Saudi Arabia DEMANDS WWE Changes! Real Reason Major AEW Storyline Dropped | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

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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.

Saudi Arabia DEMANDS WWE Changes! Real Reason Major AEW Storyline Dropped | WrestleTalk

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