Busted Open Radio Sold Out to WWE? The Death of Honest Pro Wrestling Coverage
A solo YouTube host argues that WWE's takeover of SiriusXM's wrestling channel just closed the last mainstream door for independent, unfiltered wrestling criticism.
Posted
1 months ago
Duration
Format
Talking Head
sincere
Views
22.6K
1.8K likes
57 · 43
Big Idea
The argument in one line.
WWE's takeover of SiriusXM's wrestling channel proves that once a media outlet's survival depends on the company it covers, honest criticism becomes structurally impossible, no matter how candid the current hosts remain.
Who This Is For
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
A wrestling fan trying to understand why a media outlet's ownership structure matters more than what it currently airs.
Someone building an independent YouTube channel, podcast, or media brand who wants a real case study of what happens when an independent platform gets absorbed by the subject it covers.
A pro wrestling fan trying to figure out where unfiltered coverage will exist after a major outlet changed hands.
SKIP IF…
You're looking for match reviews, in-ring analysis, or storyline predictions — this is media-industry commentary, not wrestling content itself.
You want a neutral, both-sides report on the WWE Radio deal — this is one creator's opinionated take, not balanced journalism.
TL;DR
The full version, fast.
WWE and SiriusXM announced WWE Radio, a 24/7 channel launching July 27 on SiriusXM channel 156 that absorbs Pro Wrestling Nation and brings Busted Open Radio — previously the last mainstream outlet where an independent wrestling voice could imagine earning a seat — fully under WWE's ownership. The existing hosts stay, and satellite listeners gain live audio of WWE's premium events and flagship shows, but the argument is that ownership determines editorial freedom regardless of who's talking: a platform owned by WWE will eventually only air content WWE approves, closing the door an independent creator spent years trying to walk through. The conclusion: independent creators need their own platforms now more than ever, because legacy outlets can be absorbed overnight.
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Opens with the news that broke him: Busted Open Radio's home channel is being absorbed into a new WWE-branded network. States the thesis up front — becoming an independent personality is more important now than at any point in the history of wrestling content creation.
01:06 – 04:22
02 · The Access Problem: Copycats, Fake Reactors, and the Will Washington Case
Argues the wrestling content space is full of derivative reaction channels chasing an 'easy dollar,' and that the community has bred a mentality of never criticizing talent or promotions out of hope for future access — using AEW hiring a reporter away from Fightful as the clearest example of that compromise.
04:22 – 06:39
03 · The Official WWE Radio Announcement
Defends his own consistency (no agenda, called both AEW and WWE out over the years) before laying out the actual news: WWE Radio launches July 27 on SiriusXM channel 156, replacing Pro Wrestling Nation, with live PLE audio starting at SummerSlam and the existing Busted Open hosts staying on.
06:39 – 10:27
04 · Respect for Dave LaGreca and Brutal Advice for New Creators
Praises Dave LaGreca's origin story and work ethic, then pivots into a tangent aimed at aspiring creators: starting a wrestling channel today isn't the opportunity it was years ago, and anyone without a genuinely different angle or a foolproof plan should not bother.
10:27 – 17:51
05 · The Good and the Bad of WWE Owning the Channel
Walks through the upside (live satellite audio of WWE's premium events and flagship shows is a real convenience) and the downside (Dave's on-air reassurance that 'nothing changes' is standard PR, and Jim Ross's prior call-out of the show as a 'WWE infomercial' now reads as prophetic).
17:51 – 21:59
06 · His Closed Door: A Personal Stake in Busted Open
Turns personal — explains that Busted Open Radio used to be one of the last legitimate avenues where an independent voice like his could eventually earn a seat at the table, and that WWE's ownership permanently closes that window.
21:59 – 26:00
07 · His Origin Story and the Pitch to Dave LaGreca
Recounts his path from jewelry salesman and Starbucks barista to full-time wrestling YouTuber, the advice from Justin LaBar that shaped his approach ('I want to see the personality and voice on my screen'), and his direct conversations with Dave about eventually joining the show.
26:00 – 30:01
08 · The Pitch Continues: Solomons, TNT, and No Budget
Details his ongoing pitch to Dave — pointing to his existing catalog, subscriber base, and collaborators like Solomons — and Dave's honest response that there currently isn't budget to bring on outside content creators.
30:01 – 31:41
09 · Declaration of Independence
States plainly that he has no corporate bosses and answers to no one, contrasts his live viewership against bigger-subscriber competitors, and argues that most of the wrestling reaction community is 'fake' because it won't risk upsetting fans, sponsors, or the promotions themselves.
31:41 – 37:53
10 · The Verdict: Busted Open Becomes a Marketing Department
Concludes that Busted Open Radio has given up its right to be called media and become an extension of WWE's marketing, ties it to WWE's broader pattern of owning its own podcast network and influencer program, and predicts the show will visibly change within six to twelve months.
