SHOCK WWE Return, Another WWE Departure, Has Drew McIntyre Re-Signed, New AEW Look | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

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What did you think of the return? Let us know in the comments! Is Becky Lynch Overpushed? What About Liv Morgan? WWE Raw Feb 26, 2024 Review! | WrestleTalk Podcast  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8yaLtjtDLA More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/ 0:00 - Coming up... 0:57 - Shawn Spears WWE Return 5:38 - Another WWE Writer Leaves 6:12 - Tama Tonga Heading To WWE 7:44 - Has Drew McIntyre Re-Signed? 10:54 - New Dynamite Look 11:43 - What Happens To Raw? SHOCK WWE Return, Another WWE Departure, Has Drew McIntyre Re-Signed, New AEW Look | WrestleTalk #WWE #DrewMcIntyre #AEW  Subscribe to WrestleTalk Podcasts   https://bit.ly/3pEAEIu Subscribe to partsFUNknown for lists, fantasy booking & more  https://bit.ly/32JJsCv Subscribe to NoRollsBarred  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5UQPZe-8v4_UP1uxi4Mv6A Subscribe to WrestleTalk  https://bit.ly/3gKdNK3 SUBSCRIBE TO THEM ALL! Make sure to enable ALL push notifications!  Watch the latest wrestling news: https://shorturl.at/pAIV3 Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   Follow WrestleTalk: Twitter: https://twitter.com/_WrestleTalk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WrestleTalk.Official Patreon: https://goo.gl/2yuJpo WrestleTalk Podcast on iTunes: https://goo.gl/7advjX WrestleTalk Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3uKx6HD  Written by: Luke Owen Presented by: Luke Owen Thumbnail by: Brandon Syres Image Sourcing by: Brandon Syres  About WrestleTalk: Welcome to the official WrestleTalk YouTube channel! WrestleTalk covers the sport of professional wrestling - including WWE TV shows (both WWE Raw & WWE SmackDown LIVE), PPVs (such as Royal Rumble, WrestleMania & SummerSlam), AEW All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, ROH, New Japan, and more. Subscribe and enable ALL notifications for the latest wrestling WWE reviews and wrestling news.  Sources used for research: https://wrestletalk.com/news/former-aew-star-joins-wwe-shock-appearance-shawn-spears/  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.

Transcript

00:00 Luke's promo about why the Steinermath promo is the best promo of all time just might be the second best promo of all time.

00:06 Luke just became the GOAT with this list. Be honest.

00:08 Being 1000% honest with myself and everyone else in the comment section, I agree with Luke.

00:14 I can never remember how the pipe bomb promo goes, but I can almost word for word remember Steinermath.

00:19 Luke's number one is objectively correct.

00:22 I think Luke is a silly sausage, but sometimes silly sausages are 100% correct.

00:27 Yes, yes, yes. Rise up my Steinermathletes.

00:37 A shock AEW defection to WWE.

00:41 There's been another WWE departure.

00:44 Update on Drew McIntyre, Raw, AEW Dynamite and more.

00:48 I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk News.

00:51 Support WrestleTalk.

00:57 Since 2019, wrestling fans have been treated to the most exciting time in the game since

01:03 the death of WCW and, to a lesser extent, the rise of TNA in the early 2000s - where

01:09 wrestlers jumped ship from one promotion to the other and, in some cases,

01:14 jumped back to the one they'd previously jumped from in the first place.

01:17 AEW has seen FTR, Malakai, Black, Samoa Joe, Swerve, Strickland and plenty of others leap

01:23 from WWE after being released to join All Elite Wrestling.

01:27 While WWE has seen the likes of Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill, CM Punk and Lexus King - the

01:31 former Brian Pillman Jr. - head on over to WWE once their deals with AEW have expired.

01:38 It has meant that the free agent market is insanely exciting and leads to incredible

01:43 possibilities - like Will Ospreay leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling to join AEW along

01:48 with the rumoured Mercedes Monet and Kazuchika Okada.

