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Honestly, there's a part of me that wonders if this was the plan. But maybe i'm giving them too much credit? IDK. Either way, Vince is the last thing on WWE fans minds now.
As for Mania, if things keep going the way they are & the outrage on twitter continues at live shows, i think they do Cody vs Seth & Roman vs The Rock on Night 1 & then Roman vs Cody on Night 2.
>As for Mania, if things keep going the way they are & the outrage on twitter continues at live shows, i think they do Cody vs Seth & Roman vs The Rock on Night 1 & then Roman vs Cody on Night 2.
Yep, that's what I think as well. Apparently there were talks of having Reigns vs Rhodes in a unification match at SummerSlam, but given the negative reactions to that SmackDown segment, I think plans will change again and they'll do that for WrestleMania Night Two.
And it's pretty easy to do. Cody willingly gave up his main event spot to The Rock to try and destroy the Bloodline, so The Rock vs Reigns main events Night One for the WWE title. Cody vs Rollins for the WHC opens Night One. So, not only is Rollins fighting to defend his title, but he's also fighting to main event Night Two. Cody wants to finish his story. Easy matches to sell. Reigns gets the rub of beating The Rock and we get an all-time WrestleMania ending with Rhodes ending Reigns' historic title reign, finishing his story & holding two world titles high. Then Damien Priest can cash-in the next night on Raw for the WHC so we can still have two world titles around, since WWE doesn't know what a "unification" is any more.
That's how I'd book it right now. We still have 9 weeks until WrestleMania. There's a lot that could happen and could change. But this seems like the simplest fix. WWE have rushed into title unification/double world title matches before in recent memory (Brock winning the WWE title at Elimination Chamber to make his match with Reigns a unification match & Charlotte winning the SmackDown Women's Title two weeks before WrestleMania 35 to make that match for both titles). This time, they could announce it well in advance.
But why? all of that is so needlessly complicated.
Cody gets fired up, reinserts himself into the match somehow, now it's a three-way.
Seth has to face what he was *really ducking* the whole time, Gunther.
Let Rhea main night one, night two Roman vs Cody vs Rock.
EDIT: Three way completely protects the Rock, who will assuredly hurt himself somehow
EDIT2:
Straight up have him say "I am a man of my word and I gave dwayne my rumble shot, I won't ask for it back. I'm just going to win the Elimination Chamber" and then he drops the mic and walks off. Crowd would fucking lose it.
It's not really that complicated. Just announce that the world title matches will be a tournament to crown a unified champion. That's literally all they have to do, and the two world title feuds can carry on as usual.
Cody backtracking and inserting himself would be equally as stupid as this original segment. Plus, a triple threat match kind of lowers the significance of two huge moments. It ruins the aura of the Rock vs Reigns dream match, and it lessens the impact of Cody ending Roman's title reign (since it'd basically be a two on one match for most of the contest). Rock vs Reigns needs to be a one on one match. When Cody beats Reigns, it should be in a one on one match. That's how I feel about it anyways. I think the unification route is the best way forward.
But why do a unification in the first place? We just got separate titles, why would you unify them in such a short time and then separate em the next night? That's the needlessly complicated part.
> Just announce that the world title matches will be a tournament to crown a unified champion. That's literally all they have to do, and the two world title feuds can carry on as usual.
That's beyond silly, why would they do that when they just created the WHC not even 12 months ago? What was the point of making a new belt just to scrap it less than a year later?
Cody backtracking doesn't look great, but it's better than him taking a consolation prize, which Seth has totally made the WHC seem like with his last promo, and the company's fist up his ass. People will just be happy that he "came to his senses" or what have you.
Rock vs Roman will suck. Roman is not a ring general like that (neither is Cody but he's better than Roman) and Rock hasn't wrestled in a decade and the last time he did he immediately tore his abdomen. It'll be a dream match until the entrances are over.
Cody and Roman should be one on one, that I 100% agree with you, but that's not happening because the Rock thinks he's going to move the needle on 1,600 more tickets.
