Saturday Night Nostalgia

[BomberPat]

Something that they should have realised long before now is that having Roman Reigns be presented as so far above the level of everyone else, and having beaten every other wrestler worth caring about in the whole company, meant that there was very little in the way of credible challengers for Cody after he won. God knows what they'd have done if they hadn't managed to sign Cody in the first place. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDsA29UpS8G/?igsh=c3QxejA2bmx5dmdp

@Supremo they're doing it, they're actually doing it.

There could be something really special in them building the tension between Cody and the audience; Cena returns to offer him some sage advice about staying true to himself, rising above hate and then... BOOM! HEEL TURN AND HAIR DYE BAY-BAY!

Cody v Cena in a match about how they have differing views on how you handle crowd negativity? Yes please.

Edited December 17, 2024 by d-d-d-dAz

[Vamp]

I feel like they'd be mad to turn Cody heel at this point. He's doing everything they want their big babyface to be doing outside of the show. 

It's interesting that people are looking at that moment in that way though. To be honest it just reminded me of Hogan cheating against the heels during SNME's heyday. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

2 minutes ago, Vamp said:

I feel like they'd be mad to turn Cody heel at this point. He's doing everything they want their big babyface to be doing outside of the show. 

It's interesting that people are looking at that moment in that way though. To be honest it just reminded me of Hogan cheating against the heels during SNME's heyday. 

I half agree, but also if they did want to do it for whatever reason, the time is now.

They're flying high, everything's landing and next year they're going to have Roman Reigns, Punk and a mostly full time John Cena as babyfaces or something close to babyface.

They also have Jey Uso outselling everyone in terms of merch, and LA Knight implausibly remains very popular.

If Goldberg comes back for a few months too for his final match, they're basically tripping over top level babyfaces.

So, yeah, if they do want to have some fun with it... now is the time.

[mim731]

33 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I half agree, but also if they did want to do it for whatever reason, the time is now.

They're flying high, everything's landing and next year they're going to have Roman Reigns, Punk and a mostly full time John Cena as babyfaces or something close to babyface.

They also have Jey Uso outselling everyone in terms of merch, and LA Knight implausibly remains very popular.

If Goldberg comes back for a few months too for his final match, they're basically tripping over top level babyfaces.

So, yeah, if they do want to have some fun with it... now is the time.

What do they do with the story with The Rock and whatever he handed Cody on Raw after Mania if they turn Cody? Unless they just ignore it.  I agree there's some definite intrigue to playing with Cody's character for sure, but I can't see them doing it full pelt until they resolve the Cody/Rock/Roman stuff that still feels unfinished. 

[RedTwoster]

53 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I half agree, but also if they did want to do it for whatever reason, the time is now.

I don’t think they need to rush it - there are still plenty of interesting matches for Rhodes to have as a babyface, and he’s a tremendous ambassador for the company - doing things you simply couldn’t trust Punk to do, and that Reigns wouldn’t do due to his limited schedule. 

In the short term, I think there’s much more value in a Punk heel turn. In the longer term, Cody has a stellar heel run in him - I like the idea of a slow burn turn for him in which he resorts to increasingly unhinged methods to retain the title; as remaining champion becomes an obsession for him. Do something like that, and you have an enormous rematch down the road between babyface Reigns and heel Cody Rhodes. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

30 minutes ago, mim731 said:

What do they do with the story with The Rock and whatever he handed Cody on Raw after Mania if they turn Cody? Unless they just ignore it.  I agree there's some definite intrigue to playing with Cody's character for sure, but I can't see them doing it full pelt until they resolve the Cody/Rock/Roman stuff that still feels unfinished. 

I still don't think Rock v Cody ever happens, and even if they did 'resolving' that is a 2 year plan if they go as quickly as possible.

I wonder if The Rock might just end up being the fart that doesn't follow through. He came back to our hallowed land off the back of some absolute stinkers and amidst his first ever real batch of bad press, and he used the adoration of wrestling fans to make himself feel better. With his Hollywood mojo back, I don't know that the pull will be as strong.

