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In this episode, we discuss AEW Dynamite Blood and Guts performance head to head against WWE NXT. The Hardys sign with WWE. Another TNA departure in the near future?

All of this and the rest of the day’s news and rumors are covered in this episode of the Fro Wrestling Podcast!

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Transcript
00:00Hey yo, Fro Wrestling Podcast listeners, welcome to the show where we don't sing it, we bring
00:05it.
00:05Help us out, click subscribe to show your support.
00:09This episode, we are talking the Hardy Boys, new contracts that they have just signed with
00:14WWE, another superstar may be leaving TNA Wrestling, and how did AEW Dynamite Blood and
00:20Guts do going head-to-head with the stacked WWE NXT show?
00:25We're going to get into all that in a few moments, but for now, listen to some tunes.
00:29I'll be right back with you.
00:52I got 141 and two-thirds chance of winning at Sacrifice.
00:59Wrestling Podcast has gone as my witness, he is broken in half!
01:04And you are just a buck-toothed netho baby who ate dog food for a weird old man.
01:11Yeah!
01:12Just when they think they got the answers, I change the questions.
01:17Did he do it?
01:18Cover!
01:20Oh, and a kick-out!
01:22Unbelievable!
01:23I will never repair!
01:26Turned too hot to handle and too cold, though.
01:30And I am a Macho King Mini Savage.
01:34Shut your mouth, you thong-wearing fatty!
01:36It's me, Austin!
01:38Whoa!
01:39Bang!
01:40Oh, Austin!
01:41Podcast!
01:42Jager 5-2 is all game!
01:46No breaks with it!
01:48Y'all are made!
01:505-2!
01:5350-4!
01:5550-4!
01:57I said WWE stands for!
02:005-2!
02:025-2!
02:03Promotional consideration paid for by the following.
02:07Hey, y'all!
02:08Welcome back to the show.
02:10I am Dr. Fro.
02:11Thank you so much for joining us tonight.
02:13Before we get into the wrestling news and rumors for the day, let's talk the important legal stuff.
02:19If you are sick and tired of dropping way too much cash, I'm talking about when you factor in character
02:24packs and expansions and all that,
02:26you could go over $100 a year sometimes for the latest and greatest wrestling video game.
02:30Put all that cash back in your pocket.
02:32Instead, head over to Wrestler Unstoppable.
02:35It is totally free.
02:37The website is app.wrestlerunstoppable.com.
02:40They'll let you sign up with an email or a Facebook account, and you could create a wrestler.
02:44Sign contracts, get into storylines, headline PLEs, even build your own corporation from the ground up.
02:49All included in Wrestler Unstoppable.
02:51It is totally free.
02:52And the really interesting thing for me and this show, if you go into that game and you look up
02:57Odin Maximus, that is my avatar,
02:59shoot me a message in-game and let me know that you're one of my listeners.
03:02I will be happy to send you some cash contract.
03:05It is, of course, game cash, to join my organization, Universal Wrestling Evolution,
03:10to help you get started in the game and get you your first deal.
03:13And when I talk about being able to customize your own company, I'm talking about divisions, championships,
03:18hiring, firing, booking matches, PLEs, all of it.
03:21Like I said, totally free.
03:22App.wrestlerunstoppable.com.
03:24If you want to become a member of the FRO Wrestling Podcast family, you want your name in the shout
03:28-outs,
03:28perhaps like John down in Texas.
03:30John, love giving you that shout-out, brother.
03:32If that's you, then the best way to do that is, one, head over to our Patreon page,
03:36patreon.com slash FRO Wrestling Podcast.
03:38If you want to just be a part of the podcast family, there's a way to do that.
03:42No cost, no obligation.
03:43There's a free tier.
03:44And if you sign up on the free tier, they will notify you every single time we put new content
03:48live,
03:49and that way you don't have to scroll through thousands of tabs that open up in every social media streaming
03:54platform.