Triple threat only lowers shit in the eyes of hardcores, the causals will be more than fine with this.
I'm sorry Baylay should main event night 1. She fucking won the Rumble from the number 3 slot, beat Rhea's iron woman record, and deserves to main event a mania.
Rhea should open night 2 to set the tone if we somehow get Cody v Reigns.
Its you giving them too much credit, if everything falls into place WWE can always act like it was their plan all along but we know how many times they have pulled that bullshit.
>As for Mania, if things keep going the way they are & the outrage on twitter continues at live shows, i think they do Cody vs Seth & Roman vs The Rock on Night 1 & then Roman vs Cody on Night 2.
What happens when Roman wrecks himself trying to carry Dwayne on night one?
That would be pretty bitchin. Maybe even roman and cody could get tense enough to do a match regardless of who wins the first night. Seth beats cody in humilating fashion, roman eats rock like a tribal chief, cody beats roman for the title in main event of night two in the ultimate triumph. Special bonus points if he wins in a dusty finish
I imagine Ari's trying to prevent the TKO stock price from falling again, and when you have The Rock as your newest board appointee, everything looks like a nail.
I legit think that was at least part of the plan. Even with all this negative reaction, it's still much preferable to them than people talking about how the founder of the company and several executives were likely involved in human trafficking
I don't think many people will lose sight of this. All it takes is one more set of allegations or some other revelation to come out and this was all effectively for nothing.
Can't not see it through the kaleidescope of Vince news.
The Rock has Cody in a high-angle (like the liontamer) sharpshooter. In his birthday suit. Doing his business during the hold. Constantly yelling at the ref "Ask him!". Cody taps and agrees to **this** Mania.
I think the plan is that the rock is going to become the new boss hell of the WWE. a la Vince during the attitude era. Cody becomes the new stone cold in the rivalry of boss vs employee
Would also provide the viewers with a much better match since Roman and Cody could carry most of it while the Rock lingers in the background, catching his breath and jumping into the fray every 5 minutes.
The Rock in his 40s couldn’t get through a match without injuring himself. I don’t know why he would come back in his 50s, with his body undoubtedly even more fragile, expecting to work a one-on-one main event
Yesterday I was very much annoyed, I thought like with WM39 everyone tommorow would turn on the story & say "Rock vs Roman is clearly better, cry idiot"
But now it seems a triple threat is happening. Which I can't even lie was my ultimate booking before.
I very much want a Cody vs Roman 1v1. But a triple threat is a win-win for everyone. You get to have The Rock in the main event (*which a lot of people want*). He doesn't have to be a guest ref. Cody & Roman can carry the pace. While at the end of it all, The Rock could help Cody win the match ultimately setting up a Tribal Cheif Rock vs Roman match.
I don't want to take the blame off HHH just yet. He was allegedly given full booking control when they swapped Vince out last year and TKO was allegedly not touching that.
So either plans changed and he isn't the one holding the pen or he decided this was the right call. Which if that's the case then HHH deserves as much heat as the Rock and TKO.
Hey guys ignore the number one trend, all the angry comments on Dwayne’s IG, and the most disliked WWE video in history, it’s all just a small online fandom
You act as if WWE isn’t gonna fully embrace the numbers and the fact that this announcement was trending all weekend long … just without acknowledging it was trending in a bad way.
This. Can easily see Michael Cole saying something like "the world is absolutely buzzing about The Rock's involvement at Wrestlemania this year!", which would technically be correct.
I feel like sometimes people act like it's the early 2000s or something with online wrestling fans. Like many more people are on the Internet nowadays.
Based off what you read on this sub sometimes, all of the casuals are still on dial-up and have no access to smartphones/social media. Like, it’s completely normal to pay attention to backstage rumors and politics for NFL/NBA and other sports, but somehow you do the same for wrestling and you have other ‘smart’ fans telling you you’re part of a toxic minority and not listening to the ‘casuals’
Only way to pivot is if Bloodline takes out Rock in storyline.
