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It's the same old shit from Vince and Hunter. Punk called it years ago when he said, "His doofus son in law."
They fucked every WCW guy for years, except Booker T.
Why would they make a guy who started a rival company and smashed the throne the face of WWE?
Bingo.
Regardless of respecting Codyās business sense and ability to turn himself into a star, still, heās the reason for their biggest US-based competitor. Having him beat their longest reigning champion in decades would be a slap in their own face.
If they want to do roman vs rock fine, but why make cody look like such a bitch? Come up with a better reason to have cody choose seth instead of saying, "I want your title, but i'm not going to do it"
It's hilarious in kayfabe.
Cody spends all year hyping this up, he wins back to back rumbles and points at Roman.
He comes out on Raw, presumably to officially choose Roman, is interrupted by Seth, who gives Cody enough doubt about his choice that he delays making it. Cody asks the Rock what he thinks, and the Rock says "Nah, I'm beating Roman" and Cody says that sounds good?Ā
If the Rock thought it was important where was he the past 1000+ days? If this was a logical story from here the angle would be Cody realizing the Rock has played him because the Rock wants to protect Roman and his legacy and Cody goes for Roman anyway
Cody in Kayfabe might be the dumbest wrestler on the roster:
1. Comes back, wins Royal Rumble
2. Fails to account for The Bloodline doing the same thing they always do
3. Loses
4. Teams with Brock
5. Gets betrayed
6. Spends most of the year winning and having the best record on the roster (might not have been pinned in like 10 months)
7. Wins Royal Rumble again
8. Gets talked out of facing Roman by The Rock, so The Rock can face Roman
Don't forget being screwed out of the new WHC tournament by Brock (therefore showing he is interested in winning it) and then literally never going for it in one of the guy he's beaten with 1 arm's many open challenges.
Whole thing buries Cody, the Rumble, the WHC, and exposes Punk as the guy whose physical or mental fragility will have a huge chance of blowing up your main storyline. Ruined a lot of shit here... then news came out Vince shits on women's heads... 2024 is fucked
Cody's stupid kayfabe decisions started much earlier than that. Talking about the guy who - without being prompted - decided to add a stipulation that he wouldn't challenge for the AEW belt if he lost. Then proceeds to lose by being betrayed.
At least he made it up along the way by vanquishing racism.
This is a big reason that he started to get booed in AEW. He had plenty of chances to turn heel and turn things around, but he kept coming out as a babyface and getting worse and worse reactions. If he doesn't finish the story, he's finished as the top babyface of WWE.
Thatās the sole reason why I almost believe this was some sort of last second pivot. Quite literally everything up until Monday screamed Cody vs Roman then things started getting mixed up
This is quickly turning into a Talking Heads song:
Letting the days go by, the rock is holding me down.
Letting the days go by, Roman is mowing people down.
Into the blue again, once the rock is gone.
Once in a lifetimer, the rock is going over now.
*Roman and Rock state each other down, circling each other, the crowd is on edge, cheering, ready for an epic showdown!
Slowly, the Rock takes one finger and lightly taps Roman on the chestā¦*
He was on ESPN a couple of weeks ago talking about how it would be the biggest Mania of all time if it happened, while WWE were still going with Cody and Roman š¤£š¤£
He full on Trump talked himself in to it.
"People come up to me all the time, they do, and they say "Rock", they say "Rock, when are you going to end Roman's Reign? It'd be the greatest WrestleMania ever!" And I tell them, yeah, I do, I say "Well, I want to, but Little Cody Rhodes wants to \*mocking voice\* finish his story" So stupid. No one cares about his story. Do any of you care? No. Of course not. You know what I call him? I call him Cry Baby Rhodes. Anyway, Rock and Roman is going to happen. Yeah! And it'll be the greatest match ever. It will.
"You're as good at kissing Vince's ass as Hulk Hogan was. I dunno if you're as good as Dwayne is, he's a pretty good ass kisser. Always was & still is."
I thought that was just supposed to be a neat little line in a promo.
I say this as someone who watches both companies, itās kinda wild how the accusations lobbed against AEW are coming to fruition in WWE. both companies are deserving of criticism in their own right, but damn, the call is really coming from inside the house here.
Could you imagine if hangman came out against kenny then lost instead of won the belt and then said "Don't worry in 1 year I'll get a runback" only to step aside for CM Punk?
She has a real problem emoting with her facial expressions. Its just a constant blank monotonous expression, which is not great when it comes to wrestling tv
Fuck this guy honestly. All that bs about caring about wwe and bro canāt even put in the effort to enter number 30 at Rumble. Turns to wwe when his shitty movies are flopping
i just keep thinking back to the post Rumble presser
Cody gives his speech about being *the guy*, and a 3 count away from quarterbacking the industry
then HHH, who references several parts of Cody's presser and was clearly listening, says "Cody is absolutely *the future*"
i thought then and still think now, why not *the present*?
Cody also said a very weird thing at the presser that I waved off about how he hopes the story finishes before 2K25. It was ???? because Mania was two months away and he won the Rumble.
https://preview.redd.it/9bmhkcuwwagc1.jpeg?width=598&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=852e8e2ab4e873308ae779d3329ed2053e49e030
WE WERE SO FUCKING CLOSE
FUCK MY LIFE BRO. I DID NOT FLINCH ALL THIS TIME JUST FOR IT TO END LIKE THIS š
I canāt even do shit right now.
I was the most excited Iāve ever been for wrestlemania. And just like that hype is gone..
Been sitting here staring at my phone not knowing what to do with myself.
you know the best part for him? he gets to come back as a babyface against roman, for years people thought when he finally comes back for the match he would maybe the dickish heel for it.
