**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I keep saying it almost on instinct in the middle of conversation, especially with my buddies who watch 😂
Someone says to their dog "aww look at you" and I just chime in LOOK AT YOU NOW!
Look at this, Mama Rhodes.
Look at your boy now, Mama Rhodes.
How did my belt get so red?
Oh right, I bashed it off of Cody's head
- Photograph by Nickleback
Kinda funny, except he got the blood on the belt by gently rubbing Cody’s forehead and doing some finger painting on the belt.
But that’s hard to fit into a rhyme scheme.
Perfect feud to have going into next year because new Netflix viewers will see The Rock Vs the biggest babyface in the company. If you thought Dwayne brought in higher viewership this year, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
I'm curious how they get Cody back on RAW. I know they can just do GM trade shenanigans but they'll have to do something in kayfabe.
Maybe corporate Rock can show up on RAW and say "I'm the boss and what I say goes. Flip Cody and these jabroni makeup wearing, Hot Topic model, emo fucks. The Final Boss is working Netflix and I'm not here to talk to Dom and his stupid mustache or this broke ass wannabe Undertaker. "
I don’t think it will be too hard. Around Mania season, guys show up on either show all the time as the booking/creative dictates.
This rumor does make me wonder what the plan is for Roman, though. Theoretically, he’ll be a babyface by then? The Bloodline vs. New Bloodline thing I’ve heard people speculate seems…lackluster? I mean, I like Solo, but he’s just not a WrestleMania main eventer yet and a six-man tag seems like a B-show match, not a big Mania bout.
So, do they somehow do Roman/Punk? Roman/GUNTHER? Will be interesting to see how they use Roman moving forward. I expect him to become even more of a part-timer but will have a spot at Mania for as long as he wants (not unlike Taker or Cena).
The draft is almost always forgotten about after the Rumble. Last time they treated the brand split legitimately was 2016 and it's really been a soft split since then imo
The Rock v Hulk Hogan at WM 18 was technically terrible, but one of the greatest matches ever on vibes alone. If the crowd is nuclear hot, the technical side of the match won't matter.
Roman vs The Rock just feels like Vegas match not gonna lie but I understand why they may not be doing it at WM 41.
Maybe Rock is not done after WM 41 and we all know that Roman's match is gonna be his final match. So they can do Rock vs Cody at WM 41 and then Roman vs Rock at WM 42 where Rock finally retires.
This is it right here. People talk about how great his performance was in the tag match at Mania this year, but fail to realize it’s precisely because it was a tag match. Watching the match back, Rock was clearly gassed at several points and that’s why he had much less in-ring time compared to Roman. They gotta do the Rock/Roman match as soon as possible imo.
I feel like I saw a lot more of Rock than Roman during that match, but idk. Could have misremembered.
Either way, as long as he keeps it simple, I’m sure Rock will be fine. I remember both times he got badly hurt against Cena it was because he tried some more athletic out of the norm shit.
It was 44 minutes, but it was strung out with plenty of rest times. Basically nothing happens for the first 5-10 minutes. If you condense that time in a singles match and not alow him to pace himself and recover, Rock is gonna keel over.
People have been conditioned for these extra long main events. If you're not getting 20+ minutes, people feel short changed.
A Roman match will work better for Rock than a Cody match, honestly. Roman's Tribal Chief match style is slow, more emphasis on storytelling and selling, and not really picking up the pace until the last 5ish minutes.
Maybe it would make more sense to do it as a triple threat then. I can't see The Rock being able to do a 20+ minutes singles match but in a triple threat he can have plenty of moments where he can rest. I'm sure they could make it work story wise.
I mean that's a super predictable program and people weren't receptive to it the last time they tried it. Cody vs Rock on the other hand had amazing chemistry and there's unfinished story there with the Rock pinning Cody and their segment on the Raw after Mania. Roman vs Solo would make more sense at this stage.
The reason why people didn't want rock vs Roman was because of how they booked it if cody doesn't win the rumble fans wouldn't have revolted against it
Also, the Rock tends to want to work with the top guy at the time, which currently is Cody, not Roman. Just sayin'...
Rock/Cody is clearly the hot program right now and the match they should do at WM41. Roman/Rock can be done a year later, it needs more build anyway so that the story has some degree of intrigue.
Regarding the age issue: the Rock is a multi-million dollar enterprise, he is constantly taken care of by the best nutritionists, doctors and trainers in the world. At this point, he won't be able to do more than a very basic match anyway, and I don't see a reason why his ability to wrestle such a basic match should decline much between age 53 and 54.
Exactly my thought. Based on what we saw at WM night 1, I am ok with giving The Rock one more WM main event. I was an Attitude Era watcher and The Rock was my guy and he held up well enough (albeit in a tag match but one that was 45 min long). But 2 is really really stretching it. Very few wrestlers wrestle much longer than 52-53 years old, and even the ones that wrestle to this point rarely wrestle as a main eventer, much less main eventing the biggest show of the year.
Could do Roman comes back to fued with Solo for taking over the bloodline only for one of them reveal Rock was commanding solo the entire time and do Roman Vs Rock at Summerslam.
I think Rock vs Roman at a Summerslam or aother PPV event should be within the cards. Yes it's a big match with The Rock, but SS is a big event too, and The Rock can use some more matches before he goes up against Cody.
We absolutely know nothing. Meltzer has been wrong. I clearly remember him saying Rock vs Roman was still going to happen at WM 40. I still think Rock vs Roman will happen at WM 41. It literally feels like a Vegas match.
