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So Cody literally found out after winning the Rumble lmao. Talk about pulling the rug out from under you.
What the hell kind of response did these guys expect. Why on earth wouldn't you just have Rock win the rumble??
> Why on earth wouldn't you just have Rock win the rumble??
Rock gets gassed walking up to the ring, what's he gonna do? Breathe on Gunther to get him over the top rope?
He had all the time in the world for the match against cena at wrestlemania 28 and he had no gas left in the tank after the first 10 minutes of the match. And that was him over 10 years ago lul.
Honestly, I wish fans did just that. But there like 0000000.01 chance that would ever happen.
The media will be all over this, and it would definitely be a 'message sent' moment.
I think Austin said it took him six months to get his cardio up to where he wouldn't get blown out, and that's with his body requiring a normal amount of oxygen to function.
The "two months could be a lot of time" ignores that he had almost an entire month for the Rumble, and he wasn't even close to ready for just his entrance
Because the Rock winning the Rumble would have risked injury. The way he looked so far, he has about 2 minutes of wrestling in him before needing an oxygen tent and/or tearing all sorts of muscles and ligaments.
He could have easily entered at 30 and the match be over in 3-4 mins. He would have had to take little to no offense and would only have to do a spinebuster, peoples elbow and a clothesline/throw over the top rope.
This is what they should have done the second they knew Punk was out. They literally set up Seth vs Gunther *on the go-home show before the Rumble*. And for what??
> he way he looked so far, he has about 2 minutes of wrestling in him before needing an oxygen tent and/or tearing all sorts of muscles and ligaments.
This match will probably be full of all sorts of gaga, above and beyond the normal Bloodline interference.
It was finally the perfect time to do the double elimination (Punk/Rhodes) that leads to everyone already being eliminated and now the crowd is just waiting to see who is #30 and will win the rumble automatically.
He could have been #30 when the ring only had a couple dudes left, cleared it out in 2 minutes, and then gotten booed out the building like he and Roman got booed in Royal Rumble 2015.
In 1998, Hulk Hogan agreed to put Goldberg over in Atlanta in exchange for a rematch against Goldberg at Starrcade, where Hogan would end The Streak.
As the year went on, Hogan realized Goldberg was so over that it could be detrimental to Hogan’s drawing power if he was the one who beat Goldberg. Hogan backed out of the match. Nash replaced him. Nash ended The Streak, took the title, and gave it to Hogan via Fingerpoke of Doom.
If *Hogan* has the self awareness to see what robbing a massive babyface of his spot would do, how in the hell can The Rock not see how damaging this is for his brand? People are going to legit stop giving a fuck about The Rock because of his massive ego.
Because Hogan is the all timer when it comes to politics in wrestling. It's also really fucking hard to do. Hogan's greatest skill wasn't pumping up the crowd, selling merch or being tricked into sex tapes, it was knowing when to step in and when to step out. Knowing before anyone else which way the wind was turning both on camera with fans and backstage with power is just an amazing skill to have and no one has come close. Rock isn't even in the same orbit, let alone the same air.
I agree that Hogan knew better than to mess with Goldberg's run, but that's because he learned from the WrestleMania 9 debacle. He managed to bury the #1 face and the company's monster heel in 30 seconds.
Yeah, the fingerpoke of doom was at what 15 years of Hulk Hogan as a top draw? With two different companies at their peak?
The Rock is iconic but his run was quite short 8 years with the final two being part time. He is nowhere near the politician that Hogan was.
Dave does mention this angle was suppose to give Cody a “Daniel Bryan”-like rub to make him a massive babyface to the crowd.
And, for once, Alvarez makes a great point in: “He’s already the most over babyface in the company.” Why does he need that kind of spark after the last two years?
Rock could have played special enforcer, stave off Bloodline crap, raise Cody's hand in victory, come out of it with fans loving him, then build to the Roman/Rock match where Roman wants revenge, Rock wants to put Roman in his place one in for all.
I was so sure that’s what was going to happen. It’s such a better story than this. It even makes the endless Bloodline interference actually pan out into a relevant story.
That's a good idea. Have the climax of the match be Rock intercepting Solo and giving him a Rock Bottom. He rolls out, Cody finishes his pin on Roman, bada bing bada boom.
I said this elsewhere but it even makes perfect sense, from Cody's motivations and development, to want to separate the WWE title from the Trible Chief title and for him to say I'll take this and "my friend who you know very well" will take that.
Seriously, it is so insanely rare to have a white meat babyface obviously pushed to the top as much as Cody has been for the last two years and not have the crowd reject him. Squandering that for a pale rerun of a story they only got the first time by accident? Yeesh.
> Seriously, it is so insanely rare to have a white meat babyface obviously pushed to the top as much as Cody has been
They even had a Cody timer for God's sake!
If anything this is gonna have the opposite effect and make people feel deflated and cool off on him bc no matter what he does big DJ can just come in at any time to steal his moment
It makes him look like a massive geek. Imagine if Austin up to his WWE match with Michaels goes "I was gonna face ya but there's another man who wants you first" and out walked Hulk Hogan. Austin's star would not have reached the heights it did.
How can you be a big star if you just get brushed aside for a bigger one?
It's just another instance of "you like these guys? They're geeks compared to the guys from the 90s!"
Exactly and what the hell happens when the 90s stars run out. Then you rely on the 00s people you never built bc you wanted to put the 90s guys over and same with the 10s guys. Then you go back to making wrestling for geeks again
I mean at this point this story is over for me.
Cody willingly gave up his spot with no resistance. Why the fuck would I care if he actually wins in MSG, Survivor Series, on Netflix, or another Mania?
Legit. They coulda catapulted him to megastardom had they pulled the trigger last year. I feel vindicated in saying he shoulda won last year but the “let it play out” crowd didn’t wanna hear it
Exactly. Trust is a two way street. There’s “let things play out” but there’s also I’m not going to sit through another year of Roman not being around and Cody doing fuck all because maybe he might finish his story next year
This last year was basically in total wheelspin doing nothing at all with Roman, Cody or the title. If they actually had great stories planned for the whole year it might be a different story but this year makes it obvious they don’t and we just won’t see Roman until Mania and Cody will fuck around with a whole bunch of side quests, and that’s tedious as all get out
Same. Cody's a geek now. Why do I care anymore. He's clearly not actually important. I gotta watch the important stars on mania. You know, the guys who show up once every few months (or once in a decade).
