RUMOR KILLER: WWE Demand ESPN Firing?! Controversial WWE Name Change! Raw Record Low! | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

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What did you think of NXT? Let us know in the comments! WT Newsletter 👉 https://mailchi.mp/wrestletalk.com/wrestletalk-newsletter WT Instagram Channel 👉 https://www.instagram.com/channel/AbaJf1Emoh31q1kj/ WT WhatsApp Channel 👉 https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaWjRis9WtC3S0zSQy0d Monday Night War 2000 Draft! 👉 https://youtu.be/OdrWve74yDE Support WrestleTalk on Patreon 👉 https://www.patreon.com/wrestletalk More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/ 00:00 - Coming up... 00:16 - Bayley Wants To Whoop Some Ass 01:14 - WWE Demand ESPN Firing? 03:12 - Monday Night War Rolls On 04:06 - WWE Change Name Of NXT vs. TNA Show 05:50 - WWE Raw Record Low On Netflix 07:03 - WWE NXT Review RUMOR KILLER: WWE Demand ESPN Firing?! Controversial WWE Name Change! Raw Record Low! | WrestleTalk #WWE #WWERaw #WrestleTalk  Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   Sources used for research: https://www.f4wonline.com/news/nxt/wwe-showdown-invasion-upcoming-nxt-vs-tna/ https://x.com/WrestleVotes/status/1973148377996001713 https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/wwe-israeli-backlash-invasion-october-7-yaf1g2hi https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/wwe-raw-viewership-september-22-netflix/ https://members.f4wonline.com/subscriber-exclusives/wwe-raw-sets-all-time-record-low-for-the-september-22-show/ https://www.patreon.com/posts/select-answers-c-139896163 https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1983530/wwe-nxt-tna-invasion-rebranding-possibly-outside-pressure-showdown-israel/ https://x.com/itsBayleyWWE/status/1972883133067673937 https://x.com/itsBayleyWWE/status/1972871886200868924  https://www.facebook.com/RingsideRoster/posts/espn-writer-andreas-hale-says-wwe-fans-want-him-fired-him-for-giving-wrestlepalo/1405797944882060/   Youtube Channel Comments Policy We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.

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00:00WWE changed the name of the NXT and TNA show, claims that WWE demanded someone from ESPN

00:08be fired, my review of NXT and more.

00:11I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk News.

00:17There's been a lot of changes in WWE in 2025, some of which have not been met with

00:22the best of receptions from fans, and now even some of their own talent are kicking

00:28off at changes.

00:29Now, I don't want to frighten you all too much here on a Wednesday, so this is a fair

00:34warning of what I'm about to put on screen.

00:37Who TF is this?

00:39The new render of Bayley used to hype her match with Raquel Rodriguez was quickly mocked on

00:44Twitter because it's horrible looking, prompting Bayley herself to post that it makes her look

00:48like her Aunt Joan.

00:49When more people reposted the image Bayley tweeted, and whose ass ass ass am I whooping for putting

00:55this up?

00:56Come on, I got friends watching me on Netflix, even posting images she'd been sent of

01:01said friends watching on Netflix making fun of the picture.

01:04Now you listen here WWE, in this house we respect Bayley, and I think you should do the same.

01:11I sure hope that someone got fired for that blunder.

01:14Speaking of people demanding other people to lose their jobs, and a mad rumour spread online

01:19yesterday that WWE were so upset at ESPN's Andreas Hale C-grade review of Wrestlepalooza,

01:27that they asked for him to be fired.

01:29Now this all stems from Hale himself talking about the review he gave while speaking on

01:34Off The Ropes, where he said a lot of people were shocked that ESPN would grade a show on

01:39their own network as average, bad.

01:43Some even called for my job.

01:45Others said I was tweeting about AEW earlier in the day and called me a shill.

01:49The bigger issue is that if we can't be honest about how a show really is, then my

01:54journalistic credibility is at risk.

01:56My grades mean something.

01:58I also grade UFC and boxing.

02:00If I gave everything an A, what would it mean?

02:03People have to stop thinking a C is horrible.

02:06It's not.

02:07I'll never watch Wrestlepalooza again.

02:08I don't care to.

02:09But it wasn't the worst thing ever.

02:11For something that promised epic moments, it just fell short.

02:14The key part of that quote is when he said, some even called for my job.

