WWE WrestleMania 40 Match Card Chaos, Record Low AEW Collision Rating! | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

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What matches do you think will happen at WrestleMania 40? Let us know in the comments! 10 Worst Wrestling Entrance Themes | Tables, Lists & Chairs  https://youtu.be/GM49vJchVt8 More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/ 0:00 - Coming up... 0:19 - Multiple WrestleMania Changes 3:30 - Real Reason For Seth Rollins’ Promo 7:35 - WWE Raw Ratings Good, AEW Collision Ratings Bad 9:08 - Okada To WWE Confirmed? 11:19 - WWE & TNA Update WWE WrestleMania 40 Match Card Chaos, Record Low AEW Collision Rating! | WrestleTalk #WWE #WrestlingNews #WrestleTalk #WWERAW #AEW  Subscribe to WrestleTalk Podcasts   https://bit.ly/3pEAEIu Subscribe to partsFUNknown for lists, fantasy booking & more  https://bit.ly/32JJsCv Subscribe to NoRollsBarred  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UQPZe-8v4_UP1uxi4Mv6A Subscribe to WrestleTalk  https://bit.ly/3gKdNK3 SUBSCRIBE TO THEM ALL! Make sure to enable ALL push notifications!  Watch the latest wrestling news: https://shorturl.at/pAIV3 Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   Follow WrestleTalk: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_WrestleTalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WrestleTalk.Official Patreon: https://goo.gl/2yuJpo WrestleTalk Podcast on iTunes: https://goo.gl/7advjX WrestleTalk Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3uKx6HD  Written by: Luke Owen Presented by: Luke Owen Thumbnail by: Brandon Syres Image Sourcing by: Brandon Syres  About WrestleTalk: Welcome to the official WrestleTalk YouTube channel! WrestleTalk covers the sport of professional wrestling - including WWE TV shows (both WWE Raw & WWE SmackDown LIVE), PPVs (such as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania & SummerSlam), AEW All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, ROH, New Japan, and more. Subscribe and enable ALL notifications for the latest wrestling WWE reviews and wrestling news.  Sources used for research:  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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00:00 "The WrestleMania 40 card is now in chaos. Raw had great ratings, but AEW did not. A

00:07 card at a WWE confirmed, or maybe not confirmed. I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk

00:12 News."

00:13 For the last few months, and certainly a few hours after the Royal Rumble, the card for

00:23 WrestleMania seemed to be pretty much locked in place. This is because, unlike previous

00:28 regimes in WWE, Triple H had a plan for his WrestleMania, stuck with that plan, and is

00:34 now going to see that plan come to life. He's tripeto dancing with his come to life, Plan

00:39 Okio. Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship and CM Punk vs. Seth

00:44 Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship were set to headline the two nights of Mania,

00:48 while Becky Lynch would face Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women's Championship and Royal Rumble

00:52 winner Bayley would face Io Sky. Even the rest of their champions like Gunther had their

00:58 matches reportedly set.

01:00 But there are some things Triple H couldn't plan for, especially when they happen in a

01:04 great week for WWE. It started last Thursday when a lawsuit by former WWE employee Janelle

01:10 Grant was filed against Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and WWE. We've talked in depth

01:15 about the lawsuit and the Wall Street Journal reporting of it in a video which can be found

01:19 in the video description. It was a lawsuit that prompted the resignation of Vince McMahon,

01:24 but there was another name also implicated in the lawsuit.

01:27 An unnamed WWE star who was also a former UFC Heavyweight Champion was looking to re-sign

01:32 with the company in the summer of 2021, and has had several accusations against them including

01:37 - but not limited to - being offered grant for sexual favours in return for signing a

01:42 new contract. The Wall Street Journal said that those close to the situation think that

01:46 the unnamed star was Brock Lesnar. The Wrestling Observer, PWInsider and Fightful all reported

01:51 that Brock's planned Royal Rumble return was shelved. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling

01:55 Observer reported that all of Brock's spots in the Rumble - which had been finalised on

01:59 Friday - were given to NXT call-up Bron Breakker, which included his entry, his eliminations

02:05 and his own elimination at the hands of Dominik Mysterio. This report was backed up by Post

02:09 Wrestling who said that Brock vs. Dominik was a planned match for Elimination Chamber

02:14 - a report that has been corroborated by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select.

02:18 Fightful also had that Brock's WrestleMania plans were being changed. SRS writes, "Lesnar

02:22 was discussed as a potential opponent for Gunther at WrestleMania, which had not been

02:27 discussed throughout the weekend nearly as much." Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer

02:31 Radio noted that Lesnar is likely done with WWE for good - though you can never say never

02:38 in the world of professional wrestling. Bret, Warrior and Punk for example. And Fightful

02:42 write, "One WWE source said that it could be 'a long time' before we see Lesnar

02:47 again unless something drastic changes."