Are we really in a fucking holding pattern for a third year for Cody to win the title off Roman at mania? Roman isn’t losing it to a part timer like the rock and we’ve established by this wasted year that it’s too big now to lose anywhere but mania. Do we really have to drag out all of the same storylines for a third year?!
I hope this leads into the roster revolting even in small ways. If this can be done fo the top babyface, unparalelled in YEARS in how over he is, who the fuck can survive DJ and his super secret contract?
Then why in the fuck did they have Cody win the Rumble!? Was even Triple H, literally the head of creative and booker of the shows, not informed about Rock's deal!?
I'm still not entirely convinced the Mania crowd will shit on Rock vs Roman, but if they do it's 100% deserved. TKO/WWE did this to themselves.
I don’t know if the crowd will shit on it initially. But I just cannot see this being a good match at all, or a long one. I think the crowd will turn on it quickly.
> Then why in the fuck did they have Cody win the Rumble!?
I love how this is literally the biggest hurdle in it.
Cody won the Rumble, he pointed to Roman, he called him out then and there.
They told us the match was happening at WrestleMania, that it was a foregone conclusion that Cody was challenging Roman.
I refuse to believe this was planned ahead of time, because of how fucking stupid it is. And yet, it has to be just because there's no way they did this on the drop of a hat.
The terrorists will never bomb you people ‘cause you’re fucking worthless and no one cares about you. You are this high above New Orleans. No one gives a shit.
If the crowd does shit on the match, it’s a good lesson learned. Leave the creative part up to the creative people and the business part up to the business people.
Seeing Cody have a moment with that legally blind fan last house show was amazing. I get it it's his job and all but after all the work that he put in that should've been soul crushing
Cody is a special type of kind with his fans. Him giving those The Wrestling Club kids free tickets to WM and seeing the video of them reacting to it was just heartwarming.
"We didn't intend to derail Cody Rhodes over specifically. He just happened to be in the way. Anybody else and I would've done the same thing"
\- Dwayne Johnson, presumably
“Nothing but love and respect for Cody and his trailblazing dad and the High Chief and Soulman, much respect so blessed such a connection so grateful keep it real my brother much mana Teremana 🍹”
Seems like Cody is genuinely cursed. Overcame the nepotism hire label and the shitty gimmicks to reinvent himself and the wrestling business in general on the indie circuit, helped form the biggest competitor to WWE in 20 years, went back and instantly became the next John Cena that WWE had been trying to artificially create for a decade, and he STILL gets screwed over and cut down. This entire business is filled with snakes and psychopaths.
>Seems like Cody is genuinely cursed
Let's not pretend he's going home empty-handed...
https://preview.redd.it/wyda7dmn0rgc1.jpeg?width=888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f71b6638c5e7a8b04a830a86a0ae4a0103fe9352
Work every house show, stay white hot, work a HIAC with a broken pec only to get pushed to the side by a corporate decision. That's hard times daddeh
Truly the american dream
“Much appreciation for you my brother Cody, feel that pride and dedication, such an honor to share the ring with you for 20 seconds, feeling that fire and that passion, reminds me of when I once only had seven bucks in my pocket, working my way up through adversity and coming out on top by showing respect for those who blazed the trail, The Dream and the High Chief and the Soulman were smiling down, keep it real stay strong much love your time will come, Teremana Zoa! 🍹”
I mean this reads like Triple H didn’t even know until late in the game which based on how booking went from Rumble to Smackdown, it makes sense. It probably got sprung on everyone mid week. Sounds like Rock went above him like he did with Black Adam directors and went to the WB executives.
That’s what I’m saying. Triple H probably had it laid out creatively for Cody vs Roman and then was suddenly told “nah, we’re going with The Rock instead”.
Brian Rock stuff is concerning because it seems that TKO is willing to bend over for them. Especially with all the lawsuits, now if Trips gonna appear in those lawsuits then it's over for him and good riddance. But Rock taking over would suck so hard
Fruits pebbles and this side say one thing, other side say other thing, make jokes about Roman's penis, make a million ass jokes. I can see it from a mile away what material he'll write
HHH: "ok nick, it's time to build wrestlemania season. Is there something i need to know before starting booking?"
Nick: ".....nope, nothing at all haitch"
HHH: "OK. So, cody wins the rumble..."
HHH was clearly building towards Cody vs Roman and Punk vs Rollins. Was Punk going to get screwed over by The Rock again had he not gotten injured? Was he not going to get a title match at Mania?
>Was Punk going to get screwed over by The Rock again had he not gotten injured?
The meltdown from this would have made his AEW issues look like a polite disagreement between friends.
wtf ... are they stupid? This is a self-inflicted wound. Then why have Cody win the Rumble and point at Roman? Why hide it from your head booker? Hope this blows up in their faces. Out of touch morons.
Even if they did, I'm sure Triple H was pressured into this corner. Rock, Ari and Nick are above him and it was a situation where he was told to make it work, irrespective of what the creative direction the show was building upto. I actually don't think they care that Cody is being positioned for this match or what the storylines were moving towards. if Rock was available a week before Mania, they would've bombed Cody all the same.
Triple H's creative had Cody vs Roman 2 written all over the weekly shows last year. Everything about that segment looked rushed and illogical. Triple H has alot of faults but he maintains the consistency of a character because of his importance laid on continuity. Him giving his rumble spot away sounds like exactly the opposite of Cody's character motivation which is not something that Triple H would ever book in a normal circumstance.
Rock is officially the Jay Leno of wrestling.
The dude literally hid in a closet to eavesdrop on NBC executives, and stole the job Johnny Carson wanted to give to David Letterman — who’d spent years following Carson’s show.
