AEW Talent Frustrated - Triple Mania 34 Update - John Cena Classic Update

Name: AEW Talent Frustrated - Triple Mania 34 Update - John Cena Classic Update
Uploaded: 2026-08-22T15:00:30+00:00
Duration: 24 min 56 s
Channel: FroWrestling Podcast

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00:52What a cut down!

00:54Unbelievable!

00:55Don't do my damn into cold air.

00:59And I am the Macho King, you savage.

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03:38Thank you, everybody, for joining us tonight for this episode of the Fro Wrestling Podcast.

03:42I am Dr. Fro, and I am here to bring you tonight conversation all over the world of professional wrestling,

03:47and look, I'm going to be straight up honest with you.

03:49I'm bouncing all over the place.

03:51The topics are wide and vast, cover all different companies, so let's kick it off with this.

03:56WWE, talking about KO versus CM Punk, the match that is on SmackDown is supposedly a one-off.

04:05This is a once-and-done deal designed to get Kevin Owens into a major storyline.

04:10Now, we don't know if he's going to walk out as champion because the betting odds have him winning the

04:17match,

04:17but not necessarily the championship.

04:19So there could be some kind of schmoz ending, disqualification, count out something ridiculous.

04:25But either way, Kevin Owens is, and CM Punk is supposed to be a one-off,

04:30which is kind of a shame because this is something we've all been waiting for for a long time.

04:34And those interview, vignette, or whatever you want to call them, segments, promo segments on SmackDown

04:39have been some of the best television program in WWE altogether recently.

04:43And you're going to use all that momentum, all that really solid fan engagement for one match and then not

04:50revisit it.

04:51That, to me, seems like a missed opportunity.

04:53Maybe these guys just hate each other so much they agree to do this one time, one time only, and

04:57move on.

04:58But really a shame because there's so much more that can be done.

05:00But as I said, for this moment, it is considered to be a one-off.

05:04In addition, WWE news on December 12th is the theorized or postulated idea for when the John Cena Classic will

05:14take place,

05:15which is almost a year to the day since John Cena retired.

05:19Now, if you remember, the John Cena Classic is supposed to be an opportunity to bring NXT talent

05:23to integrate with WWE main roster talent in much the same way the last time as now tournament did,

05:29where we had a lot of guys from NXT come up and get some main roster exposure.

05:34You know, you got to see a host of things.

05:37John Cena's last night.

05:38You got to see Cody and Obafemi.

05:40Like, all kinds of really great stuff.

05:42So, I like the idea still.

05:43I don't like that it wasn't fleshed out more before now.

05:46I think they rushed the announcement just to get a pop in viewership and ticket sales.

05:51But at this point, they haven't given up on the option.

05:53It'll be something it looks like we're going to be getting after Survivor Series in December.

05:57Great way to close out the year for WWE.

05:59We'll have to wait and see what other details become available in the coming weeks.

06:03In addition, WWE having their hands all over Busted Open Radio ever since the launch of WWE on SiriusXM,

06:12WWE's channel, where they took over the wrestling nation 24-7.

06:19Now, here's the thing.

06:20There's a report today, Wrestling Inc. has a report up that WWE is trying to, you know,

06:25stay hands-off of Busted Open.

06:27And Busted Open's still free to talk about creative decisions and booking decisions and all of that.

06:33I get it because when you spin it that way, it sounds like WWE is not becoming a problem.

06:38However, Busted Open Radio used to do things like AEW Dynamite After Dark.

06:44We're not seeing that anymore.

06:46We used to hear them talk about AEW, do interviews with AEW talent.

06:50And we're not seeing that anymore because it's not Wrestling Nation.

06:53Now it's WWE Radio, which is vastly different.

06:57So even if you're not telling them what to say about WWE's product,

07:02it is still a significantly reduced and neutered product.

07:05Something that I, frankly, am thrilled that I'm not listening to anymore.

07:09I even got rid of my SiriusXM subscription.

07:11That was really the only channel I tuned into.

07:14I would put it on in the car and leave it on.

07:15Now, I have no reason to care.

07:17No reason to want to hear that.

07:19Anything they're going to say, I could catch in the YouTube shorts and things like that.

07:25If they're not going to incorporate all of wrestling, then to me, it's just another WWE product.

07:29And I catch enough of those myself.