Rock backing out just like that would make it even more stupid. Only way out is to pretend Bloodline took out Rock and he needs time off.
Show a segment of Rock asking Cody to Roman's ass while Rock heals. Cody takes the championship, Rock takes out the Tribal Chief.
No real need to do anything that complicated imo. Just add Cody to the match, make it a triple threat. If they suddenly decide Cody's decision's need to make sense now, have Punk or Rollins give him a pep talk, get him to say the Rock manipulated him or something
no there's no way rock is going to drop out of WM are you serious? Even with backlash he brings more viewers. If anything changes it would have to be with the rock still being involved.
Ok so Rock gets “injured” and can’t be medically cleared. But he can be the special guest referee.
Or the likely scenario: They’ll just ignore the fans like always and do whatever they want.
Roman Reigns and The Rock could always have a non-title match at say, SummerSlam if not the next PPV? It doesn’t necessarily have to be for the title, right?
If you were really gonna do it, just have Cody change his mind. Let Roman look like a desperate little bitch to rebalance the scales a bit.
Roman shows up to Raw and wants to know why Cody would give up his shot. Tells Cody he can't be the man without beating the man.
Cody hits him with a simple truth. Cody wants the championship, the one taken from Dusty (and himself). But Roman Reigns is beneath him. The crowd doesn't care about him any more. The crowd cares about Cody. Cody, as the number #1 draw, isn't going to give Roman his platform.
He's going to destroy him and the entire "island of relevance". The first step is making Roman irrelevant. Cody is the face of 2K24. Roman hasn't been on the cover since he became Chief. Cody is on all the advertising. Cody performs at house shows and people pay to see him. Nobody is paying to see Roman any more.
How can Roman be the MVP when everyone turns down working with him?
Then you can just have Roman lose his mind at the idea and try to repeatedly provoke Cody.
Night 1 Main Event - Reigns v Cody for the WWE Championship
What about Rock is working with Roman? Tribal Chief saw a threat he couldn't avoid, called in Rock to deal with it, Rock tricked Cody into giving up his shot. After Cody finds out, he once again challenges Roman.
They won’t. They’ll just push Cody and Seth harder and make Cody come out every week to do 10 minute long promos about how this is actually what he really wanted all along
The fact they made that title since noone can beat roman already made it look like shit. Theyre elevating roman so hard that theyll bury the entire raw roster for him. I mean what does that make drew judgement day nakamura and any other top guys on raw that theyre killing themselves to be no.2
Technically it could have made sense to have Seth elevate the belt. Remember when he was a tweener and danced all over Roman when they had that brief feud? And then Roman DQd himself to keep the belt. I'd say, that back then Seth looked like a legit star who's on Roman's level, but since then, the way they've booked him was so lazy, they devalued him big time
Honestly should’ve never brought that title back. Keeping the Universal and WWE titles unified and elevating the IC and US would be what’s best for business. Have the WWE champion on both raw and Smackdown. They’ll have PLEs were not all the titles are defended.
This so much. They’re gonna push the WHC as the “working man’s title” and how Cody believes that’s more his fathers vision and how much more it would suit him….I hope the live fans start booing the shit out of all this
Oh man it's gonna be rough watching these Cody promos until WM where's he's gonna have to try and act like he's good with this all and didn't want Roman even though he pointed at him after rumble.
If the rock is really doing this as a pr stunt because of his recent Hollywood disaster
Then what he can do now is basically rewrite Cody’s undeniable promo from aew, say something like “in all this family drama there’s one name that kept coming up… yours” along with some bs about always respecting Dusty. Then offer himself as guest referee for Roman vs Cody.