02:50 And it's not just the Brock news that has changed plans. WrestleVotes report via Twitter

02:55 that between the unfortunate injury to CM Punk, the questionable status of Seth Rollins

02:59 and the pulling of Brock Lesnar, the WrestleMania card has taken a sharp turn. Source said,

03:05 "There are a number of brand new card variations on the table, including some superstars who

03:10 were not pegged towards the top just days ago. I'm being told they will take their

03:15 time to figure things out and consider just about everything."

03:19 Card variation sounds like the sort of thing that Laurie Blake says to me when he's explaining

03:23 a new deck builder that he's recently gotten into. So we already know about Brock and we

03:27 sort of already knew about Rollins, so what about Punk?

03:30 "CM Punk announced on Monday's Raw that he tore his tricep during the Royal Rumble,

03:34 which will require surgery. This means that he's going to miss Elimination Chamber and

03:40 this year's WrestleMania." Fightful Select report that Punk waved off help from The Doctor

03:45 at ringside as he wanted to finish the match. And it's horribly poetic that his first

03:49 match in WWE was the same match he had in his last match in WWE, the Royal Rumble. And

03:54 that 2014 Rumble saw Punk get a concussion early on in the match and he told a referee

03:59 at ringside that he didn't want a doctor as he was going to finish the match.

04:03 I bring up the Rumble 2014 as Oli Davis and myself just did a near 4 hour deep dive review

04:08 of the show which is now available on our Patreon page. We break down the show as well

04:13 as all the news surrounding it and Punk walking out on WWE and we also chart the first chapter

04:19 on the break up of The Shield. Here's a clip.

04:21 "This is where the quote comes in and I'll apologize if you don't like the F word. I

04:26 do not love this anymore. I do not love this anymore. I'm bearing sick, I'm bearing hurt,

04:34 I'm bearing confused. I don't know as a business what we're doing anymore. Every day you tell

04:38 me this is a team effort but every day it's a bearing individual effort by me to find

04:42 out what's necessary to even bearing come here. It's not fun. I have zero bearing passion

04:47 for this. I'm bearing concussed, I'm bearing hurt and all you care about is what segment

04:52 I'm in and how soon I can bearing get my gear on and how I can pee in this bearing cup and

04:58 I don't want to do it anymore."

05:00 Triple H then told him, "Well Batista took the same piss test." Punk according to him

05:04 looked him in the eye and said, "Did you?" And got no response.

05:12 Punk was set to face Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania,

05:17 but that is now off the card. The likely replacement for him would be Drew McIntyre which was set

05:22 up on Raw, but there could be another option. Seth Rollins cut an impassioned promo to Cody

05:26 Rhodes on Raw this week, asking him to use his Royal Rumble victory to choose him rather

05:31 than Roman Reigns. This is because, Seth argues, Roman's belt is the Hulk Hogan title that

05:37 wrestlers politic backstage to get, while Seth's belt is for actual wrestlers - essentially

05:42 calling it the NWA World Championship by saying it was Dusty's belt. It was such a good promo

05:49 that the live crowd - who originally chanted "no, no, no" when Seth said Cody should

05:54 choose him - bought into Seth's pitch, as did Cody who said he would think about it.

05:59 I gave my thoughts on this in yesterday's Raw review, feeling it was a promo with no

06:03 good outcomes. Cody's choice will bury one of the titles. He either sticks with Roman

06:08 and makes Seth's belt feel even more secondary than it currently does, or he picks Seth and

06:13 confirms his views that Roman's belt is worthless tat. I've since softened on that following

06:19 yesterday's WrestleTalk Podcast. A few pointed out - correctly so - that it could just take

06:24 one promo from Cody to make all of it make sense and elevate both titles. Cody has been

06:29 announced to be on Smackdown this week, but if Dave Meltzer is to be believed, he won't

06:34 be giving his answer then either. Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio, "The idea

06:39 behind the Raw promo is they can build up for a week or two and pop a big rating for

06:45 Cody's decision." And there is a chance that Cody could pick Seth, as this year's

06:51 WrestleMania also has a rock-shaped cloud hanging over it asking if it can smell what

06:55 is cooking. The Rock returned to WWE on Day 1 to brag about America, bury Jinder Mahal

07:01 and tease a match with Roman Reigns - a match that WWE have wanted to do for a number of

07:05 years. Dave Meltzer has reported that match likely won't happen at this year's WrestleMania,

07:10 but it will happen at some point in 2024 - hinting that it could be done in Saudi Arabia. But

07:17 The Rock himself told Fox News on the subject of Rock vs. Roman at WrestleMania, "We're

07:23 talking about that right now. If we were to do something like that, we could possibly

07:28 put on the biggest WrestleMania of all time. So short answer and long answer is, we're

07:34 figuring it out." But even with all of that turmoil in the news for WWE, this past Monday's

07:39 Raw saw a monster rating for the show - pulling in 1.91 million viewers, the largest audience

07:45 for the show since June, and the best overall rating since the post-Survivor Series episode

07:50 with the return of CM Punk. Impressively looking at WrestleNomics' breakdown of the quarter

07:55 hours, Punk opening the show actually grew the audience - starting at 2.01 million viewers

08:00 and growing to 2.17 million by the time the segment ended. While the high points of Raw's

08:05 audience came from the Cody and Seth promo, which brought in a whopping 2.20 million viewers.