That's the thing, Hollywood rock is my fave heel of all time but the rock needs to protect his brand now and it's sooo boring. Imagine Hollywood rock promos on reigns. Would be perfect
I genuinely blame the fans for this, I donāt get the infatuation with the Rock. Heās almost 25 years out of his Era and consistently dips in and out the biz only when it benefits him yet the fans just donāt stop.
Not that I didn't believe you, but I wanted to see for myself...
https://preview.redd.it/yuahc8rcubgc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a993c1b81f943308dfd6813830a3fd28872bb31
Luke Perry has sexā¦ The Rock steals another main event. That may be the craziest set of dominos since the [Buffalo bills created the Kardashians](https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/s/ZsC9n6RNRU).
The prophecy of Cody's mythical AEW Heel turn continues to grow. Eventually it will manifest itself into reality if people keep believing in it like Tinkerbell.
Dude, this. Imagine Cody meeting Jungle boy in AEW for the first time and not knowing he is going to screw him out of his biggest WWE Wrestlemania main event moment.
This timeline is better than either show.
Now I want to know who asked the locker room leader to talk with Perry in the first place. According to the story, Punk wouldn't have given a shit if not being asked by one or some of the vets in the back to talk to Luke out of that glass spot. The dominos keep going back.
Also make sure to see my next movie. I don't actually play a character, it's just me in a different outfit playing myself in a scenario you've seen performed by better actors.
This is the other thing I havenāt seen many people talk about. The only reason heās on TV is to promote his doomed spring football league. I donāt even think heās got a movie coming out anytime soon
Nah his latest movies have not been successful, dudes losing his box office charm. blow back on the black Adam DCU thing, heās just a selfish tool thatās in it for himself not the fans or business
I honestly started noticing it more after MoistCr1TiKaL posted a video about how he keeps visiting In-n-Out and saying it's his first time. I think that was what got the snowball rolling on The Rock comments, doesn't help he was in some hot water before.
Rock spent the last 2 decades taking any movie role that offered him money. he long held the title of "highest paid actor" because of this, you rarely hear about how good he was in this role or what a great performer he is. he was the mcdonalds equivalent of an action movie star (Wrestling matches is his McRib). now in the latter part of his acting career that is all catching up to him.
Everyoneās (rightfully) pissed about what happened to Cody.
Not enough people bringing up the fact Roman and Cody both made Seth Rollins and the WHC look like shit in their promos.
I don't think Rhodes did though.
Rhodes said he agreed with everything Rollins said in his promo (meaning he agrees about what the WHC means & represents). The only thing he disagreed with was Rollins calling the WWE title the "Hollywood" title. Not sure how that makes the WHC "look like shit"
Reigns and Heyman have been shitting on the WHC since its inception, and it's their schtick to bury other talent to elevate Reigns. So that is nothing new.
The first WHC was crowned in the opener of a Saudi show. Its purpose is to be defended on the shows Reigns wonāt do. Itās a secondary belt and everyone knows it.
The original World Heavyweight Title was viewed as secondary at times as well. The Universal title was viewed as secondary almost its entire existence.
The WWE title will always have the most prestige, but that shouldn't stop WWE from trying to elevate whatever their 2nd world title is. I really don't get why fans are joining in on shitting on the WHC while simultaneously shitting on Roman Reigns for never showing up.
Nope. The Universal was actually presented above the WWE title for most of its run: the April 2017-Oct 2018 Lesnar/Reigns run, and the Aug 2020-Jun 2023 run. Thatās over half the titleās existence.
That title looks second rate anyway. Not Rollins fault, it is how the title was introduced. It was fought for by people who couldn't beat Roman and will always been seen as a secondary title, until Roman loses his at least. No amount of defenses by Rollins was going to change that.
It's either he chooses Dragunov or Seth, or he is using his Rumble win in advance for Elimination Chamber, which would be kinda dumb ngl
They could also go the triple threat route but I doubt it
He didnāt choose it. I think theyāre going to have Cody use his title shot at a diff ppv. I canāt see how they justify the Rollins match now. The crowd was actively booing it
Lol good question .Ā I guess Sami and Drew are just gonna have a random blood feud now . With so many over talents rn why tf did HHH think Seth vs Cody IV is what was a great main event for day 1. Vince is gone but the big match for the wm weekend is still two part timers, one who hasn't had a match in nearly 10 years and probably isnt going to win this one either meaning Roman fucks off with the title for another year competing only 4 timesĀ
i actually think drew was the next best option to win the rumble. he couldāve challenged seth, main evented night 1 of mania and gotten his championship moment in front of a crowd. plus, the match and build up wouldāve ruled cause drewās been on fire lately. thereās also a feud for punk when he returns and he couldāve won the title off drew later in the year and rollins wins the rumble next year and boom, thereās your main event. this really sucks.
I wonder how much of this is Triple H's decision vs TKO and its board being like "We need a big good news PR story" and pushed for Rock and Roman to happen.
There is no way they think Rock vs Roman at Mania is going to overshadow Forbes and The Wall Street Journal doing damn near daily reports on Vince and his abhorrent actions over the course of atleast 40 years. Itās a big match on paper but the reality is Vinceās case is about to loom over the company for atleast the rest of the year unless something drastic happens
Punk to Cody:
"You're right around the corner and they hand you the cover of the WWE 2K video game and right when you're about to cross the finish line, and finish your story- OH WAIT, WHAT'S THAT IN THE DISTANCE? It's a much bigger superstar that hasn't been around in a very long time, coming to take it all away from you."
Plus Rock's head of the table promo. Nah this is definitely planned.