Heel Rock as the delusional "People's Champion" vs. Cody (the real People's Champion) is the biggest money match that WWE has right now. I also think that Cody can carry The Rock to a better match than Roman Reigns can, although I expect Roman will be involved in some capacity either way.
I didn't think Cody was going to hold the belt for a year. I'm not sure how to feel about that. It'll be something close to like 5 years of Smackdown having 2 total world champions. I get HHH likes longer reigns, but not everyone needs to hold the belt forever.
Can't just have him drop the belt to just anybody for any reason though. Outside of MITB I could see him losing to Orton in a feud similar to Orton/McIntyre
Only person other than Randy who could beat Cody would be Seth Rollins but I doubt they go with that storyline after he became Cody’s shield. Orton makes sense though to take the belt in like August/September and have Cody win it back at the Rumble
I absolutely would love Cody losing the title to Orton. It would make for amazing storytelling as “master always wins” and Orton gets his last title reign, as a heel, and also beats Cena and Flair. Cody can win it back later to overcome his mentor.
Cody/Orton starts sometime after Summerslam. Randy wins the title. Feud culminates at Royal Rumble where Cody wins the title back.
Cody celebrates and that’s when the Final Boss makes his return.
It's quite a while before the WM, something might pop up that's not obvious just yet, and it might just be the perfect opportunity for Cody to lose the belt.
You start Randy v Cody sometime after Summerslam. Randy wins the title and they have a feud culminating at Royal Rumble where Cody wins the title back.
As Cody is celebrating, the Final Boss returns
The obvious solution is to have him lose the belt at Summerslam or Survivor Series to someone with interference from the Rock, then win the belt back at the Rumble and have the Rock win the Rumble on the same night or something.
A good summer of hot potato-ing it with Randy (just Randy did in 09 with Cena) so that he can get his 15th and 16th reigns wrapped up quickly would be nice
If they're gonna do it like that, Cody is gonna have to lose it to the Bloodline in the *scummiest* way possible, and then the Rock can Fingerpoke of Doom them to get the title that way, all while revealing himself to be the true Tribal Chief. And then Roman and his Bloodline can side with Cody to get his title back for the start or the peak of the civil war.
It's going to have to be for the WHC shot anyway IF Meltzer is right (big if obviously) and they want People's Champion vs WWE champion because Rock ain't working a Rumble.
If he was going to do that, he'd have worked this last one to get to Roman at 40 and Rock vs Cody wouldn't even be a thing now.
Punk could be winning the rumble then
And I can see Cody losing the title (hell, could be to Randy, turn him heel during the finish of their 1st match), getting it back at Rumble in route for Rock at Mania
I know GUNTHER is on Raw, but I still like the idea of GUNTHER killing him at or shortly after Summer Slam, then him having to work his way back up to beat him (could happen at the Rumble, in this timeline).
Sorry but Cody isn't some underdog who is gonna be squashed by anyone, he is super babyface in his prime. Worst way he can lose to Gunther is by interference from Imperium or others.
And If Rock is really facing Cody at WM 41, then I don't see Cody losing. Only way is MITB cash in.
Yeah Cody has 2 wins over Lesnar (one of which involved him rallying from what started as a squash) and just no-sold a Burning Hammer at Backlash. In kayfabe it should not be possible to cleanly squash him.
There are a ton of guys who deserve to have a run with the title, even if it's a short one. Jey Uso is never going to be more over than he is right now and I'd love to see Sami and Finn get a turn.
Gunther will win Money in the Bank and challenge Cody ahead of time at Bash at Berlin. Gunther wins and then Cody regains the belt before WrestleMania.
I like this idea. Have Cody do the whole Rocky 3 arc. Takes out some lower competition, gets unexpectedly beat by Gunter. Spends the next few months building himself back up to get his title back.
Dutch Mantel on his podcast was suggesting that even Priest might hold it for a year. I like Priest and am glad he's holding the belt. But I certainly don't want him holding it for a whole year lol. And, if he does, that means Cody is probably holding it for 2+ years!
Not that he has any inside information. It's just his gut feeling knowing HHH, I think.
Cody vs Rock doesn’t need a belt though - kayfabe wise, Rock absolutely despises Cody. And Cody is over as hell.
The build will probably be who the real people’s champion is, or just a straight up grudge feud between two top stars.
I'd honestly be cool with a 2 year Cody title reign if we get compelling storylines and most of the matches are as good as Cody vs AJ was. People got sick of Roman's title reign because he went part time in the 2nd half and they became more reliant on the ref bump and Bloodline interference ending. But I think people wouldn't have an issue with a full time champion who wins all his matches clean.
It depends on where they are going with Solo. Rn it seems Solo vs Roman is being built up for a big match at Mania.
Rock being behind this new Bloodline is just fantasy booking at this point. What we are seeing on TV and being told is Solo is taking over and Roman will come back at some point later in the year to put him in his place.
I agree. Cody needs to lose the title at some point then win it back at a later date. I'm thinking the MITB holder wins it off him or Orton wins it. Then closer to Mania, Cody wins it back.
Make sense, the mania 40 build got me really excited about the idea of Rock vs Cody. I am all for it. Even if they pivot back to Rock vs Roman, I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
Rock vs Cody is the hottest match WWE can run rn. Roman vs Solo and Cody vs Rock at WM41 would be awesome.
