- 1 week ago
On today's wrestling news
00:00 - Rundown
00;22 - LA Knight Heat
06:49 - Drew McIntyre’s WWE Future
10:33 - “New Landscape” Falls Flat
14:33 - Ridge Holland Brutal Truth
00:00 - Rundown
00;22 - LA Knight Heat
06:49 - Drew McIntyre’s WWE Future
10:33 - “New Landscape” Falls Flat
14:33 - Ridge Holland Brutal Truth
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Hello there my very good friends on today's wrestling news. Rumours of backstage heat on LA Knight.
00:05A major update on Drew McIntyre.
00:08WWE's new raw landscape has gone a bit wrong.
00:11And Rich Holland feels like he's been hung out to dry by WWE.
00:16I'm Adam Wilborn.
00:17I'm Andy H. Murray. The H stands for heat, obviously.
00:20And this is the news.
00:22Is there backstage heat on LA Knight in WWE?
00:25No, no, there's not.
00:26So, this started going a bit crazy, because it's Twitter, after this week's episode of Raw.
00:34To contextualise it, LA Knight has been the subject of much debate recently.
00:38A lot of people think he should be getting a bigger push in WWE.
00:41There's a bit of a clamour for it at the moment online amongst fans.
00:44We spoke a little bit about this last week.
00:46We did, we ran a poll.
00:48You guys were vastly in favour of this man, who is very over and very popular.
00:53Getting a bigger push in WWE.
00:56He, of course, lost pretty cleanly last week.
00:58Was it cleanly? I don't even remember.
01:00He's a brawn breaker, so, but it was, I think there was some vision shenanigans.
01:03There usually is.
01:04Yeah, yeah.
01:05But not like a WrestleMania triple threat level of shenanigans.
01:11So, yeah, there's been a big clamour for this dude.
01:13I think he's only won, like, two or three singles matches since summer, which is not a lot.
01:17But, by the same token, he's on TV every week working with big names.
01:21It could be a lot worse.
01:22It could be a lot worse.
01:23Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
01:24On this week's Raw, when LA Knight was coming out, he held up this sign and it read something along the lines of,
01:30We would rather LA Knight than Jay.
01:31Yes.
01:31Because Jay was in the world title fight at Saturday night's main event.
01:35He lost, but he's still, you know, in that picture.
01:38He's still in that scene.
01:39He's perceived as getting the bigger push than LA Knight.
01:42This led to some people going,
01:44Hmm, this might lead to heat.
01:46This might lead to some problems backstage,
01:48because he's picked up the sign and...
01:50No, it's not true.
01:53Fightful Select killing this rumour dead.
01:55Sean Ross Sapp got his fireman's hose with the cold water in it.
01:58He saw the fire and he put it out quicker than fireman's sand.
02:02Bella Lasagna could never have prepared dinner entirely.
02:06She ran the restaurant.
02:07Norman!
02:08Norman, yeah.
02:10Postman Pat, he was there too.
02:12But, yeah, here's Sean's answer, right?
02:14He was asked about it in a Q&A on Fightful Select.
02:16The question was,
02:18Do you think that LA Knight could be in trouble for holding the sign?
02:21The answer, the first word of the answer is no.
02:23So, no.
02:25Even if he was, what are they going to do?
02:27Make him lose two matches a night instead of one?
02:30They're paying the guy good money and swimming upstream to avoid pushing him.
02:33He's still stayed over no matter what.
02:35He's certainly not going to get in trouble for holding a sign regarding a guy he's had a programme with on WWE TV.
02:41He and Kayfabe, yeah, does not like.
02:44Yeah, so you can put this one to bed.
02:46Don't put it to bed because it will set fire to your bed because it's heat.
02:50But, yeah, it's a load of rubbish.
02:51Yeah, I like to think I'm a kind of nice, chill guy.
02:55But I got really angry with what I described on the Raw Review podcast as the thickos.
03:01The thickos and the sickos.
03:03Yeah, with regards to this, because I was astonished with two things coming out of this week's Raw.
03:08So, number one, people were like, oh, Logan Paul is the first challenger to CM Punk.