37:53 – 39:09
11 · Sign-off
Closes by asking viewers whether honest wrestling media still exists anywhere, invites comments and a like, and teases the next live show.
Atomic Insights
Lines worth screenshotting.
WWE Radio launches July 27 on SiriusXM channel 156, replacing Pro Wrestling Nation and folding Busted Open Radio under WWE's ownership.
The existing Busted Open Radio hosts — Dave LaGreca, Bully Ray, Mark Henry, and Nick Nemeth — all stay on air after the WWE takeover.
A media outlet that only airs content approved by the company it's supposed to cover has stopped being media and become a marketing department.
Roughly 98% of wrestling content creators are described as operating with an undisclosed agenda shaped by which promotion they want access to.
AEW hiring a reporter away from an outlet that covers AEW (Fightful) compromises that outlet's remaining independence, regardless of any single story's accuracy.
Starting a wrestling YouTube channel or podcast in 2026 is not the same opportunity it was when today's established names broke in.
If your primary motivation for starting content creation is making quick money, that alone predicts failure before you even begin.
Live viewership, not subscriber count, is framed as the more honest measure of audience engagement — fewer subscribers with a bigger live audience beats the reverse.
A platform's public promise that 'nothing will change' after an acquisition is standard reassurance every absorbed outlet gives its audience, worth treating with skepticism.
The real risk of corporate ownership isn't day-one censorship — it's the gradual narrowing of which topics, competitors, and guests become off-limits months later.
A single piece of advice from a peer — 'I want to see the personality and voice on my screen' — permanently changed how one creator structured every video that followed.
Once a legacy platform partners closely enough with the subject of its own coverage, any door that existed for outside independent voices to eventually join it closes immediately.
WWE now owns its own podcast network, its influencer program, and a dedicated 24/7 radio channel — three separate moves that add up to one consistent distribution strategy.
Takeaway
Owning the platform means owning the narrative
MEDIA INDEPENDENCE
When a media outlet's continued existence depends on the company it's supposed to cover, honest criticism becomes a luxury it can no longer afford, no matter how sincere the current hosts are.
02The Access Problem: Copycats, Fake Reactors, and the Will Washington Case
Creators who chase proximity to talent, promotions, or a future job with a promotion self-censor honest criticism to protect that access, which is a large reason genuine criticism is rare in the space.
A reaction-content creator only needs to press play and react, which is why the format is oversaturated with derivative, forgettable channels that don't reward repeat viewing.
When a company hires away a reporter from an outlet that's supposed to cover it independently, that outlet's remaining coverage becomes structurally compromised regardless of any single story's accuracy.
A media outlet that only publishes what the subject of its coverage approves has stopped being media and become a distribution channel for that subject's narrative.
03The Official WWE Radio Announcement
WWE Radio launches as a 24/7 channel on SiriusXM channel 156 on July 27, replacing the prior Pro Wrestling Nation branding on the same channel.
The new channel carries live play-by-play audio of WWE premium live events (starting with SummerSlam) plus WWE-produced podcasts hosted by current and former WWE talent.
Busted Open Radio's entire existing lineup stays on air, but the show now operates inside WWE's own media umbrella instead of alongside it.
04Respect for Dave LaGreca and Brutal Advice for New Creators
Starting a wrestling YouTube channel or podcast today is not the same opportunity it was when established names entered the space years earlier.
Trying to break in without a clear way to look, sound, or present differently from everyone else already doing the same format is a losing strategy from day one.
If your primary motivation for starting a content channel is making quick money, that motivation alone predicts failure regardless of execution.
05The Good and the Bad of WWE Owning the Channel
For a satellite-radio subscriber who can't watch a live event, audio simulcast of premium events and flagship shows is a genuine convenience upgrade, not just a corporate land-grab.
A platform's public reassurance that 'nothing will change' after an acquisition is a predictable line every absorbed outlet gives its audience, worth treating with skepticism regardless of who says it.
The real risk of a media platform being absorbed by the company it covers isn't day-one censorship — it's the slow tightening of which topics, competitors, and guests become off-limits months later.
A respected media figure publicly calling a show a company's 'infomercial' days before that company formally takes ownership of the channel is a signal worth taking seriously, not dismissing.
06His Closed Door: A Personal Stake in Busted Open
The moment a legacy platform gets absorbed by a corporate parent, any door that previously existed for independent voices to eventually earn a seat closes immediately, not gradually.
A platform built by fans, for fans, that grew organically over years can still end up fully owned by the subject of its own coverage once it partners closely enough with that subject.
07His Origin Story and the Pitch to Dave LaGreca
Career advice that sticks for a decade is usually simple and personal, not tactical — hearing 'I want to see the personality and voice on my screen' reshaped one creator's entire approach after a single conversation.
Internalizing 'there's always someone watching, watch what you say' early shapes what a public creator is willing to put on record for the rest of their career.
