Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk Super News – I’m Oli Davis.
We’ve got a packed show for you today, including CM Punk getting back in a wrestling ring, Kenny Omega potentially going back to New Japan, and the real reason Stone Cold Steve Austin is returning to WWE.
And at the end of the episode, there’s the brand new instalment of WrestleSketch, making its WrestleTalk News debut, about how Triple H is trying to get people to like Seth Rollins again.
Click the timestamps in the video description below to jump to any of those stories right now!
And answer our question of the day in the comments down below: Will CM Punk debut for AEW at this Saturday’s All Out? Because I’ll be answering comments FROM OUTTA NOWHERE saying no, we do not cover CM Punk news enough. If anything, we’re really, really restrained about it.
CM Punk to AEW confirmed.
But first!
A few months ago, we here at WrestleTalk launched our first ever wrestling scholarship scheme, where we awarded 16 year old standout wrestler Callum Neuman £2,000 and industry support to help him with his career. And then we partnered with independent promotions WrestleGate – which saw Hangman Page shockingly wrestle PAC ahead of their AEW match – and Frontline, which was founded by Will Ospreay.
And you’ll get to see the pay off to all this in our new series – WrestleTalk Showcase – which begins this coming Monday, where Luke and I put the spotlight on the independent scene to showcase the next generation of wrestling stars, and those amazing wrestlers and promotions who currently aren’t getting the attention they deserve. So make sure to give WrestleTalk a subscribe and enable notifications to know when it goes live first!
It’s going to be really awesome. Speaking of awesome…
Really awkward Awesome Kong Segway!
This Saturday will see the conclusion of AEW’s first year with their All In sequel All Out – their last pay-per-view event before they start weekly TV on TNT from Wednesday 2nd October. Mine, Luke and Laurie’s predictions for the show are up to watch on WrestleTalk right now, where I made the bold pick of Awesome Kong to win the pre-show’s 21 woman Battle Royal. Bold, because at that point, she hadn’t been announced.
But because I’m the wrestling equivalent of Nostradamus – 18% of the time, I’m right every time – just hours after recording our predictions, Awesome Kong was confirmed as a participant by The New York Post. The winner will go onto fight to become the inaugural AEW Women’s Champion on the TNT premiere.
Kong made her name in TNA’s Knockouts division in the late 2000s – the actual women’s revolution a whole decade before Stephanie McMahon’s – and then moved onto a brief, but memorable, run as Kharma in WWE. She then transitioned into acting, where she’s a featured character in the excellent Netflix 80s wrestling series GLOW, but at Double or Nothing in May, she made her first wrestling appearance in over three years, debuting for AEW.
After appearing alongside Brandi Rhodes at Fight for the Fallen, it was implied the promotion were building to a world-breaking Awesome Kong vs Aja Kong feud. Battle of the Kongs! But the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has reported that Aja is already booked elsewhere on the All Out day, so that kaiju-clash will presumably take place later on.
Aja joins Yuki Sakazaki, Shoko Nakajima, Bea Priestley and Jon Moxley as other AEW wrestlers who can’t appear on the show. You’re really taking this ‘All Out’ name a bit too seriously. And now someone else won’t be joining them…
Young up and coming talent Bret Hart has also revealed he won’t be appearing for the promotion anytime soon.
Bret made a surprise appearance at Double or Nothing to unveil the AEW World title for the first time, but even with the promotion crowning their first ever champion this Saturday, Hart has told Ariel Helwani he won’t be in attendance.
“It was convenient the first time… It was a one-time thing, mostly because I was in the area. But I do have a lot of fondness for what they’re trying to do, and I support them. I hope they become a real big wrestling company in the next year.”
You can’t get a bigger endorsement of a new wrestling promotion than appearing for them “because I was in the area”. That’s even better than half-heartedly tapping Seth Rollins on the shoulder in Toronto!
Interestingly, with all these wrestlers being linked to AEW, one of AEW’s top stars has been talked about for going to New Japan…
It was announced earlier this week that Kenny Omega will be returning to his beloved DDT promotion in Japan for a one-off mixed tag team match on the 3rd November, where he’ll partner with other AEW-contracted talent Riho against Antonio Honda and Miyu Yamashita for one of their biggest shows ever, the excellently named Ultimate Party 2019 – which sounds like a dance game for the Wii.
This is Omega’s first appearance for DDT since he left the promotion for New Japan five years ago in 2014. And according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, there are some in NJPW that want him to appear for them too.
Kenny actually has in his AEW contract that he can wrestle for New Japan, but the promotion “has not called [him] for any dates… there’s issues that have to be resolved.” Apparently there are people in New Japan who want to have him return, but others are against it – with Meltzer calling it “a debated issue” in the promotion.