07:31I don't need to watch another one on SiriusXM and pay an extra fee for something that really is a

07:37fluff piece.

07:37I know they're saying they're not getting involved, but it's still a fluff piece if you're not putting AEW conversation

07:42in there.

07:43Sort of WWE-related, AAA, TripleMania 34 coming up.

07:47We're going to see it September 11th and 13th, two-night event, one in Las Vegas, one down in New

07:52Mexico City.

07:53And it was announced today that both nights, full shows, are going to be available on YouTube,

07:58which is a little different from what they've done with recent shows where they've broken it up into different segments

08:03and put it on their YouTube channel.

08:04These are going to be full shows.

08:06And right now, we only know of one match.

08:09On night two, September 13th, in Mexico City, we'll see Dominic Mysterio defend the AAA Mega Championship against El Grande

08:16Americano.

08:17I fully expect El Grande Americano to win the championship there.

08:20He is so popular in Mexico.

08:22I can't see them doing anything different.

08:24But again, I do still expect to see something major at the night one event because that's the one held

08:31in Las Vegas where WWE will be having television executives in attendance trying to get a television deal for AAA

08:38in the United States.

08:39So I'm expecting some match announcements coming shortly after Sunday night's main event so we can start building toward this

08:46event and really beef it up.

08:48After that, you have Worlds Collide shortly after.

08:51So you've got a lot of AAA stuff coming up, and you really want to bolster the reputation of the

08:57program to encourage advertisers, television distribution companies to want to take a peek at that product and potentially make an

09:04offer.

09:05So we'll have to see how that plays out.

09:06Should be an exciting time for AAA.

09:08Going to get some of the best exposure they've ever seen.

09:11According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there's been a conversation about Bayley's status in WWE.

09:17The fact that Bayley was mentioned on Raw this week by Lyra Valkyria, if Bayley was leaving WWE and there

09:25was no hope of her coming back,

09:27the consensus opinion on Wrestling Observer's newsletter is that Bayley is either coming back, re-signed, or something like that,

09:36or they just wouldn't have said anything.

09:37If the angle where they had her beaten so badly by Lyra Valkyria was designed to write her off TV

09:43and for her to write off into the sunset, they would not continue to bring her up.

09:48That's the theory.

09:49Now, I like the theory.

09:50I like the idea.

09:51I've said it before.

09:52Yes, I would love to see her in AEW because there's a lot of matches we've never seen before, but

09:56I don't know if Bayley fits the AEW style.

09:59I really don't.

10:01I understand she's tough.

10:02I'm not taking anything away from her.

10:04Mercedes has proven that, you know, you can go from WWE and be very successful in AEW, but I just

10:09feel like she is a WWE girl through and through.

10:13This is somebody who I could see finishing her career in WWE and then being in NXT, developing talent.

10:19She loves NXT.

10:20She loves her independent stuff she does, helping young talent.

10:23I really feel like there's a place for her in WWE, and I'm not saying that I'd rather see her

10:28go back to WWE, fight Lyra Valkyria one more time, and then move on to something else.

10:32She's done everything there is to do in WWE, but I just, it feels like home, in my opinion, when

10:38I think about her.

10:40I am struggling to see her going to AEW, changing her name, obviously, because WWE owns the Bayley name, and

10:48I understand she had a name that she performed under before she went to WWE.

10:51I understand all of that, but I just, I'm struggling with it.

10:57I really am, and I actually kind of agree they did bring her up.

11:00Now, maybe they're just getting more comfortable talking about people who aren't in the company anymore.

11:03I don't know.

11:04Maybe, maybe not.

11:04I don't know.

11:05We'll have to wait and see, but with some of the news that we reported on on a previous episode

11:09about so many contracts in both AEW and WWE expiring very soon,

11:13hers is one that a lot of people have talked about possibly expiring and being able to show up at

11:17AEW in short order, maybe around October, November, December-ish.

11:21So, we'll have to wait and see for sure, but until she actually shows up on a television program, I'm

11:26still going to be skeptical that she's staying,

11:27because, let's be honest, Tony Khan, to get Bayley, would pay top dollar, and she'd get to go work with

11:33her best friend,

11:33be able to put on some great matches, great shows, really showcase the physicality that made the women's division in

11:39WWE really pop

11:41when they came out with, like, this whole women's evolution, the four horsewomen, all that kind of stuff.

