00:22I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.
00:51I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.
01:00And I am a macho-finally savage.
01:04Shut the mouth, you thong-wearing fatty.
01:06It's me, Austin.
01:08Whoa!
01:09Bang!
01:10My Austin podcast.
01:13Jacob5-2 is all gas.
01:16No breaks with it.
01:18Y'all are made.
01:20Spawn.
01:22Who?
01:23Who?
01:25Who?
01:26I said WWE stands for...
01:32Promotional consideration paid for by the following.
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02:25Hello, everybody, and welcome to this episode of the Fro Wrestling Podcast.
02:28If you've got questions, comments, something you want us to talk about in a future episode,
02:32you gotta let me know by calling it Fro Wrestling Sound Offline, 267-642-1160.
02:38Give us those questions and comments, and I will get to those in a future episode.
02:41Tonight, the United States Justice Department on the Fro Wrestling Podcast.
02:45Well, sort of.
02:46We're talking about the U.S. Justice Department approving the Paramount Skydance takeover of AEW's parent company,
02:53Warner Brothers Discovery.
02:54This is a massive, massive, massive decision.
02:58This clears a lot of the pathway to being able to make the merger happen.
03:02It is a $111 billion merger that is taking place where Warner Brothers Discovery is going to hopefully be taken
03:10over by Paramount.
03:11And this is a huge thing for the entertainment world in general, but also for AEW fans.
03:17Tony Khan very confident that once this deal gets done,
03:20that they will have an ongoing partnership with the new parent company, Paramount.
03:23I'm not sure if they'll change and have some big name, like, you know, WB and Endeavor merge to make
03:28TKO.
03:30I'm not sure if they'll just stick with Paramount or whatever.
03:32But Politico confirmed that the merger can take place without requiring any divestures, behavioral remedies or concessions,
03:39and that the transaction wouldn't pose a threat to either competition or American consumers.
03:46There was an open letter signed by 5,500 people who were opposed to it against the merger,
03:53complaining that it was going to reduce competition in the entertainment space, less jobs, higher prices for the average consumer.
03:59And some of the people who signed that paper, Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, big names in Hollywood.
04:05But Paramount Skydance are now one step closer to securing that deal and making it happen.
04:10Now, in terms of AEW, we don't really know for sure what's going to happen,
04:14but you would think one of their highest rated programs would be pretty safe to go after the merger.
04:20I'm fairly confident it will be.
04:21Tony Khan is also very optimistic that under the Paramount Warner Brothers umbrella,
04:25that they'll be able to move forward in the future.
04:27If not, I mean, there'd be a string of other networks that would line up to grab it.
04:32There was somewhat of a bidding war.
04:34Netflix was one of the companies that was also trying to make the purchase, and that did not work out.
04:39It looks like this is going to be the one.
04:41And very exciting for some people in the business world.
04:44Scary for others in the wrestling world in some ways.
04:46But like I said, I'm pretty confident it will be all good.
04:48Now, what's really interesting to me is AEW, creatively speaking, for the most part,
04:54their episodes right now have been just absolute fire.
04:57They have been amazing.
04:59The action has been fantastic.
05:01The returns, the debuts, the quality of match, the people who have won who have been surprise winners, surprise losers.
05:08The Owen Hart Cup has been phenomenal.
05:10There's been so much going on.
05:11But, you know, to echo the sentiment of Bully Ray from Busted Open this week,
05:16where he spoke about the booking of the Death Riders, he is just confused.
05:20As a matter of fact, I have a quote here.
05:21He says,
05:22I'm past the point of caring, giving a flying rat's ass, or wanting to understand.
05:27The former multi-time tag team champion said that every week it's something different.
05:31I want you to emotionally connect with me, not toy with my emotions as opposed to,
05:36am I supposed to like these guys or not?
05:38Pick a direction and stick with it.
05:39They're just not doing it.
05:41And I have to agree with him a bit.
05:42Like, when you have the Death Riders being so violent and horrible bad guys,
05:46then they're, you know, trying to murder Daniel Bryan before he retired.
05:50And then you go to things like recently helping Will Ospreay, almost a babyface take on things,
05:56to then trying to uphold this heelish character, then getting attacked by Shane Taylor Productions.
06:01It's all too much.
06:03It's just too much.
06:04It's like a ping pong ball or a yo-yo.
06:07I don't know if the good guys, bad guys, good guys, bad guys.
06:09And by the way, I saw a report this week about Jon Moxley going back to WWE.
06:12That's been debunked.
06:13Many of the rumors that are out there this week have been debunked.
06:16Moxley's not going anywhere.
06:17Randy Orton's not retiring.
06:19You know, stuff like that.
06:20CM Punk is not, you know, getting fired.
06:22He's not asking for a release.
06:23He's not getting his money cut.
06:25All that stuff is ridiculous.
06:26Can we move past all the stupid reports?
06:28Let's get on to some more important ones.
06:30Backstage report on the chances of AEW superstar Kota Ibushi returning to the ring.
06:34He had been injured last year on collision.
06:36He had a couple surgeries.
06:37They said he was going to be out until the end of 2026.
06:40It is getting increasingly more likely that that match with Josh Alexander may be his last
06:45one for the foreseeable future.
06:47They're talking about how his goal was the end of 2026, but after turning 44 years old
06:51a few weeks ago, he admitted that a comeback doesn't seem likely right now, and he's kind
06:56of refocused.
06:56It says he's turned his sights to another goal, buying a new wrestling venue in Japan.
07:02And he's, as silly as it may sound, I know there's some videos online of him doing some
07:06very comedic stuff.
