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0:00 - Coming Up...
0:16 - Lex Luger Can Stand Up By Himself
1:09 - CM Punk & AEW Lawsuit
7:15 - WWE SmackDown Chaos
10:11 - Kalyx Revealed!
CM Punk & AEW Lawsuit! WWE SmackDown Chaos? Shock New WWE Star?! | WrestleTalk
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Sources used for research:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/ryan-nemeth-to-117319855
https://www.patreon.com/posts/more-on-cm-punk-87692486
https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/ryan-nemeth-files-lawsuit-against-aew-tony-khan-and-cm-punk
https://www.f4wonline.com/news/daily-updates/daily-update-the-rock-cody-rhodes-logan-paul/
https://www.patreon.com/posts/what-is-kalyx-122932569
https://www.patreon.com/posts/wwe-smackdown-122818461
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WrestleTalk Patreon 👉 https://www.patreon.com/wrestletalk
Smackdown Review! 👉 https://youtu.be/00WoP6lezwU
WrestleMania 28 Review! 👉 https://youtu.be/L5fI7kr0HVY
More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/
Unlock the secrets to working in professional wrestling, sign up to https://www.wrestlingmasterclass.com/
0:00 - Coming Up...
0:16 - Lex Luger Can Stand Up By Himself
1:09 - CM Punk & AEW Lawsuit
7:15 - WWE SmackDown Chaos
10:11 - Kalyx Revealed!
CM Punk & AEW Lawsuit! WWE SmackDown Chaos? Shock New WWE Star?! | WrestleTalk
#WWE #WrestlingNews #WrestleTalk #WWERAW #AEW
Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/
Sources used for research:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/ryan-nemeth-to-117319855
https://www.patreon.com/posts/more-on-cm-punk-87692486
https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/ryan-nemeth-files-lawsuit-against-aew-tony-khan-and-cm-punk
https://www.f4wonline.com/news/daily-updates/daily-update-the-rock-cody-rhodes-logan-paul/
https://www.patreon.com/posts/what-is-kalyx-122932569
https://www.patreon.com/posts/wwe-smackdown-122818461
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.
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00CM Punk and AEW are being sued! Was their backstage chaos for The Rock's return on
00:06Smackdown a shock? New WWE star and more. I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk
00:13News.
00:14We've got a big old chunky lawsuit story to get into shortly, so let's clear our
00:20palates with some Monday morning niceness.
00:22Over the weekend, Diamond Dallas Page released his latest video charting the rehabilitation
00:27of Lex Luger, who had severe spinal issues since the late 2000s. Throughout the 2010s,
00:32he was slowly using his wheelchair more and more to get around, and by 2021, was completely
00:37reliant on it. But as DDP has done with other legends from our childhoods, he's been working
00:43with Luger to help him with his mobility. And the most recent video, titled Third Times
00:47The Charm, shows that Luger's hard work has meant he's now able to lift himself
00:52out of his chair and stand up on his own.
00:55An incredible journey, and one that deserves all the praise in the world. So drop your
01:00congratulations to Luger in the comments and let's spread some positivity into this world.
01:06Because sometimes, there isn't a lot of it in the world of wrestling.
01:09Fightful broke the news yesterday that Ryan Nemeth, a former AEW wrestler, has filed a
01:14lawsuit against All Elite Wrestling and Phil Brooks, aka CM Punk. The lawsuit alleges assault,
01:21breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith, and fair dealing and intentional
01:27interference with prospective advantage. That last bit may sound like word salad, but it
01:32basically sums up that Nemeth feels that his career has been impacted by the actions of
01:37AEW and CM Punk.
01:39To get the full story of this, we're going to have to take a step backwards and remind
01:42ourselves how we got here.
01:44Following the 2022 All Out PPV, CM Punk cut a scathing promo during the post-show press
01:50conference on AEW, the management of the company and the Elite, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page and
01:56The Young Bucks. This not only saw an increase in sales for a local muffin company, but also
02:00led to Punk fighting with Omega and The Bucks backstage and all men were stripped of the
02:05titles they'd won earlier in the night and were suspended. They all returned, but there
02:09was clearly uneasy tension, and in the end, Punk became a major pawn in AEW securing a
02:15second TV show with Warner Bros. Discovery, Collision, which became Punk's show. AEW
02:21effectively had a roster split.