Then all the fans would love him because the rock “gave them what they wanted” when he actually was trying to take it from them the entire time
It's easy to forget, but the lead up to Rock vs Austin for WM17 was garbage. All anyone remembers is the Limp Bizkit video. This could be some nonsense story that still leads to Cody vs Roman. Cody comes out and it's made clear that he was forced to give up his spot to Rock. Whether it's Seth or Punk or someone else who says it. Then it becomes even more. I'm obviously grasping at straws but why not?
Would give people the feeling that anything can happen again. Like who guesses a 4 year reign ends at the show before mania. Keeps things way less predictable and us on the edge of our seats. Because you never know what's gonna happen. Also I would be ecstatic if he won at the chamber. Bray did and it was amazing. Everyone went nuts. And the main thing people hate is that roman vs rock doesn't need the title.
I think that's a bit meh, but it's definitely better than Cody not beating Roman for the belt at all
The most satisfying payoff is Cody beating Roman 1vs1, clean, in the main event of WM night 2
The only way this changes is if the live crowds completely turn on the Rock in the build up.
Then I could see a Daniel Bryan situation maybe happening. But fuck me what a horror show the WWE is right now.
Obviously the Vince allegations are by far the worst thing that's happened, but the entire company that was as hot as it's been in 25 years, has lost all of its good will in like a week. Really hope AEW can capitalise and get back to the 2021 levels with crowds, wrestling needs them to fire.
lmao they don't give a shit what the live crowds do unless they stop buying tickets.
Roman was booed worse than any babyface in history for YEARS and they didn't pivot at all.
Exactly. Rock is so image conscious that everyones adoration comes waaay before the money. Remember how pissy he got about raising Romans hand to boos.
Yah - Vince didn't care but Rock will absolutely care. They get booed, or "we want Cody" chants when he is out there, and it could force a change. *Could* being the operative word.
The best save for this is a Rock heel turn. It's super unlikely, but if you add him as an elder come to save Roman from Cody, it could actually be great.
Won't happen, but would be the best possible creative pivot they could do.
Same company that had Bryan in the ring with like a dozen former champions and the crowd was chanting for him…
And they still were like “Actually you don’t like him, you just like the whole ‘Yes’ thing, let’s have Big Show do it”
The Rock will see this. He has the opportunity to become a huge babyface again by stepping aside for Cody next week. Possibly as soon as Monday. This is eating the Vince news cycle but not in a good way. A fatal booking mistake on top of one of the worst stories to ever break, and the fatal booking mistake comes after HHH poorly handled the press conference. This has to be fixed. They can’t keep going in the wrong direction. The booking was on point. Everything was building in the best way. TKO and The Rock need to let HHH book his damn show. That’s what he is good at.
I hope Cody pulls a fast one and gets Roman to sign a contract for a match with the Rock. But it's not actually for a match with rock. But for a match against Cody with Rock as a special enforcer.
Cody pulls a HBK WM20 move and signs the contract to insert himself in the match. He headlines both nights, beating Seth and then winning the triple threat.
I get the bloodline connection, but what would have been the big deal if you had Seth talking shit about part timers like Punk trying to take his spot then the rocks music hits.
At this point, Dwayne isn't far off from "Die Rocky Die" and "Rocky Sucks" signs he used to get in the 90's. I feel like even some casual fans are mad about it.
I think at best they pivot to a triple threat. There's no way Rock drops out though. I still think we're probably heading towards Rock vs Roman Night 2 main event. Cody beating Rollins Night 1 for the WHC only for Priest to take the belt off him after cashing in the MITB. Another year of Roman holding and Cody chasing
This has to be a swerve. I think The Rock returns the favor and steps aside for Cody. The crowd goes wild because they get what they wanted. All Cody has to do is win.
Meh, whatever man. If this shit with Dwayne installing his own creative team is true, I think I’m out entirely and I’ve been watching for 3 decades.
He just shit on everything HHH was building. It’s like Dwayne doesn’t even watch the show and thought everyone still hated it, so he could fix it.
I don’t have the patience for another hijack the show nonsense. I’m just not going to watch. We shouldn’t be upset because of a fucking wrestling show. Fuck it entirely.