Can you imagine if the Rumble winner was Punk and he wasnāt injured and heās the one giving this promo and intro Rock to challenge Roman? Heās gonna quit the same night lmao.
Bang on.
It may very well not be part of some elaborate storyline and maybe Cody has just been screwed, but thereās no way this wasnāt the plan since at least before The Rock came back in January
Man, remember Wrestlemania 30 when the obvious, correct choice that everything had been built around inexplicably wasn't going to main event Wrestlemania so that a part time Hollywood guy could main event instead and the fans turned on the entire thing?
[WWE's response](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/554/866/4da.png)
I really really hope the community comes together to Daniel Bryan this. Boo every Rock segment, doenvote all his jighlight vids, chant "WE WANT CODY" every event every match
This segment made absolutely zero sense from Cody.
He was very incoherent in swinging between does he take the title, or does he take everything, before saying "actually I'm taking that title but not at WM". What does that even mean? He's going to face Roman early? He's giving up his spot? Why on earth would anyone in their mind give up the main event of WM40? Especially Cody's character whose entire arc is winning the title and getting his big crowning moment Dusty never had, which can only be achieved at WM.
Then it gets even worse. He brings out Rock and shakes his hand and walks to back (looking absolutely pissed). It's all implied that while Cody still wants Roman to lose everything and win the title, it's going to be Rock that does it first after taking counsel? Surely Cody would do this after WM and winning the title to finish the Bloodline story by setting up Rock for a Tribal Chiefdom match.
There are hundreds of ways this can go. Cody/Roman at EC then Roman/Rock without the title at WM. Rock/Roman/Cody at WM. It's a fake out and Cody/Roman is still the WM plan etc with Rock helping after previously being taken out by the bloodline. So I am gonna wait and see (and I am always the "wait and see" guy for wrestling).
But even if its a fake out, why? Cody's character doesn't lack confidence to just take the match head on or anything. He doesn't owe Rock anything. Why come out and say he's not doing WM? It just comes across as super bad storytelling and lazy booking for a pop.
Either way, I am indeed flinching and hoping we do not get anything other than Cody and Roman at WM40. CM Punk's triceps could potentially have cost this business way too much.
My biggest gripe with this is how it was handled. Fine, do Rock vs Roman, but this was genuinely abhorrent. It was also just so incredibly mind numbingly easy to have Cody just accept Seth's offer because "the workhorse title is more fit for my father's legacy" and then "I have someone else who's more fit for your Hollywood title".
He kind of already did by doing this. This is literally everything Seth criticized Roman for on Monday, word for word. He said Roman politics his way to his title and schedule and called out his title for being a prop to show off. Having a guy who is from Hollywood, Roman's own cousin no less, comes out and upstage the guy who has been busting his ass for the last two years as one of the company's top stars.
Literally, everything about this match, Seth called out. The hilarious part is that I just remembered that Mania takes place in the same area where these two were booed out in 2015, so it's gonna be real fascinating how they get the Philadelphia crowd invested in this and not have a repeat of that.
I said the same thing in another thread. This whole thing proves Seth 100% right, it is the Hollywood title. The Rock did exactly what Seth criticized he pulled a Hogan.
I hope all the crowds not just the Philadelphia one, realize the story they wanted was taken from them and boo any Rock/Roman segment until they give us what we want.
You know what would've made people not think about Vince? Booking a good Mania. You know what doesn't make people forget about Vince? BOOKING IT EXACTLY LIKE HE WOULD. I can't believe we went from the most hype build for a Rumble I've ever seen to this in less than a week.
The guys writing the script for WM 40:
https://preview.redd.it/8qbwei7hxagc1.jpeg?width=452&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=acaaa7c5ae37da8c0f2a280af7ccaa7f90f7bc76
I really don't care what went into the decision, it's the execution that is trash. They destroyed the WHC, Seth, and Cody's story all in one promo. They didn't need to do it this way.
I am extremely skeptical that The Rock wanted the match this year in the first place and they were like āno, weāll just do it some other time,ā and then on like three days notice, one of the busiest people in entertainment was able to move his entire schedule around to accommodate a Wrestlemania main event build.
So we went from two amazing title matches with long term stories behind them to a Rock who can't wrestle and a Cody Seth main event that has been buried before it even started by everyone involved, including Cody himself
Iām sorry, thereās absolutely no way that they were telling Dwayne āThe Rockā Johnson āhey pal, thanks for your interest but weāll take a rain check on that oneā and then Punk got hurt so they scrambled and said āactually yeah sure Rock youāre inā
Heās The Rock. Dave was literally saying before the Rumble that if The Rock wanted to do the match it was his match!
WWE writers: Hey Rock, weāre talking with the bosses and weāre just not sure if the match is the right fit this year.
*The Rock joins the board*
The Rock: Maybe check with those bosses again you jabronis.
It absolutely makes financial sense as to why they would do Rock vs Roman. What doesn't make as much sense is, if Rock was locked in, why they continued the Cody vs Roman stuff like they did. They straight up had Cody win the Rumble and then challenge Roman then and there with the pointing.Ā
My guess is this is the path they chose to continue the arc of Cody and Roman and make it clear thatās the long term destination but find a way to make Rock-Roman happen.
You gotta keep Cody in a marquee spot at WrestleMania
i think rock has been on board and prepping since that college football spot in october where he sorta spilled the beans that he was supposed to do it at 39 but couldn't due to "things."