02:24During all of this, Ryan Nemeth put out a tweet that referred to CM Punk as literally
02:28the softest man alive, and this led to an incident at a Dynamite taping in Chicago where
02:33Punk confronted Nemeth about the tweet. Reports from the time said that Nemeth claimed he
02:38did it in character to get heat, but Punk believed he did it to score points with his
02:43friend, aka The Young Bucks. Fightful Select's report from August 2023 says Punk asked him
02:49to knock it off because tensions were high and they were trying to move on. Which is
02:53quite ironic given the news story we're covering today. Fightful added at the time
02:57Punk said he didn't want Nemeth being passive-aggressive unless they were handling it another way.
03:03People close to Punk claim that Nemeth apologised and that the two shook hands.
03:07In 2023, Punk got into another backstage altercation with Jack Perry at AEW's first All-In-One
03:13show in Wembley Stadium and was fired, leading to hell freezing over and Punk returned to
03:18WWE, the company he trashed for around a decade, including on All Elite Wrestling television.
03:25Last December, Fightful Select reported that Nemeth had submitted a complaint to All Elite
03:29Wrestling following his exit from the company, which gave a detailed timeline of events and
03:34an alternative version of the Chicago Dynamite incident.
03:38Fightful Select wrote at the time, Nemeth says that on June 21st, 2023, Brooks did threaten
03:44him in an AEW locker room. According to Nemeth, this incident led to him not being booked
03:50by All Elite Wrestling, and when he eventually was booked for a collision show in August,
03:55he was informed by Pat Buck when he arrived to the building that Punk had demanded he
03:59be removed from the venue.
04:01And on February 14th, Valentine's Day, bummer, Nemeth filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles
04:07Superior Court against AEW and CM Punk, which has since been obtained by Fightful. The lawsuit
04:13alleges Brooks undertook a campaign to terrorize and intimidate plaintiff Ryan Nemeth, including
04:18physical assault. AEW and Tony Khan did nothing to protect Ryan Nemeth and other wrestling
04:24performers from despicable conduct on the part of Brooks. AEW turned a blind eye to
04:29Brooks' conduct because of Tony's deep admiration for Brooks and because he was their
04:34most popular wrestling performer. At Brooks and Tony's insistence, AEW and Tony Khan
04:39have undertaken an effort to blackball Nemeth so we can never again work in the wrestling
04:44business.
04:45The lawsuit says of the Chicago Dynamite incident on June 21st, 2023 following Brooks' return
04:50to the wrestling circuit, he assaulted Nemeth in the male talent locker room. In a menacing
04:55manner, Brooks shouted at Nemeth, do we have an effing problem, do we need to step outside
05:01and handle this like men. Nemeth was cornered by Brooks and did everything he could in order
05:06to de-escalate the situation. The next day, Nemeth was contacted by Tony Schiavone and
05:11other executives from AEW to explain what happened. Nemeth calmly and factually explained
05:16that he was attacked by Brooks in the locker room. Following the assault, nothing happened
05:21to Brooks as far as punishment from AEW.
05:25Nemeth alleges that on the morning of that collision taping that he'd been booked for,
05:29he saw CM Punk in the hotel lobby who then got out his phone to text someone. Nemeth
05:34then claims he received a text shortly after that moment from Pat Buck which led to him
05:38being sent home. The suit reads, Nemeth was embarrassed and humiliated in front of other
05:43wrestlers who witnessed him being kicked out of the arena. More importantly, fans observed
05:48him leaving the arena. Pictures were taken and the expulsion became viral on social media.
05:54This humiliation caused irreparable damage to the markability and reputation of Nemeth.
05:59Throughout the suit, Nemeth's team talks about how much Tony Khan liked CM Punk, at
06:03one point alleges it was bordering on obsession, and even says of Punk returning to WWE, Khan
06:10was heartbroken by the departure of Brooks, his idol that he adored in every way. The
06:16suit claims Khan believes that Brooks left AEW because of Nemeth. Fightful add Nemeth
06:22is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and demands of a jury trial. However
06:27as of the time of this recording, there is no case number assigned to the lawsuit and
06:31it is not yet listed online. And I'll be honest with you, I cannot find a good way
06:36to segue out of that story into this plug, so… CM Punk and Ryan Nemeth's brother
06:41Dolph Ziggler were both featured on WrestleMania 28.
