Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk Super
News – I’m Oli Davis. Poke the thumbs up button in the eye, and
hit the subscribe one with a chair when the referee is conveniently distracted.
When All Elite Wrestling officially announced itself at the start of this year, it seemed
the wrestling world was about to form a mega-faction against WWE’s decades-long resthold-through-a-commercial-break
over the industry. Surely the new promotion would team up with the second most financially
successful wrestling company in the world after WWE – and arguably the artform’s leader
– New Japan Pro Wrestling. Problem was, AEW took four of New Japan’s
biggest stars, gutting their biggest faction, the Bullet Club, Understandably leaving New
Japan a bit miffed – with Dave Meltzer reporting back in July that AEW was a “taboo” subject
backstage in New Japan, and the relationship was “fractured”.
And it’s not just the bad feels between the two sides that’s stopping them from
working together, but also the global wrestling chessboard’s historic alliances and rivalries
– with New Japan’s longstanding working relationships with Ring Of Honor and CMLL,
which are direct competitors with AEW and AEW’s Mexican partner promotion AAA respectively.
But that hasn’t stopped two of AEW’s highest profile stars in Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho
wrestling for New Japan this year – with Jericho, the AEW champion, set to fight Hiroshi Tanahashi
at next month’s WrestleKingdom. Nevertheless, Nick Jackson of the Young Bucks tweeted about
the potential relationship: “it’s really not happening. Been asked this thousands of
times and telling the truth is always best. Don’t want fans holding onto something that
has zero chance of happening.” Which is exactly what a co-executive vice
president of a wrestling promotion trying to cover up a larger working relationship
with another wrestling promotion would say! New Japan and AEW working together confirmed
– which New Japan big boss President man Harold Meij has potentially foreshadowed in an interview
with Fox Sports: “We’re very open to working with anyone, we
don’t exclude anyone. But it does take time to create that trust between companies…
We’ll have to see if that brand fits our brand of course. At this stage, they still have
different styles than we do, and that’s the only thing. We’re looking at what their brand
positioning is and whether it complements ours.”
If Orange Cassidy doesn’t scream hard-hitting New Japan strong style, I don’t know what
does! Do you want to see AEW and New Japan work
together and why? Let me know in the comments because I’ll be replying FROM OUTTA NOWHERE
for the first 30 minutes after this video goes live!
But then Meij went onto say that New Japan is there “for the long run with partners
that we tie up with.” Meaning their current US-exclusive wrestling BFFs Ring of Honor.
Put the bubbly on ice, Luke. And while you’re at it, order 10,000 more Jericho-branded bottles
for the Christmas party. Following AEW Le Champion Chris Jericho announcing
that his own brand of sparkling wine was now on sale at last Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite,
he’s revealed on Instagram how that product launch went.
“Unbelievable to hear that #ALittleBitOfTheBubbly sold 10,000 bottles in just over 2 days! The
demand was so crazy that you crashed 19 servers on the Bubbly website!! Thanks to all of you
who wanted to be a part of this libation sensation…Order yours now at littlebitofthebubbly.com! (link
in bio) #LeChampion” Because AEW are far more than just a t-shirt
company. They’re also a novelty wine company. Man, wrestling fans will buy anything. Did
I mention we here at WrestleTalk launched our brand new WrestleTalkMerch.com shop last
Friday with brand new designs including WrestleTalk classics, presenter logos and our very cool
Foreign Objects line with little wrestling weapons on the left pec drawn by our amazing
fan @luckyrabbitrobb on Instagram! Please buy some.
And because ‘tis the season of consumerism’, maybe treat yourself to a ridiculously expensive
Fiend-specific WWE Universal championship belt!