Pitching yourself to an established platform works better when you can point to a concrete asset — an existing content catalog, an established subscriber base — rather than just enthusiasm.
08The Pitch Continues: Solomons, TNT, and No Budget
Getting told 'we don't have the budget right now' by a gatekeeper isn't necessarily a no — it can be a genuine financial constraint separate from whether your work is good enough.
Bringing a collaborator's existing trust with a gatekeeper into your pitch functions as a low-cost way to get considered without a formal audition.
09Declaration of Independence
Building an audience with zero corporate approval chain means nobody can dictate which topics, opinions, or people are off-limits — that freedom is the actual product for a segment of viewers.
Live viewership, not subscriber count, is the more honest signal of genuine engagement — a smaller subscriber base with a larger live audience beats a bigger subscriber base with a smaller one.
When a creator says they won't share an opinion because they don't want to upset a fanbase, sponsors, or a company, that reluctance is a business incentive shaping the content, not neutrality.
10The Verdict: Busted Open Becomes a Marketing Department
Once the platform that owns the distribution channel is the same company being covered on that channel, 'media' and 'marketing department' become functionally indistinguishable regardless of short-term hosting continuity.
Audience backlash to a beloved platform's acquisition is proportional to which direction the power flows — fans react very differently to 'our show absorbed a bigger partner' than to 'a bigger partner absorbed our show.'
A company that has already built its own podcast network and influencer program, and now a dedicated radio channel, is executing one consistent strategy of closing off alternative coverage — not a series of unrelated deals.
Glossary
Terms worth knowing.
Busted Open Radio
A long-running pro wrestling talk show on SiriusXM hosted by Dave LaGreca alongside wrestling personalities like Bully Ray and Mark Henry, historically operating as an independent-leaning fan platform.
Pro Wrestling Nation 24/7
The prior name of SiriusXM channel 156, the dedicated pro wrestling audio channel that carried Busted Open Radio before being rebranded WWE Radio.
SiriusXM Channel 156
The satellite radio channel number where WWE Radio (formerly Pro Wrestling Nation) broadcasts, accessible via satellite receiver or the SiriusXM app.
IWC (Internet Wrestling Community)
Shorthand for the online community of wrestling fans, commentators, and content creators who discuss, react to, and critique the pro wrestling industry.
Fightful
A pro wrestling news and reporting outlet; referenced here as the prior employer of a reporter AEW hired, raising questions about the independence of Fightful's ongoing AEW coverage.
WWE Radio
The new 24/7 SiriusXM channel brand launching July 27, replacing Pro Wrestling Nation and bringing Busted Open Radio and WWE-produced programming under one WWE-owned banner.
Resources
Things they pointed at.
00:05channelSiriusXM Channel 156 / WWE Radio
06:39channelBusted Open Radio
02:20channelFightful
Quotables
Lines you could clip.
00:00
“Did Busted Open Radio sell out to WWE?”
the whole video's thesis stated as the very first line→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote
17:51
“There is an ugly part to all this as well, and this is where my personal story comes in.”
clean pivot line from news recap to personal stakes→ IG reel cold open↗ Tweet quote
30:01
“I don't have any corporate bosses.”
short, declarative, sums up his entire independence pitch→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote
30:26
“Most of the people you watch are fake.”
blunt, quotable indictment of the reaction-content space→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote
32:13
“They've given up their right to be media. They've now become a marketing department for WWE.”
the video's core verdict in one sentence→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote
The Script
Word for word.
Read-along
Don't just watch it. Burn it in.
See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.
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metaphor
Did Busted Open Radio sell out to WWE? Very disheartening news coming out of SiriusXM channel one fifty six.
Pro Wrestling Nation now branded WWE Radio.
We got a lot to talk about, and there's a lot I gotta get off my chest right here today on Off The Script.
You know, this this story sucks, man. This story sucks.
And I cannot stress enough to each and every one of you that becoming an independent personality is more important now than it ever has been in all of the years of content creation.
The community itself, there's a bunch of people in the community that are trying to replicate and trying to copy everybody else's work.
If you're a new content creator, you're looking to copy someone else's work. If you're new to the community, you're seeing all these fake reaction streamers and you think that's an easy way to make a quick dollar.
It's bottom of the barrel content. It's not content that is sustainable. It is not content that is rewatchable.
It exists in the moment, and then it's dead as soon as you stop recording.
The community also has bred this mentality of I can't speak bad about something because I want to sit next to Aria Ripley or I want to get close to Tony Khan or I wanna work for WWE one day.
I wanna be someone that works alongside AEW and Tony Khan.
AEW has done nothing but harm this mentality and add to this mentality because they brought on Will Washington who actively has made the product worse, and that's genuinely the case.
But with them hiring Will Washington from Fightful, it opens up Pandora's box. We all know Fightful's in bed with AEW.
And the fact that AEW took someone from Fightful's team, I mean, where do you think the flow of news is coming from? Will Washington hear something from Tony Khan?