01:51 We'll have more on Tama Tonga leaving New Japan in a bit, and now we have another name

01:56 to join this ever-growing list.

01:58 It was reported that Shawn Spears' AEW contract was coming to an end at the start of 2024,

02:03 which was confirmed by the man himself, and his contract officially ended on January 1st.

02:08 As soon as the news broke of his contract expiration, there was plenty of speculation

02:12 online that he could head back to WWE where he wrestled as Tye Dillinger with that Perfect

02:18 Ten gimmick.

02:19 And that is, more or less, what has happened.

02:22 As last night's NXT saw Shawn Spears re-debut for the brand, attacking Ridge Holland, revealing

02:28 himself as the man behind the Three Faces vignettes.

02:32 Fightful Select's Corey Brennan is reporting that Spears will keep his AEW name and not

02:37 revert back to Tye Dillinger, and that few in NXT were aware that he had re-signed with

02:43 the company and was set to make his return - calling it a complete shock.

02:47 So for those of you who pre-emptively called this video clickbait because we used the word

02:51 shock, WWE also think it was a shock vindication.

02:55 Fightful add that Spears' name was not listed on internal documents and Shawn Michaels filled

03:00 in for him during rehearsals.

03:02 Though he was hidden to avoid the news being leaked, he was reportedly well received by

03:06 those backstage.

03:07 Fightful also write that Spears was let out of his AEW deal early to re-sign with WWE,

03:13 and that he signed some time before the Three Faces vignette began to air.

03:18 His wife, the former Peyton Royce in WWE and Cassie Lee in TNA, posted to Twitter "Home

03:23 Sweet Home", while Cody Rhodes, a good friend of Spears, simply posted "10".

03:28 Spears himself posted, "I'm back".

03:30 Spears requested his release from WWE in 2019, specifically to join Cody Rhodes in All Elite

03:36 Wrestling - with Rhodes speaking very highly about his ability to get over.

03:40 His first big feud in AEW was against Cody Rhodes, and caught some of the earliest AEW

03:45 backlash - when a gimmick chair did not break when Cody took an unprotected chair shot.

03:50 He was part of MJF's Pinnacle faction, but his final match in the company was as far

03:54 back as last September as part of the over-the-budget Battle Royal.

03:58 He's actually been part of WWE as far back as 2006, even being part of WWE ECW under

04:05 the name Gavin Spears.

04:07 He left WWE in 2009 but returned four years later as part of the NXT brand, where he would

04:12 spend most of his WWE career before being called up to the Smackdown roster in 2017.

04:18 It remains to be seen if Spears will join Cody Rhodes on the main roster, or spend most

04:22 of his time in NXT.

04:24 What do you think of Shawn Spears' return?

04:26 Let me know in the comments down below.

04:29 But as one person arrives, another leaves.

04:32 And before we get into that, check out this clip from our most recent Patreon exclusive

04:36 review of WWE Extreme Rules 2014, the second chapter in our Breakup of the Shield saga.

04:44 That 3 and a half hour video podcast is now live for Patreon backers.

04:50 And here's a clip.

04:51 Speaking of stupid places, Adam Rose is on his exotic express, don't be a lemon, be

04:56 a rosebud.

04:57 I was hoping you'd do an impression.

05:00 My next stop is Raw.

05:01 He's going to be on Monday Night Raw this week.

05:04 I've been playing this a lot on TV.

05:06 And it has that Adam coming soon graphic.

05:09 And then he says on VO, "Come along!

05:12 I love bunnies."

05:13 It's fun.

05:17 This is such a different NXT generation.

05:20 If I was on Figure Four Daily around this time when I called in, he's going to get over

05:25 so massive on the main roster.

05:27 Fandangoing got over huge.

05:29 This is going to get over massive.

05:32 How wrong I was and how wrong I really, really, really could not have known I was going to

05:38 be.