02:19Some websites aggregated this to mean that fans wanted him to be fired.

02:22Frankly, a mad thing to do.

02:24Please do something more constructive with your time.

02:26While others aggregated that it was WWE themselves that wanted him fired.

02:32Which, according to Sean Ross Sapp, is not true at all.

02:35In the Fightful Q&A, someone asked if the rumors that WWE asked for Hale to be fired were true,

02:40and SRS replied, I asked Andreas Hale directly,

02:43and he said it wasn't true.

02:45I asked higher ups in WWE, they said it wasn't true.

02:48He adds there are plenty of things WWE hasn't liked that myself or other people have reported

02:53or said, but to their credit, I've never heard them complain about a fair review dating back

02:58the 10 years I've been reviewing shows.

03:00He also points out that WWE would get sued if they got him fired over a bad review.

03:05And with regards to the shows getting good, bad or indifferent reviews, SRS writes,

03:09WWE do not care that much.

03:12The latest season of the Monday Night War rolls on over at Patreon.com forward slash

03:15WrestleTalk where I'm taking on Oli Davis and Dan Layton in three-way 2000 action.

03:20And part of the gimmick is we're only allowed to listen to music that was released

03:24between the years of 1997 and 2001, which has led to moments like this.

03:29Right, seven minutes on the clock, they haven't played a power card yet, they don't even remember

03:33it's there because they're too old.

03:34Go, okay.

03:36I get knocked down, but I get up again.

03:38I get up again, I get up again, I get up again, I get up again, I get up again, I get up again, I get up again, I get up again.

03:45It's not the singing, it's the fact that one of them is like 0.3 of a second ahead.

03:48You've got an issue with timings haven't you?

03:50Speaking of 2001, and at no mercy Ava announced that next week's episode of NXT would be a special

04:12NXT vs. tier name themed episode called Invasion, the name of the 2001 pay-per-view that saw WWF take on

04:19The Alliance of WCW and ECW. It's among WWE's most successful non-Wrestlemania shows of all time.

04:26However, if you watched last night's NXT, you'll have noticed that the Invasion name has been changed

04:31to Showdown, whilst retaining the font and red letter gimmick of the Invasion branding.

04:36WrestleVotes had tweeted ahead of NXT that the name was going to change and didn't provide a reason,

04:41and now it may be clear why. On Monday Sky News Arabia posted a video on Twitter reporting that

04:47WWE had angered Israeli fans by using the name Invasion, as the show would take place on October

04:547th, the second anniversary of Hamas's attack that killed over a thousand people.

04:58An article in Israel Heymon wrote that the name is viewed as extreme insensitivity, adding it raises

05:04questions about who in the organisation is responsible for this preposterous decision. Someone posted to

05:10Twitter that the red V on the Invasion logo is similar to the upside down red triangle that Hamas

05:16uses their symbol. The user then noted that they looked into it and realised it was just an old

05:20logo from 2001 and that it was just an unfortunate coincidence. Another poster on Twitter, however,

05:26called the name Tone Deaf. Whether this is the real reason for the change or not, WWE and TNA

05:32deleted all mentions of the show being called Invasion from their websites and social media shortly

05:38after these reports. And TNA's Santino Marella said during the opening segment of this week's NXT

05:43that this isn't an invasion because the two sides have been working together for years,

05:48this is simply a showdown. One would imagine the next week's NXT will see a boost in the ratings due

05:53to the nature of the show, but the same cannot be said for Raw following Wrestlepalooza. Usually,

05:59WWE would see a bump in viewership following a PLE, particularly one as hyped as Wrestlepalooza. However,

06:06this is football season and it's having its usual effects on Monday Night Raw,

06:11as Netflix's Ta-Dum report claims that the September 22nd show got 2.3 million global views

06:18and 4.5 million global hours. That is a record low for global viewers,

06:23being the previous low set by the September 1st episode, and a record low for global hours watched,

06:29previously held by the June 30th episode. WWE and Netflix have been trying various start times with

06:34Raw to battle against football season, which appeared to work for the first week, but hit

06:39them on this week's episode, built around the showdown between Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes,

06:43as well as Asuka vs Rhea Ripley. The Detroit Lions vs. Baltimore Ravens game that Raw went

06:48head to head with did 22.9 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. The Wrestling Observer reports

06:55that this new low for Raw is about 28% down from what the show was doing on USA Network this time last year.