Will Washington probably tells everybody over at Fightful or Tony Khan himself goes and tells Fightful, there's a bridge. The trust in anything that goes on there is completely severed if you're someone on the outside looking in.
That's not really media anymore. You're pushing a narrative that is controlled by Tony Khan. Tony Khan wants something out there.
He's gonna go to someone like Fifle.
But Tony Khan has made this mentality worse in the IWC. It's breed more of, hey, man.
Maybe it could be me. And I once upon a time, when AEW first got started, thought that way. I genuinely thought AEW was gonna be that promotion that listened to its fan base, listened to the positives and the negatives, the pros and the cons, the genuine, honest criticism about what they're doing.
Everybody thought with Will Washington going over there, hey. Maybe I could land a job too.
Everybody wants to work with WWE. Everybody wants to work with AEW. Honest criticism in the community doesn't exist.
Very rarely do you see honest criticism. I would say 98% of what you watch as far as wrestling content creators, they have an agenda.
They have an agenda. Now whether you like me or not, you may think I have an agenda, but that's never been the case whatsoever. I've always stayed my course.
Everybody thought I had an agenda when I pushed AEW good, WWE bad. Now people think I have an agenda. WWE good, AEW bad.
Everybody sees it the way that they want to see it, but I have never changed in all the years I've been doing this full time. Not one single time have I strayed from being honest with you.
Do I go a little bit over the top? Do I get a little eccentric sometimes?
Sure. Everybody does. It's YouTube.
This is what you watch. This is what you want to consume on YouTube. If you wanna go watch someone who's boring and lifeless and shilling one way and not the other, I don't know what you do in watching anything on YouTube.
Seriously.
Today's news is very bad. Today's news is very, very bad and quite honestly, very disheartening.
WWE and SiriusXM announced the launch of WWE Radio, a new twenty four seven channel launching on Monday, July 27 on SiriusXM channel one fifty six and on their app.
It will feature live play by play audio of WWE premium live events starting with SummerSlam, daily talk shows including Busted Open Radio, podcast hosted by WWE superstars like Cody Rhodes, Stephanie McMahon, The Undertaker, Logan Paul, and etcetera.
WWE Radio will be replacing replacing pro wrestling nation twenty four seven on the same channel. The host of Busted Open, Dave LaGreka himself, Bully Ray, Mark Henry, Nick Nemeth, they are all staying on.
Busted opens longtime home on SiriusXM Pro Wrestling focused channel one fifty six. Just changed its name to WWE Radio.
First and foremost, don't know who will be consuming this video, don't know who will be watching this video the time it goes up. I love what Dave LaGreka has created.
I'm a LaGreka guy. I trust Dave. I respect Dave and everything that he's accomplished.
He took something that was born from honest, genuine fandom and honest, genuine criticism, and he busted his fucking ass to get where we're used today.
And a lot of that goes unheard and unseen in today's landscape because everybody's got access to a microphone and everybody's got access to a camera, and they think that they can pick it up and do what we do.
This is not a job that is easy. This is not what you think it is.
This is a very stressful job. This is a very time consuming job, a very thought provoking job.
Your schedule will get fucked up. Your sleep schedule out of everything gets fucked up.
You live and you breathe the content that you create and nothing else matters. There is a dedication to this that people don't realize you need to have.
How come I can't be successful? Says an upcoming content creator. Starting YouTube channel 2026 or podcast in 2026 is not the same when Dave started busted open radio or when I started my YouTube channel.
I was towards the tail end of where the cutoff was. I was lucky to sneak in. This is not an easy endeavor.
If you're going to do it, you need to do it for the long haul. If you're going to do it, you can't have, hey, man. I wanna make an easy an easy buck as well just like everybody else.
It doesn't work that way. If you're starting out trying to make money doing what you're doing, then you're failing right out of the gate. People ask me all the time, what do I gotta do to be a content creator?
Most of the time, wanna tell them don't. Don't. What are you going to do differently than everybody else?
Why do you think I look like this? Why do you think I'm sitting in front of a virtual beer garden? Why do you think I come in driving my actual car?
It's me. I branded myself as me, and I brought that to life.
When you see someone streaming in their bedroom and you see someone streaming with fucking $5 IKEA curtains behind them and a fucking shelf of Funko pop, You're just like everybody else.
Oh, look at me and my cool title belts. Look at me and my and my cool my cool wrestling action figures. Nobody wants to see that.
You're a grown adult. At least with me, sure. I got what I got.
My visuals are my visuals, but it's creative. It makes me stand out.
It makes me different. And then you get me who else looks, sounds, and shoots the way that I do?
There's not many. There's not many. Everybody else feels and looks the same.
So when people ask me, how do I get into content creation, JD? Don't. Unless you have an absolute fucking foolproof plan, don't.
Unless you're going to make yourself look, sound, and feel different than everybody else already trying to do what you are wanting to do, don't. Everybody wants to react and watch pro wrestling. It's not gonna make you grow.