11:46So, I don't know.

11:46That might be too much to pass on if you're Bayley.

11:50So, again, have to wait and see.

11:52Some breaking news at Death Before Dishonor.

11:55A lot of things have gone down, and the show's not even over yet, but I do have two things

12:00I will highlight.

12:01The Lethal Twist did win the Ring of Honor Six-Man Tag Team Championship.

12:04Congratulations to Jay Lethal and his team.

12:07Little surprised.

12:08I actually thought that the titles were going to be retained by the Outrunners and Dalton Castle,

12:12but no, there's a title change there.

12:13And the really interesting late-breaking news was that Eddie Kingston is not medically cleared to participate tonight,

12:20so he was pulled from Death Before Dishonor, pulled out of the Continental Classic,

12:25and instead, at Death Before Dishonor, there was a match won by Daniel Garcia,

12:30who will now take his place in the Continental Classic Cup, or whatever you want to call it,

12:36against Claudio Castagnoli, who, again, is another Death Rider member.

12:41So now you're going to have a matchup of Death Rider stablemates in the next round on collision of the

12:49Continental Championship tournament.

12:50So interesting stuff going on there, and I'm assuming, and of course all assumptions,

12:55that it has to be a legitimate injury because he just came back, and he was so over,

13:00and I really don't see a reason for him to be pulled out for a faux injury.

13:06It's already bad enough that they pulled, oh my goodness, Nigel McGinnis tonight out of his match for the Ring

13:14of Honor Pure title

13:15with Lee Moriarty and putting Katsyura Shibata, who, by the way, Shibata lost the match,

13:21and Moriarty retained, so I'm sure they'll do something down the line with the two of them again,

13:24with he and Nigel McGinnis.

13:27But I just, I don't see a reason to pull Eddie Kingston unless it's a legit injury.

13:32So I hope not, because I really would love to see him stop having such an injury history.

13:36He's been trying so hard to get back, I don't want to see him out for any length of time

13:39again.

13:40There is a report coming out that AEW talent is very much fed up with how long some of these

13:45shows are going.

13:46The two-hour shows lately, for the last six or seven weeks, have been going two, two and a half,

13:51two hours and 45 minutes.

13:52Longer shows than normal, the runovers, you know, some of these people who work for AEW are getting back to

13:58the hotel,

13:58and the show is still going, and it's frustrating to them.

14:01The pacing needs to be changed.

14:03They don't understand what's going on.

14:04Why is Tony Khan letting this happen and the rest of the booking committee?

14:08And one of the two, actually, things that really make this very baffling is the fact that there is no

14:14additional pay for AEW for the overrun time.

14:18That's their issue to deal with.

14:19They don't get paid for that time.

14:21So not only are you frustrating your talent by making them work longer, you're not getting any kickback for it.

14:26And what they've been noting is that as the shows run longer, viewership tends to dip for AEW.

14:33It's not like back in the Nitro days in WCW, where like that overrun of six, seven, eight minutes typically

14:40would have a big angle,

14:41and you get a big pop of views right before the end of the show leading into the next showing

14:44of the show.

14:45This is different.

14:46They're seeing a drop off in views.

14:48So when you have one of your prime storylines coming on last in the overrun, a smaller audience is watching

14:55that overrun.

14:57So the effect that you want to get from having that is to really push your prime stories, but you're

15:02not getting that because people are leaving and stopping watching because the shows are going too long.

15:06And look, it's not me.

15:08I love professional wrestling.

15:10I will watch the shows as long as they're on.

15:12I don't care.

15:13Two, three, four, five hours.

15:15I don't care.

15:15I always appreciate it.

15:17I've heard, you know, how people talk about how like the crowds come down after big matches and stuff.

15:21Dude, I'll go all day, every day.

15:23I am a diehard.

15:24And I think some of you tuning into this show probably are too.

15:27And if that's the case, we probably love these longer shows.

15:29But there are some people who the more mainstream wrestling fans like the Fly By Nighters, they will like wrestling.

15:35They enjoy wrestling.

15:35Maybe they go to a show, especially AEW, because it's more affordable.

15:39But if they're not overly engaged or plugged in, they don't have the endurance that some of us diehards do.

