Paid Members BomberPat Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, FLips said: I think the whole thing is made worse by the reports that The Rock was only shoved into the main event because he bought his way in as part of his TKO deal. It's Hogan levels of bullshit politicking and it single-handedly nearly killed a two year Cody push that was almost killed last Wrestlemania. I'm glad they've done a pivot but at what cost? Cody looks stupid, The Rock has been exposed as an arsehole, and Seth Rollins looks like a worthless secondary champ. "At what cost" is entirely where I'm at with this. Is anybody in a better position now than they were when this mess all started? If the timeline going around is correct, and people knew that there was at least a plan in place for Rock/Roman as the main event yet they went with Cody winning the Rumble anyway, then did the pivot to Rock/Reigns, then seemingly back to Cody/Roman, who is benefiting from that? I like a bit of chaos and unpredictability in my wrestling as much as the next man, but you've got two clear potential stories here - Cody fulfilling his destiny, getting his revenge, and "finishing the story", or The Rock getting sick of Roman running roughshod over his own family and coming back to prove who the real "Head of the Table" is. If they fully committed to either one of those stories from the beginning, fantastic, they're both worthy Wrestlemania main events. But they didn't do that, they flip-flopped awkwardly between both of them. So now, assuming the match is Cody vs. Roman, then sure, maybe they've course-corrected to what a lot of people wanted, and it will keep the #WeWantCody crowd satisfied. Though if they're patting themselves on the back that they've done a "Yes Movement" there, it's a bit premature, given it was, what, a week of TV and the solution was, "oh yeah, he won the Royal Rumble, he can have the match if he wants it". Hardly Daniel Bryan fighting against all odds to earn his spot, is it? What's worse than that, though, is that they planted the very clear possibility of The Rock vs. Roman Reigns. If it was the plan all along to pivot back to Cody vs. Rock - which I don't believe for a second that it was - then you don't do it by teasing the prospect of another match that an awful lot of people are going to want to see. By making it a choice between both matches, all they've done is guarantee that they're going to be disappointing someone, when if they'd just committed to one match from the beginning, without floating the prospect of another, people would have got behind it. And the problem isn't just with this one match - it took them the better part of twenty years to get to a point where their fans are largely happy with what they are given, rather than questioning and rejecting everything, and they're risking throwing that all away, and for what? Admittedly, Wrestlemania builds are generally completely forgotten so long as the match and the highlight video end up looking good - "forget about Debra, she's a non-factor" - so maybe it's all nothing, but I doubt it. If we get a tag match, it smacks of The Rock coming back to fight Awesome Truth rather than holding off until the big Wrestlemania singles match. Since going to two-night Wrestlesmania, WWE haven't yet really leaned into the possibility of telling coherent stories across both nights - Roman carrying two belts never translating into him defending one on each night - so I'm not convinced that they're going to do that here and have all the major players work a tag team match on night one. Partly because I don't see Roman Reigns or The Rock working two nights in a row, partly because they don't want to risk the prospect of any of those men getting injured on night one and costing them their main event, having to change direction again for night two, partly because you don't dilute the appeal of The Rock's return to wrestling by having him do it twice in one weekend even if he is physically capable of doing that. Now, it's a WWE under somewhat new creative direction, it's a theoretically McMahon-less Wrestlemania, and maybe they do think outside the box and do something like that, I just don't see it, nor do I think it's the right move. The other thing with that tag team match is where does it leave Seth Rollins and his presumptive opponent? In the tag match, Rollins is the fourth most important man in the ring, and almost certainly there to take the fall, and that's not a position you want a "World Champion" to be in. It also means that he's a bit player in someone else's story, rather than doing anything to build to his own singles match on night two, unless they somehow find a way to crowbar Drew McIntyre or Gunther or whoever he's going to end up defending against into this presumptive tag match as well, just to make it even more of a mess, so that's someone else left looking like a spare prick. This, after a couple of weeks now of people on TV actively treating Rollins' title as a consolation prize, with no neutral or babyface voice of the promotion aside from Seth himself meaningfully arguing against that distinction. Now, I don't really give a fuck if Seth Rollins looks like an afterthought or not, but you'd think it's something that the promotion hoping to present him as a top star should care about. tl;dr - nobody benefits from this build, everyone involved was in a better position at the Royal Rumble than they are in now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 Heel authority storylines in twenty twenty