00:003 major AEW stars released! What's Momonic D'Esterio doing in the Impact Zone?
00:07And my review of Monday Netflix Raw. I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:20With both promotions locked in a fierce wrestling war, it's not uncommon for AEW and WWE to
00:26AEW has taken WWE's Hurt Business faction and renamed them the Hurt Syndicate. WWE often
00:33look at where AEW are running major shows, and copy the locations and exact dates for
00:37their own live events. And now, after WWE released 11 wrestlers on
00:42Friday 7th February, AEW let three of their own big names go on Monday 10th.
00:49The first was Malakai Black, who's reportedly been trying to get out of his contract for
00:53the last several months, where AEW were apparently arguing that time missed due to injury should
00:58be added to his term. PWInsider is now reporting, though, that Black's
01:03AEW contract expired on the 9th February. Which means he is currently a free agent,
01:08with no non-compete available to sign anywhere he wants. He could've legally shown up on
01:13last night's episode of Raw. He didn't, but he could've.
01:17Black had previously reportedly asked for his AEW release back in 2022 because he wanted
01:22to return to WWE. That was during the CM Punk Brawlout period, along with Paul Leveque taking
01:27over from Vince McMahon for the first time in WWE. Black's real-life wife Zelina Vega
01:32is also in WWE. Apparently his original deal was set to run through to 2027.
01:38As for Malakai's House of Black faction with Buddy Matthews and Brodie King, AEW have been
01:42rebranding that on TV since last month, where they now wrestle as the tag team The Hounds
01:47of Hell. Well, let's be honest, it was a long time
01:50coming. Neither side seem to be happy, so maybe it's for the best that they've gone
01:54their separate ways. Just two more things.
01:58Hours after PWInsider's report about Malakai leaving AEW, it was noticed that both Miro
02:04and Ricky Starks had also been removed from the AEW roster page. PWInsider quickly confirmed
02:10that Miro and AEW had come to a mutual agreement for him to leave the company. Apparently Miro
02:16had requested his release back in September, even though his contract ran until Spring
02:212026. Miro and AEW have reportedly been working on the exit agreement for some time. Miro
02:28hasn't been featured on TV since 2023, and Fightful adds he doesn't have a non-compete
02:33clause either, so he could also appear anywhere he wants right away.
02:38PWInsider later added that Starks has also officially gone from AEW, and is 100% free
02:44and clear to compete elsewhere, implying, again, he also has a non-compete clause and
02:49could appear somewhere like NXT, for instance, tonight. He allegedly requested his release
02:55last year, amidst reports he wasn't being used on TV for not agreeing to creative. His
03:00contract was believed to expire in the next few months anyway, so it's unknown whether
03:04it just ran out, or AEW has let him go early. In the past, WWE have reportedly been very
03:10interested in at least bringing Malakai and Ricky into the company, particularly with
03:14both Cody Rhodes and CM Punk as big proponents of Starks.
03:18What do you want to see all three men do next? Let me know in the comments down below, because
03:22I'll be replying to people FROM OUTTA NOWHERE ASKING WHAT'S MALISTER GREY, RONNIE SPARKS
03:28AND MUSEV DOING IN THE IMPACT ZONE? Along with Dominic Mysterio.
03:33During a recent appearance on the Battleground podcast, Dirty Dom Fantasybooked,
03:37I can't say I'm too focused on anybody in TNA, but I don't like to say his name.
03:42I think we know who we're talking about. I'm not going to say his name.
03:46I grew up watching all sorts of wrestling. My godfather Konam was on IMPACT, doing LAX.
03:52I grew up on that. So now being able to go back, and now we're
03:55in cahoots with them, that's pretty cool dude. I'd love to show up on TNA. Why not?
04:00I'd love to go and take over. I went down to NXT and took over NXT, so why
04:05not go down to TNA and take over TNA? WWE entered an official multi-year partnership
04:12with TNA starting in January, and even on last night's episode of Raw, Michael Cole
04:16name dropped the promotion when he called AJ Styles one of TNA's greatest ever stars.
04:21But before we get to Monday Night Raw, how about that moustache night war?
04:27Episode 10 of me vs Luke in 2K24's MyGM mode is up exclusively on Patreon.com forward
04:34slash WrestleTalk to watch right now. Which means you can binge watch the whole series
05:04Join us on Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk to watch the whole series and loads more exclusive
05:19videos. And now, here's my review of Monday Netflix
05:21Raw… in about 5 minutes. For the second week in a row, the Royal Rumble
05:26winner Jey Uso opened the show. So I'll just skip ahead about 15 minutes because it's
05:33Yes, yes, Gunther attacked him. I mean, oh no. The evil heel is beating up the beloved
05:40babyface. That isn't a bit tiring at all. Gunther very much put himself in the No Yeet
05:45camp by cutting off Jey's Yeet Encore on the announcer's table from out of nowhere,
05:50and then powerbombing him twice in the ring. Jey grabbed a mic as Gunther walked off and
05:54announced he is choosing the World Heavyweight Championship, making our first confirmed WrestleMania
06:0041 match as Gunther vs Jey. Yeet or no Yeet, Jey hitting a dive over the
06:05top rope was a really good end to the segment. Rhea Ripley was then backstage with Cathy
06:09Kelly talking about waiting for Charlotte Flair to make her decision, but then a very
06:13upset looking Io Sky sulked over to say she's happy for Rhea. Which, wait a second, is this
06:20an actual storyline for the women's division? I'd heard legend that such a thing could
06:23exist in WWE. This turned into a terrific opening tag of
06:27Damage Control's Io and Dakota Kai against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, after Liv
06:31cheated her way past Io in the previous week's Chamber qualifying match. It was also the
06:36return of Dakota Kai from a scary injury several weeks ago, but really, this match was all
06:41about Io. She has consistently been one of the best wrestlers on Raw for about half a
06:46year now, and this match was designed to get her over even more.