It's not gonna make you money. And if you're doing it for money, you're gonna fail right out of the gate. That's why I appreciate Dave.
He started from nothing, and now look at where he is. He's partnered with WWE. He works alongside Bully Ray, hall of famer.
He works alongside Natalya, hall of famer. He works alongside Nick Nemeth, hall of famer.
He works alongside Mark Henry, hall of famer. He works alongside Tommy Dreamer, hall of famer.
They're all over the place. He's at WWE events. He's at the performance center.
He's at NXT shows. He's at TNA. He is someone Dave LaGreca is someone that you should really model yourself after, a go getter.
And he's a tri state area guy. I mean, us tri state area guys, New York, New Jersey. The work ethic is just different.
It really is.
So before anybody says anything, I wholeheartedly respect Dave.
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Dave. And no, it's not because I'm I'm lobbying for a job.
I've talked to Dave about my desires, and Dave knows exactly where I wanna be.
There's some good to come with this. There will be bad. I wanna start with the good.
The channel will provide live play by play coverage of all major WWE premium live events, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, everything in between. Select audio simulcast of WWE's weekly flagship television programming, Raw, SmackDown, NXT.
If you are a satellite radio subscriber who drives a lot and wants to follow WWE, this is fucking great. Imagine you're working a late shift and you can't get in home you you can't get home in time to watch SummerSlam.
You can turn on SiriusXM channel one fifty six, and you can hear Booker T and Vic Joseph commentating SummerSlam for you as if I'm laying in bed while I was living in my mom's house back in The Bronx and I wanted to turn on WFAN and hear the Yankees. And here Michael Kay and John Sterling just announcing a Yankees game.
It's the same idea. I think that aspect of it is great. You're not getting the visuals, but you're hearing the audio.
I think there's something genuine. There's something old school about that. I actually like that.
I think that's a great addition to what they got going on.
Now the existing busted open programming stays. It will not be the end of busted open radio as the programming will continue under the WWE radio banner with the hosts all staying on.
So the surface, nothing changes for the listener. You're still gonna get everything that comes along with channel one fifty six, but WWE radio is kind of consuming all of that. That's where the bad comes in.
This is where the bad comes in. Busted Open Radio becoming part of WWE's umbrella as part of its media branch.
I mean, whether you listen to busted open radio or not, I don't think many people are surprised by this move. Just listening to busted open radio and seeing the coverage lately on busted open radio and where busted open radio is and what they've been doing lately, it doesn't shock anybody.
What does shock everybody is how transparent everybody involved is finally being about it. Now Dave put out a tweet today, and he over embellished and he was a little over the top with it, but that's his character and that's what he does.
He says nothing else is going to change. The rants and the criticisms and the the yelling on air and everything that comes along with what you once loved about busted open radio, nothing is going to change, but they all say that. They all say that.
You know, I'm a grown adult, man. I've been, uh, I've been through a lot. I've seen a lot.
I see I see things come and go. I see things start off great and then slowly change. I mean, it's just typical public relations nonsense.
Nothing's gonna change. Nothing's gonna change. But why why is a viewer are you gonna sit there and trust anything that WWE gets their hands on?
Why are you gonna trust anything that WWE sinks their teeth into? Sure. It may be the same now, but six something six months from now when WWE has consumed the entire fucking network for twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, who's to say WWE isn't gonna start controlling everything else on the fucking platform?
Who's to say that busted open radio? They may be able to say and do stuff now and get away with saying things now. But six months from now, who's to say WWE isn't gonna come in and say, well, you can't talk about that.
You can't say that. You gotta really push the positive and not talk about the negative. Oh, and you can't talk about anybody else.
You can't talk about AEW because they're direct competition to what we do even though we don't really think they're competition, but we're counter programming them every single time, every single chance we get. Can't talk about TNA. You can't talk about New Japan.
You can't talk about MLW. We're not partnered with those promotions. Only WWE and only the good.
And you can only have WWE approved guests and WWE approved hosts. Who's to say all of this isn't going to happen six to twelve months down the line?
How many people are you gonna lose listening to Busted Open Radio because you've partnered with big bad corporate WWE? Like, I understand you wanting to grow the network, and partnering with WWE is a dream come true.
It's the biggest pro wrestling company in the entire world. But to see where WWE is going with the on screen product and them trying to consume everything that pro wrestling is and monopolize once again pro wrestling and own everything in pro wrestling.
How many more people did they turn off by the way the product currently is right now and where the product is going? How many more people did you turn off by partnering with WWE?
Jim Ross, he said out loud this week, the launch of WWE radio came the same week Jim Ross called out shows like Busted Open Radio for being a WWE infomercial due to how often they talk about WWE and the fact that there is a lack of coverage elsewhere with other major promotions.
All across threads on social media, I saw today. Are you covering AEW? Are you still gonna cover AEW?