Last week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter revealed Bray Wyatt’s Fiend is the number
1 merchandise seller in the company – with Hurt & Heal Gloves, Firefly Fun House puppets,
and at some live events, Bray Wyatt head replica lanterns. As Kenner toy development executive
Bernard Loomis famously once said about Star Wars, it’s a toyetic franchise. What Bray
has created with such a rich and fascinating lore around the Fiend, is a merchetic wrestling
gimmick. And true to form, WWE are immediately going
to run that well dry and make as much merch as possible did I mention we’ve got new
t-shirts too. Rather ingeniously, on Friday’s episode
of SmackDown, Bray said that he has his Blueniversal title, so it’s only fair that his Fiend
alter-ego gets his own design too: The Fiend’s face stretched across a belt as though it’s
made of human skin. And that can be yours for the small price
of $6,499.99. To be fair to that very highly priced product,
the belt is a limited run collector’s edition and is handcrafted by the studio of famed
horror special effects maestro Tom Savini. I guess I’ll have to make do with the far
more terrifying Paige Here variant. Thanks to Harrison Berry for emailing that in!
But Bray isn’t just responsible for letting the Fiend into WWE… he also kind of made
Woken Matt Hardy happen too. After being one of the hottest acts in wrestling
through 2016 and 17 with his insane Broken Universe gimmick, developing a cult following
at Impact Wrestling, where he received almost complete creative freedom, getting entire
TV episodes devoted to his vision, Matt Hardy left the promotion because of contract renegotiations
falling through, had one fantastic ladder match against the Young Bucks in Ring of Honor,
then made his WWE return with his brother Jeff at WrestleMania 33.
They did so as the Hardy Boyz gimmick, one that was already about 15 years out of date,
and the nostalgia pop quickly wore off despite them holding the tag team championships. The
brothers were split up with Jeff getting a singles push, leaving Matt to finally create
a WWE version of his Broken character – Woken Matt Hardy.
Unfortunately, despite being critically well-received in a WWE Network House Hardy special and an
Ultimate Deletion segment on Raw, the promotion never seemed to truly believe in the gimmick.
Which is totally understandable, as it’s a very divisive act, and potentially could
turn off part of the mainstream audience. But perhaps seeing how his former Deletors
of Worlds tag partner Bray has found so much success with creative freedom over his own
rather wacky character – Matt is reportedly clashing with WWE officials over his contract
renegotiations. According to PWInsider, after signing a two
year deal back in 2017, which was extended another year by WWE before WrestleMania 35,
Matt’s deal will now expire in February 2020 – but “While the two sides have been
in discussions, [PWInsider is] told that how Hardy will be used going forward has been
the biggest sticking point in negotiations.” Apparently Hardy and WWE aren’t that “far
apart on financial considerations” – meaning WWE have probably offered him a load of money
like they are everyone else out of fear talent will go to AEW – but they won’t commit to
using him consistently on TV. An idea that was very clear last Monday, when Matt made
his onscreen return to WWE from outta nowhere – i.e. unannounced – to lose in a squash match
to Buddy Murphy while dressed as the late 90s. And that could push him to WWE’s biggest
competitor… PWInsider also notes that Matt realises this
could be one of the last contracts he ever signs, given that he’s just turned 45 and
how he almost retired last year because of injury. With WWE looking to sign most people
for five year deals – like the recent contracts announced for The Miz, Paige and Randy Orton,
that would keep Matt in the promotion until he’s 50, which would likely mean the end
of his in-ring career. Given Matt’s history with the Bucks, how
AEW have given their wrestlers significant creative freedom, and that they’re really
the only other promotion in the US that can match WWE’s money offer, the educated guess
would be Hardy takes his Broken gimmick there if he can’t reach an agreement with Vince
McMahon. An educated guess that Matt himself has been
keen to tease, launching his new YouTube series ‘Free the Delete’ last month, an obvious
play on the Young Bucks’ long-running show Being the Elite – which PWInsider claim is
a way to reintroduce his Broken Matt character, a gimmick he smartly retained the rights to
when returning to WWE. “[Matt] is planning ahead by using YouTube
and social media to prepare for his potential return to the independent scene and beyond,
obviously, as “Broken” Matt, a persona that he’s had phenomenal success with, both from
a creative and a merchandise standpoint.” And nowhere is that more obvious than in his
latest Free the Delete episode, which begins with the voiceover:
“Gotta get in shape, gotta build a reservoir, gotta be a dad. No time, no direction. 13
weeks…” 13 weeks from the date of upload just so happens
to be the end of February, where PWInsider report Matt’s WWE contract expires.