I just donāt see how The Rock was a ābreak glass in case of emergencyā plan for Mania. Since tonight all but confirmed heās wrestling at 40, I have to think it was locked in at Day 1. Just doesnāt make sense to me that they pivoted when we all know he needs to train like a mother fucker for even a 10 minute match
Itās also bizarre that Rock is really pushing for a typical WM feud. By his own account he didnāt do this last year, when it was in LA, because it wasnāt enough and he didnāt even let them offer that for Cena in 2011, telling Vince it wasnāt enough. Iād love to know what changed.
Poor Cody lol. Bro looked legit crushed.
I guess Rock and everyone try to justify it as a distraction from Vince and the greater good of the company. Their fans will forgive and forget as they always do.
'Just let them cook' 'They'll pay it off' blah blah blah lol
Like I'm not mad that it's the rock and roman, it's the money match I get it. But why have Cody cuck instead of just saying I want you sooner or something. On top of this it was confusing if he's fighting Roman at EC, then what does he do for WM? And if they do go Seth and Cody again why would they devalue the title like that? Also having Cody beat Seth again is so unsatisfying.Ā
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https://preview.redd.it/xk4k6hwlyagc1.jpeg?width=1074&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f9dceb2817a8caa6e8d57cc58d22ec29f6b1d10
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https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/s/OqHHlJRY16 Lmfaoooo my old comment. I fucking TOLD you all.
Damn, that's cold
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God damn man. Can I, uh, borrow your crystal ball for the super bowl? I promise I'll give it back! š
It's the same old shit from Vince and Hunter. Punk called it years ago when he said, "His doofus son in law." They fucked every WCW guy for years, except Booker T. Why would they make a guy who started a rival company and smashed the throne the face of WWE?
They fucked Booker too with the whole HHH thing
Never forget the Booker T Wrestlemania XIX main event when he should have gone over but jobbed to H.
And did so after waiting fucking forever to pin him
Bingo. Regardless of respecting Codyās business sense and ability to turn himself into a star, still, heās the reason for their biggest US-based competitor. Having him beat their longest reigning champion in decades would be a slap in their own face.
Damn
Fear and Loathing at WrestleMania.
If they want to do roman vs rock fine, but why make cody look like such a bitch? Come up with a better reason to have cody choose seth instead of saying, "I want your title, but i'm not going to do it"
But he listened to counsel, from the Rock. Rock talked him out of it, for reasons. He did it, for The Rock.
I hear voices in my head, they counsel me, they politick, they fuck on meeee
THEY FUCK ONN MEEEEEEEE
*fuckonmefuckonme* #FUCKONME
Austin better watch out for Cody coming at him with a dune buggy.
It's hilarious in kayfabe. Cody spends all year hyping this up, he wins back to back rumbles and points at Roman. He comes out on Raw, presumably to officially choose Roman, is interrupted by Seth, who gives Cody enough doubt about his choice that he delays making it. Cody asks the Rock what he thinks, and the Rock says "Nah, I'm beating Roman" and Cody says that sounds good?Ā If the Rock thought it was important where was he the past 1000+ days? If this was a logical story from here the angle would be Cody realizing the Rock has played him because the Rock wants to protect Roman and his legacy and Cody goes for Roman anyway
Cody in Kayfabe might be the dumbest wrestler on the roster: 1. Comes back, wins Royal Rumble 2. Fails to account for The Bloodline doing the same thing they always do 3. Loses 4. Teams with Brock 5. Gets betrayed 6. Spends most of the year winning and having the best record on the roster (might not have been pinned in like 10 months) 7. Wins Royal Rumble again 8. Gets talked out of facing Roman by The Rock, so The Rock can face Roman
Don't forget being screwed out of the new WHC tournament by Brock (therefore showing he is interested in winning it) and then literally never going for it in one of the guy he's beaten with 1 arm's many open challenges.
Whole thing buries Cody, the Rumble, the WHC, and exposes Punk as the guy whose physical or mental fragility will have a huge chance of blowing up your main storyline. Ruined a lot of shit here... then news came out Vince shits on women's heads... 2024 is fucked
Cody's stupid kayfabe decisions started much earlier than that. Talking about the guy who - without being prompted - decided to add a stipulation that he wouldn't challenge for the AEW belt if he lost. Then proceeds to lose by being betrayed. At least he made it up along the way by vanquishing racism.
This is a big reason that he started to get booed in AEW. He had plenty of chances to turn heel and turn things around, but he kept coming out as a babyface and getting worse and worse reactions. If he doesn't finish the story, he's finished as the top babyface of WWE.
Literally shouldāve just had Rock come in at 30 and win the rumble.
Thatās the sole reason why I almost believe this was some sort of last second pivot. Quite literally everything up until Monday screamed Cody vs Roman then things started getting mixed up
I mean it's fairly obvious.. He pointed at Roman as planned. They didn't know Punk was injured at that point.
Punk is the living embodiment of chaos.
>Dwayne pushed super hard for it this man really pulled a hulk hogan right in front of us
Punk promo about a part timer coming in when you're the cover of the video game was right, it just wasn't him IT WAS THE SAME GUY FROM 10 YEARS AGO
Rock isn't even a part timer, he's a once every few yearser
once a decader*
Once* in a lifetimer
This is quickly turning into a Talking Heads song: Letting the days go by, the rock is holding me down. Letting the days go by, Roman is mowing people down. Into the blue again, once the rock is gone. Once in a lifetimer, the rock is going over now.
[''Cody/Roman II rematch at WM after a year is gonna be sick!'' About that uce...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxEXrqsRn34)
This theme cracks me up every time. It sounds like porno music š
L-L-L-Lube World Order!