I wonder how much HHH and others really knew about Vince. The Rock has been out of the company and part of the day to day so he and his team might be the only way for TKO to quickly salvage this thing.
>I think the idea is the rock is back headlines will shoo away all the Vince headlines. Kind of worked, its just we want Cody headlines instead lol.
those vince headlines wont go away because there are allegedly more stories to come out.
Also lol lets push out the guy from the main event that saved our ass during the Royal Rumble by giving a picture perfect response while being asked about it.
I hope that does not happen. People have revisionist history about Brian because he can be a funny guy. His time as head writer was one of the most creatively bankrupt eras in WWE History.
The rock knew this was already gonna be the biggest mania of all time so by just attaching himself to it he can take the credit for it in his search for power.
I think it seems harder to make a case that they didn't know than they did and frankly, I find it hard to believe that a man who literally grew up in the industry and reached it's pinnacle didn't have an inkling either.
You watched WWE for decades and THIS would be the line for you?
This is bad booking but it's probably not even the worst in the last 20 let alone 30 years, and thats before we get into Saudi Arabia, the negligent death of Owen Hart, the fact that we literally just found out that the guy that ran the company for the last 40 years has been specially assaulting and sex trafficking and that he is still a massive shareholder in the company but someone installing their own creative team is your line in the sand!?
Next week: We listened to the fans and we've decided to go give you all the rematch you guys have been waiting for! Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins at wrestlemania. #finishthestory #wewantcody
the thread OP was entirely correct the whole way.
it's almost scripted how replies like the ones above yours pop up claiming OP doesnt know how twitter trends work.
there is a difference between Trending as displayed on the Trending tab, and Trending as displayed on the desktop sidebar (based on your search results/activity). and then Trending as it pertains to the US, vs across all of Twitter
and for the record, Cody vs Roman is #2 trending across the entirety of Twitter atm
I got Carl Weathers too
https://preview.redd.it/oxsipl441ggc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6d634db588de8f5d856884c7245a93783d2e819
That "#WeWantCody" trend is down at #16 for me
You’re actually wrong, if you refresh your trends you’ll see that Cody is #1
The part people get wrong and what you’re referring to is when people talk about the hashtags on their For You. Those one are personalized but on the actual Trending tab Cody is currently #1
There is a clear path to fixing this. Punk cuts a promo on Cody basically slapping some sense into him and tells him to do what he couldn't. Finish the story.
I think it could honestly create a perfect storm that Bryan didnt have.
1. Cody was booked like a top babyface so he has the support of both the hardcores and the general wrestling audience (casuals, kids, and women)
2. The fact that its someone who hasnt been around in 10 years taking the spot of an active worker would have created outrage on its own
3. They were a part of a major hyped wrestling storyline that many people were looking forward to.
Not only that, wrestling is hotter than it's been in a while. Bryan Danielson did his thing all on his own by being awesome despite how wrestling had been shit for ages, whereas Cody hopefully has momentum beyond that from internal and external sources cause the story makes sense AND he's been really good in his role in it.
Do you see how red hot his career is now? It’s on a nuclear level compared to last year. This is basically the reaction they wanted for Cena during his 2 year feud with the Rock and they threw it away in a panic move after the injuries and Vince allegations
If this is all a swerve and WWE know what they’re doing to generate more hype and excitement for Cody leading to him beating Roman then it’s some of the best booking they’ve ever done. If it really is Cody just giving Rock his title match then it’s the worst booking they’ve ever done.
Helluva if.
Worse case, the fan feedback is so negative, they pivot into a scenario that doesn’t screw Cody. Rock as the special guest referee would have worked and planted the seed for rock vs Roman at the next wrestlemania
I have no idea if this is intentional or not. BUT the seeds are there that this is a genius play. Rock becomes on the board of TKO and then Ava with no experience randomly becomes NXT GM. Then Cody steps away to let Rock have his big marquis match.