03:54You can go right to the content you want to see.
03:56Pop right into our show.
03:58If you want to be a monetary donor to the show, we'd appreciate any support you can give.
04:02It helps keep the lights on.
04:03It helps us bring more content to you.
04:05That being said, any monetary donation, a dollar or higher, is going to get you into the shout-outs.
04:09If you want more than that, you want to potentially co-host with me on air, I would love to
04:15do that.
04:15We'll put an episode together based around your thoughts, your needs, the things you're totally into,
04:19and we could do that at the $15 a month tier or higher,
04:22and those people will be able to guarantee that opportunity.
04:26If you're at the $750 level, I will draw one $750 contributor each month to also co-host an episode
04:31with myself.
04:32And at the $25 level, there, not only are we going to co-host an episode,
04:36but we're also going to put together some Patreon-exclusive content episodes
04:40because that would be awesome to bring that to our Patreon members
04:43and give them something a little bit special.
04:45That being said, tonight, if you have questions, comments, concerns,
04:48something you want me to touch on in the future episode,
04:50the best way to get in touch with me about those things is one of two ways.
04:53Either the Fro Wrestling Sound Offline, 267-642-1160, talk-to-text service.
04:58Call in, talk what you want me to hear.
05:00It'll text it to me, and I can respond to that in a future episode.
05:03Or the faster, more expeditious way to get in touch with me is whatever streaming platform you're using,
05:09like, share, comment, and most importantly, subscribe.
05:12We need those subscribers to help the logarithm.
05:14But the comments are really important.
05:16Those comments come directly to me.
05:18I don't have to wait for any special report to come out.
05:21It'll tell me right away when you send a comment, and I can respond in real time.
05:25And if it's something you want to ask me, it's obviously important to you.
05:27If it's important to you, it's important to me because you guys are the reason we have a show.
05:31So if you have questions for me, I would love to get to those as fast as humanly possible.
05:35Tonight, let's talk about some TNA conversation.
05:38It ties into WWE just a little bit.
05:39The Hardy Boys.
05:41Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy have signed a new deal with WWE.
05:46Now, that sounds exciting, and of course, we would love to see them in WWE once again.
05:49This is not for a wrestling appearance.
05:52In doing an interview for Sports Geek to Wrestling, Matt Hardy revealed that he and his brother, Jeff Hardy,
05:57are going to be featured on the main roster edition of WWE 2K27.
06:02They were in 2K26 as, you know, downloadable characters you'd have to pay extra money for.
06:08This time, they're going to be in the main roster of the game, playable characters.
06:12And this is nothing new.
06:14We've seen WWE put together a huge, massive, expansive rosters in their game before.
06:18But it's nice to know you're not going to have to pay something extra to get the Hardy Boys.
06:23Obviously, that working relationship with TNA is a beautiful thing.
06:25It's allowing talents to be able to do stuff like this that I don't know that would be possible under
06:29different circumstances.
06:31I definitely don't think it would have happened under Vince McMahon whatsoever.
06:34So very cool stuff.
06:35Now, also on the TNA front, we've got to talk about there's been several departures over the last year.
06:41We have another one that is coming in the near future if they don't put something together soon.
06:44But according to a Fightful report, the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rich Swann is approaching the end of his
06:53current deal.
06:53And there is no sign that he'll be remaining with the company.
06:57They haven't discussed an extension.
06:58He's, you know, right now it's December 31st.
07:01His contract runs out.
07:02And if that date comes and goes, he is free to go wherever his heart desires.
07:06And let's be honest, he has done a great job in the time he's been in TNA.
07:09He's much more marketable now.
07:11He's put on some great matches.
07:13And I think he'd be a solid addition anywhere.
07:15Now, would he come back to WWE?
07:17I don't think so right now.
07:18One, the factors working against him include his age, his past history with the company, and things of that nature.
07:24But I could easily see him sliding himself into Ring of Honor or AEW.