07:07It kind of sounds silly, but he's taking on odd jobs to earn the money to be able to do
07:11this.
07:12Dave Meltzer reported about his chances of returning to the ring in the latest newsletter for the
07:16Wrestling Observer.
07:17He said, quote, although Ibushi is currently focused on a new wrestling venue, he hasn't
07:21given up hope about returning to wrestling.
07:24Meltzer has heard that Ibushi hopes to return to the ring by the end of 2026, but the writer
07:28believes that that could be a tall task.
07:32Another quote we have here says, those close to him say that they believe he has every intention
07:36of trying to return, but he worries that his balanced lateral movement, change of direction,
07:40et cetera, might not come back.
07:42He has not given up on a comeback, but did want to temper expectations.
07:45It will be coming soon.
07:47That's what Meltzer had to say.
07:48He has been documenting his jobs to earn the money to buy the new venue on Instagram.
07:53Some of the things he's done is being a Mahjong parlor worker and appearing on a radio show.
08:00Very strange, almost like game show-esque, but I actually hope he makes it back.
08:06Kota Ibushi, underappreciated, super talented, just horrible injury bug for that guy, and
08:11hopefully we get to see him back in a ring sooner rather than later.
08:15Another superstar I'd love to see in a major promotions ring, Killer Cross, Karrion Kross,
08:19whatever you want to call him.
08:20He departed WWE last August.
08:22He was on the Ariel Helwani show, and he had made it clear he has not heard from Triple H
08:27at all since he left WWE, but he has spoken to AEW president Tony Khan.
08:33The quote here says, I have tremendous amount of respect for Tony.
08:36He knows that.
08:37I prefer to keep those conversations private out of respect for Tony and myself.
08:41He went on to say, Kross told Ariel Helwani that he thinks the door is still open to AEW
08:46and believes it's always been open to him.
08:48He explained that while he didn't have a non-compete clause in WWE, he still couldn't have shown
08:53up in AEW the day following his departure.
08:56His quote says, I was booked all the way out into the new year, he said.
08:59I filled up my schedule immediately, and I'm very serious about my commitments.
09:03The only time I'm ever going to pull out of a commitment is if there's something going
09:06on in my family or something's wrong with me.
09:08I'm not one of those guys that wants to drop a title or go missing because a big opportunity
09:12comes up.
09:13I have so much respect for him saying that.
09:15The current MLW champion is also a former NXT champion, but he said if everything aligns
09:22with his schedule, he thinks anything is possible in terms of AEW.
09:26And why wouldn't we want to see him there?
09:27Where Tony might actually use him to his fullest capability, something WWE clearly never got
09:32around to doing.
09:32And right when it seemed like they were about to, and he was organically getting over with
09:35the crowd, his contract doesn't get renewed, and he's just gone.
09:39Sad, sad booking on WWE's part, and it shows how their creative really doesn't know what
09:42they're doing sometimes.
09:43The last tidbit for tonight, Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, owned by Scott DeMora, who was brought
09:48back after he left TNA, after he was unceremoniously shown the door there.
09:52They announced in February that they had a partnership with CMLL, and then in April, they did a show
09:58in Las Vegas during the weekend of WrestleMania 42, and when they were there, they said that
10:02they were going to debut a television series called MLP Mayhem.
10:06And it was going to debut on Canada's TSN beginning next month.
10:10Well, the date has been announced.
10:11Mayhem will premiere on July 15th, 12 o'clock a.m. on TSN 2.
10:17It's going to air weekly.
10:18The first season will last 12 weeks.
10:20Mauro Ranallo and Don Callis are going to be the guys calling the action.
10:25So it should be very exciting to see another televised product coming to a major network.
10:31You know, if you have access to the channel, if not, use your, get a VPN, get a Nord VPN.
10:37I'm not even paid by these guys, but get a VPN and stream it somehow.
10:41But because Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, if you look at the shows they've been putting on,
10:45the talent pool, the quality of the matches, and the unique matchups have been amazing.
10:51Some of the other talent on the show, Giselle Shaw, Stu Grayson.
10:54You had people like Johnny TV, PCO, Rhino.
10:58They're all going to be there.
11:00So it should be a really, really interesting debut.
11:03Gama Singh will be there.
11:05Jonathan Gresham is going to be there.
11:07I'm trying to think who else.
11:08TJ P is going to be on the show.
11:11Rohan Raja is going to be there.
11:12So a lot of people to be excited about seeing.
11:15And I'm just thrilled for Maple Leaf Pro that they're getting an opportunity to do this.
11:19That's all the time we have for this episode.
11:21Check back with us next episode.
11:22We've run down the latest wrestling news and rumors.
11:23Special thanks, as always, to Suno for creating the music and sound effects we use in our show.
11:27Today's show is sponsored in part by Beazle Games.
11:29Bring a new friend to Family Game Night.
11:30It's easy with sketchy people.
11:33Showcase your artistic side in this game from Beazle Games by going to thegamecrafter.com
11:36and picking up your copy today.
11:38If you're looking for your next career move, you're considering college or university life,
11:41maybe you just need some formal training for your next career decision,
11:43go to our website at frolifeplanning.com for all your higher education needs
11:47as Fro Life Educational Planning is for today, for tomorrow, and for life
11:51with Fro Life.
11:52I'm Fred Froelich, better known as Dr. Fro.
11:54I want to thank you so much for taking some time with us today.
11:56Until next time, take care, everybody.
11:58Have a great night.
11:58I want to thank you so much for the rest of the world.
12:05We'll see you next time.
12:06Bye.
12:06Bye.
12:08Bye.
12:11Bye.
12:22So, bye.
12:27Bye.
12:27Bye.
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