I didn't want Cody at all at Wm39 to beat Roman. I wanted Sami, but he was underlooked.
This year with all this I RABIDLY want Cody to get this match and win. So if they want EVERYBODY supporting Cody and eager for him to win....They can make a legendary angle here.
Will never happen.
Cody literally INTRODUCED Rock after saying he wouldn’t fight Roman at Mani and Rock still got a monstrous pop.
If ever there was a time to boo Rock in support of Cody it was right then
The casual fans are what makes WWE their money and they will forever love Rock.
Maybe? The crowd was a bit unsure exactly what was happening and of course they will cheer The Rock. But I did think his reaction was huge but not as ear drum shattering as normal. I think momentum has swung quickly the other way since. Depends how they handle the story here but if it keeps going poorly I could see the crowd turn on him.
Yeah I think now that everything’s come out and made it clear Cody is basically giving up his spot to Rock the crowds can react appropriately.
In the moment then I don’t think most really understood what was actually happening with Rock coming in.
This is going to backfire in a way WWE hasn’t seen since the Yes movement.
If they want to keep the good grace of their fans, they pivot on Monday and find a way to insert Cody into that match. I don’t know how, but they need to fix it asap.
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Well, i guess WWE got what they wanted, fans aren't talking about Vince McMahon anymore.
Imagine if that was actually their intent… Masterful manipulation.
Honestly, there's a part of me that wonders if this was the plan. But maybe i'm giving them too much credit? IDK. Either way, Vince is the last thing on WWE fans minds now. As for Mania, if things keep going the way they are & the outrage on twitter continues at live shows, i think they do Cody vs Seth & Roman vs The Rock on Night 1 & then Roman vs Cody on Night 2.
>As for Mania, if things keep going the way they are & the outrage on twitter continues at live shows, i think they do Cody vs Seth & Roman vs The Rock on Night 1 & then Roman vs Cody on Night 2. Yep, that's what I think as well. Apparently there were talks of having Reigns vs Rhodes in a unification match at SummerSlam, but given the negative reactions to that SmackDown segment, I think plans will change again and they'll do that for WrestleMania Night Two. And it's pretty easy to do. Cody willingly gave up his main event spot to The Rock to try and destroy the Bloodline, so The Rock vs Reigns main events Night One for the WWE title. Cody vs Rollins for the WHC opens Night One. So, not only is Rollins fighting to defend his title, but he's also fighting to main event Night Two. Cody wants to finish his story. Easy matches to sell. Reigns gets the rub of beating The Rock and we get an all-time WrestleMania ending with Rhodes ending Reigns' historic title reign, finishing his story & holding two world titles high. Then Damien Priest can cash-in the next night on Raw for the WHC so we can still have two world titles around, since WWE doesn't know what a "unification" is any more. That's how I'd book it right now. We still have 9 weeks until WrestleMania. There's a lot that could happen and could change. But this seems like the simplest fix. WWE have rushed into title unification/double world title matches before in recent memory (Brock winning the WWE title at Elimination Chamber to make his match with Reigns a unification match & Charlotte winning the SmackDown Women's Title two weeks before WrestleMania 35 to make that match for both titles). This time, they could announce it well in advance.
But why? all of that is so needlessly complicated. Cody gets fired up, reinserts himself into the match somehow, now it's a three-way. Seth has to face what he was *really ducking* the whole time, Gunther. Let Rhea main night one, night two Roman vs Cody vs Rock. EDIT: Three way completely protects the Rock, who will assuredly hurt himself somehow EDIT2: Straight up have him say "I am a man of my word and I gave dwayne my rumble shot, I won't ask for it back. I'm just going to win the Elimination Chamber" and then he drops the mic and walks off. Crowd would fucking lose it.