four, though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I don't care about any of this. I just want to know what Logan Paul is doing at Mania. What's he gonna be up to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Duke Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 1 minute ago, Supremo said: Heel authority storylines in twenty twenty four, though? AEW does tournaments, WWE does heel authority figures. The company is a heel. Expect Cody to hit a Cross Rhodes on Paul Levesque in his glasses soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 I just got to the bit where Becky Lynch said Rhea Ripley was going to be a bottom for a change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 minute ago, Devon Malcolm said: I just got to the bit where Becky Lynch said Rhea Ripley was going to be a bottom for a change. DEVON! ITS HALF 10! BOOOOOOOONK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Poor Seth Rollins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarlettChad Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I don't get why it doesn't make sense to some? The Rock and Roman are family. He may not LIKE him, but he is Family. And he's never gonna choose Cody over his blood. It makes perfect sense. Loved it, Love Heel Rock, Loved him slapping Cody, talking shit to Haitch, it was fun seeing Roman and Rock strutting off together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 (edited) I don't really care if it makes sense. What it's left behind is a glorious mess where nobody knows what the fuck is going to happen and it's going to make the next couple of months unpredictable rather than just a retread of the (very good) run-in to Wrestlemania last year. They might just have lucked into some of the most entertaining stuff they've done for ages, even by their comparatively high recent standards. The Rock cursing out HHH afterwards, now walking next to Reigns, their positioning of that match as an event rather than a battle for the head of the table and HHH suddenly in a position of pressure. After all that I now don't care why they've done it or even that they made a mess of things in the first/second place. What's left is the potential for some really good stuff up to Wrestlemania and opening up a new Bloodline chapter. The behind-the-scenes stuff is now irrelevant again. Edited February 9 by Devon Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 9 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said: I don't get why it doesn't make sense to some? The Rock and Roman are family. He may not LIKE him, but he is Family. And he's never gonna choose Cody over his blood. It makes perfect sense. Loved it, Love Heel Rock, Loved him slapping Cody, talking shit to Haitch, it was fun seeing Roman and Rock strutting off together. Have to agree. Only one who looked like a chump after all this was Seth Rollins. Great pivot. Am looking forward to seeing what they do over the next few weeks and months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaitoRyo Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 It has been a shambolic build, but nobody is going to care in the end. WWE will put together an incredibly well-done video package of all the 'epic' moments from the storyline and it will all seem to make sense and get people hyped for the match. Remember, nobody (besides the likes of us) gives a thought to 'the whole 'Debra is The Rock's manager' aspect of the build to WrestleMania X-Seven. They just remember 'My Way'. I am curious what's going to happen now though. I'm presuming Rock & Roman take on Cody & Seth on night one, with Cody/Roman headlining night two. Anything could fucking happen between now and then, though, and I don't trust any 'confirmed' matches considering the recent news cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzExile Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Maybe Paul Levesque will clear HHH for one last match with Rock, keep him busy until they play out the Bloodline feud for SummerSlam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doog Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 It was just one scene and obviously there's loads of story to tell, but Roman looked like an absolute chump last night. Rock stepping up to defend the family and him, Rock giving all the smack talk, looking much bigger than Roman etc. Then at the end when they walked off together you've got Rock strutting through and Roman trailling behind him. Romans been presented as an absolute megastar since he came back and went heel, last night he just looked like Rocks little brother, the real star has turned up now and that aura was gone. Like I say it was just one night, hopefully over the next few weeks he still comes across well, but if he keeps being together with Rock he comes across inferior, if they were against each other it would be different but together, Romans just the lackey for the big man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarlettChad Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 3 minutes ago, OzExile said: Maybe Paul Levesque will clear HHH for one last match with Rock, keep him busy until they play out the Bloodline feud for SummerSlam. His heart would explode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted February 9 Paid Members Share Posted February 9 2 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said: His heart would explode. Which one or both of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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