07:28And I think those would be a very logical step for him if he decides to leave TNA at all.
07:33TNA has been very good to him, you know.
07:35So maybe he decides last minute to accept an offer.
07:38Maybe TNA is not interested.
07:39Maybe they want to turn the page.
07:40I don't know.
07:42But one thing I can say is this year, TNA Wrestling has taken a big chance several times, letting certain
07:48people walk and getting essentially nothing out of them after a certain point.
07:52And Rich Swann is a guy who's a talented worker.
07:54He can go in there and have matches with the biggest of guys and the smallest of guys.
07:58That's versatility that you really want to have on your roster.
08:01Not every person is going to be a world champion anymore.
08:03Not everybody is going to be, you know, in the title picture.
08:06But he is somebody who is a good hand, who can have great matches.
08:09And I really think if he does leave the promotion, that's not a good look for TNA, if I'm being
08:14completely honest.
08:15Moving on from TNA, let's go to AEW.
08:18This past week, AEW Dynamite Blood and Guts went head-to-head with a very stacked WWE NXT broadcast where
08:25WWE pulled out all the stops.
08:26I was listening to WrestleTalk News and I heard Luke Owen saying that he felt like NXT was very desperate.
08:34They pulled out all the stops.
08:35They had John Cena.
08:36They had Cody Rhodes.
08:38They had Paige.
08:39They had Kevin Owen show up in the final match.
08:41CM Punk.
08:42And when you put all that onto an NXT show, when you're going head-to-head with Dynamite, it makes
08:48it look like you are absolutely desperate to beat them in the ratings that particular week.
08:52But here's the problem.
08:53The numbers have come out.
08:55And AEW Dynamite Blood and Guts, they didn't just beat NXT.
08:59They thrashed NXT, pulling in 792,000 viewers, up 27.7% from previous week.
09:08And it's the highest-rated show since September 30th, which was the tribute episode to PAC.
09:13So this is huge.
09:15This is the second-highest audience since July of 2024.
09:18Big news for AEW.
09:20Congratulations to them getting a solid number.
09:22On the flip side, oh, and by the way, the key demo, the 18-49 demo, got a .24 rating,
09:28up 71.4% from the week prior.
09:32So, again, great stuff all the way around.
09:34Now, on the flip side, NXT, going head-to-head, they ended up garnering 552,000 viewers, 200,000 less.
09:43It's still a 6.2% increase from their previous week, but is the third-lowest audience since July 14th.
09:51So even though it's up from last week, last week wasn't wowing the world.
09:55You know what I'm saying?
09:55So they had a .13 rating in the 18-49 demo.
09:59That's up 44.4% from previous week.
10:01But, again, it wasn't a strong week that week either.
10:05So, you know, when you see WWE really trying to stack the card to go head-to-head with AEW,
10:11and then they come out and it's not a flop.
10:14552,000 people is not a flop.
10:15Heck, if TNA was getting that, they'd be doing cartwheels.
10:18But it's certainly not the 600,000 or 700,000 viewers that I think they probably expected with NXT knowing
10:26that John Cena was going to be there,
10:27knowing that Cody Rhodes was going to be there, knowing that Kevin Owens was going to be there, people like
10:31that.
10:31So, a little shocking, but at the end of the day, that just tells you something about the AEW product.
10:37We only got two matches on Dynamite, and that's all we needed, especially the women's blood and guts match.
10:43That was off the chain amazing, and the ratings bear that out.
10:46I mean, there are some people who may have been tuned into NXT and may have switched the channel when
10:50they heard how great blood and guts was going.
10:52So, again, all this counter-programming stuff, I don't know that it does a whole lot.
10:57Most people who are planning to watch AEW because of blood and guts still watched it.
11:01Most people who are planning to watch NXT probably still watched it.
11:04I don't know that anything shifted, and I love going back to the WrestleTalk.
