Paid Members Nick James Posted April 4, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 4, 2023 17 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said: Here's the thing though, if you don't stick the landing you don't win so it is all for nothing. Gymnastics, ski jumping, and any other sport you care to mention that involves having to land then if you don't land then you have fucked it. They've fucked it. It's not a 'real' sport though, it's a TV show, on episodic TV. There are countless TV shows that had several very good series' before failing with the finale or final season. It doesn't make the good episodes any less so, but it does sour the story. My point wasn't that the story hasn't been soured, it's that they did a great job in building Cody up to the point that it was an absolute no brainer that he took the top prize in the company.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 The last 3 pages:Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted April 4, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 4, 2023 It was you that used the phrase "Stick the landing" @Nick James You brought sport into it, it's a sporting phrase. Unless you think it has something to do with planes or helicopters, in which case not sticking the landing is miles worse. Or do you mean they didn't stick the King's Landing? If you want to use an episodic TV show because it's not sport, then Game of Thrones is a good comparison, because like WWE they fucked the ending as well.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted April 4, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted April 4, 2023 1 hour ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said: It was you that used the phrase "Stick the landing" @Nick James You brought sport into it, it's a sporting phrase. It's a metaphor, so it doesn't matter where it originates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyUK Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 This one did follow the pattern of Night 1 being better than Night 2 but still enjoyed Night 2 and thought it was a really good Mania overall. Reigns beating Cody was a bit of a buzz killer in the heat of the moment but I'm thinking they've decided to have him losing the title as the big Mania 40 anniversary moment and will do the rematch next year with Cody finally winning there. He won't have the same momentum I don't think but the chase is often more interesting than the actual recign in babyfaces cases to be fair so it might not be the worst thing for the weekly TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick James Posted April 5, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2023 6 hours ago, gmoney said: It's a metaphor, so it doesn't matter where it originates. This. It's not that deep at all. Just like 'Jumping the Shark' doesn't actually mean jumping over a shark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Blog Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 21 minutes ago, Nick James said: This. It's not that deep at all. Just like 'Jumping the Shark' doesn't actually mean jumping over a shark. Heeeeeeeeeyyy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted April 5, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2023 (edited) 29 minutes ago, Nick James said: This. It's not that deep at all. Just like 'Jumping the Shark' doesn't actually mean jumping over a shark.  Edited April 5, 2023 by Hannibal Scorch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted April 5, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2023 7 hours ago, gmoney said: It's a metaphor, so it doesn't matter where it originates. Ok fair enough. Nick's original point was that the build up to Cody v Roman was very good but they didn't stick the landing. My point is, if you don't stick the landing, the rest doesn't matter because it's the landing that is the payoff.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted April 5, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2023 Cody probably wouldn't cut it as a long term babyface main event Champion anyway. Surely there's only so much lip quivering, arse kissing and crying he can do every week before the WWE fans catch on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 yeah Cody would have been boo'd by the time Summerslam rolls around. Reigns vs Gunther main even of Mania 40 for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 1 hour ago, LaGoosh said: Cody probably wouldn't cut it as a long term babyface main event Champion anyway. Surely there's only so much lip quivering, arse kissing and crying he can do every week before the WWE fans catch on? I'm not so sure. WWE perserved with Cena and Reigns despite the mixed reactions, as the pros (kids/merch) outweighed the cons (adults/online fandom). I can see Cody having to toe the same line. Between stadium shows & saudi he'd be in more favourable environments in big moments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted April 5, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2023 (edited) These, “Cody would have failed anyway,” takes are obviously difficult to discuss because we’ll never know for sure, and by definition pro-wrestling is a self-fulfilling prophecy where bookers and fans alike can decide someone sucks, treat them as such, and therefore make it so, but on the evidence we have? I genuinely believe Cody could have made it. How many times have guys been dead in the water the moment they’ve been so obviously selected as The Chosen One™? And how many times have guys had their push ruined when the fans have selected someone else as Their Guy™? And yet somehow, despite being the absolute extreme