It's Wrestlemania Season

[Vamp]

I guess WrestleMania started with a tag main event featuring a celebrity...

Given how bonkers that was I'm now wondering how crazy they'll get. Reigns and Rock teaming up to try and take over WWE by holding both belts? Reigns and Rock/Cody and Seth on night 1, with Rock/Seth (the thought of which is fucking terrifying) and Reigns/Cody on night 2? You pay tribute to the first WrestleMania main event, you give people the WWE title match they want, you give those that now want a Rock singles match a Rock singles match (which might be a consolation to those pissed that they're now not getting Rock/Roman), Seth gets to defend the World title against a Hollywood star making up for the fact that he's been made to look even more pathetic than he makes himself look, they can do Cody/Rock down the line, once the dust has settled they've still got Roman/Rock even further down the line. 

[METAL ON METAL]

41 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Also, to anyone who thinks this has been some miraculous save, just remember those counter-chants, "We want Cody!" was getting. Very loud responses of, "No we dont'!" He'll probably recover because he's Cody, but man. The risks they take with what is essentially their Golden Goose should be studied until the end of time.

Not disputing the shitshow booking part of this but I wouldn’t pay too attention to the crowd reactions at this press conference. It was in Vegas and it’s currently full of NFL fans on the drink as the Superbowl is there on Sunday, it’s just people being divisive for the sake of it. Journos at the press conference said there were people booing all three guys regardless.

It’s if Cody started getting those reactions at a Raw or Smackdown that they’d be getting worried.

[Donald J Trump]

I can't help feel some fans are running along with the hobby horse with certain aspects of this. If they have meticulously planned every last detail of a grand master plan over the past 12 months then it's likely they haven't successfully executed it. That's OK, but it's a thing a lot of people have a problem with. Circumstances are going to change (and haven't they just), things aren't going to work, occasionally a daft idea isn't going to stick to the wall. There has to be some accommodation for how batshit different this business is and it's important that they're able to react to events or how something's being received. 

I find it as egregious as the next person when they make an arse of a promising career or fail to get a winning horse over the line, but given this event essentially kick started proceedings we're a long way from that post mortem. Granted, it looks like they're in the wind a bit here but I got the impression that press conference was meant to look slightly chaotic and end with more questions than answers. 

They've got one of the most famous men in the world and one of the biggest stars in the history of the business available for the biggest show in years, and the direction that makes the most sense, and probably the most money, is being involved with Roman Reigns. That's as much of a conundrum as how Codys story resolves itself. It would be preposterous if they stuck The Rock in a match with the likes of Rollins (but watch this space), and I can't see involvement with the Usos alone being tremendously compelling. If they find a way for everything to dovetail nicely, and if they give us something a bit less predictable and formulaic as "last year but with a different result" then I'd say that's a win. By Wrestling standards that was decent viewing tonight. A few weeks of that will do for me. 

 

 

[buba3d]

I feel like people took everything that was spouted by meltzer, srs, ex writers and that other wrestling reject bryan that this was going to happen and that was going to happen, rock demanded he face roman at mania and all the other bullshit they came away with, the fact you had meltzer spout 30+ outcomes and still got it wrong and now everybody is pissed because they got worked.

On 2/3/2024 at 5:41 AM, buba3d said:

https://old.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/1ahmd1w/smackdown_spoilers_just_went_against_what_his/

them losing their shit is just the chefs kiss..........odds on there's another twist in store.

🤣

Edited February 9 by buba3d

[Supremo]

2 hours ago, Supremo said:

I look forward to them pretending like this was always the plan and we just didn't understand, despite the fact that last Friday and now feels like two completely different dimensions.

Like clockwork.

Yeah, Brian. You’re definitely writing, “chapters.” Not just throwing shit at a wall, trying to dig yourself out of a mess. These are twists and turns planned ahead of time. The Rock and Roman doing the slow, dramatic faceoff on Friday was definitely always going to result in them leaving the arena together six days later as best mates.

Dwayne and Brian on the jet right now, scribbling out a bunch of new, panicked promos. Both incredibly sad that they never got to call Roman, “The Tribal Queef,” but hoping they can workshop it into somehow calling Seth, “Seth Queefin’ Rollins.”

The maddest thing will be in three to five years time, when we realise this was the only time they ever could have done Roman vs. The Rock, only to fuck it up so badly that they ended up as a tag team. It’ll go down in history as one of the biggest “What If’s.”

[air_raid]

9 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

Can’t both be forms of entertainment?  Of course I mean real reactions and not imaginary ones from imaginary people. 