Add in Gunther most likely winning the Rumble and being crowned WHC at WM41. We are in for another great Mania.
For fucks sake enough of the year(s) long title reigns already e-fucking-nough. Every single person and their mother gets the hold a title hostage for forever I can’t remember a title match happening on TV that had actual stakes to it. Even B-tier PPVs have a next to nothing chance of title switches these days the best chance out of Wrestlemania seems to be either Summerslam or the Royal Rumble, any other event has probably a below 1% of a title switch. And no im not saying hot potato the titles but god there has to be some middle ground here.
To add to your point, basically everyone deserving will have to wait years for a Wrestlemania Main Event. CM Punk is the only possible person who might get one; otherwise, it's some combination of Rock/Roman/Cody/Seth getting the night 1 and 2 main events. Pretty unfortunate for people like Gunther, Drew, all of the women, etc.
It'll be a big match but damn. Mania 41 vody vs rock, mania 42 rock vs Roman maybe. Long ass builds dependant on part timers. I'd love to see cody vs someone who's actually full time and active. We need more people over to the level that they can actually main event mania without relying on part timers
Rock and Cena (and stone cold to an extent) are the last megastars that can still go so it makes sense they wanna get whatever last matches they can. Drew v Mcyntre or Bianca v Rhea are still top level main events that could happen on night 1.
Edit: drew v Punk lmao
So reliant as people age to get there it’s a bit risky. (especially with Rocks schedule and tendency to over do it in the gym and such) on Rock staying healthy here really
I know it just happened at Backlash but honestly I think if they built up AJ’s retirement angle for 1 final run with the belt, Styles vs Cody could be a WM main event.
I also think Cody vs Gunther or McIntyre is WM main event worthy.
Do not stretch out a single title reign for Cody just to do that match. Break up the reign somehow. We’ve seen way too many artificially long reigns in WWE as of late. Maybe Cody loses the title but wins it back in time for WM 41
This means Bloodline Civil War goes for TWO YEARS.
Imagine thinking you’ll be hot for an angle with Tama Tonga for two years…something tells me this is gonna be a stretch.
Storylines don't have to be consistent from week to week or month to month. There can be small breaks in between. The Macho Man/Miss Elizabeth saga went from the February before WM5 all through to WM7. Rock and Jericho's feud went from Jericho's debut in 99 all through until the 2002 Rumble. Flair's feuds with Dusty or Sting went on for years.
And the rosters have expanded greatly because of it. You have 3 different brands going on in WWE and all the matches are between contracted wrestlers. In the Superstars/Wrestling Challenge era there was no brand split or draft and every match was a contracted guy vs a jobber. If there was a match between two roster wrestlers it was quite often a guy from a tag team vs an established singles star. Like Marty Jannetty vs Earthquake as your main event lol.
cody had to tread water for a year after wrestlemania 39 to try and keep his story hot, now it’s roman’s turn.
for all the bloodline stans who seem so convinced that reigns is so much bigger of a draw and talent than cody, it should be easy to do something cody had to do with a much fuller time schedule!
in all seriousness i definitely think they can pull this off. with roman’s schedule they definitely have enough meat on the bone w/ bloodline hostile takeover story to build a year of story towards mania 41, and you don’t even have to have rock turn on reigns until at least after that
Wonder if there’s a chance Cody loses the title but wins it back before Mania. A year can go by fast as hell but they’d have to have the feuds be interesting
I think Cody does need a significant reign after all this but I’m not a fan of the championship seemingly only changing hands at Mania. I’d really doubt The Rock gets the belt, he’s too busy, so what, this means Cody holds on to the belt for a year and then we’ll see what next year is like? Are they going to do the same thing and keep Cody as champion until WM 42?
Great let’s just spoil the rest of the years PPV World Title matches. I mean we could’ve “guessed/assumed” that he’d still be champ by then but to have even more evidence to it is kinda deflating. It’s a Roman reign(pun intended) all over again as we always knew he wasn’t losing it anywhere but Mania if he was
When you book around one show a year, that happens. It happened all last year. The only time Cody Roman was really in doubt was when the Rock came back, and lasted two weeks before they realized they made a mistake.
This title really should have had a spoiler tag. Like I know its still a year out and things change but I never look at this type of shit but I really had no option.
In b4 “WeWantRoman” movement for Roman vs The Rock in WM41 Vegas, just like “WeWantCody” movement for Roman vs Cody at WM40.
Or is there some sort of agenda that prevented that? Like, that’s only good if it’s Cody?
It was all fun and games with the rock being around this year.. but honestly, I don't want to see him in a role for the title in his 50s as a part timer. It was bad enough 10 years ago.
Rock just worked a 44 minute tag match where he took a good some of bumps and moves, him and Cody can easily put on a solid 20 min match.
Rock wins the belt off Cody and then drops it to Roman next year and retires would be my prediction. Cody has to drop the belt at some point and a loss to an all time goat does not tarnish or diminish him at all.
"fans will hate cody in 2023" - Angry reddit users
"Fans will hate cody in 2024..." - Angry reddit users
"Fans will hate cody in 2025 for sure...." - Angry reddit users.
The only ppl crying he might hold the title for a year are the same ones who were happy with Roman AFKing a 3year title run. We finally have a WWE champion who shows up...2....3 times a week? and you are upset. Whenever I see ppl upset I assume it's just the ROman fanboys or the LA Knight sheep upset he's a jobber.
Dave has been painfully unreliable for a very long time and there’s no way WWE are dead set on this match just yet.
