A New Era for the Wrestling Thread

[DOBSON10]

The Rock Vs. Roman is the better match IMO... I don't understand the Cody hype at all, he's so fake, he's average on the mic and average in the ring... Bluntly put, he's boring... Unless the Rock is just a bucket of rust, he's the better wrestler, he's a thousand times better on the mic and he will put butts in seats... The build up to the match will be way better... Personally it's a no brainer to me... And it's definitely not about a payday for the Rock, he probably makes more money in a year than the entire roster... WWE has been trying to get him back for Mania for years and the fans clearly want it... The moment his music hit, Cody became an after thought... Acting like this is somehow stealing from Cody is silly, Rock/Roman has been in the plans long before Cody came back, this is just the year it happened to work for the Rock... It almost happened last year...

What makes Cody deserve this match anyway really? Cuz his daddy never won the belt? His Dad was way better than him, and was actually a main eventer, he deserved the chance... Cody's not even the best of Dusty's sons... Honestly he doesn't even really deserve the match against Seth either... There are several wrestlers that have been in WWE for years waiting on a chance at the world title, while Cody was getting booed out of buildings in AEW... I'll give him his credit there, he revived his dying popularity by going back to WWE but there are several guys that deserve it just as much, probably more...

Punk getting hurt sucks, cuz Rock/Roman and Punk/Seth are real Wrestlemania worthy Main Events... With Punk being out, Seth being banged up was really hurting my anticipation for Mania... Rock brings some of it back... The only downside is Rock really shouldn't win the belt because he's not going to be around for long, but he doesn't need to win to sell tickets and make the match & night 2 more memorable than it would be without him... Total no brainer IMO...

 

[herolee10]

Just read that it was the Rock's idea to take Cody's spot at WM 40. If that's really the case, then I have lost what little respect I had for that egotistical *****e. The guy has singlehandedly not only ruined Cody's push but destroyed two years worth of storytelling as well.

Now I really hope that his match with Roman crashes and burns like his failed attempt to takeover the DCEU. If I were Cody, I'd just walk out of the WWE and never come back.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Personally, I would prefer for Gunther to drop the IC belt to someone else before winning the WHC.

You don't have a guy like Gunther lose, if he drops the IC before winning the World title then I'd do it in a triple threat where he isn't pinned.

It's Cody vs Seth and Rock vs Roman as many assumed.

Cody said he's still coming for the WWE title just not at WrestleMania. Then Rocks music hit and we got the stare down.

I thought WWE under Triple H had changed but this is a Vince booking move, Cody vs an injured second tier Seth for a nothing belt and a glorified exhibition match are so dull for a Wrestlemania where Cody and Gunther could have took the company forwards.

 

[TheVileOne]

The Rock hasn't wrestled in over 10 years, and we don't even know if he has the cardio and ring shape to do a quality main event.

At the same time, WWE is in an existential crisis right now. They need positive media and positive PR. The Rock wrestling in a main event at WrestleMania changes all of that.

Vince McMahon is gone, but Janel Grant is also suing WWE. And also, more condemning information and allegations might come to light soon. If WWE and TKO leadership have the opportunity to pull the trigger on The Rock vs. Roman Reigns finally, they are going to take it.

They never should've booked Cody winning the Rumble if this was the plan.

 

[DeadlyWest]

I'm holding off judgement until we find out exactly what the main event will be. They can still salvage this, via having it go the direction of leading to Cody making his final decision post Elimination Chamber turning Rock vs Reigns into a triple threat (which has been a weird trend for every "tenth" WM since 20). Remember that it was initially planned for it to just be Batista vs Orton at WM 30. A lot can change in 4 weeks.

I will say if it's genuinely Seth vs Cody and Rock vs Reigns, I'm not watching WM 40.

 

[TheVileOne]

Cody Rhodes just said he's not facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. We know what the main event is going to be. Cody is probably going to face Seth instead in CM Punk's spot.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I don't think this will have the positive effect WWE think, a few older fans with a nostalgia ***** might be interested but I'm an older fan and this is the kind of booking that turned me away from wrestling, and I think the current hard-core fans will **** on this. Rock is a movie star who's top heavy and in his 50's, fans love seeing him show up for a comedy segment and a singalong promo, but the Philly crowd will empty their bowels on Rock vs Roman.