07:03But it's Wednesday, you know what that means. It's time for my review of NXT.

07:07New NXT Champion Ricky Sainz opened the show to put over his title win at No Mercy,

07:11but was interrupted by JC Jane, who said they've got bigger fish to fry in the form of TNA not

07:16doing an invasion angle on their show. Ava came out to make them the team captors of their respective

07:21Survivor Series elimination matches, and said the main event of this week's show would be them

07:25revealing the lineups for Team TNA and Team NXT for both the men and the women. Santino Marella came out to

07:31announce that he can't trust TNA Champion Trick Williams to be his captain, so he's picked Mike Santana.

07:35However, he can trust newly crowned TNA Knockouts Champion Kalani Jordan, despite being an NXT star,

07:41and made her his team captain. This is where Marella announced that this wasn't an invasion,

07:46and instead it's a showdown. But never mind that spit, Leon Slater was on NXT this week,

07:51and to show that this really isn't an invasion, they've been working together fine all this time,

07:56a match was made against The Culling, where TNA Slater would team with NXT's Siobhan Evans.

08:01Once again not realising the homecoming episode was weeks ago now, Lyra Valkyria was on NXT again

08:05this week to give Tatum Paxley a doll. Jada Parker beat Lash Legend in a decent match,

08:10and the men's locker room argued about who should be on the team after Trick Williams

08:13made himself the co-captain of Team NXT. He suggested to Saint that they should do Miles

08:18Bourne vs Josh Briggs for a spot on the team. Over in the women's locker room,

08:22Jane set up Fallon Henley vs Lola Vice for a spot on her team. Ethan Page came out to cut a promo

08:26on Dr. Wagner Jr, but instead got TNA's Mustafa Ali, who noted that he was supposed to get a shot

08:33at the North American Championship before he was released by the company. So he's politicked his

08:39way into a title shot for Showdown next week, they had a brawl, and Ali stood tall. Miles Bourne beat

08:44Josh Briggs to earn his spot on Team NXT when Matt Cardona stopped Briggs from using a chain to cheat,

08:49and Kaladi Jordan spoke to Jordan Grace about being the new Knockouts Champion. They did some

08:53comedy with Joe Hendry, or Joe Henry as Jordan Grace called him, and Santana said he couldn't

08:58trust Joe or Grace as they can't seem to decide if they're loyal to NXT or TNA. Lola Vice beat

09:04Fallon Henley to get a spot on the team, and Laney Reid revealed what WWE.com had already spoiled,

09:09that she helped Jane win at No Mercy, and that she took out Jasmine Nix on last week's show.

09:13Siobhan Evans and Leon Slater beat the Culling in a very fun match that I kind of wish had given

09:18more shine to Leon Slater, but he did pick up the win with the Swanton 450. The main event of the

09:23show was Ricky Saint naming his team as himself Trick Williams, Miles Bourne and Siobhan Evans,

09:28and Santana named his team as himself Frankie Kazarian, Moose and Leon Slater.

09:32Jane named her team as herself Sol Rooker, Lola Vice and Jada Parker, and Kalani named herself

09:37the Inspiration, and Mara Sade, the former Jakara Jackson, and NXT as Team TNA. Yep,

09:44Team TNA is being represented by a current NXT star, two former WWE names, and someone who was on the

09:50WWE roster just a few months ago. Really is a fitting tribute to the Alliance team during the

09:55Invasion. There was a big brawl, and Vic Joseph then asked Booker T, who was WCW Champion during

10:00the Invasion PPV in 2001, if he's ever been a part of anything like this before. Yeah he was,

10:06at Invasion, when he was WCW Champion. The women's side of Team TNA aside, this was

10:11a fun setup for next week, and I'm stoked for the episode. It's going to be so much fun,

10:16and this whole episode being built around picking the teams was really very enjoyable. It was

10:22greater than last week's episode. Now head on over to Patreon.com forward slash

10:26WrestleTalk Your Crazy Kids to check out the latest episode of the Monday Night War, and watch the Draft

10:30Day episode which is on screen right now. If you haven't already, click on it right now,

10:34get started! Join us on Patreon!

RUMOR KILLER: WWE Demand ESPN Firing?! Controversial WWE Name Change! Raw Record Low! | WrestleTalk

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