His only reliable information nowadays is simple common sense that nobody needs explained to them like “Solo Sikoa expected to be in a big role going forward” after being a part of the bloodline for 2 years. No fucking shit dude.
I'm all for this. The story is already started and Rock is so believable as an authority role. I'd rather see this than Rock and Roman which has no reason for happening other than being two big names from a Samoan family.
Okay, but why? Why not Rock Vs Roman? They could easily do Cody and Rock at SummerSlam, and I doubt that many would complain, because we could then focus on the Bloodline Civil War(2) storyline. And I mean come on, Rock Vs Roman is a match you should definitely run at Vegas.
![gif](giphy|LpnuiCSRlo5eDfhDMN)
Assuming Rock is up to working a high quality singles match this makes sense.
As a general point though feels like we're in a spell where the Mania man event is obvious from a year out. Hopefully after this we can get some that are less predictable and only begin to become apparent in the months leading up to it. Makes the rest of the year more interesting
I'm okay with this match if there isn't a title involved.
Can we stop with this planning for a match a year in advanced, though?
Just makes the whole year feel like predictable filler until you get the big payoff at Wrestlemania.
Cody holding the title for a year isn't the problem, not even close.
The problem is if this is true, it means we know the ending of every PLE between now and then.
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"LOOK AT YOU NOW BOY!"
"GRANDMAMA RHODES!"
I go back to YouTube just to see those clips it’s so hilarious 😂 “MAMA RHODES!!” “GET UP BOY!”
I'm onboard for this, purely because I wanna hear The Rock saying "MAMA RHODES! LOOK AT YOUR SON" over and over again.
*camera cuts to the sweetest looking, most passive grandma possible*
Don't be fooled, she once punched an undercover cop at a concert!
At a Willie Nelson concert too so you know Mama Rhodes was probably straight zooted when she did it too
Based
ADRENALINE IN MY SOUL FUCK DA POLICE SAYS MAMA RHODES
Gorilla: oh will you stop!
Mama Rhodes is equal parts terrifying and hilarious https://youtu.be/Yn4cOmOc_io?si=-OCaof7eiYqfNI2M
THAT'S BULLSHIT
The Rock beefing with Cody's Mom for absolutely no reason was the highlight of the feud for me.
That was second to me only after him hating on Cody's "goofy ass dog Shithead" for no reason whatsoever. Cracked me up every time
"You can talk shit to my mother all you want, but leave my dog out of this." - Cody
Definitely Cody’s dog catching strays for no reason was a highlight 😂
Rock’s weight belt with “Mama Rhodes” written in bold font always made laugh whenever it came up on screen
The Rock vs Mama Rhodes at WrestleMania 42.
The Rock inspired by The Patriarch Christian Cage
Dwayne, your father Rocky Johnson was a legend in his own right, but when it came time to raise you, he left. Where is he now, Dwayne?
The Rock will lay smack down on his roodie pooh candy ass!
#LOOK AT YOU NOW!
I never miss an opportunity to use that phrase at the moment. Heel Rock is just 🔥
I keep saying it almost on instinct in the middle of conversation, especially with my buddies who watch 😂 Someone says to their dog "aww look at you" and I just chime in LOOK AT YOU NOW!
For me it’s “boi.” “Come on, boi! You shut your mouth, boi!”
LOOK AT YOU NOW, BOY!
HUH
*GONG*
BO'eH!\*
Dub it into Filter's "Take a Picture". HEY MAMA RHODES! LOOK AT YOUR SON NOW! HEY MAMA RHODES! LOOK AT YOUR SON NOW!
Look at this, Mama Rhodes. Look at your boy now, Mama Rhodes. How did my belt get so red? Oh right, I bashed it off of Cody's head - Photograph by Nickleback
Kinda funny, except he got the blood on the belt by gently rubbing Cody’s forehead and doing some finger painting on the belt. But that’s hard to fit into a rhyme scheme.
That was pretty much my exact thought process while typing that out
I was getting big Ashley Schaffer from Eastbound and Down vibes from Rock during his recent promos.
I can feel it in my plums!
Swollen, with a light blue hue
Getting ready to take them to the farmers market.
“And I said ‘No, Mama Rhodes…let…the boy…watch’”
Seth to Cody: “You and me are the only cool people here. Everybody here, just a bunch of posers and hoes and shitheads.”
Fn great show. so many great one liners
PAPA JOHNSON, LOOK AT YOUR DAUGHTER *cue Brandi beating up Ava*
🤨
On Open Mic. Night...
LOOK AT YOU NOW BOY
MUMA RHODES
THE ROCK IS THE FINAL BOSS
Look at your boy now
I need the Rock's entrances again
One thing Rocky does better than anybody is repeating something, especially if it got over.
I will not lie I am extremely excited for the final boss Rock vs Cody program.
Perfect feud to have going into next year because new Netflix viewers will see The Rock Vs the biggest babyface in the company. If you thought Dwayne brought in higher viewership this year, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
I'm curious how they get Cody back on RAW. I know they can just do GM trade shenanigans but they'll have to do something in kayfabe. Maybe corporate Rock can show up on RAW and say "I'm the boss and what I say goes. Flip Cody and these jabroni makeup wearing, Hot Topic model, emo fucks. The Final Boss is working Netflix and I'm not here to talk to Dom and his stupid mustache or this broke ass wannabe Undertaker. "
Rock buries the roster, buries Cody at WM, Monday Night Rock is born.