15:46So I'm not surprised you see viewership drop.

15:49And that's problematic.

15:50Now, heading into All In, you want to see viewership through the roof.

15:54Now, they're estimating that All In is going to be the third highest grossing gate in AEW history based on

16:00the current trajectory.

16:02That being said, there's something that we're still wondering about.

16:04And that's that Joker entrant into the AEW casino gauntlet at All In.

16:12We're not sure who's going to occupy that spot.

16:15And if you were listening to Sean Ross Sapp, he was hypothesizing who some of the possibilities are.

16:22Now, some of them make sense, but don't make sense.

16:25Let me just, I'll throw a couple out there.

16:27Uh, Roosh, Mike Bailey, Jack Perry, Claudio Castagnoli, Pac, Chris Jericho, Mark Davis.

16:35None of those do it for me.

16:36The regular AEW guys, there's no reason to give them this shock entrance opportunity.

16:41I don't like any of those.

16:43Now, some of the other ones he mentioned, Zack Sabre Jr.

16:46That's a little more interesting because he's a New Japan guy doing a crossover.

16:50Give him a strong showing.

16:51Um, if you want to do more with him, maybe you put him over in a big way.

16:55Maybe don't let him win it, but put him over in a big way.

16:57Um, but so he's intriguing, but I, again, I don't think you give it to him.

17:01Mystico is another one that they mentioned.

17:04Possibly.

17:05Um, the thing with Mystico is he has a history with MJF, but MJF is supposed to be having this

17:10feud thing going on with Andrade, which is the whole reason they got the number one and

17:14number two entrant into the casino gauntlet battle road to begin with.

17:17So I don't think you add Mystico to that mix because that doesn't make a lot of sense.

17:21So if you're not going to change up the Andrade and MJF situation, that leaves a few other

17:28options that could be there just for the pure shock value.

17:31So in my opinion, let's go from the, I hate to say it this way because I don't want to

17:35sound disrespectful, but from the least impactful to the most impactful, Buddy Matthews cleared

17:41to return to the ring.

17:42We haven't seen him in a significant amount of time.

17:44He's been off with that broken ankle situation.

17:46He is medically cleared, has not been brought back to TV yet.

17:49It could be Buddy Matthews.

17:51Again, I don't think he's a big enough star.

17:53Not that I wouldn't love to see him be a big enough star, but they, no one's ever booked

17:55him to be a big enough star to come back and take that spot.

17:58I would love to see him get a premium program as a single star, because I think he's got

18:03the, the in-ring talent to do that, but it hasn't happened yet.

18:06So I don't think he's big enough for that spot.

18:09Second one is Keith Lee.

18:10We haven't seen Keith Lee in over two years.

18:12He's been out, talks of cardiovascular concerns, other physical injuries and things, possibly

18:18being retired, stuff like that.

18:20Could it be Keith Lee?

18:21Would that be a big return?

18:22Absolutely.

18:23I think I would love to see that, especially if he's able to come back full time.

18:26I'm all in on Keith Lee.

18:28Uh, I just don't buy that.

18:31And that leaves us with three other options.

18:33One in-house, two out of house.

18:34The in-house, Paul White, former big show.

18:38He's been talking about not wanting to just do stuff in commentary and stuff, wanting to

18:41get back in the ring, working so hard after hip replacements and things like that to get

18:45back in the ring.

18:47I would not be surprised if Paul White was the guy.

18:50He's not looking to be world champion or anything like that.

18:52So you get a meaningful return for him to the ring on your biggest show of the year

18:56in a meaningful match, he could get eliminated, but I can still give you a huge moment that

19:00would go viral on social media.

19:03So he's a very good possibility.

19:04But the other two to me are much more intriguing.

19:07One, Sheamus reported months ago that Sheamus was going to be let out of his WWE contract.

19:13We don't know when his no compete clause comes up because we don't actually know when his

19:17contract supposedly ran out.

19:19Conflicting reports about how long his contract was for, whether they were letting him out of

19:23it early.

19:24If it actually ran out already, does it run out in October?

19:27With the report coming out the other day about WWE contracts running out in October, he could

19:30be one of those.

19:31So maybe he's not available.

19:32Maybe he is available.

19:33I don't know.

19:34He did confirm that he was leaving WWE.

19:36So I don't know.