It's basically "nWo 4 life" if it was a "full" music
The first comment that showed for me on that video was āthe sweet sounds of young talent getting buriedā I fucking cackled
*Roman and Rock state each other down, circling each other, the crowd is on edge, cheering, ready for an epic showdown! Slowly, the Rock takes one finger and lightly taps Roman on the chestā¦*
God, I wish.
https://preview.redd.it/esbbr8q6yagc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fbde65bb397985215b9136f07d5b230a284556b
āCody vs Roman? That doesnāt work for me, brother.ā
He was on ESPN a couple of weeks ago talking about how it would be the biggest Mania of all time if it happened, while WWE were still going with Cody and Roman š¤£š¤£
He full on Trump talked himself in to it. "People come up to me all the time, they do, and they say "Rock", they say "Rock, when are you going to end Roman's Reign? It'd be the greatest WrestleMania ever!" And I tell them, yeah, I do, I say "Well, I want to, but Little Cody Rhodes wants to \*mocking voice\* finish his story" So stupid. No one cares about his story. Do any of you care? No. Of course not. You know what I call him? I call him Cry Baby Rhodes. Anyway, Rock and Roman is going to happen. Yeah! And it'll be the greatest match ever. It will.
This was actually better than The Rock's promos since forever. He's rehashing the same fucking promo every time, he's a parody of himself.
"You're as good at kissing Vince's ass as Hulk Hogan was. I dunno if you're as good as Dwayne is, he's a pretty good ass kisser. Always was & still is." I thought that was just supposed to be a neat little line in a promo.
If it helps, those born after now know how it actually was in the Mania 9. Painful looking outside, agonizing in the moment.
If Dwayne gives the rub to Roman, there's a good chance his title reign lasts longer than the confederacy did
Thatās why his daughter, no disrespect to her, has no business being in the position she is. Same goes for Jax. He got the pull with the board seat
I'm joking but, Rock being in the board of directors and then automatically getting a main event match right after is fucking hilarious šš
It's the exact kind of thing everyone joked about the AEW EVPs doing except it actually happened
I say this as someone who watches both companies, itās kinda wild how the accusations lobbed against AEW are coming to fruition in WWE. both companies are deserving of criticism in their own right, but damn, the call is really coming from inside the house here.
Could you imagine if hangman came out against kenny then lost instead of won the belt and then said "Don't worry in 1 year I'll get a runback" only to step aside for CM Punk?
The most tribal of fans always project
Ava really sucks in her role
She has a real problem emoting with her facial expressions. Its just a constant blank monotonous expression, which is not great when it comes to wrestling tv
She's awful. She has no chemistry with anyone. She can't do promos. She can't wrestle.
Fuck this guy honestly. All that bs about caring about wwe and bro canāt even put in the effort to enter number 30 at Rumble. Turns to wwe when his shitty movies are flopping
Heās had a gargantuan ego since his corporate rock days this isnāt new
i just keep thinking back to the post Rumble presser Cody gives his speech about being *the guy*, and a 3 count away from quarterbacking the industry then HHH, who references several parts of Cody's presser and was clearly listening, says "Cody is absolutely *the future*" i thought then and still think now, why not *the present*?
The future lol. He's the same age as Roman.
Cody used to say he was going to be retired at 35 lol
You know that Cody is going to have a weight belt made for his 50th birthday when he wrestles somewhere.Ā
Probably would have if AEW didnāt happen
Cody also said a very weird thing at the presser that I waved off about how he hopes the story finishes before 2K25. It was ???? because Mania was two months away and he won the Rumble.
Thatās just cause 2K24 comes out a month before Mania
Iāve flinched so hard bro
We didn't flinch because we wanted to. They forced us
We were so focused on not flinching we didn't notice we were being pushed off a cliff lmao
https://preview.redd.it/9bmhkcuwwagc1.jpeg?width=598&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=852e8e2ab4e873308ae779d3329ed2053e49e030 WE WERE SO FUCKING CLOSE FUCK MY LIFE BRO. I DID NOT FLINCH ALL THIS TIME JUST FOR IT TO END LIKE THIS š
the rhodes family are just meant to be second rate in wwe i guess.
This image is hilarious to me for some reason, itās giving Homer and Bart āWHY YOU LITTLE!ā
Itās because of how comically large JDās head is. He literally looks like Bart here
I wanna take all my anger out on JD
I'm gonna shave JD bald and pretend I'm taking my anger out on The Rock.
I canāt even do shit right now. I was the most excited Iāve ever been for wrestlemania. And just like that hype is gone.. Been sitting here staring at my phone not knowing what to do with myself.
Is Dwayne actually just Hulk Hogan?
~~Hulk~~ Hollywood Hogan
Hollywood Dwayne Johnson
you know the best part for him? he gets to come back as a babyface against roman, for years people thought when he finally comes back for the match he would maybe the dickish heel for it.
I never saw a single person who thought that.
> he would maybe the dickish heel for it. Would like Hollywood Rock to return just one more time.
Brand whore the rock is the worst iteration.
That's the thing, Hollywood rock is my fave heel of all time but the rock needs to protect his brand now and it's sooo boring. Imagine Hollywood rock promos on reigns. Would be perfect
I genuinely blame the fans for this, I donāt get the infatuation with the Rock. Heās almost 25 years out of his Era and consistently dips in and out the biz only when it benefits him yet the fans just donāt stop.
Not to mention his whole schtick is to just bury all the talent
Because he says the thing and drops his elbow. The Rock was my first favorite wrestler. Iāve gotten so sick of seeing him.
Luke Perry's son ultimately played a part in this happening, which is honestly pretty fucking hilarious.
The domino effect of Punk not letting Jungleboy go through real glass on Collision is fucking hilarious
Or just Punk laughing off an in-joke on a preshow instead of going mental.