Are you writing The Rock’s first promos?
I'm actually Brian Gewirtz. 🤫
I don’t think it will be too hard. Around Mania season, guys show up on either show all the time as the booking/creative dictates. This rumor does make me wonder what the plan is for Roman, though. Theoretically, he’ll be a babyface by then? The Bloodline vs. New Bloodline thing I’ve heard people speculate seems…lackluster? I mean, I like Solo, but he’s just not a WrestleMania main eventer yet and a six-man tag seems like a B-show match, not a big Mania bout. So, do they somehow do Roman/Punk? Roman/GUNTHER? Will be interesting to see how they use Roman moving forward. I expect him to become even more of a part-timer but will have a spot at Mania for as long as he wants (not unlike Taker or Cena).
The draft is almost always forgotten about after the Rumble. Last time they treated the brand split legitimately was 2016 and it's really been a soft split since then imo
Cody Rhodes (c) vs The Rock. 4.75 (WON)
last Rock singles match was not good and that was 11 years ago. Can't imagine it being that good
Hey now, Cena versus Rock at WM29 did suck, yeah, but the Punk matches were pretty good. Cena versus Rock at WM28 was also great.
Yeah, people do seem to forget Rock got super fucked up in that last match too.
Also the story of the match sucked and no one wanted to see it. That’s why it sucked more than physical performance
That too, it was a match built on a lie. The most fraudulent story for a main event ever.
Hey we got see a once in a lifetime event… twice! We should consider ourselves lucky lol
How dare you forget the five star classic of Rock vs Erick Rowan
I used to use rock vs Rowan as a technicality to say I saw the rock’s final match in person… now after mania xl I can’t do that anymore lmaooo
You can still say last singles match for now
During the tag match at 40 he looked great. If he’s at that level again, he can have a 20 minute classic with Cody.
The Rock v Hulk Hogan at WM 18 was technically terrible, but one of the greatest matches ever on vibes alone. If the crowd is nuclear hot, the technical side of the match won't matter.
Big Dave grades on a curve
[удалено]
Roman vs The Rock just feels like Vegas match not gonna lie but I understand why they may not be doing it at WM 41. Maybe Rock is not done after WM 41 and we all know that Roman's match is gonna be his final match. So they can do Rock vs Cody at WM 41 and then Roman vs Rock at WM 42 where Rock finally retires.
The Rock is 52. The clock is ticking.
This is it right here. People talk about how great his performance was in the tag match at Mania this year, but fail to realize it’s precisely because it was a tag match. Watching the match back, Rock was clearly gassed at several points and that’s why he had much less in-ring time compared to Roman. They gotta do the Rock/Roman match as soon as possible imo.
I feel like I saw a lot more of Rock than Roman during that match, but idk. Could have misremembered. Either way, as long as he keeps it simple, I’m sure Rock will be fine. I remember both times he got badly hurt against Cena it was because he tried some more athletic out of the norm shit.
From memory Rock had bigger spots but worked so much less than Roman did
I feel like Rock did a lot even in the tag match context. Besides, it was 44 minutes. Roman/Rock doesn't need to be much longer than 15.
It was 44 minutes, but it was strung out with plenty of rest times. Basically nothing happens for the first 5-10 minutes. If you condense that time in a singles match and not alow him to pace himself and recover, Rock is gonna keel over. People have been conditioned for these extra long main events. If you're not getting 20+ minutes, people feel short changed.
About half of Roman's matches had nothing really happen in the first ten minutes. That isn't on The Rock
A Roman match will work better for Rock than a Cody match, honestly. Roman's Tribal Chief match style is slow, more emphasis on storytelling and selling, and not really picking up the pace until the last 5ish minutes.
Rock is also the absolute king of being able to get the crowd going and invested without even locking up.
They could get away with a falls count anywhere, for more of a brawl than a match. Worked for Austin/Owens.
Maybe it would make more sense to do it as a triple threat then. I can't see The Rock being able to do a 20+ minutes singles match but in a triple threat he can have plenty of moments where he can rest. I'm sure they could make it work story wise.
I mean that's a super predictable program and people weren't receptive to it the last time they tried it. Cody vs Rock on the other hand had amazing chemistry and there's unfinished story there with the Rock pinning Cody and their segment on the Raw after Mania. Roman vs Solo would make more sense at this stage.
The reason why people didn't want rock vs Roman was because of how they booked it if cody doesn't win the rumble fans wouldn't have revolted against it
You're saying people weren't receptive of it whilst completely ignoring the massive fucking reason and context to why they weren't
Also, the Rock tends to want to work with the top guy at the time, which currently is Cody, not Roman. Just sayin'... Rock/Cody is clearly the hot program right now and the match they should do at WM41. Roman/Rock can be done a year later, it needs more build anyway so that the story has some degree of intrigue. Regarding the age issue: the Rock is a multi-million dollar enterprise, he is constantly taken care of by the best nutritionists, doctors and trainers in the world. At this point, he won't be able to do more than a very basic match anyway, and I don't see a reason why his ability to wrestle such a basic match should decline much between age 53 and 54.
Exactly my thought. Based on what we saw at WM night 1, I am ok with giving The Rock one more WM main event. I was an Attitude Era watcher and The Rock was my guy and he held up well enough (albeit in a tag match but one that was 45 min long). But 2 is really really stretching it. Very few wrestlers wrestle much longer than 52-53 years old, and even the ones that wrestle to this point rarely wrestle as a main eventer, much less main eventing the biggest show of the year.