03:13No, it's War Games.
03:15He's in the War Games team because War Games is coming up.
03:19Come on.
03:19Logan Paul in the Vision.
03:20No, he's aligning with the Vision.
03:23He's not a part of the Vision.
03:24He's not the new Seth Rollins.
03:25Come on, guys.
03:26And then, yeah, this.
03:27So, yeah, as Andy mentioned, on last week's Raw, they had the Jey Uso sign that he picked up.
03:31Then, no sign of LA Knight this week.
03:33And people were like, oh, I didn't see CM Punk mention him in the banger matches he could have as world champion.
03:42Do I really have to explain it?
03:43Is this me?
03:44Even I got this, guys.
03:47He doesn't like LA Knight in storyline.
03:49He doesn't like LA Knight.
03:51So, why would he be like, tell me who I want to face with this world title, LA Knight?
03:55This guy I hate.
03:56Yeah.
03:57He wasn't on telly because he lost the match.
03:59Brom Breaker won.
04:00Brom Breaker, in his head, is the number one contender for the world title.
04:04So, why would LA Knight be out there being like, yeah, I know I lost, but can I have a title shot?
04:09And number three, the whole other reason why CM Punk didn't mention his name is because they don't only dislike each other,
04:16but they're going to have to eventually develop a relationship because inevitably, I think, LA Knight's going to be on CM Punk's War Games team.
04:23Yeah.
04:24Really?
04:25Yeah.
04:25Do we have to explain this?
04:26Come on.
04:27It's crazy.
04:28He held a sign, for Christ's sake.
04:31It's mental.
04:32It's like, I don't know, we seem to be going back to an era where it's like, oh, because this person is not the world champion, they're getting buried or whatever, right?
04:39I think that this is born from the same issue as people go, ah, Sammy Hogan, Sammy Zayn Hogan, Becky Hogan over here, a person I don't like wins matches, therefore they are Hulk Hogan.
04:52It's ridiculous.
04:53It's ridiculous.
04:54Look, not everybody gets to be the big dog at once, man.
04:56No.
04:57The top champion in your promotion should be the person you can do the best business with, who's the most over, and will help drive the company forward.
05:04And I, sorry, carry on.
05:05That's why it's been Cody Rhodes on SmackDown for so long, that's why they have perceived it to be CM Punk right now, right?
05:11Is LA Knight that person?
05:13Can he be that person?
05:14Maybe, maybe, in the future, but right now, I don't think the fact that somebody else is the world champion and somebody else is the chosen challenger, or was, after Saturday night's main event, is a really big problem.
05:25He's on TV every week.
05:27People love when the music hits and they can go, yeah, like 4,000 of them or however many people are at the Bowman show.
05:33It's fine.
05:33He's fine.
05:34It's sort of emblematic, isn't it, of the reactionary nature of, well, wrestling fans nowadays, but particularly like wrestling fans on social media, of like,
05:43I know I'm the boy who cried, let it play out, a little bit too much, some might say, but, like, it is astonishing sometimes that, yeah, this is a week-to-week story that they build, you know, for the, let's say, monthly pay-per-view.
05:54So things are going to have to go back and forth.
05:56It's like people back in the day going, ah, Vince is punishing Stone Cold Steve Austin.
06:01Well, I'm going to have to turn this episode to roar off before it finishes, not allowing it even to get to the point where he gets a stunner, which happened every single week, it seemed like.
06:09It's just, guys, like, and also, as we're going to get to the point where he gets a stunner, which happened every single week, it seemed like.
06:12As we've said on multiple occasions, I think, personally, the fun with LA Knight is in the chase.
06:18Like, I have no arguments about him becoming world champion, I think it should happen, I think it will happen as well.
06:23I think this groundswell of support, and there's a little bit of WWE leaning against it, like they have done previously, like, oh, you want this?
06:28We're not going to give it yet.
06:29Oh, no, we want it even more.
06:31Yeah.
06:31But, yeah, I think people are getting a little bit carried away being, like, one week of no LA Knight, well, guess he's getting fired.
