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Post by Dan on Mar 26, 2024 5:58:22 GMT -5
Fair to say they’ve now definitely pivoted away from The Rock turning on Roman at Wrestlemania, and are going all in on Cody overcoming the odds of not only Roman, but full fledged heel Rock, most likely with some help of Rock’s biggest rivals Cena & Austin.
They were definitely, no doubt, going the route of having Rock turn on Roman initially, with his Easter egg ‘L’ signs, Heyman looking sceptical of him etc, and his more lighter tone digs to the Cody Crybabies. But, with Saudi in May, as soon as they started having Rock go all in on Cody’s mother, talking blood, having him appear multiple times without Roman, last night was the icing on the cake. It’s mega heel Final Boss Rock, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they stick with this and have Roman as the babyface in their eventual Wrestlemania Match.
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Post by Dan on Mar 17, 2024 3:29:43 GMT -5
Feels very much like they’re pivoting away from Rock being a temporary heel and costing Roman. The first few weeks, we were getting those Easter egg ‘L’ signs from the Rock whilst he was just having faux fun as a heel. Heyman being suspicious. It seems as though they’ve cooled off on that angle, kept them apart, and are now going all in on Heel Rock. They’re going all in on Rock as a heel now, we’re probably going to get Cody Rhodes vs The Rock in Saudi, followed by an eventual Heel Rock vs Babyface Roman. The payoff at Wrestlemania 40 will simply be Cody overcoming the Bloodline, as opposed to Rock helping Cody and setting up a Rock vs Roman programme. Additionally, The Rock now calling himself the Final Boss, further plants the seeds that there’s more down the line for Cody to overcome. Finally being the one to dethrone Roman Reigns, the one that’s gone over Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, John Cena, the entire current roster, going over Roman at Wrestlemania is supposed to be the final action. Rock now inserting as the Final Boss superseeds this. I’m hoping Roman confronts The Rock on this before Wrestlemania, to add some further tension between the two, but with Saudi in mind and the new Hollywood music, it’s definitely feeling like they’re pivoting more and more away from just having Rock cost Roman at Wrestlemania now.
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Post by Dan on Mar 16, 2024 11:36:43 GMT -5
Feels very much like they’re pivoting away from Rock being a temporary heel and costing Roman. The first few weeks, we were getting those Easter egg ‘L’ signs from the Rock whilst he was just having faux fun as a heel. Heyman being suspicious. It seems as though they’ve cooled off on that angle, kept them apart, and are now going all in on Heel Rock. They’re going all in on Rock as a heel now, we’re probably going to get Cody Rhodes vs The Rock in Saudi, followed by an eventual Heel Rock vs Babyface Roman. The payoff at Wrestlemania 40 will simply be Cody overcoming the Bloodline, as opposed to Rock helping Cody and setting up a Rock vs Roman programme.
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Post by Dan on Mar 12, 2024 17:38:22 GMT -5
Bar last year, most of the last decade have been really below par from what you'd expect as a Wrestlemania Main Event. Whether that's just due to the general predictability of knowing Roman Reigns is going over, paired with his in ring style, they've just been relatively forgettable matches themselves despite the closing image generally lasting. At least, in relation to Cena's Main Event's anyway.
However, the bar wasn't ever really set high for me going into the bulk of Roman's matches, so I was never left majorly dissapointed. Triple H vs Randy Orton from '25 is and probably always will be the standout for me. So much potential, a great build, the Legacy and McMahon's all intertwined, and rumblings of a Wrestlemania X-Seven esque scenario with Orton & McMahon. Yet, we were left with a completely flat, generic Match you'd expect at a House Show, with no Title change, no shenanigans despite the No DQ stipulation, and the wrong winner.
Worst 3 since I watched, from XV; 1. Wrestlemania 25, Triple H vs Randy Orton. 2. Wrestlemania 32, Triple H vs Roman Reigns. 3. Wrestlemania 27, The Miz vs John Cena.