Are you gonna talk about TNA? Does this mean you're not gonna cover anything else?
JR's right. He didn't know what then. Maybe he didn't know.
Maybe he got tipped off. But now it is completely official. WWE does not just influence the narrative on that channel.
They now own it.
There is an ugly part to all this as well, and this is where my personal story comes in. The real issue here is nobody else in the community is gonna talk about this in an open and upfront way.
This is why I said early on, it is so imperative that you're if if you're an independent personality with your own brand and your own channel, it is more important for you now than ever before to be on your own.
People like me, most of the time we get shunned for our upfront and honest perspective.
They want to eliminate that upfront and honest perspective. They don't want that type of narrative out there.
They want what they want, and they want the twenty four seven glazing and the twenty four seven positivity and the twenty four seven everything is great. And then people there are people in this community most of the community, mind you, is of this same mentality.
I can't speak bad about this. I can't speak bad about that because I wanna be with these people, and I wanna rub elbows with the talent, and I wanna get involved in the media and get invited to the press boxes, and I wanna get a free ride and all this other nonsense. I don't want free tickets.
I don't want a free ride. I don't wanna sit next to the media. I don't wanna interview talent.
I wanna sit on air because it's always been my dream to be a radio personality. I wanna give my take on what I think pro wrestling is, and I wanna do it in my own manner, in my own way, and have it be something that I've cultivated from the very bottom to where I am now.
Busted Open was one of the last legitimate pro wrestling avenues in wrestling media where an independent voice, someone who built their own platform, someone who tells the truth whether it's good or bad, who does not need WWE's approval, could potentially get a seat at the busted open table.
That window is now closed. So for someone like me, and this is why I talked about Dave starting from the bottom and starting from where he was to start Busted Open Radio.
It was a platform started by fans who love pro wrestling, and it grew into what it is today. Two or three years ago, it was still a platform where independent voices like mine could set that goal for themselves and really strive and work towards being at that table with a bully Ray and a Nick Nemeth and a Dave Lugra.
That's all gone. That's all gone now.
Why would WWE Radio now look towards content creation and fans and people like me, personalities like me, and give me a spot at that table?
WWE now owns the twenty four seven network. It is theirs. Busted Open is now a part of the WWE ecosystem.
Why would WWE look towards content creation and look towards personalities like me or BC or Solomon store or or anybody else as a potential to get content on the channel?
Posted open 20 four seven was something that was a huge risk and a huge endeavor to begin with. Twenty four seven busted open pro wrestling nation twenty four seven could not exist the way that it was for the year that it was on Sirius.
It could not exist in its current format. I have spoken to Dave.
I've spoken to Dave as of recently in the last month Verbally, I expressed to him, I have the content. I have the catalog.
I have the subscriber base. I have the energy. I have the work ethic.
I would love to be a part of the team and give back because his story mirrors mine. His work ethic mirrors mine.
He started from the bottom. I started as nothing. I was a jewelry salesman on Wall Street.
I was a jewelry salesman at Torno, 57th And Madison. I used to sell high end retail.
I used to work Starbucks as a barista. I was there for a very long time. I came from nothing.
I moved out of my parents' house at 18. I didn't even know I wanted to do the YouTube thing.
It just happened. I got fired.
I sat home unemployed for eleven months. I said, you know what? I watched this guy.
I watched that guy. I love pro wrestling. I love Call of Duty.
Let me start a YouTube channel. So I started a YouTube channel. I was playing some Call of Duty with some background Call of Duty while talking about pro wrestling.
One day, I meet Justin LaBar face to face. We hang out for a few drinks. He tells me the one thing that still sits with me today.
The same Justin LaBar that is on busted open radio. If I'm watching YouTube, I wanna see the personality and the voice on my screen.
I don't wanna watch something that has nothing to do with pro wrestling. I changed the way that I looked at my content, and I followed his advice.
Another thing he also told me that sits with me today, there's always someone watching.
Watch what you say. Always someone watching.
These two things he's told me over the last ten to twelve years, I've been doing this content creation thing. They've never left the way that I approach things.
And shout out to him. He still will bust it open radio. Someone also who I very much respect.
That content now is never going to get an opportunity to land on busted open radio. That window for me closed.
And like I said, I told Dave, I got all this. I know I could make a difference.
I know I have the audience that's going to be there. I know I could help you guys out. Dave legitimately told me, right now, we don't have the budget.
Right now, we don't have the financial backing to bring on content creators like yourself. And Dave Dave knows.
Dave knows. I told him you need an eye and an ear to the ground. Real people, real fans, real emotion, real people watching what they're watching that are going to tell you exactly what you're watching.
No sugarcoating anything as long as it's tasteful.
And as long as you don't exchange who I am, I'll give you the very best that I got. I told him I work with coach. The whole reason why I wanted to work with coach is because I love coach.
I appreciate coach. I value what coach brings to the table, but it also and he's working with me and he gets some of my audience. I'm working with him.
