the Second City Saints.
04:55Top punning!
04:56Also on the show, Moose beat Lexus King to retain his TNA X Division Championship.
05:00NXT Champion Oba Femi then confronted Moose, saying he'll defend his belt against him
05:05at the upcoming Roadblock show in Madison Square Garden.
05:08If Interbrand Champion vs Champion matches weren't enough, NXT confirmed they'll also
05:13be doing a hugely exciting in-house version, as NXT Women's Champion Julia confronted the
05:19North American Champion Stephanie Vaqueur.
05:21They didn't announce a date, but that's also expected to be for Roadblock.
05:25But the most newsworthy part of the show came in the tag team division.
05:29Because we got the WWE return of one of the most iconic acts in company history, Santino.
05:37Ho ho ho Santino, you know, Cobra guy.
05:42And the Hardy Boys, I guess.
05:43In their first WWE tag match for almost 6 years, after a several year run away in AEW, and now
05:49currently being signed to TNA, the Hardy Boys beat the no-quarter catch crew on NXT.
05:54Afterwards, Matt and Jeff were confronted by the NXT Tag Champions Fraxium.
05:59The four have been teasing a match since TNA's Genesis PLE last month, which brought out
06:04TNA's Director of Authority Santino Marella, whose shock appearance, I'm not kidding, felt
06:10like he got a similar level reaction to the Hardys' pre-announced one.
06:13Santino announced it'll be Fraxium vs the Hardys at Roadblock for just Matt and Jeff's
06:18TNA Tag Team titles.
06:20Reportedly, though, backstage officials have high hopes for these young Hardy Boys.
06:26Matt and Jeff are currently under contract to TNA, but probably thanks to the promotion's
06:30working relationship with WWE, WWE were able to release new Hardy Boys merchandise to coincide
06:36with their NXT appearance.
06:38And according to WrestleVotes, if they're any good, they might get called up to the main
06:43roster.
06:44But finally, there's buzz that this is just the beginning, with creative sources optimistic
06:48the legendary duo will have a main roster program sometime this spring or summer.
06:54Fightful then posted saying they'd heard something similar.
06:56They're under contract until late this year with TNA, but those in WWE we speak to think
07:01they'll make some more appearances in WWE.
07:04Who do you want to see the Hardy Boys feud with on the main roster?
07:08Let me know in the comments down below, because I'll be replying to people from out of nowhere,
07:12saying Turbo Jack vs the Hardy Boys for one last run.
07:17Here's a special message from Turbo Jack.
07:20I made his rest of Turbo Jack and I'm still waiting on that call.
07:25Come on, Turbs.
07:26Let's give Leveque a little Twitter-ex, letting them know it's Turbo Time for Mania.
07:30Oh, what was that?
07:31Was that a call?
07:33Was anyone?
07:35Did it ring?
07:36I felt like I heard a ring.
07:40Turbo Jack?
07:42Turbo Jack?
07:43I'm right.
07:44It was just tone.
07:47In the meantime, the fine folk of WrestleTalk are paying Turbo Jack to endorse their Patreon.
07:53Go to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk, where you can binge the whole Mustache Night
07:58War series so far between Luke vs. Ali and MyGM Mode.
08:03And if you've supported the $30 tier, you get a shoutout from Turbo Jack on this very show!
08:09Like your Adrian!
08:11Rocky.
08:12He can last Shawn Fur longer than you in the ring.
08:15Starbucks.
08:16Steven Costa.
08:17She was made in the Zornis.
08:19They put them all in Movember!
08:22The British Bulldog, Philip Borget- Oh, God damn it!
08:25Not got my tassels on!
08:28Turbo Jack getting in the game, for Christ's sake, what you doing?
08:31You know, the fella the heck's not gonna call if you ain't got your tassels on.
08:35The British Bulldog, Philip Borget Smith Jr. and the rollercoaster, Robert Acosta.
08:45Go to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk right now please, get your own shoutout!
08:56And loads of bonus videos.
09:00Over the last several months, Triple H has been slowly and methodically putting all his pieces
09:04in place for the biggest matches at WrestleMania 41.
09:07Jey Uso vs Gunther is already announced.
09:10There's reportedly Cody Rhodes vs John Cena.
09:13Apparently there's some kind of three-way between Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Roman Reigns.
09:17But finally, The Rock has come back to bring chaos into WWE.
09:24While Triple H's slow burn product is incredibly rewarding to watch over time, it does lack
09:30a bit of the unpredictability and sudden shots that would happen at random during the Vince
09:34reign.
09:35Do not mistake me.
09:36Triple H's WWE is so infinitely better than McMahon's.
09:39But I'd also be lying if I didn't miss the occasional Retribution style debut.
09:44Thankfully, Triple H has his own annually recurring source of unwanted chaos.
09:49Literally his boss, The Rock, suddenly deciding he wants to do something at WrestleMania.
09:53It happened last year, igniting one of the best storylines and runs in recent years, when
09:58The Rock became the final boss feuding with Cody.
10:01And it's kind of happened again last Friday on SmackDown, where The Rock invited Cody to
10:07become his corporate champion.
10:09Or at least that's what I think the offer was.
10:12It was mostly The Rock rambling for half an hour, talking about his social media followers,
10:16and that his and Cody's mums are best friends now.
10:22The Rock's suddenly inserting himself on the road to WrestleMania was reportedly a late
10:26change, where the creative team didn't even know until several days before it was announced.
10:31Long time WWE producer TJ Wilson has now revealed on the Counted Out with Mike and Tyler podcast,
10:36I found out kind of when everyone else did.
10:39When it was announced on Twitter.
10:41The Wrestling Observer have reported people backstage in WWE are unhappy with The Rock changing
10:45their carefully laid game plan for WrestleMania 41.
10:49Game plan.
10:50Triple H is the game.
10:52Triple H is unhappy with The Rock.
10:53But they better get used to it.
10:55Because Disruption is coming for WrestleMania.
10:59And Disruption is unfortunately not a re-gimmick Joe Coffey for the main roster.
11:04As RockTheDwayneJohnson himself has posted,
11:06Thanks for watching the show.
11:08We've got disruptive moves coming up, so tune in.
11:11Love playing this audacious, unpredictable character known as Final Boss.
11:16Toronto, I'll see you this weekend at Elimination Chamber.
11:19Just as a sidebar, I absolutely hate it when The Rock mixes kayfabe in corporate shoot-speak,
11:24referring to himself as playing a role.
11:26If I was a wrestler to borrow a catchphrase, I would know my role and shut my mouth to stop
11:31breaking kayfabe.
11:33But what do I know?
11:34Because it's hard to argue with the ratings success The Rock brings.
11:38Last Friday's episode drew 1.736 million viewers and a 0.51 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
11:45It's up 22% from the previous week, and is SmackDown's best figures since the final episode
11:51on FOX last September.
11:53Even if The Rock is an agent of absolute chaos, he sure brings in those eyeballs.
11:59Cody will give Rock his answer at this weekend's Elimination Chamber, which Luke and I will
12:03be reviewing, so make sure to subscribe and hit notifications to always on to know first
12:08when those are live.
12:09In the meantime, go watch Luke and I predict what every WWE star will do at the Elimination
12:13Chamber in three words or less slash fewer by clicking the video on screen now.
Comments