None of this is going to change the narrative for WWE, the larger consensus of serious media aren't going to shift their focus from the ultra disturbing and criminal Vince stuff to patting WWE on the back for booking a big movie star vs his part time Champion cousin in a pretend fight, that's so naive.

 

[Spider-Fan]

As I said, Rock vs Roman and yes it is the right decision. You can have Cody vs Roman next year at WM. THAT is long term story telling

Sure, but how we got here was stupid as hell in execution. If this was the endgame, then having Cody win the Rumble was stupid. From a storytelling standpoint, this has Hogan vs Yokozuna energy. Not in terms of quality, but story logic. Absolutely dislike this direction the story has taken. We could have got to Rock vs Roman in many ways thay didn't suck. But alas, we didn't do anything better

 

[TheVileOne]

I agree with the sentiment, but here is the reality of the situation. This is Ari Emanuel and Nick Khan's show now. They are the ones calling the shots. and TKO answers to its shareholders. All the shareholders care about is the bottom line. Increase in revenue. Increase in profits, costs down, etc. If Ari Emanuel and Nick Khan have a chance to deliver The Rock, one of the biggest stars on the planet, in a PLE main event, they are going to take it because it pleases the shareholders.

That's the reason McMahon got taken care of so quickly because of money. Slim Jim threatened to walk, and after that happened, McMahon was gone the next day.

These are the same guys that allowed McMahon back and glowingly praised him when he came back last year. Realistically, he never should've been allowed back after the initial allegations broke and he retired. The way they talked up McMahon when he came back was despicable.

These guys don't care about what's right or makes sense. They care about money. The bottom line.

 

[TheVileOne]

Sure, but how we got here was stupid as hell in execution. If this was the endgame, then having Cody win the Rumble was stupid. From a storytelling standpoint, this has Hogan vs Yokozuna energy. Not in terms of quality, but story logic. Absolutely dislike this direction the story has taken. We could have got to Rock vs Roman in many ways thay didn't suck. But alas, we didn't do anything better

It makes Cody look like a limp idiot. This is the guy who was so pissed about not being a top guy, he tossed a Yoo-Hoo bottle at John Cena's face on a WWE truck because HE wanted that. Cody wanted to be the poster boy. He wanted to be the face of the company.

After one year of hell he's finally right back where he wants to be and he's got his rematch in the bag against Roman, at the biggest stage in the game, and he gives it up.

Yeah, it's bad creative. But for WWE and TKO, Money > Bad Creative.

 

[TheFuture]

Just read that it was the Rock's idea to take Cody's spot at WM 40. If that's really the case, then I have lost what little respect I had for that egotistical *****e. The guy has singlehandedly not only ruined Cody's push but destroyed two years worth of storytelling as well.

Now I really hope that his match with Roman crashes and burns like his failed attempt to takeover the DCEU. If I were Cody, I'd just walk out of the WWE and never come back.

His fumble at DC immediately came to my mind this morning when I saw the headlines. Johnson can't see how he could ever possibly be a problem and not the right fit to lead something. I'm in shock at the level of ignorance and disrespect he has shown here to the business, wrestlers and fans.

This isn't an attempt at PR damage control, it's a man who saw his opportunity to make Wrestlemania 40, a massive milestone, all about him and he took it. Absolutely disgusting power play that he could barely wait to seize upon.

The Rock and Reigns are not going to be turning up every week to build this match, instead it will be on Heyman to do the heavy lifting as the go between. Hopefully the crowd will realise this and turn on them, and hopefully Philly will drive the final nail into them when it comes time for their "match."

 

[TheVileOne]

The Rock is the head of the table now and he calls the shots.

 

[Hunter Rider]

His fumble at DC immediately came to my mind this morning when I saw the headlines. Johnson can't see how he could ever possibly be a problem and not the right fit to lead something. I'm in shock at the level of ignorance and disrespect he has shown here to the business, wrestlers and fans.

