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

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What do you think Rock's plans are? Let us know in the comments! WrestleTalk Patreon 👉   / wrestletalk   Raw Netflix Debut Review 👉    • WWE Raw On Netflix Debut Review! | Wr...   More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/ Unlock the secrets to working in professional wrestling, sign up to https://www.wrestlingmasterclass.com/ 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 #WWE #TheRock #WrestleTalk  Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   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...   DailyMotion Channel Comments Policy We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to DailyMotion 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

00:00Stresses 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.

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