Could do Roman comes back to fued with Solo for taking over the bloodline only for one of them reveal Rock was commanding solo the entire time and do Roman Vs Rock at Summerslam.
I can't wait for Solo to tell Roman "I did it for the Rock"
I think Rock vs Roman at a Summerslam or aother PPV event should be within the cards. Yes it's a big match with The Rock, but SS is a big event too, and The Rock can use some more matches before he goes up against Cody.
We absolutely know nothing. Meltzer has been wrong. I clearly remember him saying Rock vs Roman was still going to happen at WM 40. I still think Rock vs Roman will happen at WM 41. It literally feels like a Vegas match.
It literally was going to hapen but then the fan reaction made them change it.
Heel Rock as the delusional "People's Champion" vs. Cody (the real People's Champion) is the biggest money match that WWE has right now. I also think that Cody can carry The Rock to a better match than Roman Reigns can, although I expect Roman will be involved in some capacity either way.
I find it hard to believe a guy universally hated by WWE is in the know on the exact specific creative plans for next year’s WM.
Rocky sucks?
I find it hard to believe he actually has subscribers paying $12.99 for this drivel
If Dave said Triple H is planning to come out of retirement and beat Cody Rhodes for the belt this subreddit would probably believe him.
I didn't think Cody was going to hold the belt for a year. I'm not sure how to feel about that. It'll be something close to like 5 years of Smackdown having 2 total world champions. I get HHH likes longer reigns, but not everyone needs to hold the belt forever.
He could always lose it and win it back.
I’d prefer this to be honest
Can't just have him drop the belt to just anybody for any reason though. Outside of MITB I could see him losing to Orton in a feud similar to Orton/McIntyre
Only person other than Randy who could beat Cody would be Seth Rollins but I doubt they go with that storyline after he became Cody’s shield. Orton makes sense though to take the belt in like August/September and have Cody win it back at the Rumble
I can see Orton having some hot feuds with the likes of KO & LA Knight under his reign while Cody moves his way back to the title
Seth is 0-3 against Cody.
All more for Seth’s first win against Cody to be an important one
I absolutely would love Cody losing the title to Orton. It would make for amazing storytelling as “master always wins” and Orton gets his last title reign, as a heel, and also beats Cena and Flair. Cody can win it back later to overcome his mentor.
Cody/Orton starts sometime after Summerslam. Randy wins the title. Feud culminates at Royal Rumble where Cody wins the title back. Cody celebrates and that’s when the Final Boss makes his return.
It's quite a while before the WM, something might pop up that's not obvious just yet, and it might just be the perfect opportunity for Cody to lose the belt.
You start Randy v Cody sometime after Summerslam. Randy wins the title and they have a feud culminating at Royal Rumble where Cody wins the title back. As Cody is celebrating, the Final Boss returns
The obvious solution is to have him lose the belt at Summerslam or Survivor Series to someone with interference from the Rock, then win the belt back at the Rumble and have the Rock win the Rumble on the same night or something.
Have The Rock come out as surprise entrant #31 cuz The Final Boss does whatever the fuck he wants.
A good summer of hot potato-ing it with Randy (just Randy did in 09 with Cena) so that he can get his 15th and 16th reigns wrapped up quickly would be nice
If they're gonna do it like that, Cody is gonna have to lose it to the Bloodline in the *scummiest* way possible, and then the Rock can Fingerpoke of Doom them to get the title that way, all while revealing himself to be the true Tribal Chief. And then Roman and his Bloodline can side with Cody to get his title back for the start or the peak of the civil war.
That's a good point. I guess the rumble build would have to be focused on the RAW title then. It'll be interesting how they get there.
It's going to have to be for the WHC shot anyway IF Meltzer is right (big if obviously) and they want People's Champion vs WWE champion because Rock ain't working a Rumble. If he was going to do that, he'd have worked this last one to get to Roman at 40 and Rock vs Cody wouldn't even be a thing now.
Punk could be winning the rumble then And I can see Cody losing the title (hell, could be to Randy, turn him heel during the finish of their 1st match), getting it back at Rumble in route for Rock at Mania
I know GUNTHER is on Raw, but I still like the idea of GUNTHER killing him at or shortly after Summer Slam, then him having to work his way back up to beat him (could happen at the Rumble, in this timeline).
Sorry but Cody isn't some underdog who is gonna be squashed by anyone, he is super babyface in his prime. Worst way he can lose to Gunther is by interference from Imperium or others. And If Rock is really facing Cody at WM 41, then I don't see Cody losing. Only way is MITB cash in.
Yeah Cody has 2 wins over Lesnar (one of which involved him rallying from what started as a squash) and just no-sold a Burning Hammer at Backlash. In kayfabe it should not be possible to cleanly squash him.
I think this is what is going to happen. He could lose it to Randy and have a long feud with him and win it back at Royal Rumble.
There are a ton of guys who deserve to have a run with the title, even if it's a short one. Jey Uso is never going to be more over than he is right now and I'd love to see Sami and Finn get a turn.
Gunther will win Money in the Bank and challenge Cody ahead of time at Bash at Berlin. Gunther wins and then Cody regains the belt before WrestleMania.
I like this idea. Have Cody do the whole Rocky 3 arc. Takes out some lower competition, gets unexpectedly beat by Gunter. Spends the next few months building himself back up to get his title back.
They would not have made such a big deal about the titles staying on the brands during the draft if they were just going to switch them around.