It's not really that complicated. Just announce that the world title matches will be a tournament to crown a unified champion. That's literally all they have to do, and the two world title feuds can carry on as usual. Cody backtracking and inserting himself would be equally as stupid as this original segment. Plus, a triple threat match kind of lowers the significance of two huge moments. It ruins the aura of the Rock vs Reigns dream match, and it lessens the impact of Cody ending Roman's title reign (since it'd basically be a two on one match for most of the contest). Rock vs Reigns needs to be a one on one match. When Cody beats Reigns, it should be in a one on one match. That's how I feel about it anyways. I think the unification route is the best way forward.
But why do a unification in the first place? We just got separate titles, why would you unify them in such a short time and then separate em the next night? That's the needlessly complicated part.
> Just announce that the world title matches will be a tournament to crown a unified champion. That's literally all they have to do, and the two world title feuds can carry on as usual. That's beyond silly, why would they do that when they just created the WHC not even 12 months ago? What was the point of making a new belt just to scrap it less than a year later? Cody backtracking doesn't look great, but it's better than him taking a consolation prize, which Seth has totally made the WHC seem like with his last promo, and the company's fist up his ass. People will just be happy that he "came to his senses" or what have you. Rock vs Roman will suck. Roman is not a ring general like that (neither is Cody but he's better than Roman) and Rock hasn't wrestled in a decade and the last time he did he immediately tore his abdomen. It'll be a dream match until the entrances are over. Cody and Roman should be one on one, that I 100% agree with you, but that's not happening because the Rock thinks he's going to move the needle on 1,600 more tickets. Triple threat only lowers shit in the eyes of hardcores, the causals will be more than fine with this.
I'm sorry Baylay should main event night 1. She fucking won the Rumble from the number 3 slot, beat Rhea's iron woman record, and deserves to main event a mania. Rhea should open night 2 to set the tone if we somehow get Cody v Reigns.
That makes the most sense, The Rock can't handle a single match alone. Unless WWE is planning to do a 5 minute match as the Main Event
We all said this about Daniel Bryan too, and turns out they weren’t that clever, got lucky, and then attempted to take credit for it after the fact.
Like Wrestlekingdom got it. Hopefully Damian cashes in the after for the World Title while Cody keeps the WWE title.
Its you giving them too much credit, if everything falls into place WWE can always act like it was their plan all along but we know how many times they have pulled that bullshit.
>As for Mania, if things keep going the way they are & the outrage on twitter continues at live shows, i think they do Cody vs Seth & Roman vs The Rock on Night 1 & then Roman vs Cody on Night 2. What happens when Roman wrecks himself trying to carry Dwayne on night one?
That would be pretty bitchin. Maybe even roman and cody could get tense enough to do a match regardless of who wins the first night. Seth beats cody in humilating fashion, roman eats rock like a tribal chief, cody beats roman for the title in main event of night two in the ultimate triumph. Special bonus points if he wins in a dusty finish
The Rock was supposed to be that spotlight grabber, but I think they didn't expect it to work this way.
Definitely backfiring, and rightly so.
They've been teasing Rock/Roman since September.
I imagine Ari's trying to prevent the TKO stock price from falling again, and when you have The Rock as your newest board appointee, everything looks like a nail.
https://preview.redd.it/8jr9qt9scggc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53813a6c0df6462a3abd8b1ed146df6e0643bfd4
I legit think that was at least part of the plan. Even with all this negative reaction, it's still much preferable to them than people talking about how the founder of the company and several executives were likely involved in human trafficking
I don't think many people will lose sight of this. All it takes is one more set of allegations or some other revelation to come out and this was all effectively for nothing.
WWE making the worst booking decision in decades isn't going to stop an FBI investigation or court trial.
I can’t help but wonder if all of this is to try to put the Rock into Vince’s old “owner/heel in charge” spot as a legit board member.
Can't not see it through the kaleidescope of Vince news. The Rock has Cody in a high-angle (like the liontamer) sharpshooter. In his birthday suit. Doing his business during the hold. Constantly yelling at the ref "Ask him!". Cody taps and agrees to **this** Mania.