06:37Yeah, exactly.
06:38Oh, they gave him the week off, buried, absolutely buried.
06:40Normalize people taking random weeks off, man, it's fine.
06:44Yeah, I agree.
06:45He'll be back next Monday.
06:46He'll probably have a promo that everyone will love.
06:48It's fine.
06:49Or maybe not, maybe he'll be pursuing a different career or a different wrestling promotion, a bit like Drew McIntyre almost did.
06:54Um, so, Vince Russo publicly invited Drew McIntyre to perform for Juggalo Championship Wrestling.
07:08There's a reason why we didn't lead with that name in the beginning.
07:10This is, yeah.
07:11Yeah, it's not happening.
07:15But this also gives us a nice chance to sort of reiterate Drew's contract status within WWE because Fightful checked up on all this.
07:22You remember back in 2024, there was that fun storyline where he's like, I'm going to do what CM Punk did.
07:26I'm going to leave with the world title.
07:28And then The Rock ruined it all by giving him a sword and being like, you're definitely sticking around with the company for a few more years.
07:32Remember that?
07:33Well, yes, Fightful Select gained some more specifics around Drew's deal.
07:39Millions of dollars per year, quite right.
07:42There's two and a half years left on it, which would carry him all the way into 2028 when we'll have flying cars.
07:50Yeah, no specifics, but he's going to carry him until WrestleMania in 2028, which will probably be in Saudi, let's be perfectly honest.
07:56Yeah, they all will be.
07:58Fun fact, though, I like this from Fightful.
08:00Drew said he wanted to work Juggalo Championship Wrestling in his indie days.
08:04It just never ended up happening.
08:06I sense now he's been a former world champion within WWE.
08:09That's less likely.
08:10Yeah, I would say so.
08:12I think Vince Russo's time to book Drew McIntyre for Juggalo Championship Wrestling has probably passed.
08:20Who's your favorite Juggalo Championship Wrestling guy ever?
08:23Is it Fat F*** Barrel Boy?
08:25What is that his name?
08:26There's a guy called Fat F*** Barrel Boy.
08:28Sorry.
08:29Sorry, Ryan.
08:30I'm not sure if he still kicks about or if he's still barreling around, but yeah, that was good.
08:35I think he's the first one I've ever heard of, so I'll go with that one.
08:38Yeah.
08:38But if we're doing this, if Vince is going to do that, I'm not going to say his full name again.
08:42It was a horrible taste in my mouth when I said it the first time.
08:47What can we do?
08:48Taylor Swift, you're more than welcome to join us on the What Calls Wrestling channel or for a watch-along or whatever.
08:54Yeah, yeah.
08:55Mr. Beast.
08:56Hey, by the way, if Insane Clown Posse want to come on the show, they're more than welcome.
09:00They want to do the news.
09:02Listen, listen, Violent J, man, that guy, that guy was like in Japan a couple of years ago doing the death match and stuff.
09:08Legends.
09:08Why don't one day we take the day off and people will be like, oh my God, have Andy and Adam got heat?
09:13And, you know, you can...
09:16I was off last week.
09:17I must be getting buried by the channel I run.
09:20You can have one of the Juggalos present it alongside Jim Cornette.
09:22People have watched that, haven't they?
09:24Violent J and Jim Cornette.
09:25Is that not what J stands for in Violent J?
09:28Violent Jim Cornette.
09:29Violent Jim.
09:30There you go.
09:32I don't know.
09:32This is just fun and weird.
09:35I think Juggalos are a really interesting subculture.
09:38They sure are.
09:39I think it's actually quite cool that ICP have built this thing where it's sort of...
09:43voted and so, like, crazy and so...
09:47Like, they have this gathering of the Juggalos music festival every year.
09:51It looks completely depraved, right?
09:53Did he have our ex-colleagues used to be, what?
09:56Yes, he did.
09:57He did.
09:57He kept that one quiet.
09:58He did.
09:59He went to see ICP, I believe, in Newcastle.
10:01Yeah.
10:02Here.
10:02And they were a former developer that worked with us.
10:04And they were throwing bits of chicken around.