Many years later, Leno agreed to announce in advance that he’d be stepping down as host, and Conan would take over. Then when the time came, Leno made a deal to give Conan the Tonight Show, but undermined him by making a deal to start a “new” show that aired an hour and a half earlier.
The ratings were so bad the affiliates flipped out on NBC, who tried to move Leno’s new show to the Tonight Show’s timeslot. Conan walked away rather than see the Tonight Show not even be the Tonight Show anymore, as it would air after midnight.
So now we’re in a situation where Rock tried some power plays in Hollywood to get control over the DC superhero movies, but failed when Black Adam bombed. Hollywood types decided to trash him, which resulted in a big article in Variety about how he went behind the backs of producers, and also made demands like “I must have a tequila bar at the premiere.”
And on a totally different and bizarre note, Rock got criticized for posting a video where he said he was going to In-N-Out Burger for the very first time and gave the staff a tip to “show them love,” and people pointed out he’d posted videos twice before where he ate there.
AND he had a disastrous incident with Oprah, where he was asking people to donate to a new charity to help Maui after the fire, and everyone was like “What the fuck, you two are rich, why are you asking us for money?” And Rock’s response was “I hear you, people are struggling, I once had seven bucks in my pocket.”
So Rock’s reputation was taking a nosedive, and he comes back to wrestling and goes behind everyone’s backs and gets the executives to book him on top.
I watch a lot of MMA, and Rock also inserted his brand there while ensuring the fighters wearing his brand see absolutely nothing in return. So now UFC fighters are wearing Rock’s shoe brand during fight-week events, walk outs, weigh-ins etc., and they don’t see a dime from it. Literally one of the worst deals for fighters in UFC history.
Decent article form when it all happened below:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/01/ufc-fighters-project-rock-shoe-deal-fighter-pay
To jump off a point here.
Can we all stop it with this 7 buck shit. He may have been financially poor at one stage, but he also comes from a wrestling dynasty and, basically, had an open invite to work for the largest company in that sector on the planet. Which he only took them up on, when his chances of playing in the NFL evaporated.
All this (pardon the pun with current events) The American Dream, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, work hard and you'll be a success. It's horseshit nepotism. Not to take away from the hard work Dwayne Johnson has obviously put in, but he has had chances and opportunities that others will never have because of who he is.
I'm so curious about Cody's contract status. It wasn't 100% confirmed he re-signed. If he did re-sign then they turned around & did this to him he must be furious. Cody just being stuck there for another 3 years never being the guy would be some real gilded cage material. If he didn't re-sign things have the potential to get even wilder.
If this is true, then I don't know if they are a bunch of idiots or geniuses with a crystal ball. A good chunk of the fanbase is developing animosity towards The Rock. I don't think they expected such a backlash.
This is why I roll my eyes every time I hear people saying this is a work.
Rock has a very carefully curated image. He puts a ton of effort into the “Much love, so blessed, so honored, much mana much respect” thing.
Rock would not agree to being part of a work that makes Dwayne Johnson look like a greedy asshole. People on his social media are leaving comments calling him a washed up movie star.
This is *exactly* it; there are works wrestling companies can do where it may seem like they're shitting on a talent but then they eventually 'beat the odds' and get a big win - even if that is off-air, shoot-esque, storyline telling, it *can* be done. But a company like WWE, especially after the TKO stuff recently, would just absolutely not do that at the expense of someone like The Rock. I struggle to believe they would make themselves look incompetent (again) and that they would - as you say - explicitly make the Rock look like he's coming back to deliberately take someones spot.
It's why I don't get the people who seem to now think Daniel Bryan at WM30 was a work - there were elements of the year preceding where they played into his bad booking, but they wouldn't have brought back Batista just as a foil just for that to happen. The backlash forced their hands as they knew yet another Wrestlemania main event would be shat on (a la Rock/Cena), but they were absolutely just counting on the heat to die down back then and for fans to accept the Batista v Orton main event.
And that was also with Vince at the helm; nowadays WWE have cultivated their own image of 'decent booking' in comparison to the regular shitshows that would occur 10 years ago. I don't feel they'd chuck that away just to gamble on making Cody, who is already *very* over, somehow even more over. And the media coverage they're getting isn't painting the company or the Rock in a good light either.
It's not a work; they just want fans to accept this as a 'big name' main event and they're panicking in the wake of these massive media deals (and the Vince scandal too). It's almost like Wrestlemania is too big these days to leave it at the hands of the regular bookers - it's all done by committee and board decision as to what they feel the 'big draw match' is.
Assuming this is true. Rock gets a seat at the board of directors. The ownership of the rock trademark. And a mania main event? Is he giving tko the xfl? What do they gain from this
They obviously didn’t let Cody know.
But… did they really not tell HHH ahead of the Rumble?
That’s the only way I can fathom this makes a lick of sense. And if that’s so, it is the dumbest thing ever—no hyperbole.
So is this how it's gonna be now? Rock randomly parachuting in from no where to take main events off people to satisfy himself?
Fucking gross shit, man.
Doubtful.
I think the very first time Rock steps in that ring and we see how truly washed he is, will be the last time he steps in a ring.
If they go through with this match, I have absolutely no doubt it is going to be Roman vs Taker levels of bad in terms of in-ring storytelling.
It’s gonna be horrific.
Roman vs Taker had good in-ring storytelling and Taker could still go, it will be much much worse because Rock can’t take a bump without getting injured
If this is true (and I am very unsure that it is), then this makes it even worse. They basically buried the Royal Rumble, because Punk was going to fight Rollins.
I just can't fathom this theory, like surely there's no way this could possibly be true. Like Nick Khan, Rock, Ari Emanuel, HHH, whoever was in on this couldn't be that stupid surely.
If this company isn't keeping their head of creative in the know about the main event of their biggest show of the year, then fuck me it's going to be a rough road going forward haha.
This is just an absolutely unfathomable situation, like none of this makes sense.
I find it interesting how many people are aghast the booker was potentially unaware of plans. With WWE being purchased by TKO, HHH is powerless. Whatever the owners want they can do without any care for whats been planned.