05:39 It was revealed last week that writer Jen Pepperman had left WWE and signed with All

05:43 Elite Wrestling - with many connecting the dots that she was a good friend and favourite

05:47 writer of Mercedes Monet.

05:49 And now PWInsider are reporting that another writer has left WWE, as Nick Bonanno has reportedly

05:56 finished up with the promotion following last night's NXT tapings.

06:00 No details are given as to why Bonanno left having only been with the company for a couple

06:04 of years, signing in April of 2022.

06:07 But as one person arrives and another leaves, another could also arrive.

06:12 Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that Tama Tonga has now officially finished

06:16 up with New Japan Pro Wrestling following his final match with the promotion in Sapporo

06:20 and is heading to WWE.

06:24 Meltzer writes that Tonga was looking to sign with an American promotion to spend more time

06:28 with his family, and that he nearly signed with WWE last year before deciding to stay

06:33 with New Japan Pro Wrestling for another year.

06:36 This report has since been corroborated by Fightful Select, who add that barring unforeseen

06:40 circumstances Tama Tonga will be signing with WWE.

06:45 They write that WWE have had interest in bringing Tonga in for about a decade and the two sides

06:51 have been talking for many years.

06:53 As soon as the news broke, there were lots of calls for Tonga to become the newest member

06:58 of the Bloodline faction in WWE.

07:01 Now if you watched Oli Davis' brilliant Bloodline Family Tree video, you will know

07:06 that Tama Tonga is not technically part of the Bloodline Family Tree.

07:11 However, during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, The Rock referred to Tama Tonga's father

07:16 Haku as "Uncle Tonga".

07:19 On his return to the WWE at the 2001 Royal Rumble, Haku teamed with Rikishi, the father

07:24 of the Usos.

07:25 In the 1990s, he teamed with Rikishi's brother Tama as the Islanders.

07:30 Dave Meltzer writes in his report that Tama Tonga is considered family by the Johnson-Meyer

07:35 Veer and Anoa'i Fatu family.

07:37 But as one person arrives and another one leaves and another one could also arrive,

07:42 another one could also leave.

07:44 Or stay.

07:45 2024 is going to be a big year for WWE in terms of free agents, as it's been reported

07:50 and confirmed by the people themselves that the likes of Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch

07:54 have their WWE contracts expiring this year and currently have not penned new deals.

08:00 And one of the biggest names in this bunch is Drew McIntyre.

08:04 Fightful Select had several reports around this time last year that Drew's deal with

08:08 WWE would come to an end at this year's WrestleMania, and he was considering other

08:14 options.

08:15 It was reported that he was very unhappy with his creative and had a lot of frustrations

08:19 with his position in WWE.

08:22 But a lot has changed since then, and McIntyre is now one of the most featured wrestlers

08:26 on Raw, recently turning heel and winning the Elimination Chamber to get a World Championship

08:32 title match against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40.

08:35 So it should come as no surprise that Sportskeeda and BWE are both reporting that Drew has re-signed

08:42 his deal.

08:43 Well, that's all that done then.

08:45 No more- this is way harder than Oli makes it look.

08:48 No more to be seen there.

08:51 All, all figured out.

08:53 Oops, don't kick something over.

08:56 I've knocked a light.

09:00 But just one more thing.

09:01 I need to get that light.

09:05 Alex McCarthy writing for the Daily Mail reports that this is, in fact, not the case.

09:11 McCarthy writes that McIntyre "has been talking to WWE about re-signing for close

09:17 to a year, but no deal has yet to be agreed."

09:21 He confirms the report from Fightful Select that McIntyre's deal was set to expire before

09:25 WrestleMania 40, but WWE added time onto it due to an injury which will see him stick

09:30 around until after the show.

09:33 As mentioned a moment ago, McIntyre is facing Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship

09:37 and is the current favourite to win the belt according to various outlets.