Apparently Kenny’s name seriously came up before New Japan’s show in Dallas last weekend, but nobody ended up reaching out – and Tony Khan would’ve likely blocked Omega appearing, as AEW don’t want their wrestlers appearing for other promotions’ major shows in North America.
But really there’s only one name connected to AEW that we all want to know about this weekend… former WWE megastar… Darren Young. What is he up to at the moment?
Oh yeah, and CM Punk.
Punk is easily the biggest name return still available to the wrestling world, and it just so happens that this Saturday, hours before AEW’s All Out show, he’ll headline their sister convention Starrcast with a very rare wrestling-related panel.
The obvious speculation is that Punk could announce his return to wrestling here, debut for AEW at All Out that same night, and give a massive middle finger to WWE – the company he holds responsible for putting him in legal purgatory for several years with the Dr Chris Amann defamation case after he quit them in early 2014.
It’s been over five years since then, but he did LITERALLY RETURN TO WRESTLING earlier this year, with a surprise appearance under a mask at an independent show for his friend, and Starrcast promoter Conrad Thompson has spoken about whether Punk headlining the convention is in any way linked to a potential full-time return to wrestling and AEW debut…
“I’m sure when he’s doing hundreds of meet-and-greets, every other person is gonna ask that. There’s a lot of people who really miss CM Punk and identify with his persona… My only thing is I wanna clarify since there is speculation out there. This is not a piggyback booking. I did not book CM Punk through AEW. He is not going to be at All Out. Anyone having that expectation is probably gonna be disappointed.”
That’s exactly what someone covering up a CM Punk return would say!
Well, it’s an expectation that Conrad is actively encouraging, as to promote the event, Starrcast have tweeted “After five long years, CM Punk is BACK in the ring!” with a video of literally just that, with the Straight Edge Superstar even taking a bump in a Pro Wrestling Tees ring:
And then he seemingly took a shot at WWE, making a joke about previous Starrcast headliners who have pulled out of the event – potentially a reference to WWE reportedly making the Undertaker and Kurt Angle cancel their Starrcast bookings before Double or Nothing in May.
If you’re not at the actual event on Saturday – because it’s sold out – you can watch Punk’s Starrcast panel streaming live on Fite.TV from 1pm Eastern time.
Or I could just ask him right now…
This week I tweeted the man who saved my wrestling fandom in 2011 – CM Punk – and asked him the question everyone desperately wants to know the answer to:
“Genuinely from my heart – as a 24 year old adult male back in 2011, @CMPunk became my hero. And I still look up to you. So I’d be particularly honoured if you answered this burning for me: Would you rather fart every time you laugh or burp every time you cry? HIGH FIVE EMOJI OD” with a g.i.f. Of a cat marching and the caption ‘have a good day’.
I just… I can’t make up my mind. Because I laugh a lot. So that’s a lot of windy pops. But also I wouldn’t want to be burping in serious emotional situations. Now we play the waiting game to find out the real answer to the CM Punk mystery.
He’s never going to get back to me – that’s the wrong way roun-
But while AEW and Starrcast are selling out arenas, WWE are even struggling to fill up their home base…
WWE announced earlier this week that Stone Cold Steve Austin would be returning to Monday Night Raw for the first time in… well, just over a month, actually, after the ratings grabbing Raw Reunion special in July… for the September 9th episode live from New York City’s Madison Square Garden, WWE’s home base… well, until New Japan and ROH ran a show there earlier this year.
With Undertaker also being randomly announced for SmackDown the following night also in Madison Square Garden – which is the go-home week for Clash of Champions – it was initially speculated Austin would be returning for a storyline reason, as the Wrestling Observer has reported the Deadman hasn’t just been added to sell tickets, but is in fact for a bigger purpose – potentially starting the build to his next match. Come on The Fiend.
For Stone Cold, however, it’s just totally to sell more tickets.
PWInsider is reporting the real reason Austin was added to the MSG Raw is “quite simple. They have not sold out The Garden. They’re half sold out for RAW and a little bit less than half sold out for SmackDown based on the seating maps I’ve seen so they’re gonna add some additional attractions to try and bring people in.”
Perhaps Stone Cold will be the latest person to endorse Seth Rollins to make everyone like him again. WrestleTalk News debut of WrestleSketch segway!
A Venom Marvel Cinematic Universe Crossover has been scrapped by Disney! Find out what happened with Luke and Laurie by clicking the video on the right. And what huge WWE plans have been leaked for Bray Wyatt’s The Fiend? Click the video below that to find out the major next step for the character! I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.
5 years ago by Andy Datson
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