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00:00 - Coming up...
00:23 - Saudi Arabia Demands WWE Changes
03:29 - Real Reason Major AEW Storyline Dropped
05:09 - Kevin Owens Accuses WWE Of Unfair Treatment
08:58 - Top TNA Stars To WWE?
09:47 - Joe Koff Passes Away
Saudi Arabia DEMANDS WWE Changes! Real Reason Major AEW Storyline Dropped | WrestleTalk
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00:00 - Coming up...
00:23 - Saudi Arabia Demands WWE Changes
03:29 - Real Reason Major AEW Storyline Dropped
05:09 - Kevin Owens Accuses WWE Of Unfair Treatment
08:58 - Top TNA Stars To WWE?
09:47 - Joe Koff Passes Away
Saudi Arabia DEMANDS WWE Changes! Real Reason Major AEW Storyline Dropped | WrestleTalk
#WWE #AEW #WrestleTalk
Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/
Sources used for research:
https://wrestletalk.com/news/tna-wres...
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DailyMotion Channel Comments Policy
We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to DailyMotion 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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NewsTranscript
00:00Saudi Arabia demands WWE changes, the real reason a major AEW storyline was dropped,
00:06Kevin Owens accuses WWE of unfair treatment, and more.
00:12I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:24With Vince McMahon being forced out of wrestling at the start of the year, a power vacuum has
00:28been created at the top of the industry.
00:31Who is now the most successful wrestling booker in the business?
00:35There's Paul Triple H Levesque, Vince's replacement driving WWE, who's pushed the
00:40company to its biggest highs in decades.
00:43There's Tony Khan, the founder of AEW, who has recently confirmed the TV deal that makes
00:49his 5-year-old company the second most profitable wrestling company in North American history.
00:55Or there's the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
00:58WWE's business model has changed significantly in the last five years.
01:02Once upon a time, we, the fans, used to be the customer.
01:06In theory, wrestling shows were booked around what would make us pay money for tickets.
01:11But in recent years, WWE has actually transitioned from a business-to-consumer model to a business-to-business
01:18one.
01:19The vast majority of their money comes from other businesses now, like TV and streaming
01:22deals or, for the purpose of this story, big sports-washing live events for the Saudi
01:27Arabian government, like the upcoming Crown Jewel Premium Live event.
01:32And because Saudi Arabia is the real customer for those shows, not us, WWE has to cater
01:39to their demands.
01:40Former WWE host Matt Camp has revealed on his Wrestling Matt podcast that this year's
01:45King and Queen of the Ring tournaments were actually supposed to be brought back for the
01:50Saudi Arabia shows in 2023.
01:52WWE decided to change those plans, however, putting on the Night of Champions PLE instead
01:58because of insistence from their Saudi Arabian partners.
02:03Apparently the Saudi government felt the tournaments weren't big enough for the show, so WWE
02:07came up with the World Heavyweight title idea instead, which saw AJ Styles vs Seth Rollins
02:13at Night of Champions to decide the inaugural holder.
02:16This isn't the first time Saudi Arabia has dictated WWE booking to suit their agenda
02:21or demands.
02:22And it won't be the last.
02:23As a famous story from the Greatest Royal Rumble show from 2018, where, not content
02:28with already having the biggest Royal Rumble match in WWE history at a ridiculous 50 participants,
02:35the Crown Prince also wanted one of his favourite wrestlers from his childhood, Yokozuna, to
02:40compete.
02:41The main problem there with that was that Yokozuna had died 18 years previously.
02:45So WWE booked a random sumo wrestler to appear in the match instead.
02:50And now we have the super shiny Champion of Champions Crown Jewel title belt, a trophy
02:55awarded to the winner of the Men's and Women's Champion vs Champion match winners.
03:00It's notably larger than WWE's usual belt sizes, and contains 50 carat diamonds.
03:05So Saudi Arabia can boast of having the most important belt in all of professional wrestling.
03:11Because, ultimately, they're paying so much money to improve their reputation in
03:15sports and entertainment spheres around the world.
03:18Being known as the true wrestling booker behind the scenes is very important to some.
03:23So important, in fact, they'll actively tank their own booking storylines to make
03:27sure we all still know it's them in control.
03:29One of the more exciting storylines on AEW TV this year was the Elite, comprised of the
03:34young Bucks Kazuchika Okada and Jack Perry, shockingly attacking the promotion's CEO
03:39Tony Khan and seemingly taking over the company.
03:42Tony's dad Shad Khan made a rare appearance tending to his son's broken body, and Tony
03:48even wore a neck brace on that same week's NFL Draft, as he also runs the Jacksonville
03:52Jaguars team The Selva Angle.
03:54It was super goofy, sure, but there was something quite exciting about it all.
03:59After four and a half years of babyface booking, AEW had a heel authority act with a bunch
04:05of championship belts.
04:07So the storyline was almost instantly undermined, with Tony Khan actually instating Christopher
04:11Daniels as the interim Executive Vice President, who was just a mouthpiece for whatever Khan
04:15wanted.
04:16Khan was still openly making onscreen kayfabe decisions, while the Elite were also doing
04:20the same, making the Bucks become less and less relevant, missing stretches of TV and
04:24not defending their belts.
04:26According to Wade Keller of PWTorch, the real reason the storyline fizzled out wasn't
04:30just because of incompetence, it was also because of ego.
04:35Tony Khan did not want even in storyline viewers to think he wasn't responsible for everything
04:40happening on the shows, and it just ran out of steam because everybody lost interest because
04:45there's no way to do the angle as originally conceived.