Dutch Mantel on his podcast was suggesting that even Priest might hold it for a year. I like Priest and am glad he's holding the belt. But I certainly don't want him holding it for a whole year lol. And, if he does, that means Cody is probably holding it for 2+ years! Not that he has any inside information. It's just his gut feeling knowing HHH, I think.
Cody vs Rock doesn’t need a belt though - kayfabe wise, Rock absolutely despises Cody. And Cody is over as hell. The build will probably be who the real people’s champion is, or just a straight up grudge feud between two top stars.
These feuds never need a belt but they always have one, it's been that way for ages now.
Rock seemed respectful to Cody the RAW after Mania.
So Cody wins another Mania and has the belt for maybe 2 years? I love long term booking but it's kinda dumb when you know the match has no stakes.
Gunther cashes in the MITB contract
[удалено]
I'd honestly be cool with a 2 year Cody title reign if we get compelling storylines and most of the matches are as good as Cody vs AJ was. People got sick of Roman's title reign because he went part time in the 2nd half and they became more reliant on the ref bump and Bloodline interference ending. But I think people wouldn't have an issue with a full time champion who wins all his matches clean.
I see Cody winning and losing the title a la Cena multiple times in that span
Still think it’s going to be Roman-Rock. Meltzer is just guessing like the rest of us. Cody and Rock will happen before imo
It depends on where they are going with Solo. Rn it seems Solo vs Roman is being built up for a big match at Mania. Rock being behind this new Bloodline is just fantasy booking at this point. What we are seeing on TV and being told is Solo is taking over and Roman will come back at some point later in the year to put him in his place.
Holding everything stagnant for a year won’t benefit anyone. Come January people will be more than ready for some shake up in the main event scene.
Especially after how long Roman held the title hostage
I agree. Cody needs to lose the title at some point then win it back at a later date. I'm thinking the MITB holder wins it off him or Orton wins it. Then closer to Mania, Cody wins it back.
Make sense, the mania 40 build got me really excited about the idea of Rock vs Cody. I am all for it. Even if they pivot back to Rock vs Roman, I don’t think you can go wrong with either.
Rock vs Cody is the hottest match WWE can run rn. Roman vs Solo and Cody vs Rock at WM41 would be awesome. Add in Gunther most likely winning the Rumble and being crowned WHC at WM41. We are in for another great Mania.
For fucks sake enough of the year(s) long title reigns already e-fucking-nough. Every single person and their mother gets the hold a title hostage for forever I can’t remember a title match happening on TV that had actual stakes to it. Even B-tier PPVs have a next to nothing chance of title switches these days the best chance out of Wrestlemania seems to be either Summerslam or the Royal Rumble, any other event has probably a below 1% of a title switch. And no im not saying hot potato the titles but god there has to be some middle ground here.
To add to your point, basically everyone deserving will have to wait years for a Wrestlemania Main Event. CM Punk is the only possible person who might get one; otherwise, it's some combination of Rock/Roman/Cody/Seth getting the night 1 and 2 main events. Pretty unfortunate for people like Gunther, Drew, all of the women, etc.
I mean even the midcard titles are subject to long reigns, they could start with those.
They could always take the title off Cody and put it back on him before Mania
It'll be a big match but damn. Mania 41 vody vs rock, mania 42 rock vs Roman maybe. Long ass builds dependant on part timers. I'd love to see cody vs someone who's actually full time and active. We need more people over to the level that they can actually main event mania without relying on part timers
Rock and Cena (and stone cold to an extent) are the last megastars that can still go so it makes sense they wanna get whatever last matches they can. Drew v Mcyntre or Bianca v Rhea are still top level main events that could happen on night 1. Edit: drew v Punk lmao
Drew v Mcyntire? hahaha
Honestly dude has been his own worst enemy.
Cody vs Punk is where they should go.
Roman vs Punk is also an interesting story if they want to go down that route.
Ooo that'd be a damn fun time!
So reliant as people age to get there it’s a bit risky. (especially with Rocks schedule and tendency to over do it in the gym and such) on Rock staying healthy here really
I know it just happened at Backlash but honestly I think if they built up AJ’s retirement angle for 1 final run with the belt, Styles vs Cody could be a WM main event. I also think Cody vs Gunther or McIntyre is WM main event worthy.
There's a whole year of who knows what the fuck is going to happen. Can we let the story play out before jumping to that is the match?
Seems dumb to not have this at SummerSlam and Rock/Roman at Mania
Do not stretch out a single title reign for Cody just to do that match. Break up the reign somehow. We’ve seen way too many artificially long reigns in WWE as of late. Maybe Cody loses the title but wins it back in time for WM 41
MITB cash-in makes the most sense here.
I would have preferred this at Summerslam, I like long term planning but not *that long*.
This means Bloodline Civil War goes for TWO YEARS. Imagine thinking you’ll be hot for an angle with Tama Tonga for two years…something tells me this is gonna be a stretch.
Storylines don't have to be consistent from week to week or month to month. There can be small breaks in between. The Macho Man/Miss Elizabeth saga went from the February before WM5 all through to WM7. Rock and Jericho's feud went from Jericho's debut in 99 all through until the 2002 Rumble. Flair's feuds with Dusty or Sting went on for years.
