WWE Raw Netflix Changes! The Rock Bizarre NXT Promo! WWE Title Switch! WrestleTalk

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00:00 - Coming up...
00:22 - WWE Raw on Netflix Stress
01:40 - Hulk Hogan Getting Booed Update
03:23 - Becky Lynch Return Rumours
04:53 - Penta WWE Debut Cut?
05:37 - The Rock On NXT
08:27 - New Champions Crowned
09:22 - WWE Title Switch
WWE Raw Netflix Changes! The Rock Bizarre NXT Promo! WWE Title Switch! WrestleTalk
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Sources used for research:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...
/ wwe-raw-on-news-119464401
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wwe...
https://www.bodyslam.net/2025/01/07/e...
https://www.cagesideseats.com/2025/1/...
https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/na...
https://www.f4wonline.com/news/nxt/th...

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Transcript

00:00Stresses and changes for WWE Raw on Netflix, The Rock appears on NXT and says nothing,

00:07new champions, a WWE title switch and more.

00:10I'm Luke Owen, your Jam That Jampion, and this is the WrestleTalk News.

00:22We're now a few days removed from the latest new era of WWE as Raw debuted on Netflix.

00:29Which we know as every second person who grabbed a microphone on that show reminded us.

00:33The show saw the return of The Rock to seemingly bury the hatchet with Cody Rhodes and Roman

00:37Reigns, The Undertaker offer Rhea Ripley a ride on his bike after she won the Women's

00:41World Championship, Roman Reigns win back the Oolafalla from Solo Sukoa which is how

00:45I won this beauty here, and Hulk Hogan had his own Monty Burns moment as he asked the

00:50crowd if they were saying Boo-gan.

01:04Fightful Select are reporting that there was production for Raw only seen by the likes

01:08of WrestleMania per those we spoke to, which suggests that not everything we saw from the

01:12debut episode will survive into weekly TV.

01:15Triple H himself said in the post-show press conference that the weekly episodic version

01:19of Raw on Netflix will start with next week's show.

01:23And that level of production also meant, according to Fightful Select, the backstage area was

01:27a stressful one considering the importance of the show.

01:31Fightful also added that although Raw ran for three hours this week, it could have gone

01:35longer if they wanted to as Netflix has given them a flexible out time.

01:41Speaking of Hogan getting booed by the LA crowd, Fightful Select also report there were

01:45huge boos for the video package that aired announcing next year's Royal Rumble will

01:49take place in Saudi Arabia.

01:51Those boos did not make it to television, but the ones for Hogan sure did.

01:56On the day of the Netflix debut, WWE put out a press release announcing a multi-year partnership

02:01with Hogan's Real American Beer, who will now be one of Raw's main sponsors.

02:05WWE also owns a minority stake in the company as per the press release.

02:10To celebrate this news, Hogan appeared in front of the crowd on Raw along with Jimmy

02:14Hart waving an American flag, and the crowd loudly said, BOOOOO.

02:20The story has received mainstream news coverage, not the beer or the partnership, but Hogan

02:26getting booed.

02:27If anything, it was one of the more talked about elements from the Raw debut on Netflix.

02:31And according to the Daily Mail here in the UK, Hogan was very surprised about the reaction

02:37he got.

02:38Now bear in mind, this comes from the Daily Mail, so do take this with a pinch of salt,

02:42but their SOURCE claims,

02:44Did Hulk think he was going to get cheered, especially bringing out Jimmy Hart who everyone

02:48likes and who was also waving an American flag at the time?

02:52That is a resounding yes.

02:54They add that Hogan was disappointed by the reaction, but wasn't pissed about it.

02:58They also claim,

02:59Had it not been for him being there to promote his beer, he would have leaned into it a little

03:04more but he just had to get through the promotion of it all.

03:07Perhaps this is my millennial cynical brain kicking in, but sure sounds like a lot of

03:12PR spin there.

03:13Especially as their source adds, after thinking about it, few good things did come out of

03:17it.

03:18Like, what good things?

03:20But while Hogan made it onto the show, a few names did not.

03:23Prior to Raw, there were a lot of rumours that Becky Lynch would be making her return

03:26to WWE on the Raw debut.

03:29Lynch left the company last year when her contract expired, but the overall feeling

03:32is that she will go back to WWE when she's ready to return.

03:36Her IRL husband Seth Rollins even noted that she's taking time off to spend it with her

03:41family.

03:42Lynch was also at the Netflix and WWE launch event last month, but reportedly was only

03:46there to support Rollins who was also in attendance.

03:49And according to Fightful Select, talent within WWE did expect the man to return to Raw on

03:55the debut episode on Netflix, which ultimately did not happen.

03:59But according to Corey Hayes of Bodyslam.net, it was supposed to.

04:03Bodyslam reported following the show that Becky Lynch was scheduled to appear tonight.

04:07She was in town.

04:09She was scheduled to appear within that Women's World Championship segment.

04:12He notes however that this was changed to feature the Undertaker cameo instead, presumably

04:17designed to appeal to the lapsed fans who would recognise a face from the past.

04:22However this might not be the case, as Fightful Select report that while WWE talent did expect

04:28her to be there, not only was Becky Lynch not on the show, she wasn't at the show.

04:33Sean Ross Sapp reports that Lynch was never planned for the Raw debut on Netflix and was

04:38not cut for Undertaker's cameo.

04:41However he also adds, we're told that as of the end of 2024 that neither her WrestleMania

04:45plans or return plans had been solidified, though some in WWE do expect her to be there

04:51for WrestleMania.

04:52But what about Pentagon Jr.?

04:54After weeks of teasers, it was speculated that the former AEW Tag Team Champion would

04:58be debuting on the Raw Netflix episode.