11:07Luke Owen mentioned that he doesn't think, I think he mentioned that they could have put Jack Cartwheel in there
11:12against,
11:12I forget who he said the opponent would be, but it doesn't really matter, could have put anybody in there.
11:17And they probably would have drawn the exact same number, that they didn't need to do all this.
11:21It reeks of desperation, and I couldn't agree more.
11:24And I think that's what's scary about this counter-programming thing.
11:27Every time you do it and it's not successful, you put another feather in the cap of your opposition,
11:31and that's not something you want to do if you're WWE, trying to take your opponents out.
11:36Yesterday, we reported on New Japan Pro Wrestling shutting down the United States operations.
11:41They're also shutting down the U.S. Dojo.
11:44And word comes out today that Josh Barnett, if you don't know who Josh Barnett is,
11:48he is a former UFC fighter, and he's a pro wrestler.
11:51He does the blood sport shows and works for various other independents,
11:56and he made it clear that he wanted to run the New Japan Pro Wrestling Los Angeles Dojo,
12:01and that he was turned down for whatever reason.
12:03He made a bid to run the Dojo himself.
12:05It didn't come to fruition.
12:07And, you know, he really revealed that it was really a money thing,
12:10that they had lost quite a bit of money.
12:12It was a very expensive asset that they had.
12:14And, you know, with the right direction, he thought it could have been, he used the phrase,
12:18I think it's funny because of the weekend we're in,
12:19he said it could be a crown jewel for them.
12:22Unfortunately, the cost versus debt was so bad,
12:25it would seem that closing it was the best move in their eyes or what could have been.
12:29And I couldn't agree more.
12:30I think Josh Barnett has proven with his blood sport faction that he has a lot that he can offer.
12:35And let's be honest, the American Dojo, there's a lot of, like, premium names who have gone through there,
12:41and now, you know, talent like that is not going to have all the same opportunities they've had previously.
12:48People like Clark Connors have gone through there,
12:51and Gabe Kidd, and Katsuyori Shibata was actually the first lead trainer there and whatnot.
12:57There's just been so many people have gone through there, and now it's one less place that they have to
13:02get ready.
13:02And that Japanese strong style thing, really, it was taking hold, I think, in a lot of ways in the
13:07United States,
13:07and now that's not going to be the case going forward.
13:10So it's kind of a shame.
13:11I understand it from a business perspective.
13:13It's just kind of, it sucks whenever we see any promotion go out.
13:16And here's the thing.
13:17It's not that New Japan is not still going to do shows in North America.
13:20They're going to do far less.
13:21They're going to be, you know, it's basically sponsored by the main parent company,
13:24but many of their North American exploits now are going to be focused on the partnership with AEW,
13:31which I'm fine with that if AEW really respects New Japan and starts putting some of their talent over,
13:36which doesn't seem to happen very often.
13:38So not sure how this is going to play out long term.
13:41In the comments down below, let me know what you think.
13:44What would you have done?
13:44Do you think Josh Barnett would have been a good addition to New Japan, United States, New Japan, America,
13:49and try to keep that thing running?
13:51What do you think of the Matt and Jeff Hardy signing that new contract with WWE to be a lead
13:56talent in their main roster for 2K27?
14:00You know, do you think this leads to a return at some point?
14:02Let me know in the comments down below.
14:04I'd love to hear from you.
14:05I will respond as soon as I get notified.
14:07But until next time, that's all the time we have for this episode.
14:10Check back with us next time when we run down the latest wrestling news and rumors.
14:13Special thanks as always to Suno for creating the music and sound effects we use on our show.
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15:13If you're looking for your next career decision, you're considering college, university life,
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15:28I'm Fred Froelich, better known as Dr. Fro.
15:30I want to thank you for taking some time with us today.
15:32Until next time, take care, everybody.
15:33Have a great night.
16:03I want to thank you for joining us today.
16:37We'll see you next time.
16:39We'll see you next time.

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