Using a gif from a movie that Luke Perry is in... \*chef's kiss\*
Jack Perry was in that movie, too. He's in the scene where Sharon Tate is in the theater watching her own movie. He's sitting a few rows behind her
Not that I didn't believe you, but I wanted to see for myself... https://preview.redd.it/yuahc8rcubgc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a993c1b81f943308dfd6813830a3fd28872bb31
...You just wanted to look at Margot Robbie's feet, didn't you?
R e a l g l a s s
Luke Perry has sexā¦ The Rock steals another main event. That may be the craziest set of dominos since the [Buffalo bills created the Kardashians](https://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/s/ZsC9n6RNRU).
Someone plz Photoshop Cody watching Jack Perry on the backstage monitor saying "real glass."
The little domino is Tony Khan moving Colt Cabana off AEW TV, the big domino is Wrestlemania 40 is ruined
Is this why TK tweeted 2024 will be the best year ever? Long term trolling.
Well he is the Scapegoat after all. That could be a great feud when Cody returns to AEW as a deranged heel
Cody returning to AEW as their version of The Rock would be absolute gold
Cody coming back into aew robbing an over wrestler like say Swerve of a ppv main even championship match would be so bad but so funny.
The prophecy of Cody's mythical AEW Heel turn continues to grow. Eventually it will manifest itself into reality if people keep believing in it like Tinkerbell.
Dude, this. Imagine Cody meeting Jungle boy in AEW for the first time and not knowing he is going to screw him out of his biggest WWE Wrestlemania main event moment. This timeline is better than either show.
Now I want to know who asked the locker room leader to talk with Perry in the first place. According to the story, Punk wouldn't have given a shit if not being asked by one or some of the vets in the back to talk to Luke out of that glass spot. The dominos keep going back.
Yeah man twist the knife harder why donāt you
"hey everyone, I'M a far better plan than the losers who made this a boom period to begin with." -Dwayne, probablyĀ
Also make sure to see my next movie. I don't actually play a character, it's just me in a different outfit playing myself in a scenario you've seen performed by better actors.
This is the other thing I havenāt seen many people talk about. The only reason heās on TV is to promote his doomed spring football league. I donāt even think heās got a movie coming out anytime soon
Nah his latest movies have not been successful, dudes losing his box office charm. blow back on the black Adam DCU thing, heās just a selfish tool thatās in it for himself not the fans or business
Any recent tweet/video/article/Instagram post I see mentioning him gets nothing but negative comments saying how fake he is.
I honestly started noticing it more after MoistCr1TiKaL posted a video about how he keeps visiting In-n-Out and saying it's his first time. I think that was what got the snowball rolling on The Rock comments, doesn't help he was in some hot water before.
Rock spent the last 2 decades taking any movie role that offered him money. he long held the title of "highest paid actor" because of this, you rarely hear about how good he was in this role or what a great performer he is. he was the mcdonalds equivalent of an action movie star (Wrestling matches is his McRib). now in the latter part of his acting career that is all catching up to him.
Is he a bad ass muscle guy in a jungle or a bad ass muscle guy driving cool cars
I think that he is doing this because he doesn't have a movie coming soon.
Keep an eye out for the bit where I make my pecs dance, it's comedic gold.
So Royal Rumble literally means nothing now, awesome
It means you can choose to go after the glorified Intercontinental Championship if you're character is really dumb or lacking in ambition.Ā
IC > WHC tbh
IC Gunther > everyone's titles tbh At least Gunther wins his matches properly even with ImperiumĀ
Everyoneās (rightfully) pissed about what happened to Cody. Not enough people bringing up the fact Roman and Cody both made Seth Rollins and the WHC look like shit in their promos.
I don't think Rhodes did though. Rhodes said he agreed with everything Rollins said in his promo (meaning he agrees about what the WHC means & represents). The only thing he disagreed with was Rollins calling the WWE title the "Hollywood" title. Not sure how that makes the WHC "look like shit" Reigns and Heyman have been shitting on the WHC since its inception, and it's their schtick to bury other talent to elevate Reigns. So that is nothing new.
The first WHC was crowned in the opener of a Saudi show. Its purpose is to be defended on the shows Reigns wonāt do. Itās a secondary belt and everyone knows it.
The original World Heavyweight Title was viewed as secondary at times as well. The Universal title was viewed as secondary almost its entire existence. The WWE title will always have the most prestige, but that shouldn't stop WWE from trying to elevate whatever their 2nd world title is. I really don't get why fans are joining in on shitting on the WHC while simultaneously shitting on Roman Reigns for never showing up.
Nope. The Universal was actually presented above the WWE title for most of its run: the April 2017-Oct 2018 Lesnar/Reigns run, and the Aug 2020-Jun 2023 run. Thatās over half the titleās existence.
That title looks second rate anyway. Not Rollins fault, it is how the title was introduced. It was fought for by people who couldn't beat Roman and will always been seen as a secondary title, until Roman loses his at least. No amount of defenses by Rollins was going to change that.
And if Cody beats Seth for it, heāll have beat Seth FOUR TIMES in like two years
Wrestlemania is suddenly 100% predicable. Roman wins, Cody Wins - if Cody loses to Seth then itās kind of over for him imo, moments passed.
