00:00On today's Solo Sunday News, multiple title changes take place at NXT Halloween Havoc,
00:06there's new details on pay for those WWE and TNA crossover talents, a former WWE star appears on
00:12AEW Collision, and WWE once again forces AEW to move an event. Hello and welcome to What
00:19Culture Wrestling, the Solo Sunday News, myself Andrew Pollard. I hope you're good, I hope you're
00:22well, I hope your weekend is going as well as possible. Me? Well, I enjoyed a very strong
00:28wrestling performance away at Middlesbrough yesterday, that was left a little frustrated
00:32by the UFC 3-2-1 main event, but I'll say no more about that for fear of spoilers. Anyways,
00:36you're not here to hear me talk about football or MMA, it is wrestling. Yes, and starting things off
00:41with NXT Halloween Havoc, where not one, not two, but three titles changed hands in back-to-back-to-back
00:48matches. Back-to-back-to-back, ole-ole, that'd be my wrestling promotions coming out there.
00:53Right, back on track, the first title change, that saw Blake Monroe, the former Mariah May,
00:57became the new NXT Women's North American Champion, defeating Zarya. Of course, this
01:04was the match that came about following the injury to Sol Ruka. Sol was originally set
01:11to defend the belt here against Blake Monroe. Instead, Zarya took Sol's place, and the finish
01:15came when Blake knocked over Sol Ruka's crutch. Zarya went to check on her, which allowed Blake
01:21Monroe to hit the glamour shot DDT on the outside. Then she rolled Zarya back in, hit another glamour
01:26shot to get the one, two, three, uno dos tres. And with that, Blake Monroe is your new NXT
01:31Women's North American Champion. Marking a first slice of WWE gold for a former AEW Women's
01:38Champion. Now, the next matchup, that was JC Jane. The very next match, defending the NXT
01:43Women's Championship against Tatum Paxley. With Tatum, the perennial underdog, getting the
01:49somewhat surprise win here, becoming the new NXT Women's Champion. After a distraction from
01:54Izzy Dane, which allowed Tatum to hit the cycle trap for the win. I say it was a distraction,
01:58it was, I guess, Izzy got in the ring with the title, was kind of holding it up there.
02:02Vic Joseph is kind of selling as, maybe, was she going to hit Tatum Paxley with the belts?
02:07Instead, Izzy was taken out by JC Jane before she could, you know, make a decision on that,
02:11I guess. And that allowed Tatum to hit the cycle trap for the win. A really cool moment,
02:14a great reaction for Tatum from the crowd. Just a really, really likeable performer who just
02:20always seems to be getting better. I'm not saying she's the best wrestler in the world,
02:23but every time you see Tatum Paxley, she gets better and the reaction is there for her.
02:27And she's been there a little while now, so it's nice to see her get some recognition.
02:31And you kind of felt like, if she didn't win here at Halloween Havoc, then is she ever
02:35going to win any sort of gold? But she is the new NXT Women's Champion.
02:40And up next, after that match, a third consecutive title change. The next match saw Darkstate defeat
02:46the Hardys to regain the NXT Tag Team titles. To be precise, it was Dion Lennox coming off
02:52a ladder in the ring to put Jeff Hardy through a table with a doomsday device for the win.
02:56Now, this was a broken rules match, the broken Hardys. So, I mean, that rule basically just
03:02meant that you could have all four of Darkstate involved at times. And it kind of feels a little,
03:06I don't know, off. I mean, fans complained about how NXT stars were winning TNA gold. That was
03:12Tric Williams, there was JC Jane, there was Kalani Jordan as well at the moment as a knockouts
03:17champion. But people were saying that, you know, no TNA stars winning NXT gold. It was
03:20maybe a little bit, you know, unbalanced. So, it was a way to bring a little more balance
03:24to the force. The Hardys who, I mean, let's face it, they feel like WWE stars anyway still,
03:29but they won the NXT Tag Team titles at Showdown earlier this month, only to lose them.
03:34Three weeks later, I mean, only defended them once. And I say defended, that defense came at
03:42Bound for Glory in that tables match against the Dudleys, the Dudleys retirement match,
03:45a match that was, it was already announced, it was for the TNA tag titles. And it's just like,
03:49well, the Hardys have, they've won the NXT belts now as well. We'll just put them on the line as
03:52well, just because. But either way, it looks like Leon Slater and Javon Evans may be up next for Dark
03:57State, if not directly next, at least somewhere down the line. I mean, they're such a fun team,
04:01already have such really fun chemistry together, man. I know it's like really,
04:05really early days, what, like two matches together? Maybe three? And it's just that kind of like that,
04:11that frantic, energetic babyface team that just throughout history, I mean, you go back to the
04:15Rock and Roll Express even, dare I say, but like the Hardys or Paul London and Brian Kendrick,
04:19such an underrated fun team. Fraxium as well are very much in that mould. But yes, Leon Slater
04:25and Javon were in action, opening up Halloween Havoc by getting a win over Mr. Iguana and the new
04:30L.A. Parker. It was Leon Slater getting the win here with his daft, absolutely daft Leon,
04:36daft, his 450 swans on, just one of the most impressive finishing moves in the game this day.
04:41And while you're here as well, you can check out our recent interview with Leon,
04:44talking a whole bunch of fun topics, including a possible proper tag team run with Javon Evans.
04:49There we go. That is elsewhere on the channel, check it out. Lovely dude is Leon Slater.
04:53In the other Halloween Habit matches, just to quickly cover them, Ethan Page retained the North
04:56American title against F.P.O. Del Dr. Wagner Jr. Really good match, man. Really fun match.