19:37It's been quite a while.

19:38Is his no compete past?

19:40We do the math.

19:41I don't know.

19:43Sheamus would be interesting to me, especially if Claudio is in the battle royal.

19:48He and Castagnoli, former The Bar tag team, would be an interesting thing to see in

19:53Wembley if they were, say, the last two or at some point had a chance when everybody else

19:58was thrown out of the ring or through the ropes or whatever to have a few minutes in

20:02the ring together.

20:02I think that would be an awesome moment.

20:04And of course, the biggest shocker would be because a contract expiration does not carry

20:10a 90-day no-compete clause.

20:12Ilya Dragunov appearing at AEW All-In.

20:17They're going to be in Europe.

20:18He's a free agent.

20:19He can appear for anybody he wants.

20:21Why not make the biggest impact if AEW is indeed where you want to go?

20:25And the word was that the reason he left WWE was WWE wanted to keep him.

20:29This was not something where they were just turning the page.

20:31This also was not a lowball thing.

20:33It's being reported, especially today, Wrestling Observer reporting that his contract with WWE,

20:38his last contract, was a very generous contract to get him in the company and that he wanted

20:43to negotiate for even more money, but that they saw him as a very good in-ring worker,

20:48but not someone who moved the needle in terms of ticket sales and monetary return on investments.

20:54So they were not willing to meet him at the dollar value that he felt he was worth.

20:59There are a lot of people saying they don't think he'll go back to WXW where he came

21:02from because he has now priced himself kind of out of that, possibly go to Progress where

21:08Malakai Black is going.

21:09That's one option, but the biggest option, I think, on the table, yet New Japan's a possibility.

21:15CMLL is a possibility, but I really think, TNA's even a possibility, but I really think

21:20with his hard-hitting style, AEW, the kind of money Tony Khan throws around, maybe he's

21:24the one who can give him what he's looking for and might be the perfect guy to come in

21:28and steal this spot in the gauntlet.

21:30But I wouldn't mind seeing, I hope they do something very meaningful at the show, and

21:34I hope if he is going to debut for AEW, do it at a show like this where it makes

21:38a real

21:38big impact.

21:39And if I'm AEW, every name I just said should be involved if they don't have another match

21:44on the show.

21:44I don't want to see anybody sitting on the sideline.

21:47The casino gauntlet doesn't have to have, like, I don't necessarily need 50-man Royal

21:51Rumble level stuff, but I would take every guy you got under contract and get them out

21:54there, even if it was for two minutes, just to give everybody a chance to be on a show

21:59of that magnitude.

22:00Why not?

22:02Action Andrettis and, you know, you name anybody who's there.

22:06Evan Bournes, whoever is signed to a contract, get them out there.

22:11You know, MSK, all these guys, get them all out there.

22:14Get them some time on your biggest show of the year.

22:16I'd love to see it.

22:17And I'd love to see Tony Khan really using his talent and maximizing your utility, especially

22:21when you're paying their contracts.

22:22Why not?

22:23That's all the time we have for this episode.

22:25Do me a favor.

22:26Like, share, comment, or subscribe.

22:27Tell me what you thought of the episode.

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22:33We'd love to hear from our audience.

22:35And if you have questions, comments, concerns, like I said earlier, make sure you call the

22:39Pro Wrestling Sound Offline, 267-642-1160.

22:42Let me know, because I want to do episodes where I respond to fan questions like we did last

22:46week.

22:46Very helpful.

22:47Very exciting to engage with you guys.

22:49I want to make you guys a part of the show.

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23:26Check all three games out today.

23:28If you're looking for your next career move, you're considering college, university life,

23:31maybe you just need some formal training for your next career decision.

23:33Go to my website at frolifeplanning.com for all your higher education needs.

23:37As Fro Life Educational Planning is for today, for tomorrow, and for life with Fro Life.

23:42I'm Fred Froelich, better known as Dr. Fro.

23:44I want to thank you for taking some time with us today.

23:46Until next time, take care, everybody.

23:47Have a great night.

23:52I'll see you next time.

23:58I'll see you next time.

24:00I'll see you next time.

24:04I'll see you next time.

24:12I'll see you next time.

24:17I'll see you next time.

AEW Talent Frustrated - Triple Mania 34 Update - John Cena Classic Update

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