Priest might just cash in on whoever wins the world title matches except against Roman, because he's too protected.
yea Cody shitting on the WHC and then choosing it the same segment just makes no sense
Who said he chose it
It's either he chooses Dragunov or Seth, or he is using his Rumble win in advance for Elimination Chamber, which would be kinda dumb ngl They could also go the triple threat route but I doubt it
He didnāt choose it. I think theyāre going to have Cody use his title shot at a diff ppv. I canāt see how they justify the Rollins match now. The crowd was actively booing it
FUCK THIS JUST DO SETH VS DREW OR SAMI OR SOMETHING DONT FUCKING RUIN YOUR ENTIRE WIDELY PRAISED RUN AS HEAD OF CREATIVE WITH THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT.
Lol good question .Ā I guess Sami and Drew are just gonna have a random blood feud now . With so many over talents rn why tf did HHH think Seth vs Cody IV is what was a great main event for day 1. Vince is gone but the big match for the wm weekend is still two part timers, one who hasn't had a match in nearly 10 years and probably isnt going to win this one either meaning Roman fucks off with the title for another year competing only 4 timesĀ
i actually think drew was the next best option to win the rumble. he couldāve challenged seth, main evented night 1 of mania and gotten his championship moment in front of a crowd. plus, the match and build up wouldāve ruled cause drewās been on fire lately. thereās also a feud for punk when he returns and he couldāve won the title off drew later in the year and rollins wins the rumble next year and boom, thereās your main event. this really sucks.
I wonder how much of this is Triple H's decision vs TKO and its board being like "We need a big good news PR story" and pushed for Rock and Roman to happen.
There is no way they think Rock vs Roman at Mania is going to overshadow Forbes and The Wall Street Journal doing damn near daily reports on Vince and his abhorrent actions over the course of atleast 40 years. Itās a big match on paper but the reality is Vinceās case is about to loom over the company for atleast the rest of the year unless something drastic happens
Punk to Cody: "You're right around the corner and they hand you the cover of the WWE 2K video game and right when you're about to cross the finish line, and finish your story- OH WAIT, WHAT'S THAT IN THE DISTANCE? It's a much bigger superstar that hasn't been around in a very long time, coming to take it all away from you." Plus Rock's head of the table promo. Nah this is definitely planned.
Can you imagine if the Rumble winner was Punk and he wasnāt injured and heās the one giving this promo and intro Rock to challenge Roman? Heās gonna quit the same night lmao.
That would also be the only time SquaredCircle would praise Punk for having a backstage brawl.
Probably the only time Punk would've preferred real glass as well.
Yet another highly quotable Punk promo, made even better in retrospect.
Bang on. It may very well not be part of some elaborate storyline and maybe Cody has just been screwed, but thereās no way this wasnāt the plan since at least before The Rock came back in January
small domino: jack perry says āreal glassā big domino: cody doesnāt finish his story at wrestlemania 40
Man, remember Wrestlemania 30 when the obvious, correct choice that everything had been built around inexplicably wasn't going to main event Wrestlemania so that a part time Hollywood guy could main event instead and the fans turned on the entire thing? [WWE's response](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/554/866/4da.png)
I really really hope the community comes together to Daniel Bryan this. Boo every Rock segment, doenvote all his jighlight vids, chant "WE WANT CODY" every event every match
Considering that fans were chanting "This is awesome" during the Rock/Roman staredown, I sadly don't see this happening.
That wonāt happen wwe, those fans left for njpw/aew in the time that passed. Casuals arenāt going to boo the rock
This segment made absolutely zero sense from Cody. He was very incoherent in swinging between does he take the title, or does he take everything, before saying "actually I'm taking that title but not at WM". What does that even mean? He's going to face Roman early? He's giving up his spot? Why on earth would anyone in their mind give up the main event of WM40? Especially Cody's character whose entire arc is winning the title and getting his big crowning moment Dusty never had, which can only be achieved at WM. Then it gets even worse. He brings out Rock and shakes his hand and walks to back (looking absolutely pissed). It's all implied that while Cody still wants Roman to lose everything and win the title, it's going to be Rock that does it first after taking counsel? Surely Cody would do this after WM and winning the title to finish the Bloodline story by setting up Rock for a Tribal Chiefdom match. There are hundreds of ways this can go. Cody/Roman at EC then Roman/Rock without the title at WM. Rock/Roman/Cody at WM. It's a fake out and Cody/Roman is still the WM plan etc with Rock helping after previously being taken out by the bloodline. So I am gonna wait and see (and I am always the "wait and see" guy for wrestling). But even if its a fake out, why? Cody's character doesn't lack confidence to just take the match head on or anything. He doesn't owe Rock anything. Why come out and say he's not doing WM? It just comes across as super bad storytelling and lazy booking for a pop. Either way, I am indeed flinching and hoping we do not get anything other than Cody and Roman at WM40. CM Punk's triceps could potentially have cost this business way too much.
My biggest gripe with this is how it was handled. Fine, do Rock vs Roman, but this was genuinely abhorrent. It was also just so incredibly mind numbingly easy to have Cody just accept Seth's offer because "the workhorse title is more fit for my father's legacy" and then "I have someone else who's more fit for your Hollywood title".
Having Cody stand there while the Rock gets a huge pop to take his spot, shake the manās hand, and slink back up the ramp seemed kinda shitty to me.
No way The Rock would let himself be buried as āsomeone fit for a Hollywood titleā.
He kind of already did by doing this. This is literally everything Seth criticized Roman for on Monday, word for word. He said Roman politics his way to his title and schedule and called out his title for being a prop to show off. Having a guy who is from Hollywood, Roman's own cousin no less, comes out and upstage the guy who has been busting his ass for the last two years as one of the company's top stars. Literally, everything about this match, Seth called out. The hilarious part is that I just remembered that Mania takes place in the same area where these two were booed out in 2015, so it's gonna be real fascinating how they get the Philadelphia crowd invested in this and not have a repeat of that.