This isn't an attempt at PR damage control, it's a man who saw his opportunity to make Wrestlemania 40, a massive milestone, all about him and he took it. Absolutely disgusting power play that he could barely wait to seize upon.

The Rock and Reigns are not going to be turning up every week to build this match, instead it will be on Heyman to do the heavy lifting as the go between. Hopefully the crowd will realise this and turn on them, and hopefully Philly will drive the final nail into them when it comes time for their "match."

100% right, this is the Hulk Hogan mentality of "I'm best for business" and be damned anybody else, those claiming this is some mega business move are fooling themselves, Mania has drawn massively without Punk or Rock and WWE did record business without either, and it's not going to move the mainstream media's attention from Vince and his rape ring.

 

[DeadlyWest]

Cody Rhodes just said he's not facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. We know what the main event is going to be. Cody is probably going to face Seth instead in CM Punk's spot.

Honestly? Yeah, probably.

But I wanna wait until there is absolutely no hope in the world that it's something different. Call me an optimist, that's just how I am. My hope, with the Seth promo and this now, is that it could be trying to draw out Cody's decision more. Making him question which he will go for, after he was so sure of himself right after winning the Rumble. So maybe he's currently in the mindset that he will pick Seth, but as he said on Monday, "he's thinking about it".

If (honestly, when) it goes down the route of Seth vs Cody again and that is 100% set in stone, I will assblast that decision until Thy Kingdom Come. I will make Jim Cornette talking about Vince Russo or Bruce Blitz talking about Super Cena look like a PR campaign.

Until then, I still wanna have hope it'll be different. I'll even freely admit that's as a coping mechanism. Because this decision, that is likely being made here?

Jesus Christ.

 

[Spider-Fan]

It makes Cody look like a limp idiot. This is the guy who was so pissed about not being a top guy, he tossed a Yoo-Hoo bottle at John Cena's face on a WWE truck because HE wanted that. Cody wanted to be the poster boy. He wanted to be the face of the company.

After one year of hell he's finally right back where he wants to be and he's got his rematch in the bag against Roman, at the biggest stage in the game, and he gives it up.

Yeah, it's bad creative. But for WWE and TKO, Money > Bad Creative.

Absolutely they're looking at the money here, but it's shirt sighted IMO. Yeah, you will get a better one day pop having Rock there by at the cost of future audience investment in your younger talent. Which is less money long term IMO. This is just insanely bad writing and creative. Worst of Triple H era

 

[TheFuture]

A crisis of confidence doesn't make sense at all for Cody unfortunately. He was clear as day when he pointed at Roman after the Rumble. He was clear as day in the presser afterwards also, he wanted Roman.

I have a feeling something happened Sunday into Monday because knowing what we know now, Cody winning the Rumble makes absolutely no sense. Just like his aggressive reaction towards Roman afterwards makes no sense in hindsight.

Conspiracy hat on but I suspect Hunter and the board might have been in a game of brinksmanship over the Mania 40 Main Event, it's the only thing that makes sense and unfortunately Hunter lost, making Cody a devastating pawn in the process.

 

[Spider-Fan]

This makes me feel like maybe Punk was gonna win the Rumble. Rock vs Roman couldn't have been an on the spot thing they decided to do. It feels like Punk got hurt and they scrambled to find best thing to do, so Cody gets the win and then they had to find a way to write him out of the Roman match, and this is the best they came up with. But I have no way of knowing that. I can only judge the story you put in front of me, and this story sucks. Period.

 

[Lobo]

This makes me feel like maybe Punk was gonna win the Rumble. Rock vs Roman couldn't have been an on the spot thing they decided to do. It feels like Punk got hurt and they scrambled to find best thing to do, so Cody gets the win and then they had to find a way to write him out of the Roman match, and this is the best they came up with. But I have no way of knowing that. I can only judge the story you put in front of me, and this story sucks. Period.

They could have just had Gunther win in that case, and Cody vs who ever tossed him from the Rumble.