One spanner in the wrestling work, however, is that episode also appears to set up a feud
with Bray Wyatt – as a lady voice whispers ‘Let Me In’, while the background piano
music sounds like a rendition of Bray’s Broken Out In Love theme tune. A main event
feud over the Universal Champions for Hardy, however, is sadly very unlikely given WWE’s
treatment of Matt over the last two years. It’s far more possible the Wyatt references
are just a continuation of the last time we saw the Lake of Reincarnation, where Matt
used it to rid Wyatt of the Sister Abigail spirit during the Ultimate Deletion segment
on Raw. Matt has also tweeted over the last few days:
“ALWAYS MOVE FORWARD” and “Considering I’m in a very secure place in my life, being
creatively fulfilled & pushing the business forward is very important to me now.”
Where do you think Matt Hardy will end up? Vote in the poll above my head!
Season 3 of our fantasy wrestling predictions league WrestleLeague – available to participate
in for all $5 a month of more Pledgehammers on Patreon! – controversially concluded at
Survivor Series last week which saw Chopper Pete lose the office rankings, meaning he
has to do a music video punishment. And thanks to your suggestions and votes,
the result is… Tyler Breeze’s #MMMGorgeous with a massive 53% of the Question on a Poll
match! Chopper’s off this week, so we’ll get
that made next week, and we’ll make him do loads of embarrassing things he really
doesn’t want to do. Three big stars returned on last Friday’s
SmackDown! Find out in our review by clicking the video on the right! And we’ve got merch!
Watch our super artistic advert #ThankYouJaden by clicking the video below that.
I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.
OLI: Do you want to see AEW and New Japan work together and why? Let us know in the comments, because I'll be replying to people FROM OUTTA NOWHERE!
AEW & New Japan Update – 0:20 / A Little Bit Of The Sell-Out – 2:53 / Bray Wyatt Merch – 4:03 / Matt Hardy WWE Clash – 5:21
Sister Abigail returns from the lake confirmed.
MerchFreak vs Broken Matt Hardy would be gold!
I want a AEW and New Japan Wrestling to work together because, Jon Moxley VS Sami Callihan!
That would be awesome to see AEW and NJPW work together!!!!!
Awesome segment.
Orange Cassidy is garbage(the gimmick not the person.)
Wrestling?
I do not take anything Dave Meltzer says to be worth a damn. It always spunds like meltzer and Bryan Alvarez always say "according to their sources…" is more like a cop out if whatever they say doesn't come true. It always sounds like they throw a bunch of crap against a wall and see what sticks. Wish these reports about Meltzer would stop being reported.
Consumerism to WrestleTalk, CONFIRMED!
The ugly fiend mask is 6 grand, but the unbelievably awesome undertaker belt is only 500.00, I know where my money's going!
FREE THE DELETE!!!!
Support WrestleTalk!
Fire orange Cassidy he is garbage he don't do shit as a wrestler .if ain't wrestling he should not be in the ring he just sucks.
YES BECAUSE THEY BOTH HAVE GREAT MATCHES
I'm literally just subscribed cause to listen to oly, he's a likeable guy I don't even care about wrestling anymore lol
I'd love of they could have a working relationship but if that doesnt happen. All talent be free for 1 show a year in some All In style show. Sort of a NJPW, ROH, AEW, AAA, CMLL supercard. Now there is so many dream matches I cant even think straight
You don't understand how hard it is to be Matt Hardy
Hardy Has More 2 Offer Than WWE Has Time Slots 🎰
Aww…Choppa 😩
aew n njpw and their Actual wrestling could kill that stupid company, wwe. maybe then wwe would realize how their quality has gone down. that fiend title.. if people were dumb enough to buy that… wow. there are better things to get for that cash lol
New Japan Needs a Women's Division
Hmm almost 50 and out of shape, a mid-carder and a WWE guy, Matt sounds exactly like someone AEW would sign. I mean they were desperate enough to have Ricky Morton doing spots for them. While they’re at it they should sign the Iron Sheik and Sargent Slaughter too. It would only help that roster.
g.o.d vs lucha bros or p-n-p would be epic
Videos like this are leading you on. NJPW and AEW will never work together.
we need kenny to turn heel😔
If Matt Hardy goes to AEW will Jeff Hardy be shortly I hope not cause if CM Punk is coming back to WWE then they should have one last fued before Jeff Hardy goes to AEW
AEW is a jobber fed it is nothing but jobbers jobbing for jobbers their Champion is an old lady that lost her purse with the championship in it the first day
What's an AEW?