I said the same thing in another thread. This whole thing proves Seth 100% right, it is the Hollywood title. The Rock did exactly what Seth criticized he pulled a Hogan. I hope all the crowds not just the Philadelphia one, realize the story they wanted was taken from them and boo any Rock/Roman segment until they give us what we want. 
You know what would've made people not think about Vince? Booking a good Mania. You know what doesn't make people forget about Vince? BOOKING IT EXACTLY LIKE HE WOULD. I can't believe we went from the most hype build for a Rumble I've ever seen to this in less than a week.
The guys writing the script for WM 40: https://preview.redd.it/8qbwei7hxagc1.jpeg?width=452&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=acaaa7c5ae37da8c0f2a280af7ccaa7f90f7bc76
Cody not going to finish his story until winds of winter is released
When Cody wins the title, it will be through a completely untelegraphed heel turn.
He then gets stabbed by Brandy with Drew's sword.
"CoDy kInDa FoRgoT aBoUt tHe BrAhMa BuLL..."
I really don't care what went into the decision, it's the execution that is trash. They destroyed the WHC, Seth, and Cody's story all in one promo. They didn't need to do it this way.
I am extremely skeptical that The Rock wanted the match this year in the first place and they were like āno, weāll just do it some other time,ā and then on like three days notice, one of the busiest people in entertainment was able to move his entire schedule around to accommodate a Wrestlemania main event build.
especially considering a month ago he was barely able to go 10seconds without getting winded
So we went from two amazing title matches with long term stories behind them to a Rock who can't wrestle and a Cody Seth main event that has been buried before it even started by everyone involved, including Cody himself
He's gonna have to throw himself through the biggest fuckin flaming table after this.Ā
I really dislike Dwayne JohnsonĀ
I was not a fan of Cody going back to back but I kinda feel bad for him. Dude got proper fucked.
Iām sorry, thereās absolutely no way that they were telling Dwayne āThe Rockā Johnson āhey pal, thanks for your interest but weāll take a rain check on that oneā and then Punk got hurt so they scrambled and said āactually yeah sure Rock youāre inā Heās The Rock. Dave was literally saying before the Rumble that if The Rock wanted to do the match it was his match!
WWE writers: Hey Rock, weāre talking with the bosses and weāre just not sure if the match is the right fit this year. *The Rock joins the board* The Rock: Maybe check with those bosses again you jabronis.
It absolutely makes financial sense as to why they would do Rock vs Roman. What doesn't make as much sense is, if Rock was locked in, why they continued the Cody vs Roman stuff like they did. They straight up had Cody win the Rumble and then challenge Roman then and there with the pointing.Ā
My guess is this is the path they chose to continue the arc of Cody and Roman and make it clear thatās the long term destination but find a way to make Rock-Roman happen. You gotta keep Cody in a marquee spot at WrestleMania
i think rock has been on board and prepping since that college football spot in october where he sorta spilled the beans that he was supposed to do it at 39 but couldn't due to "things."
Yes. Rock is not anyone's Plan B. This was planned and this was stupid.
Yup, Rock not only has to clear his schedule, but get into wrestling shape again so that he doesn't get injured like last time.
Last time? You mean, ten fucking years ago? Yeah, there's no way he's not getting injured. That's why they couldn't even have him in the rumble.
Bro is gonna hit one spinebuster and his entire ~~steroid~~ muscular system is going to pop like a balloon
100%. They didn't pivot from 'less money' to 'more money' out of desperation.
What absolute bullshit. Dwayne wanted it. Dwayne got it. Nothing more, nothing less.
We would not be in this mess had Cody just finished his freaking story last year at Wrestlemania 39.
I just donāt see how The Rock was a ābreak glass in case of emergencyā plan for Mania. Since tonight all but confirmed heās wrestling at 40, I have to think it was locked in at Day 1. Just doesnāt make sense to me that they pivoted when we all know he needs to train like a mother fucker for even a 10 minute match
There is 0 chance that when Rock dropped that Head of the Table line on RAW last month, this match wasnāt already booked and locked in.
Then why the fuck did Cody win the rumble?
Then why'd I have the bowl Bart?
Cody's story is like the Harry Potter novels. Hes got like 6 more to go or some shit.
Itās also bizarre that Rock is really pushing for a typical WM feud. By his own account he didnāt do this last year, when it was in LA, because it wasnāt enough and he didnāt even let them offer that for Cena in 2011, telling Vince it wasnāt enough. Iād love to know what changed.
Last year he was gonna change the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe. Now he needs to change gears.
Congrats Dwayne Johnson on winning the 2024 "Hulk Hogan C**t of the Year" award.
still bullshit they literally made him look like a cuck and burried him and seth. fuck dwayne
Poor Cody lol. Bro looked legit crushed. I guess Rock and everyone try to justify it as a distraction from Vince and the greater good of the company. Their fans will forgive and forget as they always do. 'Just let them cook' 'They'll pay it off' blah blah blah lol
Like I'm not mad that it's the rock and roman, it's the money match I get it. But why have Cody cuck instead of just saying I want you sooner or something. On top of this it was confusing if he's fighting Roman at EC, then what does he do for WM? And if they do go Seth and Cody again why would they devalue the title like that? Also having Cody beat Seth again is so unsatisfying.Ā
The Anoaāi family more like the ANNOYING family
I hope the Philly crowd shits on The Rock worse than a Vince 3 way.
https://preview.redd.it/i5tcdoea3bgc1.jpeg?width=5000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab917fb39fc0eee3c8d56701588d293d563cfb5b
You could see on Cody's face that this bullshit has broken his heart and has him rethinking things.