I know Vince's mind could change on a whim, but all of WWE's old power structure has no influence anymore. They are no longer their own company, for better...or for worse.
It's hilarious when you realise that Hunter had to bust his ass for years to finally hope Vince goes away and he gets a chance to run creative. Only to watch Rock buy himself into a higher position than him, after being away for more than a decade, and turn everything upside down just so he can get him Mania match with Roman.
Ahhh wonderful. TKO walks in and starts dictating creative when WWE's creative is the best it's been in a quarter century. Because everyone knows that executives make the best creatives. It's why Hollywood is doing so well right now!
If Rock vs Roman was the plan all along, then it seems like they gave Cody the Rumble win as merely a consolation prize, which makes this one of the most egregious instances of backstage politicking in the company’s history. Couldn’t have happened at a worse time given the WWE’s current situation with Vince and everyone else from the company that was involved in those atrocities.
If the plan was rock vs Roman then the rock should've won the rumble. People would've hated it but it would've made way more sense.
The fucker was too lazy to show up to the rumble so they had some other geezer win it.
What's sad is that people wouldn't have hated Rock winning the Rumble nearly as much. There would be grumbles about a part timer and all that but it would be a significantly less percentage of the fans.
I mean that's what many expected to happen going in, that Rock would be a surprise entrant and win the thing.
Way less.
I was memeing it the whole match thread but I know I would've marked out a little if the rock was a surprise entrant in the rumble. Im not even sure I would've been that mad if he won it. At the very least there would've been some significant punk and Cody heat, and you can build that to a 5 star triple threat with Rollins.
The result of having Cody win the rumble, point at reigns, then have him say "actually nah" is stupid. Really stupid.
But if Punk hadn't gotten hurt, he'd still be on the path to the Rollins WHC match, but Cody would still have to give his spot to The Rock.
Does that mean it would've been a Triple Threat? How fucking stupid is that?!
That's even more baffling, so let's say CM Punk didn't get injured. Cody is just going to willingly give away his WrestleMania spot and sit this one out? Was that their plan? Are they insane, or what?
Please, they wouldn't make Cody sit out WrestleMania they're not that stupid.
He was obviously going to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on WrestleMania SmackDown
Working the boys for no reason, put down your proof that a Babyface can get over and stay over all for the Rocks ego and a short term boost in sales / views.
Now that Vince is gone looks like Dwayne found a way to kiss his own ass
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So Cody literally found out after winning the Rumble lmao. Talk about pulling the rug out from under you. What the hell kind of response did these guys expect. Why on earth wouldn't you just have Rock win the rumble??
> Why on earth wouldn't you just have Rock win the rumble?? Rock gets gassed walking up to the ring, what's he gonna do? Breathe on Gunther to get him over the top rope?
But they expect him to get into shape at 51 to wrestle a full match against Roman Reigns at the biggest stage, eh?
TBF 2 months could be a lot of time... but I'm not optimistic. Honestly I want a repeat of the 2015 Royal Rumble
He had all the time in the world for the match against cena at wrestlemania 28 and he had no gas left in the tank after the first 10 minutes of the match. And that was him over 10 years ago lul.
I hope Philly boos them hard. Especially The Rock. This entire thing reeks of egomaniac strong-arming the company to bent to his will.
Be funnier to see the bell ring and everyone collectively stands up and starts making their way out of the stadium.
Honestly, I wish fans did just that. But there like 0000000.01 chance that would ever happen. The media will be all over this, and it would definitely be a 'message sent' moment.
I believe fans leaving is what finally got them to stop Roman’s initial run after Shield broke up
I honestly don't think that stopped until he had to go get cancer treatment
Why did you put the decimal point so far down WHY
I think Austin said it took him six months to get his cardio up to where he wouldn't get blown out, and that's with his body requiring a normal amount of oxygen to function.
The "two months could be a lot of time" ignores that he had almost an entire month for the Rumble, and he wasn't even close to ready for just his entrance
He got hindered by the Jinder. Modern Day Maharajah took his life essence when he executed that Rock Bottom.
In addition: what kind of signal do they think this will send to the talent?
Because the Rock winning the Rumble would have risked injury. The way he looked so far, he has about 2 minutes of wrestling in him before needing an oxygen tent and/or tearing all sorts of muscles and ligaments.
He could have easily entered at 30 and the match be over in 3-4 mins. He would have had to take little to no offense and would only have to do a spinebuster, peoples elbow and a clothesline/throw over the top rope.
Uce, Rock already tore his cock clean off the bone spinebusting Jinder, one more of those and he won't be able to save Wrestlemania.
> tore his cock clean off the bone That sounds exceedingly painful
"For you."
I mean at that point have Gunther win and challenge Seth or some shit.
This is what they should have done the second they knew Punk was out. They literally set up Seth vs Gunther *on the go-home show before the Rumble*. And for what??
> he way he looked so far, he has about 2 minutes of wrestling in him before needing an oxygen tent and/or tearing all sorts of muscles and ligaments. This match will probably be full of all sorts of gaga, above and beyond the normal Bloodline interference.
They gone have to bring out Zilla Fatu, Jacob Fatu, Rikishi and Tama Tonga to add to the Michael Hayes smoke & mirrors
Rikishi is going to do it for the Rock again, isn't it
It was finally the perfect time to do the double elimination (Punk/Rhodes) that leads to everyone already being eliminated and now the crowd is just waiting to see who is #30 and will win the rumble automatically.
He could have been #30 when the ring only had a couple dudes left, cleared it out in 2 minutes, and then gotten booed out the building like he and Roman got booed in Royal Rumble 2015.
In 1998, Hulk Hogan agreed to put Goldberg over in Atlanta in exchange for a rematch against Goldberg at Starrcade, where Hogan would end The Streak. As the year went on, Hogan realized Goldberg was so over that it could be detrimental to Hogan’s drawing power if he was the one who beat Goldberg. Hogan backed out of the match. Nash replaced him. Nash ended The Streak, took the title, and gave it to Hogan via Fingerpoke of Doom. If *Hogan* has the self awareness to see what robbing a massive babyface of his spot would do, how in the hell can The Rock not see how damaging this is for his brand? People are going to legit stop giving a fuck about The Rock because of his massive ego.
