It's Wrestlemania Season

[BomberPat]

yeah - some people here have suggested this is The Rock as heel authority figure, but I don't see it, and I don't see any scenario that doesn't end in Rock back being babyface by the RAW after 'Mania. Either he directly costs Reigns the belt, or does so accidentally, Reigns has Solo take Rock out on RAW the following night, writing him out long enough that he can return in time for whatever PPV they decide to do the match at. It may actually be more interesting to see Reigns turn face (which I think is in the works sometime after he loses the belt anyway) against heel Rock, but I don't see that being the direction they go in.

As for Rock as heel authority in general - the last thing WWE want is to be presenting the company itself as the heel again. It took them twenty years to get over that, and they're getting enough of it in real-life, it's in their best interests to babyface themselves as much as possible on TV. For people wanting to make this a Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority situation, none of that makes sense, and it's why this story doesn't make sense in the most fundamental way - Cody wasn't held back by the evil corporation, he wasn't robbed of his opportunity, he gave it up freely of his own volition, and then when he decided he wanted it back, the boss said, "yeah fair enough, you won the Royal Rumble after all". 

[air_raid]

22 minutes ago, Nick James said:

Rock surely can't pass up the chance to be cheered at Mania again and share Cody's big moment, leading to Roman / Rock at Summerslam.

You know Michael Cole, I believe Rock-A-Mania will live forever.

[thatvinylgeek]

I thought (and I'm paraphrasing):

"What does it matter who sits at the head of the table, when neither of you has done any cooking for the last 2 years"

Was a great line

[Hannibal Scorch]

45 minutes ago, thatvinylgeek said:

I thought (and I'm paraphrasing):

"What does it matter who sits at the head of the table, when neither of you has done any cooking for the last 2 years"

Was a great line

Does the head of the table usually cook? I thought the head of the table had everyone do everything for them.

[chokeout]

Two things from this:

Regardless of how they set up the main event if Romans entrance is anything less then every single living member of that family tree graphic escorting him to the ring looking like a bunch of mental bastards I will be devastated. 

And secondly. You have people at the top of their game, Roman can stand there stoic, and have a crowd hating him. Rock will always be able to get a crowd to do whatever he wants. He managed to structure the importance of family trees around what chants and still snuck in an old catchphrase that delivered perfectly. Then you have Cody who is a belting promo and textbook fiery baby face. 

Then you have Rollins who looks like he fell into a box of abandoned gimmicks and has all the presence of a youth worker delivering a play on the dangers of St Patrick's day. 

[JLM]

9 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Does the head of the table usually cook? I thought the head of the table had everyone do everything for them.

The chef always delivers and yet is paradoxically always cooking. The food comes straight outta yo mama’s kitchen, and I believe Angelo Dawkins stirs it up. Bastion Booger eats most of it, Ryback always wants seconds and Slim Jims may or may not be served depending on the current news cycle. 

[DavidB6937]

3 minutes ago, JLM said:

The chef always delivers and yet is paradoxically always cooking. The food comes straight outta yo mama’s kitchen, and I believe Angelo Dawkins stirs it up. Bastion Booger eats most of it, Ryback always wants seconds and Slim Jims may or may not be served depending on the current news cycle. 

And hopefully we have Red Velvet for dessert.

[TildeGuy~!]

Was there a reason for Rollins being up there trying to get involved after the slap happened? Will they go for a tag match between the four on night 1 if he isn’t ready? 

[chokeout]

9 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said:

Was there a reason for Rollins being up there trying to get involved after the slap happened? Will they go for a tag match between the four on night 1 if he isn’t ready? 

It felt like at one point it would have been for both to come out and state why Cody should/shouldn't face them and why their title is the best. Instead we got a hilarious 'cut for time' moment where they shat on Rollins and he never got to do anything about it. 

[air_raid]

1 hour ago, chokeout said:

Regardless of how they set up the main event if Romans entrance is anything less then every single living member of that family tree graphic escorting him to the ring looking like a bunch of mental bastards I will be devastated.

Wrestling does have more than one royal family, after all.

1 hour ago, chokeout said:

Then you have Rollins who looks like he fell into a box of abandoned gimmicks and has all the presence of a youth worker delivering a play on the dangers of St Patrick's day. 

Impossible to talk about Cody and Rollins in the same sentence without remembering how annoyed I was that Seth seemed to be playing it delighted/"marking out" when Cody emerged as his mystery opponent two years ago. I really liked him once (that SummerSlam match with Lesnar was superb, he was a belting goodie) but somewhere he seems to have forgotten how to actually be a pro wrestler, in the ways that matter.

Two bastard years, where did that go??

[IANdrewDiceClay]

This build is complete and utter fucking chaos. But its the good kind. I do think the Rock probably had a few sessions in the warehouse with the ring in it and thought "no chance can I do a singles match for 20 minutes." His last match gassed and then triceps, he abdominals, I think his big toe needed a plaster on it. And that was 11 years ago. Its probably a case of you either have a Rock match on the card or you dont.

Its weird how every 10 years there's a big confusion over the WWF title. Luger and Bret in 94. Benoit and Shawn in 2004. Daniel Bryan and Batista in 2014. WWE always seems to want to go one way and the fans pull them the other way.

[Devon Malcolm]

The Rock was out of breath last night listening to CM Punk saying Rhodes should have slapped him back. The idea of him working a singles match is laughable, at any length. I think one spear might actually kill him.

[Hannibal Scorch]

25 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

The Rock was out of breath last night listening to CM Punk saying Rhodes should have slapped him back. The idea of him working a singles match is laughable, at any length. I think one spear might actually kill him.

Akinwale Arobieke Could probably kill him with a single bicep squeeze.

[SuperBacon]

I love this.

The second verse of Ether actually starts with "I've been fucked over, left for dead, dissed and forgotten, luck ran out, they hoped that I'd be gone, stiff and rotten" so it's actually quite apt.

[Loki]

59 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

The Rock was out of breath last night listening to CM Punk saying Rhodes should have slapped him back. The idea of him working a singles match is laughable, at any length. I think one spear might actually kill him.

Another reminder that The Rock is still younger than Hulk Hogan was when he came back to wrestle Shawn Michaels in a fantastic 20 plus minutes match.

Of course Hulk Hogan is the greatest professional wrestler of all time, but surely The Rock has many less miles on the clock than Hogan in 2005?  You're right that he doesn't look that fit, but maybe he's just a sweaty boy nowadays?  I struggle to imagine he's eaten more, er, vitamins than Hulk did.