If we get anything, I think Rock/Roman happens first as that's clear what they actually want to do.

If after that there's any juice left in Cody/Rock, maybe. But I really struggle to see it. They did well to fix the plane whilst it was flying last year, but the plan was never to have them two mix it up and with a lot of time passed since then, they may just leave it.

Edited December 18, 2024 by d-d-d-dAz

[garynysmon]

On 12/15/2024 at 11:03 PM, Devon Malcolm said:

Well that was a great laugh. Tight wrestling matches, all wrapped up in around 10 to 15 minutes, just how it should be.

Right!!

I adored this show. It was the first WWE produced event I've watched since Wrestlemania and while I can't see myself as a viewer of weekly TV or even monthly PPV's ever again, Saturday Night's Main Event is something I can see myself dipping into every few months as long as they keep this format.

Its obviously geared towards a non-WWE viewing audience due to the channel its on, which is perfect for me as I definitely fall into that category and wouldn't be any the wiser of the storylines going in.

I was a bit worried about Ventura when he first popped up as he sounded knackered, but the main event announcing... what a joy!

Couldn't fathom that Cole and the other guy didn't the Damien/Snakeskin jacket reference though. 

Could have done with a few more throwbacks and use of legends, but I would say that wouldn't I?

Edited December 18, 2024 by garynysmon

[Merzbow]

It was a breeze yet I tried watching RAW and that was almost instantly a chore, that Bron match was an overlong mid as hell mess.

[DavidB6937]

Ah man if you can't enjoy Bron and Kaiser going at it then it's definitely not for you. They work really well together.

[Vamp]

On 12/18/2024 at 3:25 PM, garynysmon said:

Couldn't fathom that Cole and the other guy didn't the Damien/Snakeskin jacket reference though. 

 

I actually thought Cole was desperately trying to get the conversation away from a joke about killing and skinning a pet snake...

[WeeAl]

14 hours ago, Vamp said:

I actually thought Cole was desperately trying to get the conversation away from a joke about killing and skinning a pet snake...

This was my take on it too, but seems most thought it was that he didn't get it. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

We were back last night.

Skimmed it, it was fine, not a huge amount of note happened.

Gunther desperately needs something real to get his teeth into. I'd have put the belt on Jey, as discussed elsewhere.

The HBK/Cody/KO segment wasn't bad, but you sort of know there's nowhere they can go from this or build on it. At best, it just layers a grievance onto KO's existing pile of grievances. As I was watching it I was fantasy booking in my head, thinking if HBK turned on Cody we could have a fun few months of HBK as a sort of heel sidekick of KO (don't really know the motivation for that... sympathy with KO, not wanting to see another talented wrestler lose their smile because the office is against them? Dunno. Not my job. Fuck off.). It could have lead to KO winning the title and eventually Sami Zayn bringing in Bret as a counterweight.

KO w/ HBK vs Sami w/ Bret for the title, with Sami winning and celebrating with pink confetti and Bret, could headline both nights of Wrestlemania.

Alas.

Edited January 26, 2025 by d-d-d-dAz

[OzExile]

Jacob Fatu then. There is an authenticity about him that reminds me of Brock Lesnar. I wish he just got the clean win / referee stoppage after all those running stinkfaces. Amazing stuff and something we don't see often enough in wrestling, pure violent ground and pound that renders the opponent into a vegetable instead of a four moves of doom playbook. Awesome stuff. So intrigued to see where they go with him heading into Mania? 

[RedTwoster]

51 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

KO w/ HBK vs Sami w/ Bret for the title, with Sami winning and celebrating with pink confetti and Bret, could headline both nights of Wrestlemania.

I think introducing Shawn and Bret in an Owens/Sami title feud would likely water it down to be honest, potentially placing a focus on something outside of the Sami/Owens story - something which kind of sells itself.

I’d be up for an Owens/HBK match if they ever decided to go in that direction, though. I don’t think they will - it’s almost definitely Owens/Orton at Wrestlemania - but I enjoyed the Austin match, and I’ve no doubt that he’d have a similarly fun match with Michaels.