H is still angry he smashed the throne.

I'm a big Cody guy there's posts from me ten years ago wanting Cody Von Doom with the mask to be the one to beat CM Punk back then.

This issue would have been solved by Cody simply not winning the Rumble.

For the record, I love Roman vs Rock literally at any other ple.

 

[Spider-Fan]

They could have just had Gunther win in that case, and Cody vs who ever tossed him from the Rumble.

H is still angry he smashed the throne.

I'm a big Cody guy there's posts from me ten years ago wanting Cody Von Doom with the mask to be the one to beat CM Punk back then.

This issue would have been solved by Cody simply not winning the Rumble.

For the record, I love Roman vs Rock literally at any other ple.

I am fine with Rock vs Roman as a concept at Mania. But this execution is the absolute stupidest way it could have gone down. Turned me against the entire match, and the event quite honestly

 

[Lobo]

I am fine with Rock vs Roman as a concept at Mania. But this execution is the absolute stupidest way it could have gone down. Turned me against the entire match, and the event quite honestly

Same

I think it's worth reexamining 39 now and saying Cody should have won there, and it was a mistake to have Roman go over.

Anyone else listen to the busted open radio podcast?

 

[Erik20]

Brock/Goldberg was booed because both were leaving the company soon and the crowd knew it, so the absolute wrong place and wrong time to have that match.

Roman vs Rock - Samoan Bloodine - Belt streak screams WrestleMania.

This match was always going to happen at WrestleMania. (If not this year than next) I saw people online mentioning Australia or even Saudi Arabia... you were just fooling yourself if you actually thought The Rock was going to have his retirement match at a B show.

I personally would've preferred Cody, but this is the bigger match. It is going to be awkward though on Raw/SmackDown if people are possibly booing the Rock, I can definitely see that happening. Kind of like when Batista came back.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Same

I think it's worth reexamining 39 now and saying Cody should have won there, and it was a mistake to have Roman go over.

Anyone else listen to the busted open radio podcast?

I said at the time it was a mistake but that I would give it a chance to see where it went. What we got was a obvious quality dip in the Bloodline story post Mania 39. This is just the point where we have jumped the shark for me. This is for me is what the finger poke of doom was for nWo. I doubt the business and such will decline like it did WCW, I am just talking in terms of story logic and how invested I was as a viewer watching it.

 

[DeadlyWest]

A crisis of confidence doesn't make sense at all for Cody unfortunately. He was clear as day when he pointed at Roman after the Rumble. He was clear as day in the presser afterwards also, he wanted Roman.

I have a feeling something happened Sunday into Monday because knowing what we know now, Cody winning the Rumble makes absolutely no sense. Just like his aggressive reaction towards Roman afterwards makes no sense in hindsight.

Conspiracy hat on but I suspect Hunter and the board might have been in a game of brinksmanship over the Mania 40 Main Event, it's the only thing that makes sense and unfortunately Hunter lost, making Cody a devastating pawn in the process.

The only way it makes sense is that Seth's promo gave Cody pause, essentially.

This is 100% copium on my part, as I said. And if/when this press event rolls around?

I will...very enthusiastically make Jim Cornette look like a choir boy with what I'll say on the matter

 

[Lobo]

The only way it makes sense is that Seth's promo gave Cody pause, essentially.

This is 100% copium on my part, as I said. And if/when this press event rolls around?

I will...very enthusiastically make Jim Cornette look like a choir boy with what I'll say on the matter

Oh I'd love to hear that

Another super simple solution would have been to have Cody introduce Rock as special guest referee. You get his presence and star power, and he thwarts bloodline interference setting Rock vs Roman for SummerSlam. That would have been a win/win situation for everyone imo

 

[Erik20]

The only way it makes sense is that Seth's promo gave Cody pause, essentially.

This is 100% copium on my part, as I said. And if/when this press event rolls around?

I will...very enthusiastically make Jim Cornette look like a choir boy with what I'll say on the matter

It also doesn't help that Roman completely buried Seth's belt... he basically made it clear that it means nothing if Cody wins.