06:50A sequence of nearfalls got the crowd chanting this is awesome, Io seemingly legit busted
06:55open Liv's head hard way with her knee, and Sky ultimately hit a moonsault to win.
07:00Rhea went up to Io backstage afterwards and said she's agreed with Adam Pearce it'll
07:04be her vs Sky on the Raw after the Chamber for the women's title, making up for her
07:09costing her the Chamber spot last week. While Bayley vs Lyra Valkyria didn't much
07:13have a story, it certainly had stakes, being the latest Chamber qualifier match. They had
07:18a really good back and forth bout, but Bayley reversed a technical pin to advance. I thought
07:22Roxanne Perez might get involved, as she was in the front row for a Bayley match yet
07:26again, and I assume she's going to win her qualifier next week so she can feud with Bayley
07:30in the actual Chamber. Poor Intercontinental Champion Lyra found
07:34herself in the Alpha Academy division backstage afterwards, while Ivy Nile called her out
07:38again. Penta had a fiery video promo, literally.
07:41There were loads of flames behind him, where he promised to get revenge on Nubvig Kaiser
07:45and Pete Dumb. Backstage afterwards, Kaiser encouraged Dumb to break Penta next week.
07:49I expect them to form some kind of anti-Luchador alliance.
07:53AJ Styles got a thunderous reaction in the home of TNA Nashville, Tennessee. It was a
07:58smart idea to book him for a promo segment in front of this crowd, as it made him feel
08:02like a megastar. He said he's got a long to-do list, while notably glancing at the
08:07WrestleMania sign, but he got interrupted by Dom and Carlito. They all ended up brawling
08:11with AJ standing tall, and Styles vs Mysterio was booked for next week.
08:16But the really interesting direction is AJ walking into the IC Champion Brom Breaker
08:21backstage afterwards. Seth Rollins was dressed like the third member
08:24of Daft Punk that they only let do percussion next for an interview in the stands with Jackie
08:28Redmond. Judgment Day is like sand, though. They get
08:31everywhere you don't want it to be. So Finn Balor interrupted Seth, saying he's
08:35standing in his way. Seth had a good retort, saying next week,
08:38Finn, you won't be standing at all. They have a Chamber qualifying match next week.
08:42Finn was even grumpier backstage in the clubhouse after that, where Dom suggested they recruit
08:46someone new to replace JD McDonough. Finn said they didn't need anyone because he'll
08:50beat Seth all by himself. Which I don't see happening.
08:54I, for one, cannot wait for the newest member of the Judgment Day, El Chadador Gable.
08:59I thought this was a great wrestling episode of Raw. The Women's Tag, Bayley vs Valkyria,
09:04the main event. But my favourite match of the night was the Hoss Fight of the War Raiders
09:09vs American Maid. All four of them are big guys who are also super athletic. Meaning
09:15you get meaty power spots one moment, then Julius Creed easily leaping to the top rope
09:20for a superplex the next. We got a screwy DQ finish when Julius hit
09:24Ivar with a title belt right in front of the referee, but I don't mind that, as it helps
09:29build a longer story. It's made me more into the title rematch, which will now hopefully
09:34be more unpredictable. In a similar template for the last several
09:36weeks, a big star cut an in-ring promo, which then led to a main event match that doesn't
09:41involve them. Here it was CM Punk, who ran down everyone in the chamber that he's going
09:45to beat. Specifically John Cena, where he'll go on to win the title from Cody of Mania.
09:51Then out came the person who eliminated Punk from the Royal Rumble, Logan Paul. Where Punk
09:56brilliantly said, I don't even know whose music this is. Because even the wrestlers
10:00know Death Rebel music is bumhole. Logan got nuclear heat. You can feel it being
10:04different from Dom's. Dom, people like to boo. For Logan, it feels more like they
10:09actually hate him. Punk and Logan had a brief exchange of words, but there were no mic drop
10:13moments. Considering Logan then qualified for the
10:15chamber, I'd hope he and Punk get a proper in-ring pipe bomb segment in the build.
10:20For Logan's qualifier main event against Rey Mysterio, he mostly became a punch based
10:24Pokemon, working over Rey using his boxing background. I feel like they lost their way
10:28with the psychology a bit at the end, but Logan got his knees up for the 619 splash,
10:33hit his Titanium Right Hand and Pulverizer finish to win.
10:37And as the show was fading to black, you could just make out The New Day getting in the ring
10:40to jump Mysterio. WWE aren't even booking The New Day just appearing on screen right.
10:46I'm hoping this was intentional, and that The New Day will work not being given TV time
10:50into their characters now. Even so, that act has lost so much momentum
10:55since the Amazing Heel turn in December. Some very enjoyable wrestling, but also kind
10:59of a filler episode. This week's Raw is 70%. In preparation for the Elimination Chamber,
11:05watch our 10 greatest Elimination Chamber performances ever by clicking the video onscreen
11:10now.
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