On a side note, despite it being a finisher fest and generally just waiting for the end, I for one was at least shocked when Lesnar went over Reigns at 34 (which I couldn't believe), which saves it from the list.
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Post by Dan on Mar 9, 2024 4:59:54 GMT -5
Up until last night, it’s always seemed as though Rock vs Roman was the bigger story, and they were planting the seeds for Rock to turn on Roman at Wrestlemania, with the whole ‘L’ to the air Easter eggs, and Heyman being evidently sceptical.
I’m wondering if with the rumours of Rock being pencilled in for the Saudi PPV in May, that plans are taking a U-turn, as there were no subtle nods this week. In a dream World for me, Rock would cost Roman at Wrestlemania, leading to a year build and a match at Wrestlemania 41 between the two, with Rock as face. If he’s working Saudi, they can’t do that Match there and so soon, which means they’ll hold off on Rock turning on Roman, and when he does, it will babyface Roman since it won’t be helping Cody win the Title.
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Post by Dan on Mar 2, 2024 4:49:19 GMT -5
Incredible 24 hours surrounding the Rock, from his 20 minute social media promo covering all bases, to the half an hour opening segment on Smackdown.
The Easter egg ‘L’ raised by the Rock at the end was 150% on purpose, I don’t get how people don’t see it. The way he slowly pulls his finger out to form the L, before pulling it back in. Heyman staring across, knowing something’s not right. It’s also a way to keep the people on board and know he’s not fully, fully heel, so that they can have fun as opposed to fully turning.
Rock and Roman are going to win on Night 1, meaning that the will he/wont he turn will reach fever pitch on Night 2. They’re also not going to keep Rock solely for just one show and have everyone attending Night 2 not see him live. Last year was 1 on 1, this year will have more chaos. Rock also isn’t going to take a pin on his first Match back at Wrestlemania in over a decade, and Roman getting pinned will only take away from when it happens on Night 2.
With it No DQ, Night 2, Bloodline at ringside causing chaos, the Rock finally turns on Roman and costs him the Title, with Cody winning.
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Post by Dan on Feb 19, 2024 15:15:16 GMT -5
If it's the Tag Match on Night One, then surely Rock & Roman have to take the win. Rock can't take the pin, and if Roman gets pinned then it'll take a huge amount away from Cody winning the next night.
Personally, I just hope that Rock then turns on Roman and helps Cody win on Night 2, so that we can get face Rock vs Roman for Wrestlemania 41. I have a slight suspicion they might try and retain Rock as the heel, leading Bloodline, eventually babyfacing Roman in the process, much like Batista & Evolution; which whilst it would make compelling weekly television, I'd rather just see what we were supposed to have and that's Rock gunning for Roman and tearing him to shreds.
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Post by Dan on Feb 10, 2024 18:37:17 GMT -5
It's crazy to rewind back to just merely over one month ago, when The Rock showed up on Raw and finally hinted towards opening a programme with Roman Reigns when he mentioned sitting at the head of the table. A programme of Rock tearing into Roman, embedded with the Bloodline, and a Wrestlemania 40 Main Event. Yet somehow, we're genuinely getting a heel Rock, in what could even leave Roman coming out of this as a babyface, all because of one giant booking f*ck up with Cody winning the Rumble. What's even worse, is Rock is now a spare part, with no clear Wrestlemania plan. Appreciate this has to play out, but I can't naturally enjoy it as it's all so overly political.
All I can see now, is either Roman Reigns & The Rock vs Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins for Night One, or The Rock vs a Triple H handpicked opponent (Randy Orton, Batista?).
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Post by Dan on Feb 6, 2024 16:09:38 GMT -5
It’s pretty evident after last night’s Raw that they’re going to pivot and have the Triple Threat now. If they had locked in Roman vs Rock, then last night they’d have fixed the World Title Match and put it all to bed as soon as they can. The fact Drew verbally leant on him needing to finish his story, and the movement was acknowledged by commentary more or less solidifies it.