example of both, Cody had inconceivably bucked the trend. Sami Zayn was the hottest, most organic babyface in forever. Cody was the most robotic, built-in-a-lab, handpicked top guy in forever. And yet none of it mattered. Fucking Kryten from Red Dwarf had won the Rumble, had been the main reason we didn’t get Sami winning in Montreal and yet not a single boo was heard. People were still with it. This was it. Until it wasn’t. Nobody was more critical of Triple H’s booking than me. It felt like Invasion of the Body Snatches those first four months when he was being lauded as a genius for just saying the word, “wrestling,” and, “belt,” and endlessly bringing back NXT nobodies. “This is amazing, isn’t it?” Well, no. Not really. But you can’t deny his Wrestlemania season. He’d nailed it. After decades of WWE having this weird, horrible, toxic relationship with its own fan base, Hunter had built up the perfect amount of  goodwill. It’s what success in pro-wrestling is built on. You give the fans enough of what they want, that they start wanting what you give them. Both nights of Wrestlemania was like a celebration of company and fanbase synergy, where everyone’s on the same page and having the best time. And then that ref counted to three. Hopefully I’m wrong and we can get it back, but I doubt it. That finish felt like we were back to square one. Vince is backing Vincing. Troll finishes. Idiot, loser babyfaces. Heat on heat that never pays off. The fans cheering the heels for the simple fact that there’s fuck all else to cheer for. Throw a rubber chicken. Find the joy and catharsis they won’t provide themselves. Obviously, it’s not on the same level, but Hunter’s press conference essentially boiling down to, “you fans don’t understand,”?  We’ll be back to this in no time.  Edited April 5, 2023 by Supremo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Put it this way - if Cody couldn’t stay over as a champ babyface, then nobody ever will.  He’s genuinely popular with smarks, kids, and management.  He has the pedigree, the skills and the charisma.  If he’d failed, it would suggest they just can’t book that sort if champ - even Cena was booed for most of his run!  The list of genuinely over faces who they’ve produced over the years is short, and they blew it every time.  I’m thinking guys like Ryback, MacIntrye, mind’s gone blank now.  The great thing about a blue eye champ is you can put them on all the chatshows etc. Ok, maybe not Ryback in that case but he WAS over.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted April 5, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2023 It all comes down to "if not now, then when?" and "if not Cody, then who?". Fair enough, they didn't put Cody Rhodes over, I think it was the wrong decision, but the show's not really for me, as much as I enjoyed a fair chunk of it. But if the plan is to have Cody win the belt off Reigns at a future date, there's no way that he'll be any hotter than he was at Wrestlemania, the match (and Cody in general) won't be as fresh and interesting as at Wrestlemania, and the story almost certainly won't have been built up as convincingly. It will feel second-rate in comparison to what could have been. The same goes for if, for instance, they were to have Sami Zayn beat Roman for the belt in the future, rather than in Montreal, as the culmination of a pretty much universally loved story. I saw people on Twitter defending the decision by saying that it's only the start of the story, that Cody's character needs a "struggle" before winning the title. It's bollocks. Cody's entire story since coming back to WWE has been about his struggle - about Dusty not winning the belt, about losing Dusty, about his WWE run not working out, about going away and finding himself, working his way back to WWE, returning, that return being cut short by injury but still working through it, and then the Rumble. They even managed to add more drama by adding in Heyman's history with Dusty. The struggle was there, the story was there. He's not going to feel like he's fought any harder or earned it more by fighting Baron Corbin and The Miz on TV for months.  Roman's already beaten every babyface in the company. There's nobody in a position to beat him, and few if any that could be satisfyingly built up to be that guy in the future, and certainly not built up to the point that either Sami or Cody were. And with a reign like this, I doubt they're going to want to have it end anywhere but Wrestlemania, which means there's a very high possibility of another year of all this. And with The Rock teasing a match on Twitter - and I think half the reason Reigns has kept the belt so long in the first place is because they're holding out for a match with The Rock - well, that's not going to happen anywhere but Wrestlemania, is it? So let's say that's the main event for Wrestlemania 40. They're unlikely to have Roman lose before then, even though that match doesn't need to be for the title. But they're also not going to put the World Title on The Rock, are they? So he beats The Rock in a year's time, is still champion, and we're still in the exact position we're in today, of Reigns being champion with nobody to beat him. And then it's still a title reign that they're going to see as too big to end anywhere other than Wrestlemania, so he'll keep it until Wrestlemania 41, and maybe drop it there, if they've got someone in a good enough spot to take it. I honestly would put money on Roman Reigns still being champion in two years' time, after that result. If not now, then when? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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