04:49If the Bucks did have control, and Tony Khan didn't want even in storyline someone else
04:53booking the show, even if he was approving all of the decisions the Bucks did in character,
04:59so basically some people are shocked because it seemed to come out of nowhere because he
05:03was well liked and respected.
05:05To which I would say, why book the storyline in the first place?
05:09One of WWE's more innovative booking approaches this year has been with the offscreen, but
05:13also kinda onscreen heel turn of Kevin Owens.
05:17Reportedly concerned that fans would cheer him against Cody Rhodes because heel turns
05:21and Kevin Owens are both cool, WWE smartly booked KO's attacks to happen after the
05:27shows had taken place, for fans to film and spread on social media.
05:31It also made the storyline feel more authentic, existing outside the realms of the pro wrestling
05:36show space.
05:37To emphasise that more, WWE are pretending to block all discussion of Owens' actions
05:43on their programming.
05:44Following him attacking Randy Orton as well on Friday's SmackDown, KO has now posted
05:48a video on social media.
05:51As much as I'd love to explain myself, give my side of the story and speak my mind, WWE
05:57has not allowed me to do that.
05:59They have done the opposite, actually, have tried to shut me up it seems.
06:03Because they wouldn't let me come to SmackDown, they told me to stay home last Friday, even
06:07though I belong there.
06:09And when I showed up anyway, they cut my mic and did everything they could for me not to
06:13be able to talk.
06:15And then over the weekend, I sent them a video that I hoped they would air on Raw last night,
06:20and they didn't.
06:21So nobody could hear what I had to say, but of course they had plenty of time for Cody
06:25to talk.
06:26The last thing I want to do is do this on social media because I hate it.
06:30So I'm giving them until Friday, this Friday on WWE SmackDown, to air my video so that
06:36people can hear what I have to say.
06:39And if they don't, then I guess I'll post it here.
06:43Before I get into what this could mean for KO's actual, legitimate, not a worky work,
06:47not a shooty shoot brother contract status, here's a message from Turbo Jack…
06:52I'm Aiden's Wrestler Turbo Jack.
06:55Last month you heard from my brother Turbo John, because I went to look out for our lost
07:00brother, Turbo Jake.
07:01That little Turbo's too good for this world.
07:04Haha Turbo Jake, don't ever look back.
07:07Now me and my brothers need your support.
07:09Please go over to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk now to help support us in our
07:14search for Turbo Jake.
07:15And for loads of bonus videos, like a full exclusive Monday Night War series and bonus
07:21Worst Match Ever episodes like these fine folk right here will get…
07:25Boldin Brummy, Brett Plymouth, Big Jiggy Joss Marden, Abominable Michael Albert, King of
07:30the Conquest Stephen Monax, The Machine Gun Alex Anderson, Go Ace, The Ace of Spades Adrian
07:37Santill and the Cleaner Kenny Shaw.
07:52While Kevin Owens is in a top storyline with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, his WWE contract
07:58is reportedly expiring at the end of the year, and AEW is very interested in bringing him
08:04in.
08:05He's also been all life very good friends with the Young Bucks, as it was actually him
08:08who connected Cody Rhodes to the Elite when Cody first left WWE.
08:13According to WrestleVotes, though, it's looking less likely that KO will jump ship
08:17to AEW.
08:18I did reach out and talk to a couple of people, didn't get an absolutely the deal's been
08:23signed, but did get a really positive response that it's very close, if not completed,
08:28with a handshake.
08:30So I imagine he's around for the long run.
08:33Rodeo's next big match is expected to be against Orton, which Wrestling Observer Radio
08:36is speculating could take place on the Saturday night's main event show, which is scheduled
08:41for the 14th September, and is expected to be a premium live event quality card.
08:47More interestingly, though, is that WWE might want Owens vs Orton to have a shoot-style
08:53presentation, making it more like an actual fight than a typical pro wrestling match.
08:58And it's not just the long-term future of Kevin Owens WWE might be securing, as several
09:03top TNA stars might also be joining the company at the start of 2025.
09:08Following Joe Hendry's tease of something big in about four months' time, aka when
09:13the Royal Rumble is, Fightful Select is reporting that TNA's top women's wrestler Jordan
09:17Grace has her contract expiring in January.
09:22This is interesting for two reasons.
09:241.
09:25Because Jordan's contract was originally set to expire next Summer, but she had it
09:29amended to finish in January.
09:31And 2.
09:32Because Grace made a surprise TNA crossover appearance in the 2024 Women's Rumble match,
09:38suggesting she could be making a full debut in the 2025 one.
09:42Her husband Jonathan Gresham's TNA contract is also set to expire in 2025 too.
09:47We finish on some very sad news today.
09:50The former COO of Ring of Honor Joe Koff has passed away.
09:54PWInsider have reported he had been privately battling cancer for some time, and made the
09:58decision in August that he was going to discontinue treatment in order to enhance the quality
10:03of time he had left with his family.
10:06Koff was a lifelong wrestling fan, who worked as an executive at Sinclair Broadcasting.
10:10It was in 2011 where he put together a deal to buy Ring of Honor from its original owner
10:15Kerry Silkin, which is the era I was watching ROH most intensely.
10:19While Koff isn't a household name in wrestling, without him, the industry might be very different
10:25today.
10:26If Koff didn't spearhead Sinclair's acquisition of Ring of Honor, it's likely the promotion
10:30could've gone out of business.
10:32And it was he who helped Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks to put on the original All In
10:36pay-per-view, lending ROH's production in exchange for media rights to the show.
10:41You could argue that without him, both AEW and Ring of Honor wouldn't exist in their
10:46current forms today.
10:48A WWE star has been seriously injured.
10:51Find out what's happened by clicking the video onscreen now.