In a way, I’m actually kind of gutted that we’re never going to get a Roman Reigns vs The Rock feud, something we’ve wanted for years, and one of the last genuine dream matches. Purely, quite simply, because of this monumental booking f*ck up.
People wanted Cody to finish his story, sure, but the reason this whole movement has blown up, and we now have this Daniel Bryan situation repeating itself, is quite literally because they went and had Cody win the Rumble only to have him step aside. It’s the booking that’s caused it, not the fact that he’s necessarily the megastar everyone is clamouring for. But, they’ll no doubt work this into story now, and make out this was all part of a plan to create another Daniel Bryan situation. What’s even worse, is Rock is going to end up being more of a heel in this than Roman himself.
If they’d just simply had Rock enter the Rumble at 30 and won it, sure people would be disappointed it wasn’t Cody, but at least it would’ve been accepted for what it was and we’d just go that route. It’s having Cody win it, and then bump him for the Rock thinking they can just have him replace Punk which has ruined everything. Baffling, considering how many possibilities and options they had at their disposal. They just needed to lock in Rock vs Roman prior to the Rumble, but they failed.
They could’ve had Orton take out Cody early on in the Rumble to set up a Grudge Match for Wrestlemania, Rock enter as a surprise later on and win it to set up Rock vs Roman, and had Punk pencilled in to face Seth, of which once he got injured just reverted to a Triple Threat with Drew and Sami Zayn. Nobody would’ve bat an eye, Roman would still be Champion, and Cody would still be pencilled in to finish his story down the line.
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Post by Dan on Feb 3, 2024 7:28:05 GMT -5
I just can’t fathom how badly they’ve fumbled this. They had so many clear routes and combinations to have gone with, the chess pieces were in their hands for so long. Cody winning the Rumble rather than Punk, was quite literally to silence any chat of Rock vs Roman as soon as they could once they knew they weren’t going that route.
Instead, they now one week later hotshot Rock vs Roman, and leave Cody with no choice but to go for Rollins due to Punk’s injury. It not only obviously undermines the legitimacy of the Rumble winner, goes against everything they’ve been building with Cody’s story angle, deems the Elimination Chamber now pointless, and downplays the World Title as secondary; but it even hurts Roman vs The Rock, because it’s now come at the expense of Cody.
They could’ve just had Rock win the Rumble from the getgo, and whilst we know fans would feel hard done by with Cody from a booking perspective, at least he never officially would’ve won the Runble and fans would just accept Rock vs Roman.
The only way they can go from here, is knowing Cody will be a reliable person to carry the World Title for the foreseeable, until we get another inevitable unification Match further down the line, with Cody taking all of the Gold. Though by then, nobody will care, and we’d already have seen him have a run with a World Title.
I understand Punk got injured, but they’ve booked themselves into a corner more than ever before.
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Post by Dan on Jan 28, 2024 5:37:07 GMT -5
Largely underwhelming for me in the end. Thought if they're going with Roman vs Cody Rhodes II, they'd be a lot better off having Punk win the Rumble and then Cody going the HBK route of desperation and entering himself in the Chamber as his last chance. The way they went with Cody and Punk right until the end almost seemed as though that's your preview of the two Wrestlemania winners, both finishing their stories.
I guess though, if they know they're not doing Roman vs Rock, they're best off shutting down that talk as soon as they can, hence Cody winning now. Rock helps Rhodes win at Wrestlemania, starting the year build to Roman vs Rock I suppose, though I do worry that by the time they finally pull the trigger on Rock vs Roman, the ship will have sailed and nobody will care as much since it's so long overdue.