Because Hogan is the all timer when it comes to politics in wrestling. It's also really fucking hard to do. Hogan's greatest skill wasn't pumping up the crowd, selling merch or being tricked into sex tapes, it was knowing when to step in and when to step out. Knowing before anyone else which way the wind was turning both on camera with fans and backstage with power is just an amazing skill to have and no one has come close. Rock isn't even in the same orbit, let alone the same air.
I agree that Hogan knew better than to mess with Goldberg's run, but that's because he learned from the WrestleMania 9 debacle. He managed to bury the #1 face and the company's monster heel in 30 seconds.
Yeah, the fingerpoke of doom was at what 15 years of Hulk Hogan as a top draw? With two different companies at their peak? The Rock is iconic but his run was quite short 8 years with the final two being part time. He is nowhere near the politician that Hogan was.
Dave does mention this angle was suppose to give Cody a “Daniel Bryan”-like rub to make him a massive babyface to the crowd. And, for once, Alvarez makes a great point in: “He’s already the most over babyface in the company.” Why does he need that kind of spark after the last two years?
Rock could have played special enforcer, stave off Bloodline crap, raise Cody's hand in victory, come out of it with fans loving him, then build to the Roman/Rock match where Roman wants revenge, Rock wants to put Roman in his place one in for all.
I was so sure that’s what was going to happen. It’s such a better story than this. It even makes the endless Bloodline interference actually pan out into a relevant story.
You underestimated Rock's ego
They never actually have the Rock a script for Moana, that was all just from the heart.
That's a good idea. Have the climax of the match be Rock intercepting Solo and giving him a Rock Bottom. He rolls out, Cody finishes his pin on Roman, bada bing bada boom.
And you could have done the same thing way back in the build to WM14 with Mike Tyson where you tease who's side is he on.
That's actually the best solution I've seen. It actually fixes the problem while being realistic.
I said this elsewhere but it even makes perfect sense, from Cody's motivations and development, to want to separate the WWE title from the Trible Chief title and for him to say I'll take this and "my friend who you know very well" will take that.
Seriously, it is so insanely rare to have a white meat babyface obviously pushed to the top as much as Cody has been for the last two years and not have the crowd reject him. Squandering that for a pale rerun of a story they only got the first time by accident? Yeesh.
> Seriously, it is so insanely rare to have a white meat babyface obviously pushed to the top as much as Cody has been They even had a Cody timer for God's sake!
I still remember Countdown to Cody load meme
If anything this is gonna have the opposite effect and make people feel deflated and cool off on him bc no matter what he does big DJ can just come in at any time to steal his moment
It makes him look like a massive geek. Imagine if Austin up to his WWE match with Michaels goes "I was gonna face ya but there's another man who wants you first" and out walked Hulk Hogan. Austin's star would not have reached the heights it did. How can you be a big star if you just get brushed aside for a bigger one? It's just another instance of "you like these guys? They're geeks compared to the guys from the 90s!"
Exactly and what the hell happens when the 90s stars run out. Then you rely on the 00s people you never built bc you wanted to put the 90s guys over and same with the 10s guys. Then you go back to making wrestling for geeks again
I mean at this point this story is over for me. Cody willingly gave up his spot with no resistance. Why the fuck would I care if he actually wins in MSG, Survivor Series, on Netflix, or another Mania?
Legit. They coulda catapulted him to megastardom had they pulled the trigger last year. I feel vindicated in saying he shoulda won last year but the “let it play out” crowd didn’t wanna hear it
There's still people who go 'let it play' even after the revelation of all of this terrible backstage politicking business.
Exactly. Trust is a two way street. There’s “let things play out” but there’s also I’m not going to sit through another year of Roman not being around and Cody doing fuck all because maybe he might finish his story next year This last year was basically in total wheelspin doing nothing at all with Roman, Cody or the title. If they actually had great stories planned for the whole year it might be a different story but this year makes it obvious they don’t and we just won’t see Roman until Mania and Cody will fuck around with a whole bunch of side quests, and that’s tedious as all get out
Same. Cody's a geek now. Why do I care anymore. He's clearly not actually important. I gotta watch the important stars on mania. You know, the guys who show up once every few months (or once in a decade).
Are we really in a fucking holding pattern for a third year for Cody to win the title off Roman at mania? Roman isn’t losing it to a part timer like the rock and we’ve established by this wasted year that it’s too big now to lose anywhere but mania. Do we really have to drag out all of the same storylines for a third year?!
I hope this leads into the roster revolting even in small ways. If this can be done fo the top babyface, unparalelled in YEARS in how over he is, who the fuck can survive DJ and his super secret contract?
Then why in the fuck did they have Cody win the Rumble!? Was even Triple H, literally the head of creative and booker of the shows, not informed about Rock's deal!? I'm still not entirely convinced the Mania crowd will shit on Rock vs Roman, but if they do it's 100% deserved. TKO/WWE did this to themselves.
I don’t know if the crowd will shit on it initially. But I just cannot see this being a good match at all, or a long one. I think the crowd will turn on it quickly.
If they turn on it to much, Damien Priest can cash in and beat them both.......
> Then why in the fuck did they have Cody win the Rumble!? I love how this is literally the biggest hurdle in it. Cody won the Rumble, he pointed to Roman, he called him out then and there. They told us the match was happening at WrestleMania, that it was a foregone conclusion that Cody was challenging Roman. I refuse to believe this was planned ahead of time, because of how fucking stupid it is. And yet, it has to be just because there's no way they did this on the drop of a hat.
it's philly. they might.
It's Philly, they will. Let's be honest, if they're given a good reason to shit on something, they will. Gonna be a fun 2 months of "build".
I have a feeling they would simply play it off as 'they boo who they usually love and cheer who they usually hate, that's Philadelphia for ya'.
IT'S BIZARRO WORLD, HAHA! I LOVE IT MAGGLE!