10:06Like, they just got a bucket of chicken and started throwing it out.
10:09But yeah, shout out to Jack and Jobber.
10:11It wasn't him.
10:12It wasn't him.
10:12It wasn't him.
10:13Calm down, shout out to Jack and Jobber.
10:14He might be a Juggalo.
10:15I don't know, man.
10:16Who knows?
10:16No hate on the Juggalos.
10:17I'm deciding who my favourite Juggalo was, by the way.
10:19Juice Bigalow.
10:20Juice Bigalow.
10:21Male Juggalow.
10:21That's the film starring Bob Schneider.
10:26I mean, he's got some takes, hasn't he, nowadays, that boy?
10:28Does he?
10:29Oh, boy.
10:30What's he done?
10:30I'll tell you.
10:31All right.
10:31Okay.
10:32All right.
10:32Get him in the bin.
10:35Let's talk about a little bit of a thing that went wrong from this week's Raw.
10:39The opening segment went 10 minutes too long, right?
10:42This is according to Brian Alvarez.
10:4410 minutes longer than it was expected to, and this led to a bunch of scrambling with the
10:49rest of the show.
10:50So, yeah, I mean, look, it was one of those classic moving parts segments where guy comes
10:56out, CM Punk, another guy comes out, another guy comes out, another guy comes out, tag team
11:01main event is coming.
11:03It was actually, I did like-
11:04It's probably a new landscape of WWE, don't you know?
11:06Yeah, this is it.
11:07I put a really sarcastic tweet out on Monday because there was that Triple H comment, it's
11:14a new landscape in WWE.
11:15So, I quote tweeted it like an asshole, not thinking it would come true.
11:20I went, a 10-minute video package opens and a guy comes to the ring, interrupted by a guy
11:25coming to the ring and interrupted by another guy coming to the ring.
11:28Then there's a tag team match, impromptu main event, and then the Miz is backstage doing
11:32a face.
11:33And that's pretty much exactly what happened.
11:35The new landscape thing, it's like, I think we're at the point to where this is the WWE
11:40equivalent of Tony Khan's huge announcements, this.
11:43Yeah.
11:43If Triple H says, the new landscape, it's not, it's bull.
11:48Yeah, I suppose, I saw someone saying, well, the new landscape was about the fact that Jade's
11:54champion now and Punk's champion now.
11:56Sure, sure.
11:56I think a lot of us read it as like, oh, maybe you're actually making some actual changes.
12:00But no, some things never change.
12:03I have a question, because I saw this from Brian Alvarez, nothing on Brian Alvarez, of course,
12:07love the guy.
12:07But like, you're a Netflix show.
12:11You've got no hard out.
12:12Yeah.
12:12Like, what are you panicking for?
12:13It's running a little bit long, man.
12:14You know, like, I get it.
12:15When it's like an episode of Dynamite or Smackdown or whatever it might be, that is a hard two
12:19hour, right, I know you can do a bit of an overrun, but we want to try and cram this in.
12:24Surely on Netflix, I mean, don't take the piss and please don't go any longer.
12:27Yeah, I don't want five hours.
12:28But you're not there going, oh my God, we need to cut 15 minutes from the main event
12:31or whatever.
12:31Yeah.
12:31I also did enjoy the Hurricanes response to that tweet, by the way, or that thing.
12:34I didn't see that.
12:35He basically said, like, it was chaos backstage, flicks flying everywhere, we can't believe
12:39it.
12:40It was a literal hurricane.
12:41So, yeah, I think it may have ran longer, because it's one of those things when the person
12:47first comes out after winning a title, and the fans want to be like, yay, and they've
12:50got some things they have to say to set things up going forward.
12:53I think it often takes longer than promoters may realise.
12:56But, yeah, it's funny to be like, shh, what do we do?
13:01What do we do?
13:02Yeah, I like the idea of these millionaires running around like headless chickens.
13:07It's reassuring, isn't it?
13:08Because I'm someone who's terrible at time management.
13:10I'm sensational at time management, so I can't relate to this at all.
13:15Never.