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Post by Dan on Jan 27, 2024 8:39:36 GMT -5
It's going to be really interesting to see if any plans change following the Vince/Lesnar allegations. I'm presuming Gunther vs Brock Lesnar is now off the cards, so do we actually now get Seth Rollins vs Gunther with Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk? Gunther vs Cena? Does The Rock distance himself temporarily from the noise and hold off from this years Wrestlemania? My thoughts up until the scandal, was that The Rock was winning this years Rumble. It seemed as though to me, having CM Punk, Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, each take turns to have promos the last few weeks on Raw, was presenting them as the equal front runners; therefore none of them are going to win, and Rock will take it. Rock vs Reigns Punk vs Seth Lesnar vs Nakamura Cody vs Gunther Orton vs Theory Something along those lines Theoretically, as of tonight, they could realistically have a Wrestlemania 40 with the following possibilities (I don't know why but my feeling is Route 01 is where they're headed presuming Lesnar is kept off TV); Opt. 01;WWE Undisputed Universal ChampionshipRoman Reigns vs The Rock Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk World Heavyweight ChampionshipSeth Rollins vs Gunther John Cena vs Randy Orton Opt. 02;WWE Undisputed Universal ChampionshipRoman Reigns vs The Rock Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes World Heavyweight ChampionshipSeth Rollins vs CM Punk Intercontinental ChampionshipGunther vs Brock Lesnar / John Cena Opt. 03;Roman Reigns vs The Rock WWE Undisputed Universal ChampionshipRandy Orton vs John Cena Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk World Heavyweight ChampionshipSeth Rollins vs Gunther Opt. 04;Roman Reigns vs The Rock WWE Undisputed Universal ChampionshipRandy Orton vs Cody Rhodes World Heavyweight ChampionshipSeth Rollins vs CM Punk Intercontinental ChampionshipGunther vs Brock Lesnar / John Cena Opt. 05;WWE Undisputed Universal ChampionshipRoman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes World Heavyweight ChampionshipSeth Rollins vs CM Punk Intercontinental ChampionshipGunther vs Brock Lesnar John Cena vs Randy Orton
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Post by Dan on Jan 21, 2024 14:29:35 GMT -5
I personally don’t know why they don’t let Orton win the title by not pinning Roman at the Rumble. They could easily do that, have Roman go crazy and start destroying the place. Have Orton/Rhodes at WM, and then have Rock vs Roman, that way Rhodes finishes his story and then we get Rock/Roman? On paper this makes sense, but I just don't think they waste the rub of having the one to finally end Roman Reigns near 4 year reign purely on a hot potato to set a different match up. I understand finishing the story isn't directly associated with Reigns and is purely about Cody winning the WWE Championship, but he's the one that's been primed to beat Roman. The rub now is borderline up there with the one that would finally slay Lesnar clean, or something like the modern day Streak.
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Post by Dan on Dec 9, 2023 13:51:12 GMT -5
Gut feeling is we get Bray headlining in all honesty, though Batista would be much welcomed. Heyman would make sense with it being Philly, but I don't see it with him being so heavily involved with Roman still.
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Post by Dan on Dec 9, 2023 13:49:00 GMT -5
I think it's clever on WWE's part to get the ball rolling from day one with the CM Punk vs Seth Rollins story. If they didn't, they'd know full well the audience would be clamouring for Punk to win the Rumble to set up Roman Reigns vs CM Punk, so they've naturally planted the different path from the offset. It feels like we might get Punk winning the Rumble, with Cody winning the Elimination Chamber as his 'last chance' attempt to finish the story, ensuring it's not a cut and paste of last year. However, I feel like we'll get Rollins attacking Punk the next night on Raw to set up that Match before Punk gets the chance to 'decide' which Title to go for, as naturally nobody would realistically choose the World Title and Night 1 over Roman.
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Post by Dan on Oct 11, 2023 14:59:41 GMT -5
It simply has to be Roman Reigns vs The Rock, for the Title, period. It's the biggest Match of all time, or certainly at least the biggest Match left that's possible to them. I understand the people that say it's a Match that doesn't need the Title, but this Match has to come under Roman's historic reign. It's the last, ultimate thing the run needs to cement his legacy. Cody and his story isn't going anywhere, they will just hold off as long as they can, and I'd imagine we'll get it at Summerslam, unless they choose to save Cody's moment for '41, and do a Bloodline Four Way at Summerslam for Roman to add to his list.