05:00And then my boy, my close personal friend, absolute Ricky Saints, defeated Trick Williams
05:04in the main event to keep hold of the NXT Championship as the absolute era continues.
05:11And what's also continuing, of course, is the working relationship between WWE, that's easy for
05:15me to say, WWE and TNA. And on that front, there's now some new details on how it works with
05:20pay for talents involved in that. This comes from Fightful Select, who notes that TNA talents
05:25are paid for each NXT appearance, and that pay varies depending on what you're used for. I mean,
05:30the lowest rate is if you're brought in, but not actually used. Then it goes up a little bit if
05:34you compete, and then be in more money again if you're in the main event. Fairly standard, I guess.
05:38But on the other hand of that, several NXT stars told Fightful that they have not been paid
05:42any extra for their TNA appearances. Now, Fightful couldn't confirm that this is 100% the case across
05:48the board for all NXT talents, but it's certainly the case for the talents that they've spoken to.
05:53I mean, for me, the first thing that comes to mind with this is, it's just, I think,
05:56a poor Rich Holland, man. I mean, Rich Holland got injured in a TNA match against Moose,
06:01which was a massive blow, but not getting paid extra for that match. Working for a different
06:05company in TNA, you get injured, a major injury that's going to be out of action for what,
06:09six, seven months, I believe, something like that. And then you're being told when your contract is
06:12up in November, you're being let go by WWE. And all of that after taking a $200,000 per year pay cut
06:17when you signed your last WWE deal, which is, yeah, man, best of luck to Rich on his,
06:22Luke Menzies on his, well, his recovery there with that awful situation. But anyway, from WWE and TNA
06:28to a former WWE star who's turned up in AEW. Yes, last night's collision saw an appearance from
06:34Nixon Newell, the former Tegan Nox. Noxie was one of those released by WWE last November that was back in
06:41action on the Indies in March, first in the UK, then back in the States. And as for collision,
06:47there was a backstage interview with Anna Jay and Tay Mello, which was erupted by Nixon Newell and
06:51Miranda Elisee, who has previously wrestled for Ring of Honor, amongst other places.
06:57It wasn't anything of, like, major note, it was just Nixon and Elisee putting Tay Jay on notice for
07:02something somewhere. But for me, I'm just, I'm always rooting for Nixon Newell, man. Part of it is
07:06because she's a fellow Welshie, which is nicely summed up when she, you know, said hello to Tay Mello,
07:10both in NXT at the same time back in the day. It was just a very Welsh, how's it been? Might as well
07:14have been there, like, but, how's it going? Or, pchimai, tina? Also, Nixon, busting out Welsh
07:19on the social Sunday news, crazy times, man. Also, Nixon Newell, of course, a former WCPW,
07:25World Culture Pro Wrestling and Defiant standout, former WCPW Women's Champion, some brutal wars back
07:30in the day with Bea Priestley. They're, yeah, some of the most brutal matches in that. The company's
07:35history. By the way, Nixon Newell and Miranda Elisee look like another team in the mix,
07:39as AEW looks to put focus on its ever-expanding women's tag division. Obviously, they're not in
07:44a tournament for the women's tag titles, but Tay Mello accepted Nixon and Elisee's challenge,
07:49and maybe we get that match on this week's Dynamite and Collision at some point, who knows?
07:52But yeah, I'm all for that. And then one final story for today, AEW has moved another of its upcoming
07:58events in order to avoid going head-to-head with WWE. Now, this isn't a case of counter-programming,
08:03I mean, for counter-programming, that's, say, like, AEW's doing this show and WWE just goes,
08:09right, we're going to do one on that show just to mess with you.
08:13No, this is one of those where it's more a case of Collision was going to be taking place on the
08:17same day as Survivor Series this year. Now, Warner Bros. Discovery press release came out about November
08:24programming, and that's confirmed that, yes, rather than run up against the Survivor Series on Saturday,
08:2829th November. Collision is going to be brought forward by a couple of days to the Thursday before
08:34that, Thursday the 27th of November. Thanksgiving, no less. So imagine some sort of Thanksgiving theme
08:40for that as well, and obviously, Dynamite is the day before, I believe, actually, yeah,
08:44thinking about it, would that be the Dynamite and Collision after full gear? I think so, I think so.
08:50You know what? I've never done Thanksgiving, but I might go all in on the Thanksgiving meal this year,
08:54because, hey, Turkey is always a good time. In fact, there's someone with zero experience of a
08:57Thanksgiving dinner. Oh, US watchers, let me know what are the best essentials for one of those
09:01dinners. I'm thinking mashed potato. I'm thinking mashed potato's a must, which is always, I mean,
09:06yeah, I'm always here for some mashed potato, man. A bit of cheese, some Stilton maybe, a bit of
09:09horseradish, but I'm a regular Bodger and Badger when it comes to that stuff, which is a very,
09:14very niche reference to be pulling out here. Did not expect to be pulling out on a Sunday morning.
09:17But anyways, Collision, move to Thanksgiving, which is a very sensible move. I mean,
09:21when Collision ran up against the Royal Rumble earlier this year, it did age a dreadful number,
09:26less than 200,000. I think it was 197,000 viewers. I did see the number earlier today,
09:30which is bad, even by Collision standards. And with that, be sure to check out the other
09:34excellent video that's floating around here somewhere. I'm off to watch the rest of UFC 321.
09:38After doing a little bit of work, of course, this has been WhatCulture Wrestling,
09:40the Solo Sunday News, myself, Andrew Ballard. Be well, stay safe, and I will see you soon.