08:11 I know a lot of you aren't, but I'm really going to miss this Raw ratings chat when the

08:14 show moves to Netflix. I like talking about ratings.

08:17 On Monday's episode of the WrestleTalk News, Oli Davis talked about the impressive viewership

08:21 for the Royal Rumble - with internal reports saying it was the most watched Rumble event

08:25 in history. And that might explain why AEW Collision drew a dismal 300,000 viewers - the

08:31 second lowest rating the show has ever gotten. And the only reason it's the second lowest

08:38 is because the actual lowest was when the show was moved to Friday nights ahead of Full

08:42 Gear in November. This week's episode also drew less viewers than this week's episode

08:48 of AEW Rampage - which is historically AEW's lowest rated show as it's on that death slot

08:55 of Friday nights.

08:56 So do you know what AEW need? They need another major signing, a big announcement from Tony

09:03 Khan - which could be the signing of Kazuchika Okada. But not if WWE get there first.

09:08 Today, January 31st, marks the final day of Okada's time in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

09:15 One of the company's biggest stars, arguably the greatest professional wrestler of this

09:20 generation - a star so bright that New Japan put in a new president just to try and keep

09:28 him. And he's going to be a free agent.

09:31 Since the news came out that Okada was leaving New Japan, WWE and AEW became the predictable

09:36 frontrunners to sign him. It was reported that Okada's appearance on AEW Dynamite last

09:40 year was a test run for him to see what working with the company on a weekly basis would look

09:45 like. Meanwhile Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that WWE pushing Shinsuke

09:50 Nakamura - a close friend of Okada - into big programs with Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes

09:55 was being done to "entice Okada over" by showing him what he could be getting if he

10:00 signs with WWE.

10:02 Programs where he loses and slips down the card doesn't seem like a great deal, I'll

10:06 be honest. AEW's Tony Khan has been promising big things for All Elite Wrestling in 2024,

10:11 and it's believed that the signing of Okada and Mercedes Monet - the former Sasha Banks

10:15 - is the reason behind his promise. That was until Pro Wrestling Tees announced that they

10:21 have been asked to remove all of Okada's merchandise from their online store - a sign

10:27 that he was, in fact, going to sign with WWE instead. After all, Seth needs a new challenger

10:34 for his world title, so why not put Okada in there?

10:37 But before we all cock our fists and say, "Okada to WWE confirmed", Dave Meltzer

10:42 is here to piss on our chips, posting on Twitter the Pro Wrestling Tees thing regards no longer

10:48 being able to sell New Japan merchandise of his. It's not a sign he's going to WWE,

10:54 it's not a sign of going to AEW either. Case in point, Jey White's New Japan merchandise

10:59 was pulled from Pro Wrestling Tees before he left for AEW, and Okada signing with WWE

11:05 wouldn't automatically pull him from the site either. For example, CM Punk still has

11:10 his Pro Wrestling Tees page. Plus, you never know, he could sign with TNA and surprise

11:15 you all. And if he does, he might still find a way to work with WWE.

11:19 The Royal Rumble had its fair share of surprises - the returns of Naomi and Andrade and the

11:24 debut of Jade Cargill - but perhaps none more surprising was TNA Knockout Champion Jordan

11:30 Grace being the number 5 entrant. How surprising was it? Well, here's how I reacted.

11:37 [COMMENTATORS COUNTING DOWN]

12:07 Jordan Grace spoke with Fightful about her Rumble appearance and how it all came together,

12:22 confirming several reports that the other entrants in the match didn't know she was

12:26 in the Rumble until the Thursday before the show as they rehearsed the timings. She even

12:31 jokes that several people thought she'd signed with WWE before she explained, "No,

12:35 I'm still with TNA." Hilariously, even Naomi, who had her final match in TNA against

12:41 Grace, did not know that Grace was going to be in the match.

12:46 Following her appearance in the Royal Rumble, Bryan Alvarez on the Bryan and Vinny show

12:49 noted that WWE and TNA now have a working relationship.

12:54 Sean Ross Sapp alluded to one as well on his post-show, and asked Grace if that was the

12:58 case. Fightful write that she had not heard any more about the partnership, and Grace

13:03 herself added, "I have a really good gut feeling. I feel like it's a win-win for

13:07 everyone. Nothing bad could come from a relationship between TNA and WWE."

13:13 Before you make that claim I'd probably ask Progress and WXW their thoughts on that.

13:17 But this weekend will be a double dose of TLC, looking at the best and worst Royal Rumble

13:21 matches, so why not catch up on the format as we count down the 10 worst wrestling entrance

13:26 themes.

WWE WrestleMania 40 Match Card Chaos, Record Low AEW Collision Rating! | WrestleTalk

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