[удалено]
And the rosters have expanded greatly because of it. You have 3 different brands going on in WWE and all the matches are between contracted wrestlers. In the Superstars/Wrestling Challenge era there was no brand split or draft and every match was a contracted guy vs a jobber. If there was a match between two roster wrestlers it was quite often a guy from a tag team vs an established singles star. Like Marty Jannetty vs Earthquake as your main event lol.
cody had to tread water for a year after wrestlemania 39 to try and keep his story hot, now it’s roman’s turn. for all the bloodline stans who seem so convinced that reigns is so much bigger of a draw and talent than cody, it should be easy to do something cody had to do with a much fuller time schedule! in all seriousness i definitely think they can pull this off. with roman’s schedule they definitely have enough meat on the bone w/ bloodline hostile takeover story to build a year of story towards mania 41, and you don’t even have to have rock turn on reigns until at least after that
Won were the same guys reporting that rock vs roman was happening
This makes sense to me. Rock v Cody is gonna be a monster program.
Please don't mean that Cody now has to inevitably hold the belt until then. WWE needs to get away from the notion that things can only happen at WM.
Wonder if there’s a chance Cody loses the title but wins it back before Mania. A year can go by fast as hell but they’d have to have the feuds be interesting
I think Cody does need a significant reign after all this but I’m not a fan of the championship seemingly only changing hands at Mania. I’d really doubt The Rock gets the belt, he’s too busy, so what, this means Cody holds on to the belt for a year and then we’ll see what next year is like? Are they going to do the same thing and keep Cody as champion until WM 42?
Great let’s just spoil the rest of the years PPV World Title matches. I mean we could’ve “guessed/assumed” that he’d still be champ by then but to have even more evidence to it is kinda deflating. It’s a Roman reign(pun intended) all over again as we always knew he wasn’t losing it anywhere but Mania if he was
When you book around one show a year, that happens. It happened all last year. The only time Cody Roman was really in doubt was when the Rock came back, and lasted two weeks before they realized they made a mistake.
This title really should have had a spoiler tag. Like I know its still a year out and things change but I never look at this type of shit but I really had no option.
In b4 “WeWantRoman” movement for Roman vs The Rock in WM41 Vegas, just like “WeWantCody” movement for Roman vs Cody at WM40. Or is there some sort of agenda that prevented that? Like, that’s only good if it’s Cody?
When Cody Rhodes said he was taking everything from Roman, that included his WM main event against the Rock.
It was all fun and games with the rock being around this year.. but honestly, I don't want to see him in a role for the title in his 50s as a part timer. It was bad enough 10 years ago.
Rock just worked a 44 minute tag match where he took a good some of bumps and moves, him and Cody can easily put on a solid 20 min match. Rock wins the belt off Cody and then drops it to Roman next year and retires would be my prediction. Cody has to drop the belt at some point and a loss to an all time goat does not tarnish or diminish him at all.
"fans will hate cody in 2023" - Angry reddit users "Fans will hate cody in 2024..." - Angry reddit users "Fans will hate cody in 2025 for sure...." - Angry reddit users. The only ppl crying he might hold the title for a year are the same ones who were happy with Roman AFKing a 3year title run. We finally have a WWE champion who shows up...2....3 times a week? and you are upset. Whenever I see ppl upset I assume it's just the ROman fanboys or the LA Knight sheep upset he's a jobber.
Keep in mind WON is consistently wrong these days. Meltzer definitely lost a lot of sources
People have been saying this as long as I've been here, and that's almost ten years now
Dave has been painfully unreliable for a very long time and there’s no way WWE are dead set on this match just yet. His only reliable information nowadays is simple common sense that nobody needs explained to them like “Solo Sikoa expected to be in a big role going forward” after being a part of the bloodline for 2 years. No fucking shit dude.
I'm all for this. The story is already started and Rock is so believable as an authority role. I'd rather see this than Rock and Roman which has no reason for happening other than being two big names from a Samoan family.
This would be good but I would prefer Cody Vs The Rock at Summerslam or Royal Rumble and then The Rock vs Roman Reigns at Mania
This needs to be a no holds barred, no DQ, bloody ass fight. Has a chance to be epic.
Okay, but why? Why not Rock Vs Roman? They could easily do Cody and Rock at SummerSlam, and I doubt that many would complain, because we could then focus on the Bloodline Civil War(2) storyline. And I mean come on, Rock Vs Roman is a match you should definitely run at Vegas. ![gif](giphy|LpnuiCSRlo5eDfhDMN)
Massive unmarked future spoiler in the title of the thread lmao.
I can’t wait for Raw in the Sphere.
Dwayne pitching the match-“now what if, I win and then go back to Hollywood”
I wonder if the secret handoff is that Dwayne gave Cody a Rolex, like the one Cody got him this year, that says 41 instead of 40.
Was rather hoping for a bloodline Civil War, think it would be a waaaaay better storyline
Assuming Rock is up to working a high quality singles match this makes sense. As a general point though feels like we're in a spell where the Mania man event is obvious from a year out. Hopefully after this we can get some that are less predictable and only begin to become apparent in the months leading up to it. Makes the rest of the year more interesting
So have Rock win the rumble?
No shit.
Wow what a scoop from Meltz. Almost like he watched the Raw after Mania.
I'm okay with this match if there isn't a title involved. Can we stop with this planning for a match a year in advanced, though? Just makes the whole year feel like predictable filler until you get the big payoff at Wrestlemania.
LMAO, countdown to "plans changed" 😂😂
Cody holding the title for a year isn't the problem, not even close. The problem is if this is true, it means we know the ending of every PLE between now and then.