I get some of his audience, but he was with Busted Open Radio. We now may know the reason why he's not with Busted Open Radio anymore. But I told coach, I want this to be something that kind of maybe gets me in the door.
Maybe an eyeball or an ear to the ground. Hey. This JD works pretty well with coach.
Hey. I think he's a great personality. Hey.
I think he would be a good fit for Busted Open Radio.
Again, that window's closed. I told Dave, listen. You need me in a setting with other people.
I work with Solomons. Solomons is fucking incredible. He's one of the more down to earth OGs in the entire community, and he's a very good friend of mine.
He's fair for Solomons Jason is family to me. He's family to me. I'm very lucky to have him not only as a friend, but as a coworker on TNT and at House of Glory.
The setting that we created on Tuesday nights is perfect for a busted open radio. Perfect for a busted open radio.
Dave says, JD, I I know. I know. I see what you do with Jason.
I watch. He knows. So, Dave, what do I gotta do?
What do I gotta do to get in? What do I gotta do to potentially take where I am now and inch myself closer to busted open radio?
Dave told me, don't change anything about yourself. Just do. He told me, when it comes to finding new shows and new hosts, I always have you in the back of my mind.
So I took that phone call as, alright. There may be a little glimmer of hope here. Don't change anything.
Don't change anything.
Me not changing anything doesn't matter because WWE now just consumed all of pro wrestling nation twenty four seven. WWE radio is not gonna invite someone who calls their creative garbage.
They're not gonna give a platform to someone who says, Cody Rhodes is boring and vanilla and he needs to turn heel. WWE is not gonna give someone the platform that calls out their ticket sales and says, good for them.
What goes around comes around. They deserve every bit of it. That's not what a corporate platform is going to do.
They want voices that advance the narrative they are selling. They don't want people that will challenge their narrative.
I spent years building my entire platform independently giving you what I feel is the good and the bad about pro wrestling.
I don't have any bosses I answer to. I wake up every morning and I sit in this chair all by myself. I don't answer to nobody.
I make myself a coffee in the morning. I sit here with my cat, and I go to work.
I prep the shows. I make my own thumbnails. I got my own identity.
I got my own look. I got my own sound. I got my own vibe.
And we're the number one, and I'm gonna pat myself on the back, and I'm gonna stroke my own fucking ego here. There are there is nobody even in the down periods. There is nobody pulling the numbers that I'm pulling live on YouTube.
Nobody. Nobody in the live setting. You could sit there and claim that this one is a bigger subscriber base and this one's got more of a subscriber base.
Subscribers in 2026 don't mean shit. When I'm looking at cultaholic, have 800 people live for an for a a fucking WWE Raw review, and I'm sitting here with 3,000.
I don't give a shit how many subscribers. What culture or Fightful have? Nobody's watching them for their pro wrestling opinion because they have swayed one narrative and one narrative only.
They push what they're told to push. They don't have any personalities on there that people wanna watch. They don't have opinions that people wanna see.
They panned it to one narrative and one narrative only.
Places like that are also controlled by much more important people, rich people.
Antonio.
I don't have any corporate bosses. I don't sit here answering to anybody.
That's not what a corporate platform does. They want voices that advance the narrative. No one's telling me how to be, how to act, what to say, what to do.
You guys don't understand how increasingly rare that is in this space. Most of the people you watch are fake. Most of the people you watch reacting are fake.
They're all fake. They're all fake. You got people out here in the reaction community not wanting to give you genuine opinion because they don't wanna upset how they they don't wanna upset their fan base.
They don't wanna upset the people that may or may not be watching. They don't wanna upset sponsors. They don't wanna upset WWE.
They don't wanna upset AEW, Tony Khan, TKO, h h h. They don't wanna ruin their invites. It's all fake.
When someone tells you that they are not going to give you their opinion because at the end of the day, they don't give a shit about the news and the rumors and this and that, that means they're afraid.
Everybody is fake. Nobody wants to tackle the real situations and the real topics.
And it's funny enough that when people do, they're attacked for their honesty.
This announcement confirms that the biggest audio platform of wrestling just officially became an extension of WWE, the company that it's supposedly covering more so than anything else.
And again, I love Dave and I love busted open and I consume busted open every day.
That's not media.
They've given up their right to be media.
They've now become a marketing department for WWE.
Being under WWE Radio and the WWE Radio banner, Busted Open can now operate out in the open. As the WWE service service, it's been pretty much it's been the the the fan base has spoken up about Busted Open lately.
And now they can be as open as they want about the WWE service that it pretty much has been for the last year, year and a half.
It's sad. It really is sad.
And the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day, I see people I see people talking about this online, and I see people taking a stance on this, and people are melting down over a over a a situation like this.
And I see people ranting and raving about this.
People are upset because it's no longer busted open radio. It's no longer busted open radio.