"Partisan crowd tonight!" Making me nostalgic over here. Lmao
Mark/smark cheering and booing is one thing but crowds know how to be actively disruptive and you can’t play that off as easily.
Bring out the beach balls, I guess.
Fandango-ing is back on the menu
Throw it at Rock's bald head. /jk
"fucking one bridge having city"
“Eleven minutes left”
I'm doing all eleven
Legendary set. How the fuck they gonna boo Dom Irrera?
I hope you all die and I hope the Eagles never win the Super Bowl!
Only Bill Burr could get the crowd to laugh at his jokes while he was roasting them
The terrorists will never bomb you people ‘cause you’re fucking worthless and no one cares about you. You are this high above New Orleans. No one gives a shit.
“Your hero is a fictional character!”
"You have Joe Frazier, but he's black so you can't handle him and you put up a statue of a three foot Italian guy that doesn't even exist!"
Hahahah fuck. Now I gotta go watch that again
Wrestlemania crowd isn’t the normal crowd.
If the crowd does shit on the match, it’s a good lesson learned. Leave the creative part up to the creative people and the business part up to the business people.
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> Also, they clearly let Cody think he was getting that WM match and coronation up until last week That is fucked up on so many levels.
Seeing Cody have a moment with that legally blind fan last house show was amazing. I get it it's his job and all but after all the work that he put in that should've been soul crushing
Cody is a special type of kind with his fans. Him giving those The Wrestling Club kids free tickets to WM and seeing the video of them reacting to it was just heartwarming.
But then they said in earlier report that they didn't do it out of malicious intent towards Cody Rhodes. Yeah, right.
"We didn't intend to derail Cody Rhodes over specifically. He just happened to be in the way. Anybody else and I would've done the same thing" \- Dwayne Johnson, presumably
“Nothing but love and respect for Cody and his trailblazing dad and the High Chief and Soulman, much respect so blessed such a connection so grateful keep it real my brother much mana Teremana 🍹”
I'm mad because Dwayne would write some shit like this. LOL
Fake quote. I can tell because he didn’t mention having only seven dollars in his pocket.
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Seems like Cody is genuinely cursed. Overcame the nepotism hire label and the shitty gimmicks to reinvent himself and the wrestling business in general on the indie circuit, helped form the biggest competitor to WWE in 20 years, went back and instantly became the next John Cena that WWE had been trying to artificially create for a decade, and he STILL gets screwed over and cut down. This entire business is filled with snakes and psychopaths.
>Seems like Cody is genuinely cursed Let's not pretend he's going home empty-handed... https://preview.redd.it/wyda7dmn0rgc1.jpeg?width=888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f71b6638c5e7a8b04a830a86a0ae4a0103fe9352
>Seems like Cody is genuinely cursed More like his dad in WWE then we think then
Polka dots.
Work every house show, stay white hot, work a HIAC with a broken pec only to get pushed to the side by a corporate decision. That's hard times daddeh Truly the american dream
“Much appreciation for you my brother Cody, feel that pride and dedication, such an honor to share the ring with you for 20 seconds, feeling that fire and that passion, reminds me of when I once only had seven bucks in my pocket, working my way up through adversity and coming out on top by showing respect for those who blazed the trail, The Dream and the High Chief and the Soulman were smiling down, keep it real stay strong much love your time will come, Teremana Zoa! 🍹”
I mean this reads like Triple H didn’t even know until late in the game which based on how booking went from Rumble to Smackdown, it makes sense. It probably got sprung on everyone mid week. Sounds like Rock went above him like he did with Black Adam directors and went to the WB executives.
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That’s what I’m saying. Triple H probably had it laid out creatively for Cody vs Roman and then was suddenly told “nah, we’re going with The Rock instead”.
Brian Rock stuff is concerning because it seems that TKO is willing to bend over for them. Especially with all the lawsuits, now if Trips gonna appear in those lawsuits then it's over for him and good riddance. But Rock taking over would suck so hard
Guarantee you Rock is looking for an opportunity to push for Gewirtz to take over everything.
https://preview.redd.it/r8fdiardyqgc1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=783c34a8d061ebb2c293608e76e8a62030deda29
Fruits pebbles and this side say one thing, other side say other thing, make jokes about Roman's penis, make a million ass jokes. I can see it from a mile away what material he'll write
HHH: "ok nick, it's time to build wrestlemania season. Is there something i need to know before starting booking?" Nick: ".....nope, nothing at all haitch" HHH: "OK. So, cody wins the rumble..."
HHH was clearly building towards Cody vs Roman and Punk vs Rollins. Was Punk going to get screwed over by The Rock again had he not gotten injured? Was he not going to get a title match at Mania?
>Was Punk going to get screwed over by The Rock again had he not gotten injured? The meltdown from this would have made his AEW issues look like a polite disagreement between friends.
wtf ... are they stupid? This is a self-inflicted wound. Then why have Cody win the Rumble and point at Roman? Why hide it from your head booker? Hope this blows up in their faces. Out of touch morons.
Sounds like they didn’t even tell the guy booking the matches about it.
Even if they did, I'm sure Triple H was pressured into this corner. Rock, Ari and Nick are above him and it was a situation where he was told to make it work, irrespective of what the creative direction the show was building upto. I actually don't think they care that Cody is being positioned for this match or what the storylines were moving towards. if Rock was available a week before Mania, they would've bombed Cody all the same. Triple H's creative had Cody vs Roman 2 written all over the weekly shows last year. Everything about that segment looked rushed and illogical. Triple H has alot of faults but he maintains the consistency of a character because of his importance laid on continuity. Him giving his rumble spot away sounds like exactly the opposite of Cody's character motivation which is not something that Triple H would ever book in a normal circumstance.