06:46And speaking of WrestleMania 28, Oli Davis and I did a massive three and a half hour
06:51review of that show as part of our deep dive into The Rock's first return to WWE and
06:56his feud with John Cena, which is now available to watch for free. And if you want the next
07:01chapter, head on over to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk to watch our three and a
07:05half hour review of Raw 1000, which is the show where Punk turned heel on The Rock.
07:11And speaking of The Rock, oh, maybe this was the place to put the plug in. On Thursday
07:16it was revealed that Rock would be returning to Smackdown to make a big announcement, which
07:21ended up being the news that next year's WrestleMania will take place in New Orleans.
07:25But he also had some other business on the show, namely addressing Cody Rhodes to ask
07:30him to be his corporate champion. And clearly having re-watched Paul WS Anderson's 1995
07:36masterpiece adaptation of Mortal Kombat, Rock said that he didn't want Cody's title,
07:40he wanted to Shang Tsung him and take his soul. Cody will give his answer this coming
07:45Saturday at Elimination Chamber.
07:48We figure, myself included, that it won't be Cody signing up to be The Rock's corporate
07:52champion, but perhaps someone like John Cena could. And CM Punk has added to his Instagram
07:58stories a comic panel of Doctor Doom and Spider-Man, with Doom saying that old foes must become
08:03new friends.
08:04While the story is quite exciting, the segment has divided opinions online, but it really
08:09leant more towards the negative. Many complained that The Rock felt rambly and incoherent in
08:14his promo, but a more broader point that he once again feels like he's come into
08:18WWE late in the day and seemingly changed up WrestleMania plans.
08:23I was joined by SP3 from TruHeelHeat and Mex from RestTings and Guerrilla Position to talk
08:27about all of this on Saturday which you can check out by clicking the podcast in the video
08:32description.
08:33The Rock's appearance on Smackdown, much like his cameo at the end of last year's
08:36Bad Blood, reportedly came together about a week before the show. With Fightful Select
08:41reporting Creative was told just a few days ahead of Smackdown, with it being a shock
08:45to many in the company.
08:48Several segments on the show were changed. A video of Nick Aldis announcing the line-up
08:52of matches was deleted by WWE as Cody Rhodes was now removed from the six-man main event.
08:58And they also cancelled Liv Morgan vs. Naomi, though that latter match did end up happening
09:04but also didn't actually quite happen as it never got started.
09:07For Fightful Select, there were some time adjustments, including in Naomi vs. Liv Morgan.
09:12They added, "...those that we've spoken to internally say that all of this came together
09:16very late and even they haven't been told the next direction."
09:21Dave Meltzer writes, the writers were confused and thrown for a loop, but it may not be as
09:26bad as some might have thought, as he writes, this was not as last minute as some are trying
09:31to say it was, but it did happen rather quickly.
09:35He suggests, and this is suggesting not reporting, his schedule may have changed about his availability
09:41moving towards or during WrestleMania.
09:44Meltzer was the first to report that Rock would likely not be a part of WrestleMania
09:4841 due to his movie commitment, which has since been corroborated by several other outlets.
09:53Eboo of Self Made PW even noted that WrestleMania was at the mercy of Dwayne, with some reports
09:58suggesting there were two plans in place for Mania 41, one with The Rock and one without.
10:04But what did you make of the Rock segment on Smackdown?
10:07Let me know in the comments down below, and fantasy book your corporate champion.
10:11And lastly for today, there was some fan speculation online about the new WWE trademark, Kalix.
10:18Some speculated this could be the new name for NXT's Soul Rooker, as her real name
10:22is Kalix.
10:23However, according to Fightful Select, it is not for her.
10:27It's actually for a new masked character that has been part of the Evolve tapings.
10:33And who is it that is under the mask?
10:35WWE referee Jessica Carr.
10:39This isn't Carr's first time as a wrestler, as she was one before she became a ref for
10:43WWE.
10:44Wrestling under the names Kennardy Brink and Jesse Kay, and as a one-shot on NXT as Kennedy
10:48Lewis.
10:49Now go and get a cup of tea and sit back and enjoy a three and a half hour review of WrestleMania
10:5428 with myself and Oli Davis, and when you're done with that, sign up for Patreon.com forward
10:59slash WrestleTalk to get another massive review of Raw 1000.