Of course I would like them to work together, it would benefit AEW a lot and NJPW has awesome talent in their roster.
Matt Hardy's body is seriously so broken that he can't really wrestle anymore. They are not giving him any big push in AEW if he goes so what's the point.. Just sign with WWE and start to train people or something dude. You have to realize when it is OVAH!
The content is always great, I personally enjoyed Matt Handy’s broken gimmick especially in impact wrestling and what was the most entertaining was his son was also apart of that storyline.
New Japan should just partner up with ROH,CMLL and WWE to be the Ultimate League of Wrestling
AEW/NJPW partnership… YES LAWD, YES!! Sorry ROH, this needs to happen!
Matt going to AEW? Hilarious. It's like AEW is the MLS of pro wrestling.
Would love to see Broken Matt in AEW. Last chance to enjoy this awesome gimmick.
I wanna see T-Hawk VS KENTA & Kenny Omega VS Will Ospreay.
The only reason I'd like to see NJPW and AEW is Bullet Club vs The Elite.
its Rumored that Matt Hardy is actually jumping ship to DDT in japan, to wrestle in the Long Awaited Dream Match versus the Legendary Yoshihiko.
Yea they need to team up and work together Kenny Omega needs a dance partner other than pac and moxley
YOUR NEW IS SO MISLEADING CM & RANDY ORTON TO AEW….. EVERYONE KNOWS MATT WAS GOING TO RETIRE LAST YEAR DUE TO HIS INJURIES… THATS WHY HE WAS OFF TV WRESTLING BECAUSE HE WAS INJURED ..
Wrestletalk orgy livestream for 1 million subs emoji?
NJPWs president Harold whatever is a moron, cross promotion = 💰💰💰
Thats why Mcgregor and mayweather fought. Whatever, if njpw wants to remain some indy show thats fine to me I really dont care about em, would’ve been a good way to present njpw wrestlers in front of rowdy American audiences
If this is true…"Will Ospreay to AEW"!
WWE TO AEW CONFORM
Matt Hardy would be treated better in AEW. WWE would just use him like a jobber.
Tanahashi Vs. Jericho has all the feels of another Montreal Screwjob. Jericho won’t want to lose and diminish the AEW Championship. And NJPW won’t want one of their biggest builds to lose either. I love wrestling in 2019.
I CAN BE A MARK AGAIN!
Oli still thinks AEW are sports based…
Would prefer to not see AEW and NJPW partner, too much goofy shit already in NJPW, I'm fine with Yano and Taichi. Let's not add the circus acts that AEW have to offer
Yeah nah, I wouldn't want to see the dinosaur Matt Hardy going to AEW, it goes against AEW claiming they are fostering new talent. The only dinosaur I want to see is Luchasaurus.
Matt Hardy to WRESTLE TALK confirm
Aew &njpw I see it happening would see g.o.d vs best friends,juice Robison vs Darby Allen ,jay white vs hangman page
No. Because…no.
no, i don't want to see NJPW working with AEW. why? because AEW don't deserve to be helped by a company they stabbed in the back
Broken Matt Hardy would fit in great with the AEW talent. Think of an Ultimate Deletion vs Darby Allin
LOL, like New Japan gave a shit about the young bucks, they were pissed at Kenny Omega stabbing them in the back.
Okada Omega 5 book it.
Awesome can't wait to see the video Chopper. 🤣
That Fiend belt is the most insanely stupidly overpriced piece of merch ever. I feel genuinely sorry for anyone who would consider paying $6500 for any belt much less that one.