09:42 But McCarthy writes that talks aren't close to being finalised on a new contract, however

09:48 they are ongoing with both sides hopeful.

09:51 Which means we could be in a position where the current world champion, who's also pencilled

09:56 for Punk's first feud when he returns, is going to be working without a WWE contract.

10:02 Fightful Select have corroborated McCarthy's report, writing that when they asked if the

10:07 rumours of Drew re-signing were true, they were told they were not accurate.

10:11 They also add that both sides do hope to continue working together.

10:16 McCarthy also writes that money isn't the stumbling block when it comes to why McIntyre

10:21 hasn't re-signed, noting that his issues with WWE have always been creative ones.

10:27 Perhaps the reason both sides are hopeful for him to re-sign is as McCarthy reports,

10:32 Drew is much happier with his creative now.

10:35 What do you think happens to Drew McIntyre?

10:37 Do you think he stays, or do you think he goes and be's all elite?

10:41 Let me know in the comments below.

10:43 But as one person arrives and another one leaves, and another one could also arrive

10:47 and another one could also leave or possibly stay, another thing leaves only to be replaced

10:52 by a slightly different thing.

10:54 On Valentine's Day a couple of weeks back, Tony Khan announced that there would be some

10:57 changes coming to AEW Dynamite, including a new set.

11:02 And now Sean Ross Sapp has revealed via Twitter what the new look for AEW Dynamite's logo

11:07 will be.

11:08 Andrew Zarian of the Map Man podcast confirmed that this is the new logo, but has seen it

11:13 with a different colour variant.

11:15 The going theory is that the background colour will change depending on the location they're

11:19 in, with the logo SRS tweeting being the one that could be used for their upcoming shows

11:24 in Canada.

11:25 What do you think of the new Dynamite logo?

11:27 Let me know in the comments below.

11:29 But as one person arrives and another one leaves, and another one could also arrive

11:34 and another one could also leave or possibly stay, another one leaves only to be replaced

11:38 by a slightly different thing.

11:40 Raw's going to Netflix.

11:43 Only there's a slight flaw in the rather large paycheck WWE is getting for its Netflix

11:49 deal.

11:50 When WWE announce their new partnership with Netflix, which will see Raw head to the streaming

11:55 platform in 2025 in North America, while other territories are also getting Smackdown and

12:00 PPVs as well, the start date threw up a big question.

12:04 The first episode of Raw on Netflix will be in January 2025, but WWE's TV deal with

12:11 USA Network ends in October 2024, meaning Raw will not have a home for a couple of months.

12:19 In the most recent Q4 earnings call, TKO CFO Andrew Schlemer addressed this situation saying

12:24 "We also intend to renew our license or find an alternative provider to carry Raw

12:29 in the U.S. for the 90-day period from October 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 before it

12:35 arrives to Netflix as described below.

12:38 These domestic licenses together account for a very significant portion of our media segment

12:43 revenues and profitability.

12:45 No assurances can be provided as to the outcome of these negotiations.

12:49 We are unable to renew existing agreements."

12:53 We believe Raw will be aired in the fourth quarter, we have no further information, we

13:11 feel pretty positive about it.

13:12 But that's all I need.

13:24 That Q4 call also had a lot of other interesting tidbits that we did not have time to cover

13:28 today, like the settlement in the MLW case, what Vince McMahon could do with his TKO stock

13:34 and the fate of NXT Europe.

13:37 Remember that?

13:38 Head on over to WrestleTalk.com for all that information.

13:42 And make sure to head on over to Patreon.com/wrestletalk to get the latest episode of WrestleTalk

13:47 Extra where Oli and I review Extreme Rules 2014 and check out yesterday's WrestleTalk

13:52 Podcast review of Monday Night Raw by clicking the video on screen now.

SHOCK WWE Return, Another WWE Departure, Has Drew McIntyre Re-Signed, New AEW Look | WrestleTalk

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