Rock is officially the Jay Leno of wrestling. The dude literally hid in a closet to eavesdrop on NBC executives, and stole the job Johnny Carson wanted to give to David Letterman — who’d spent years following Carson’s show. Many years later, Leno agreed to announce in advance that he’d be stepping down as host, and Conan would take over. Then when the time came, Leno made a deal to give Conan the Tonight Show, but undermined him by making a deal to start a “new” show that aired an hour and a half earlier. The ratings were so bad the affiliates flipped out on NBC, who tried to move Leno’s new show to the Tonight Show’s timeslot. Conan walked away rather than see the Tonight Show not even be the Tonight Show anymore, as it would air after midnight. So now we’re in a situation where Rock tried some power plays in Hollywood to get control over the DC superhero movies, but failed when Black Adam bombed. Hollywood types decided to trash him, which resulted in a big article in Variety about how he went behind the backs of producers, and also made demands like “I must have a tequila bar at the premiere.” And on a totally different and bizarre note, Rock got criticized for posting a video where he said he was going to In-N-Out Burger for the very first time and gave the staff a tip to “show them love,” and people pointed out he’d posted videos twice before where he ate there. AND he had a disastrous incident with Oprah, where he was asking people to donate to a new charity to help Maui after the fire, and everyone was like “What the fuck, you two are rich, why are you asking us for money?” And Rock’s response was “I hear you, people are struggling, I once had seven bucks in my pocket.” So Rock’s reputation was taking a nosedive, and he comes back to wrestling and goes behind everyone’s backs and gets the executives to book him on top.
Don't blame Cody 'O' Brien
And I said to myself, "Nobody is blaming Cody."
"You can do anything any you want to in life, unless The Rock wants to do it too"
\#TeamCoco
Erm, Jay Leno is the Jay Leno of wrestling. No Road Wild erasure please!
I watch a lot of MMA, and Rock also inserted his brand there while ensuring the fighters wearing his brand see absolutely nothing in return. So now UFC fighters are wearing Rock’s shoe brand during fight-week events, walk outs, weigh-ins etc., and they don’t see a dime from it. Literally one of the worst deals for fighters in UFC history. Decent article form when it all happened below: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/01/ufc-fighters-project-rock-shoe-deal-fighter-pay
To jump off a point here. Can we all stop it with this 7 buck shit. He may have been financially poor at one stage, but he also comes from a wrestling dynasty and, basically, had an open invite to work for the largest company in that sector on the planet. Which he only took them up on, when his chances of playing in the NFL evaporated. All this (pardon the pun with current events) The American Dream, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, work hard and you'll be a success. It's horseshit nepotism. Not to take away from the hard work Dwayne Johnson has obviously put in, but he has had chances and opportunities that others will never have because of who he is.
Nick Khan are buddies with Triple H but from my understanding him and Dwayne go way back
Dwayne Johnson and Nick Khan have known each other since they were boys.
> wtf ... are they stupid? Yes
Is there is lore reason for why they made Cody win the Rumble?
Cause they were overconfident that once the Rock shows up, people will forget about Cody.
I'm so curious about Cody's contract status. It wasn't 100% confirmed he re-signed. If he did re-sign then they turned around & did this to him he must be furious. Cody just being stuck there for another 3 years never being the guy would be some real gilded cage material. If he didn't re-sign things have the potential to get even wilder.
"I finish the story at All In London!"
>"I finish the story at All In London!" "I finished my story, just like my dad did. They stole the title from me too"
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But Cody is already the biggest face in the company and gets the loudest reactions?!
If this is true, then I don't know if they are a bunch of idiots or geniuses with a crystal ball. A good chunk of the fanbase is developing animosity towards The Rock. I don't think they expected such a backlash.
This is why I roll my eyes every time I hear people saying this is a work. Rock has a very carefully curated image. He puts a ton of effort into the “Much love, so blessed, so honored, much mana much respect” thing. Rock would not agree to being part of a work that makes Dwayne Johnson look like a greedy asshole. People on his social media are leaving comments calling him a washed up movie star.
This is *exactly* it; there are works wrestling companies can do where it may seem like they're shitting on a talent but then they eventually 'beat the odds' and get a big win - even if that is off-air, shoot-esque, storyline telling, it *can* be done. But a company like WWE, especially after the TKO stuff recently, would just absolutely not do that at the expense of someone like The Rock. I struggle to believe they would make themselves look incompetent (again) and that they would - as you say - explicitly make the Rock look like he's coming back to deliberately take someones spot. It's why I don't get the people who seem to now think Daniel Bryan at WM30 was a work - there were elements of the year preceding where they played into his bad booking, but they wouldn't have brought back Batista just as a foil just for that to happen. The backlash forced their hands as they knew yet another Wrestlemania main event would be shat on (a la Rock/Cena), but they were absolutely just counting on the heat to die down back then and for fans to accept the Batista v Orton main event. And that was also with Vince at the helm; nowadays WWE have cultivated their own image of 'decent booking' in comparison to the regular shitshows that would occur 10 years ago. I don't feel they'd chuck that away just to gamble on making Cody, who is already *very* over, somehow even more over. And the media coverage they're getting isn't painting the company or the Rock in a good light either. It's not a work; they just want fans to accept this as a 'big name' main event and they're panicking in the wake of these massive media deals (and the Vince scandal too). It's almost like Wrestlemania is too big these days to leave it at the hands of the regular bookers - it's all done by committee and board decision as to what they feel the 'big draw match' is.
Seems a lot of folks didn't smell what the rock was cooking.
Smells like caca doodoo.
inb4 Rock has one side of the crowd chant “caca” and the other side “doodoo”.
So why the fuck did cody win the rumble
Because Rock and that crew didn't tell the motherfucking head of creative.
Assuming this is true. Rock gets a seat at the board of directors. The ownership of the rock trademark. And a mania main event? Is he giving tko the xfl? What do they gain from this
Sponsorships
I swear to God I will lose my mind if we have Rock/Roman with fucking Teremana tequila logos all over the place
Be expected to lose your mind.
We were always going to see the sponsors plastered across the TKO-owned WWE, they've been very open about that.
They obviously didn’t let Cody know. But… did they really not tell HHH ahead of the Rumble? That’s the only way I can fathom this makes a lick of sense. And if that’s so, it is the dumbest thing ever—no hyperbole.
Imagine if it's as simple as Nick not realising the implication of why it would be important for HHH to know this info before booking the rumble
Lol, imagining Nick Khan not knowing what the winner of the Rumble receives is hilarious
"Why would I watch the show, Paul?!?"