13:16But Triple H's tweet, did you see the Jay Stansfield tweet the other week?
13:20No.
13:21That somebody did about Birmingham City.
13:23The new landscape, because it's such gibberish.
13:25I'll read this tweet to you, right?
13:27Try and decipher this, because I have no idea what he's trying to say.
13:32Jay Stansfield, for context, is a striker for Birmingham City Football Club in the English
13:36Championship.
13:37Jay Stansfield confirms the Blues are there where once they are dead.
13:42They became the first ever to have the first, as in the era of that when of the Championship
13:46football began.
13:47Congratulations, Jay.
13:49It's a new landscape.
13:51That's grok to write a tweet for you.
13:54What does that even flipping mean?
13:55It does.
13:55And that's like early AI, where they didn't really know what it was doing.
13:59That bit in the middle.
14:00They became the first ever to have the first, as in the era of that when Championship football
14:04began.
14:05What are you talking about?
14:07I reckon that's basically, when we talk about English football, British football, that's
14:13what it sounds like to our American viewers.
14:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:16They're like, there's no difference now.
14:17The first ever to which they began the football.
14:20Good stuff.
14:21It's a new landscape.
14:22Tom Brady's still at the Blues.
14:24Yeah, he's playing centre mid out here.
14:25Get him in.
14:26Yeah, he's useless.
14:27See, I see he cloned his dog.
14:28I'm getting off topic.
14:29It doesn't matter.
14:30All right.
14:30Well, we've got some research to do after this.
14:32Sounds good.
14:33Right.
14:34We've got to switch gears a little bit now, because I've got a rubbish story to finish
14:37on.
14:38Surrounding Rich Holler.
14:39Look, disregarding how you feel about the person.
14:41I think we can all agree that the situation he's in right now is terrible, because he posted
14:46on social media.
14:47We reported a while back, of course, that WWE, they'd released him, but they were still
14:50making sure that they paid his medical bills and what have you.
14:53But he wasn't making any money.
14:54They were just covering the cost, basically.
14:56And yeah, horrible to read this on social media yesterday.
15:00And Ridge tweeting, I never thought, Luke Menzies, I should give him his real name,
15:04really, shouldn't I?
15:05I never thought I'd not be able to pay my mortgage.
15:08I feel like I've just been hung out to dry after getting injured, working for another company
15:12on behalf of WWE.
15:13Add to that, my contract not being renewed, knowing that I wouldn't be able to wrestle
15:17for seven months.
15:18This is brutal.
15:19Yes, they are taking care of the surgery and physical therapy, but let's be honest,
15:22that is the bare minimum after what was sacrificed for the company, plus the possibility of having
15:27to get my net fused to talk about getting totally effed, says Luke.
15:34So look, yeah, this isn't tribal, isn't anything like that, where this person was in WWE, AEW,
15:42anywhere.
15:43It's a really rough time, and I hate to hear this, and some fans have been just bell-ends,
15:48basically, online about this.
15:49Look, disregard how you feel about Ridge Holland, whatever.
15:53You shouldn't be, I agree, you shouldn't be just left like this, of like, yeah, yeah,
15:57we'll pay for your surgeries, but day-to-day costs, nah.
16:00Yeah, well.
16:01He can't do anything, but he might have his neck fused, he can't work for seven months
16:04or whatever.
16:05It's a total disgrace.
16:07The treatment of this man is a complete and utter disgrace.
16:10And he's not the only one this has happened to, as you mentioned.
16:12No, it doesn't matter what the company's initials are, and it doesn't matter if he wrestles
16:16like Will Ospreay or if he wrestles like Gilberg.
16:20That is completely immaterial, and people are just complete jerks about this stuff online.
16:27Look, the fact of the matter is that the people who held the power in professional wrestling
16:32have these clauses in these contracts of these independent contractors that allows them
16:36to add time on due to injury.
16:38They selectively use this to restrict wrestlers' opportunities to work elsewhere when they don't
16:43want to let them go, and they don't want them to jump ship and be an asset to another company.