I don't think matt is leaving….
Matt Hardy needs to use the woken gimmick as a leader who controls his stable like sullivan did in wcw in the 90s. limit his wrestling time to beat downs on rivals and only in ring matches at ppvs. let him work the mic and build the storylines either leading to a fiend vs woken match or a fiend teamed with woken as two massive baby faces are pushed properly. if not than the later part will not work.
How do people see matt being Matt Hardy boy and losing not the same as how he turned broken on impact??? He has to lose, lose and lose and break.
its 6.5k for a replica belt, don't try to defend it oli
No no no no no!!!!! WAIT! Will there be REAL wrestling? Ok. Maybe.
Matt Hardy to annoy Cornette at NWA Powerrrr confirmed!
If orange Cassidy kicked me my shins would shatter.
Do I want to see AEW & NJPW working together? Yes.
Why? Ospreay and Okada matches with AEW roster members.
Orange Cassidy needs to go he's horrible for business it's stupid and not stupid funny either
It's pretty dumb how people thought NJPW loosing 4 wrestlers would be a big blow. They still have MANY talented wrestlers.
Matt Hardy can't even walk right. I wouldn't want him in AEW
OH GOD!!! Wrestle Kingdom IS next month!!! I can't wait!!!(then there's Picard starting about 2 weeks later, is it January yet?)
Yes, njpw and aew should work together….the end.
hope Hardy goes to AEW
Matt Hardy to AEW confirmed! I knew you'd come.
Bullet Club vs The Elite
I hope Matt becomes Broken and takes Brother Nero to AEW.
i love you guys but the tees suck so bad
I just dont get Orange Cassidy
Ooooh….
Orange Cassidy working with Toru Yano.
Potentially entertaining.
That way guys like tama Tonga and other bullet club members can get it on
Broken Matt Hardy vs Merch Freak
Did matt hardy create the fiend
We love you Oli
If Matt Hardy wants to wrestle and further develop his own creative, AEW is really is only option with an outside shot of impact. NJPW wouldn't work familwise as he lives on the east coast of the US and I doubt he wants to move everyone to Japan atm.
Broken Matt would really add an interesting twist in current AEW story/feuds as he can always show up and modify the dynamic.
Broken Matt vs. Freshly Squeezed
Broken Matt vs. Joey Janela
Broken vs. Havoc
So many interesting matches.
Matt will stay with WWE. They will give him a huge bag. He is planning on retiring. He'll need a huge bag to rest for 50+ years to live till he's 100.
AEW does not offer a lot of money. A good amount. Yes but not the ridiculous amount that WWE does give. That's ultimately why Punk didn't go to AEW. He was offended by the number they gave him. (+)
Shirts are too expensive compared to similar or better products.
I
NJPW/AEW!
Broken brilliance in AEW!
Oh, let this happen…
Ollie you're the BEST IN THE WORLD
WWE must be very stupid not using Matt Hardy they never acknowledged the fact that he was the hottest trending act in 2016, my guess is that they just brought him back to bury him and not giving him a word of creative freedom outside of WWE because of the tyranny they have it there.
The more likely scenario is Impact wrestling renewing their relationship with NJPW , Don Callis has been to Japan a few times this year for 'talks', it should be noted that it's Scott D'Amore that deals with NOAH.
I need Orange Cassidy vs. Toru Yano to happen in my lifetime
Omg that Paige here….just comedic gold.
Wonder if the news that NJPW changing their tune has anything to do with the absolute PR nightmare ROH is becoming.
Who is WWE biggest competitor ?!?!?! please don't say AEW matt hardy will sign to wwe
Matt Hardy to AEW would be quite something!
Fantasy Match: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt Vs Broken Matt w/ Sister Abigail (Liv Morgan)
toroyano and orange cassidy.
Matt needs to go to AEW
Yes! MORE wrestling puts eyes on BOTH brands. If a partnership can be forged everyone wins… especially the fans
The woken gimmick was o.k. but they made hardy laugh a lot in the segments and that kind of ruined it
It's crazy broken Matt could easily be where bray is right now and beyond Vince's ego is outrageous