I think we'll like get Roman Reigns vs The Rock, and Cody Rhodes vs John Cena for Wrestlemania. Seth Rollins vs CM Punk for the World Title, and hopefully, they pull the trigger on Gunther vs Brock Lesnar this year too.
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Post by Dan on Oct 11, 2023 14:53:24 GMT -5
Gotta go with The Rock. I grew up walking around cutting his promos into a toy microphone for my brothers and cousins. From natural charisma and star power to his ring psychology, he's one of the goats. Speaking of Brock, I've also always loved how Rock lays out the Undisputed title at the top of the ramp before running to the ring before their match starts. It's a small detail but it's a really nice touch to set the tone/importance of the match. Rock laying the Title on the floor and quick-starting the match was a detail I was always against in that Match. I always felt like it was Rock avoiding doing the full big-fight feel in-ring intro's you'd normally get before a Title Match as he knew he was losing clean, something he rarely ever did. Seeing those two facing one another for locking up would have been such a big moment. Anyhow, I always loved Rock growing up as most did. He was the ultimate babyface. But even now I still find something so mythical about Lesnar, particularly early-run Brock. Maybe because it all happened so fast, but he was such a fresh Main Eventer at the time, and the first real change of Champion outside of the typical Attitude era big names we'd had switching hands the previous 4-5 years or so. Post-Streak to Wrestlemania 31 Lesnar was also probably one of my favourite runs of all time, I don't think we'll ever see anything that legitimate ever again.
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Post by Dan on Sept 30, 2023 4:13:11 GMT -5
I think his stock in WWE during his return run seemed to level out pretty quick. Despite him being in that returning legend role, where you expect him to just feature 3-4 times a year for some nice, quick dream match feuds, he just still seems to feel like an everyday TV kind of guy. His last 1-2 years were pretty forgetful, the Judgment Day stuff dragged for an eternity. It did seem like they were priming him to be the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion, which IMO would have elevated the Belt from the start, and would have added huge interest and stock in every one of his Title Matches knowing that as soon as he loses, he'd retire. But, it all just fizzled out, he went away for a little while, and that ended up being that, so I do wonder if that's when the seeds for his exit were planted.
He's got nothing at all left to do in WWE, and for someone that prides himself a lot more on his in-ring work, he may as well at this point head to AEW. At least despite his age, there are still a few fresh, high-profile matches for him to have with Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega, Jay White, John Moxley etc, and plenty of Tag Matches as E&C. It really would do him well, it's just how much longer he can really go.
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Post by Dan on Sept 21, 2023 16:20:23 GMT -5
Team Bischoff vs Team Austin, 2002 Elimination Chamber, and the '99 WWF Championship Triple Threat Match are my picks. 2003 was still my favourite to date.
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Post by Dan on Sept 21, 2023 16:16:17 GMT -5
There is no way whatsoever that they are going to pass on Roman Reigns vs The Rock in favour of having Cody win the Title. I think that's the end goal regardless (since there's nobody else realistically ready for it), so it's only delaying it. I'm not the biggest Cody fan, and I do think it will be the most predictable Wrestlemania Main Event there could be when the Rematch does happen, but they've shown they can hold off and find temporary filler feuds to put him in whilst ensuring his stock doesn't fall.
The real question is what they do with Cody at Wrestlemania if he doesn't get it this time around. John Cena, potentially? He'd need a Brock Lesnar esque consolation prize as a grudge match feud that's for sure, to avoid the fans souring on Rock. Whatever happens, I hope they don't insert him as the third piece in a Triple Threat. Reigns vs Rock, despite that it should've gone down at '39, is still the biggest money match possible.
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