05:01However it was instead announced that Chad Gable would have a match next week against

05:05an unnamed luchador.

05:06Triple H noted in the post-show press conference that, yeah, we can all figure out who that

05:10is.

05:11It's the return of Sin Cara, watch out for your little finger there.

05:14Penta instead got another video package, this time revealing his name.

05:18But according to Dave Meltzer, Pentagon Jr. was scheduled to debut on this episode of

05:23Raw but was pulled at the last minute to debut him next week instead.

05:29Perhaps this is similar to the Women's Intercontinental Championship finals, which were originally

05:32reported to take place on this episode of Raw but were moved to next week so they didn't

05:37get lost in the shuffle.

05:38But it's not just Raw though, as WWE's train rolled on, and as he teased on Raw,

05:43The Rock did appear on last night's NXT New Year's Evil which aired on Netflix here

05:48in the UK and in other territories, while also on The CW in the United States.

05:53What that means though is that unlike Raw, NXT does have a hard time limit.

05:59This hilariously led to a closing promo from The Rock where his entrance took so long,

06:03he was informed he only had six minutes left on the broadcast to cut his promo, which essentially

06:09amounted to, thanks for coming and thanks for supporting NXT.

06:13He added that the reactions that NXT wrestlers get are important as they could be main eventing

06:17WrestleMania in a few years, or out of business.

06:21One reviewer called it a haphazard promo that went nowhere, and the online reaction to it

06:26on places like Reddit and Twitter have equally been making fun of it.

06:30Which probably means The Rock will bring it up in his next promo segment, as the start

06:33of this promo segment was addressing the criticisms that his promo segment from Raw got.

06:38The Rock followed Triple H's in-ring promo on the Netflix debut to put over what a monumental

06:42moment this was for WWE, and how exciting it was to be there.

06:46He also put over Roman Reigns as the Tribal Chief, and put over Cody Rhodes as the man

06:50who's carried this company on his back for the last year as WWE Champion.

06:55He even joked with Cody Rhodes about the Mama Rhodes angles from last year, shook hands

06:59with him and hugged him.

07:01This despite the aforementioned Mama Rhodes promos, and showing up at the end of Bad Blood

07:05staring down Rhodes and Reigns while doing the throat slip motion.

07:09Fans derided the promo, saying that it threw away all of the good work that Rhodes, Rock

07:15and WWE did last year to create a compelling story heading into WrestleMania 40.

07:20Our own Oli Davis even thought it came across as a burial of Cody Rhodes, who just had to

07:25stand there and smile in the crowd and laugh as The Rock joked about his mum.

07:31It had been reported that the original direction for WrestleMania 41 was The Rock vs. Cody

07:36Rhodes for the WWE Championship, but Dave Meltzer originally reported that Rock might

07:42not be working this year's WrestleMania.

07:45It has since been reported that The Rock still isn't sure if he can do Mania this year,

07:50as he'll be doing reshoots for the live-action Moana movie for Disney around that time.

07:55The Rock addressed the criticisms of that promo in his promo on Last Night's NXT,

07:59saying that last year fans complained about him being too mean to Cody, and now they're

08:04complaining for him being too nice to Cody.

08:06Oh, I don't think that's why people didn't like the Raw promo, Rock.

08:10I think you might have missed the point there.

08:12He added,

08:13The Rock is the final boss, thinking 20 steps ahead, so the best thing for them to do is

08:17to know their role, shut their mouths and enjoy the ride that The Rock is taking them

08:22on.

08:24What did you make of the promo?

08:26Let me know in the comments down below.

08:27But it sure was a packed NXT New Year's Evil last night, and a really good one at

08:33that.

08:34It was, in fact, a lot better than Raw.

08:36Stephanie Vaccar became the number one contender to the Women's North American Championship

08:40in a really fun match, Gigi Dolan, Tatum Paxton and Shotzi defeated Fatal Influence which

08:44saw Shotzi pin the champion which also sets her up as a potential challenger for the title,

08:49and Lexus King retained his Heritage Cup against Charlie Dempsey in another really

08:54good match.

08:55But the show was bookended, The Rock's final promo notwithstanding, with two big title

08:59matches and two big title changes.

09:01As Julia won the NXT Women's Championship from Roxanne Perez in a terrific match, and

09:07Obafemi won the NXT Championship in a three-way with Trick Williams and Eddie Thorpe.

09:13Where's my Obafeminist at?

09:15It was a great episode of NXT, and a good reminder that it probably is the best weekly

09:20TV show in North America.

09:22But it's not just NXT that saw new champions crowned, as WWE officially confirmed a new

09:28line-up for the Women's Tag Team Championships.

09:30Following the mystery attack on Jade Cargill to, reportedly, cover up an injury to her,

09:35Bianca Belair chose Naomi to help her defend the Women's Tag Team Titles against Nia Jax

09:40and Candice LeRae, and Naomi said that she would only consider herself a champion until

09:44she defended the titles with Belair, which they did on the taped December 20th edition

09:48of Smackdown.

09:49WWE tweeted that they were the Women's Tag Team Champions, and the lower third for the

09:53pair on the Raw debut on Netflix also noted that they were the champs.

09:57And now WWE.com has made the switch official, replacing Cargill on the roster page with

10:02Naomi as one half of the Women's Tag Team Champions.

10:06The lineage page for the title has also been updated, recognising this Belair run with

10:11the tag titles as one uninterrupted one since she won the titles from the Unholy Union.

10:17If you want to hear some in-depth thoughts on the Raw debut on Netflix, check out yesterday's

10:21WrestleTalk Podcast review of the show with myself and Oliver Davis by clicking the video

10:25on screen now.

WWE Raw Netflix Changes! The Rock Bizarre NXT Promo! WWE Title Switch! WrestleTalk

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