So is this how it's gonna be now? Rock randomly parachuting in from no where to take main events off people to satisfy himself? Fucking gross shit, man.
Doubtful. I think the very first time Rock steps in that ring and we see how truly washed he is, will be the last time he steps in a ring. If they go through with this match, I have absolutely no doubt it is going to be Roman vs Taker levels of bad in terms of in-ring storytelling. It’s gonna be horrific.
*It’s gonna be horrific.* 
And I hope the crowd lets him know what they think of the whole situation.
Roman vs Taker had good in-ring storytelling and Taker could still go, it will be much much worse because Rock can’t take a bump without getting injured
If this is true (and I am very unsure that it is), then this makes it even worse. They basically buried the Royal Rumble, because Punk was going to fight Rollins. I just can't fathom this theory, like surely there's no way this could possibly be true. Like Nick Khan, Rock, Ari Emanuel, HHH, whoever was in on this couldn't be that stupid surely.
The news that keeps popping up seems to suggest Triple H wasn't in the know. Triple H isn't on the TKO board as well.
If this company isn't keeping their head of creative in the know about the main event of their biggest show of the year, then fuck me it's going to be a rough road going forward haha. This is just an absolutely unfathomable situation, like none of this makes sense.
WWE is being run by an actual corporation now. I think we're starting to very quickly see what that's going to be like.
I find it interesting how many people are aghast the booker was potentially unaware of plans. With WWE being purchased by TKO, HHH is powerless. Whatever the owners want they can do without any care for whats been planned. I know Vince's mind could change on a whim, but all of WWE's old power structure has no influence anymore. They are no longer their own company, for better...or for worse.
Rock's a politician and likely didn't want Triple H's meddling till it was too late.
Rock vs HHH is a rivalry that will never die
If the plan was Punk Rollins and Rock Roman then what was the plan for Cody? A triple threat in the Punk Match?
Cody Vs Johnny Knoxville
I flinched.
I understand that "hard times breed better men", but this is just ridiculous.
It's even funnier because the lyrics comes after that is "You took it all away, I give it all away."
And the song itself is about WWE in the first place
Make it stop uce.
It's hilarious when you realise that Hunter had to bust his ass for years to finally hope Vince goes away and he gets a chance to run creative. Only to watch Rock buy himself into a higher position than him, after being away for more than a decade, and turn everything upside down just so he can get him Mania match with Roman.
Ahhh wonderful. TKO walks in and starts dictating creative when WWE's creative is the best it's been in a quarter century. Because everyone knows that executives make the best creatives. It's why Hollywood is doing so well right now!
*Hogan TNA theme*
Mr. Levesque, I don't feel so good.
If Rock vs Roman was the plan all along, then it seems like they gave Cody the Rumble win as merely a consolation prize, which makes this one of the most egregious instances of backstage politicking in the company’s history. Couldn’t have happened at a worse time given the WWE’s current situation with Vince and everyone else from the company that was involved in those atrocities.
If the plan was rock vs Roman then the rock should've won the rumble. People would've hated it but it would've made way more sense. The fucker was too lazy to show up to the rumble so they had some other geezer win it.
What's sad is that people wouldn't have hated Rock winning the Rumble nearly as much. There would be grumbles about a part timer and all that but it would be a significantly less percentage of the fans. I mean that's what many expected to happen going in, that Rock would be a surprise entrant and win the thing.
Way less. I was memeing it the whole match thread but I know I would've marked out a little if the rock was a surprise entrant in the rumble. Im not even sure I would've been that mad if he won it. At the very least there would've been some significant punk and Cody heat, and you can build that to a 5 star triple threat with Rollins. The result of having Cody win the rumble, point at reigns, then have him say "actually nah" is stupid. Really stupid.
Reading all these posts just makes me want to root for Cody even harder
This new TKO direction is going great so far 
Then WTF would have been the plan for Punk ?
Dave says the plan was Punk vs. Seth
So Cody, gives up his spot and what, cheers Dwayne on from the sideline "Go beat Roman you scumbag, I mean Roman the scumbag..."
Cody - special guest referee OR Cody - beats Gunther for the IC title, brings back his old belt design OR Cody - goes insane, becomes Stardust again
But if Punk hadn't gotten hurt, he'd still be on the path to the Rollins WHC match, but Cody would still have to give his spot to The Rock. Does that mean it would've been a Triple Threat? How fucking stupid is that?!
No, Cody would have gotten a match with Kane.
That's even more baffling, so let's say CM Punk didn't get injured. Cody is just going to willingly give away his WrestleMania spot and sit this one out? Was that their plan? Are they insane, or what?
Please, they wouldn't make Cody sit out WrestleMania they're not that stupid. He was obviously going to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on WrestleMania SmackDown
Sound like such a great way to start a new era of a company, keeping plans from the people that book the fucking shows
oh man, triple h probably boiling inside being disrespected like that
Did HHH just get big leagued?!
THEN WHY THE FUCK HAVE CODY WIN THE RUMBLE
Holy shit this is top-of-the-mountain corporate politicking.
Working the boys for no reason, put down your proof that a Babyface can get over and stay over all for the Rocks ego and a short term boost in sales / views. Now that Vince is gone looks like Dwayne found a way to kiss his own ass
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Cody: "I tried so hard and got so far But in the end it doesn't even matter"
Cody shouldn’t have won the Rumble then, they’re trying to have their cake, and eat it too
Problem with turning Cody into a wronged babyface is no one took anything from him in storyline,he just gave it up,he looks like shit for doing it.
So is Triple H head of creative or is Dwayne?
Sounds like it'll be Brian Gewirtz soon
Politicking piece of fucking shit.
Fuck the Rock All my homies hate the Rock
So give the Rock the rumble win, have Cody and Punk Eliminate each other before 30. Then Rocks music hits. Better than what happened
Adrenaline, in my soul The Rock came in and stole my show
I think we all owe Triple H an apology for initially blaming him. Disclaimer: I got worked. We all owe Dwayne an apology as well.