16:47However, when a wrestler actually needs help, when a wrestler is in a situation where they
16:52have wrecked their body working for the company, and they have this recovery time, and they're
16:57going to be on the shelf, and if they let them go, they're not going to be able to earn
17:00for seven, eight months, whatever the period is.
17:03Magically, they choose not to exercise this clause.
17:05It would have cost WWE a drop in the ocean.
17:09Yeah, it's nothing.
17:10Absolutely nothing.
17:11They would not have noticed the value at all if they'd just helped Ridge Holland through
17:16this process.
17:16If they paid him while he was there, he was still able to make his payments on his flipping
17:20house, for goodness sake.
17:22The treatment of this man is an absolute disgrace, and I hope that karma bites the ass
17:27of the person who made this call really hard.
17:30Yeah, it gives me flashbacks to when they were releasing people.
17:33I know they didn't renew his contract, he wasn't released, but you know what I mean.
17:35Yeah.
17:36It's like when they released people in the pandemic.
17:39Yeah, exactly.
17:40It's like, if anything, you're saving money by not taking the show on the road, but you're
17:44like, no, we need to cut more costs, come on guys, you're billion dollar companies.
17:48Yeah.
17:49The guy's injured as well.
17:50Obviously, the company policy was we don't release injured people.
17:53Yeah.
17:54What?
17:55What happened then?
17:56What happened then?
17:57TKO.
17:58Yeah, exactly.
17:59It's even more brutal, like you say.
18:00It was bad enough back then.
18:01Now with TKO, there is just no heart to this whatsoever.
18:04Here's the facts about this company's ownership.
18:07These people are sharks.
18:08The only thing that the people running this company care about is the bottom line, the green
18:12or the red number.
18:13They can squeeze more money out of it.
18:14Exactly.
18:15What they've done here is they've looked at Ridge Holland's salary and went, oh, well,
18:18we can't use him for seven months.
18:20Off you go.
18:21We won't renew you.
18:22When it would have been really simple for them to just press a button and extend his
18:25contract through this period.
18:26And then after he's recovered, right, still harsh letting him go, obviously.
18:31But after he's recovered, you can have a more civil conversation to where it's like,
18:35well, we don't think we're going to use you here or on the main roster.
18:37It's best if we part ways.
18:39Doing that while the man is injured is rotten.
18:41Especially as he was injured while working on a flipping show that he wasn't even paid
18:46for, reportedly, on top of his NXT deal, of course.
18:50It sucks.
18:51It's bad.
18:52It's awful.
18:53And look, I have no interest in any bootlicking arguments against this.
18:56I don't care.
18:57It's not tribal, like you say.
18:58No.
18:59I mean, this is just brutal.
19:00And look, I don't like it when AEW extended Ray Phoenix's contract.
19:04I don't like it when anyone is beholden to a company against their wishes.
19:07This is a pro worker channel.
19:08This has been a pro worker channel for years and years and years and years.
19:11And I think it is appalling the way this man, frankly appalling, the way this man has been
19:17treated.
19:18And hey, cool, they're paying for his surgery.
19:21That's the bare minimum they should be doing.
19:22Yeah.
19:23If you can, if you can spare any money, do go and support him because obviously it's just
19:26a horrible position for him to be in.
19:28And don't, yeah, don't be one of those dickheads online who dunks on him for this situation
19:32that he's in.
19:33He obviously made this not out of, well, he made it out of frustration, but also out of
19:36desperation.
19:37He can't pay his mortgage.
19:38Yeah.
19:39It's brutal.
19:40It's awful.
19:41I wish that on anyone.
19:42No, absolutely not.
19:43So, yeah.
19:44Cool.
19:45Corporatization is going really well in pro wrestling in 2025.
19:49Yeah.
19:50Great.
19:51Thanks for joining us today.
19:52We'll have more later on.
19:53But check out the video on your screen right now.
19:54What are we going to put here?
19:55Let's go to a year that sucked.
19:572005.
19:58The worst moments from 2005.
19:59Yeah.
20:00There you go.
20:01Bit of light watching.
20:02It was 20 years ago.
20:03It's fine.
20:04Bye.
20:05Bye.
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