Maybe I’m still sour from all the pathetic Jinder/Hook bollocks from WWE vs AEW fans but I’m sick of people seemingly caring less about whether they’re happy with the product or not, and being more invested in which “stans” they can have a pop at. Or telling the other side they should be at nursery school. Have an opinion, obviously. Argue your point in discussion, of course, that’s what boards like this are for. But gleefully rubbing hands together waiting for the next bout of outrage to drop… it’s so very, very weird.

Anyhoo… gwarn Cody. I don’t care how they got there or that it might feel weak now. The last week is the Debra we all choose to forget on the way to the match we wanted.

[Mr_Danger]

It’s like when my kids want me to tell them a story and they immediately cut me off and say I’ve told them that one before so I turn the three little pigs in to nobheads with my kids names and make me the good guy wolf. In so much as it’s basically making shit up to pander to children.

[air_raid]

9 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said:

it’s basically making shit up to pander to children.

Except it’s a billion dollar company listening to their paying customers.

[simonworden]

Could it end up as a triple threat match? Let gassed up rock simmer on the outside for most of it so he doesn't pop his hip out and just head in for a few spots?

 

I'm all for a bit of heel rock on TV, stirring up some stuff in the Bloodline. Then you could set up Rock, Roman for Summer Slam or Mania next year after Cody walks out with the belt on the big show. 

[air_raid]

2 minutes ago, simonworden said:

Could it end up as a triple threat match?

Poor poster guy better get paid double if it does.

 

[Mr_Danger]

48 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Except it’s a billion dollar company listening to their paying customers.

Minus Soapdish, he don’t pay for shit.

[DavidB6937]

What I don't get about some of the reactions to this is that people have complained for YEARS that the company doesn't listen to the fans.

And yet now they've tried to lean into a pivot because of how the Rock/Roman stuff went down, it's all "make it make sense!" and "you'll never recover Cody!" and bitching about them backtracking.

What do you want from them? They stick with their original plan and it's shit. They listen and change things and it's shit. You can't have it both ways.

They've done a damn good job of getting people talking with that press conference. And it's already immediately more positive and exciting than the last week has been.

I get it. Some people generally hate the company most of the time. Understandably so. But it's at the point where no matter what they do and you're STILL unhappy, perhaps it's time to give up on that and don't waste your energy watching something that isn't for you and that's fuelled by some weird hatred. And some people have done that with WWE and AEW and kudos to them.

In this case I think the company has done the smartest thing they can do. Course correct pretty damn fast and create a whole new buzz. Do I believe this was always the plan? Hell no. But I think they can create something really special with all these guys involved and eventually very few people will be sitting here worrying about why Cody stepped aside for the Rock or whatever. It was a very obvious misstep along the way. Thankfully wrestling is scripted and we can move on! Although ironically some of the best stuff comes from the unscripted.

[RedRooster]

5 hours ago, Fatty Facesitter said:

Am I the only one who enjoyed that? Top patter, great bit of business I thought. Love the pivot. 

No, I thought that was great. It was compelling viewing, to the point it has me totally sold on the idea of a triple threat. I suspect we’ll get a tag match instead, but I’m a little unsure as to where that would leave Seth and his challenger.

Regardless of how we got there, Rock is infinitely better when he leans into his heel tendencies, and Cody doesn’t feel weaker.  Perhaps the match does, but there’s plenty of time to heat things up. And fuck me, they’ve stumbled into another dream match - who wouldn’t want to see Cody/Rock at some point? Maybe that’s your Summerslam main event. 

As for the pivot, they can easily write their way out of it. Maybe Cody felt pressured by his new boss; perhaps Cody had a lapse in confidence, and the fans snapped him back to his senses; perhaps he thought he had no right to deny the fans the Rock/Reigns dream match before fans made him realise that HE was the dream match.

Did they fumble? Yeah, absolutely and in a way that made it hard to change course. But they have changed course. They actually listened to their audience - not something that they did much of when the old predator ran things. They’re seemingly booking for their audience, not their chairman. Fair play to them for that.

Gerwitz can pretend that was the plan all along if he wants - clearly that’s not the case. But it’s actually more impressive to me that they have gone some way towards fixing this mess. 

[Duke]

So, I didn't watch the presser but true or false, if everyone in WWE had taken the last 10 days off we'd be better off than we are right now?

[RedRooster]

Just now, Duke said:

So, I didn't watch the presser but true or false, if everyone in WWE had taken the last 10 days off we'd be better off than we are right now?

That’s entirely subjective. They made a mess, they cleaned it up and created some really interesting match possibilities along the way; not only for now, but for further down the line. They made it feel like  season, and whatever that was (it certainly wasn’t a press conference) worked for me. Do I want to watch Wrestlemania? Absolutely? Do I want to watch Smackdown? 100%. They’ve stumbled into compelling television.