WWE radio consumed the entire platform. Busted Open is now an accent to WWE radio. If it if it was the other way around and busted open was the top of the top and the WWE radio was an accent to busted open radio, I think we'd we would be having a completely different discussion.
People would be not as upset if Busted Open Radio was the top.
And in addition, we have now WWE radio. But but but at the end of the day, it's WWE radio consuming all of pro wrestling nation, including Busted Open Radio and all the shows that come with the platform.
That's why people are upset. And people have every right to be upset because WWE has closed the gap in several different aspects in pro wrestling when it comes to media and the way you the way you consume media, podcasts, and videos.
They got club WWE. They got their podcast network with fanatics, and now they got pro wrestling nation twenty four seven. And they're closing the gates on AEW and where they're allowed to go and where they may potentially go.
WWE is strategically closing off every avenue in the media and on TV in every aspect, and no one has a problem with it.
Nothing is going to change as far as what I do.
If Dave gets wind of this, I want him to know I'm gonna continue to work to possibly be a part of the team, and I still genuinely feel I have a lot to offer.
I have the catalog to back it up. I got the numbers to back it up in every way.
And I really still feel today, even with this announcement and WWE now taking majority ownership and everything that's going on over there, I still feel an honest, upfront, genuine fan voice is more important now than ever before.
As soon as you start to hear the murmurs and the whispers that busted open radio has changed, and when fans start to get that in their mind, busted open ain't the same. Busted open isn't given the same opinions as they used to.
Busted open doesn't feel the same. It doesn't sound the same. Dave ain't the same.
Bully Ray ain't the same. Tommy dreamer ain't the same. Nick Nemeth ain't the same because now they have to appease their masters.
You're gonna start to slowly hear that. That is something you want to try and actively avoid. People like me, people like Solemnster, people like everybody else doing this thing independently, our voices now are more important than ever before, especially for someone like a busted open radio.
If you really mean what you say and you really want to convey to everybody that the honest, upfront, genuine criticism is going to remain and nothing's going to change as far as the way we present busted open radio, then continue to look at people like me and everybody else that's a genuine honest voice in the community, and don't let that window close on giving those people opportunities.
Because if you close the window on those people, busted open is never going to be the same. It will never be looked at as the same. And when WWE sinks their teeth and everything, everything Dave worked hard for up until this point will be washed away because WWE at that point, you think they're done?
WWE isn't happy until they own it all. That's what they want. So he says it may still be the same.
Six to twelve months from now, I don't think that's gonna be the case. I don't. And there's no reason to trust WWE because look at where we are now with the company.
Look at where we are.
Very disheartening day, very disheartening story. If you guys enjoyed today's video, let me know what you think about this. Is this the end of wrestling media?
Is this the end of wrestling radio as we know it? Where are you gonna consume your pro wrestling coverage? Where are you gonna consume your pro wrestling media?
Live analysis, reactions, genuine fan criticism. Does it even exist anymore?
Does it even exist? And sure, we could all start our own podcast network or coach could start his own podcast network, and I could start my own podcast network. That's not the point.
That's not the point.
I gotta see how this materializes, man. I I I know we could take the the fucking world by the balls here and just kinda own this.
I mean, our stock honestly, the way that I look at our stock is now risen. People like me, our stock is now risen. Where else are you gonna get genuine honest criticism?
It's gonna be interesting to see, man. Let me know how you feel about this.
Let me know what you guys think about this in the comment section below. I I had to make a video on this. I had to be a little bit more open and honest with you guys today.
Very disheartening story. Sound off the comment section below, hit that thumbs up. We'll see you live for Friday night SmackDown right here with genuine honest criticism.
Right here on off the script.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
The title asks it as a question; the first sentence out of his mouth answers it before the video even gets going. From there it's 39 straight minutes of one host, one camera, and one argument: an outlet can only stay honest about a company for as long as it doesn't depend on that company to survive.
Frameworks
Named ideas worth stealing.
02:19concept
Access vs. independence tradeoff
Creators who chase proximity to talent, promotions, or a future job with WWE/AEW self-censor honest criticism to protect that access; creators with no such ties are free to be candid but get frozen out of official platforms as a result.
Steal forn/a — media-industry observation, not a content-creation tactic
CTA Breakdown
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
37:53next-video
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soft CTA folded into the sign-off — asks for a comment, a like, and a return visit rather than pushing a product or link
FROM THE DESCRIPTION
PRIMARY CTAWhere the creator wants you to go next.
Add Modern Creator as a preferred source and Google shows you more of our breakdowns in Search, Top Stories, and AI Overviews. It only changes what you see, and you can undo it in your Google settings anytime.
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A 45-minute screen-recorded tour of DaVinci Resolve's built-in AI tools, a reusable project template, and the shortcuts that turn editing into a five-step habit instead of a slog.
A 2-hour-20-minute free training that hands out a genuinely reusable storytelling framework, then spends its back half selling a $349 cohort challenge built on it.
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