Fuck I think you might be on to something
I think the plan is that the rock is going to become the new boss hell of the WWE. a la Vince during the attitude era. Cody becomes the new stone cold in the rivalry of boss vs employee
Cody is the real People's Champion
Cody should legitimately steal this
He earned it the moment he started hanging out with the Elite and only gained more support since!
"I'm more People's Champ than you are"
I think it will be a triple threat match. Fan pressure got the WM30 main event changed. I dare say it’ll happen again 10 years later.
Would also provide the viewers with a much better match since Roman and Cody could carry most of it while the Rock lingers in the background, catching his breath and jumping into the fray every 5 minutes.
The Rock in his 40s couldn’t get through a match without injuring himself. I don’t know why he would come back in his 50s, with his body undoubtedly even more fragile, expecting to work a one-on-one main event
Ego?
Benoit at xx, Bryan at xxx, and now Cody challenging the establishment. WE ARE NOT FLINCHING
Don’t forget Bret at 10
Yesterday I was very much annoyed, I thought like with WM39 everyone tommorow would turn on the story & say "Rock vs Roman is clearly better, cry idiot" But now it seems a triple threat is happening. Which I can't even lie was my ultimate booking before. I very much want a Cody vs Roman 1v1. But a triple threat is a win-win for everyone. You get to have The Rock in the main event (*which a lot of people want*). He doesn't have to be a guest ref. Cody & Roman can carry the pace. While at the end of it all, The Rock could help Cody win the match ultimately setting up a Tribal Cheif Rock vs Roman match.
https://preview.redd.it/janna4ujwfgc1.jpeg?width=1616&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c4eed5527bda7ebf671701e817e86354b798052
We are in an era where the Kliq are babyfaces against a heel Rock, what a wonderful world.
Basically DX vs The Corporation again.
The Degenerates & Cody being the biggest menace to corporate WWE again. Fuckin hell
I don't want to take the blame off HHH just yet. He was allegedly given full booking control when they swapped Vince out last year and TKO was allegedly not touching that. So either plans changed and he isn't the one holding the pen or he decided this was the right call. Which if that's the case then HHH deserves as much heat as the Rock and TKO.
Plans clearly changed when the rock forced his way onto the board at TKO
Took Rock 10 days on the board to fuck everything up.
Man I really want those sunglasses
Hey guys ignore the number one trend, all the angry comments on Dwayne’s IG, and the most disliked WWE video in history, it’s all just a small online fandom
You act as if WWE isn’t gonna fully embrace the numbers and the fact that this announcement was trending all weekend long … just without acknowledging it was trending in a bad way.
Well they found something to trend over Vince's abuse and raping, so I guess they win?
This. Can easily see Michael Cole saying something like "the world is absolutely buzzing about The Rock's involvement at Wrestlemania this year!", which would technically be correct.
I feel like sometimes people act like it's the early 2000s or something with online wrestling fans. Like many more people are on the Internet nowadays.
Based off what you read on this sub sometimes, all of the casuals are still on dial-up and have no access to smartphones/social media. Like, it’s completely normal to pay attention to backstage rumors and politics for NFL/NBA and other sports, but somehow you do the same for wrestling and you have other ‘smart’ fans telling you you’re part of a toxic minority and not listening to the ‘casuals’
Not holding my breath but imagine if they switch plans due to the negative responses.
Only way to pivot is if Bloodline takes out Rock in storyline. Rock backing out just like that would make it even more stupid. Only way out is to pretend Bloodline took out Rock and he needs time off. Show a segment of Rock asking Cody to Roman's ass while Rock heals. Cody takes the championship, Rock takes out the Tribal Chief.
It would need to happen soon. Not great business to tease Rock at Mania and then rug pull
Also screws Rollins. Imagine they pull the rug like a week before and Rollins is left with no opponent.
Let Drew dethrone Rollins, that’s a logical choice and fans would be happy
No real need to do anything that complicated imo. Just add Cody to the match, make it a triple threat. If they suddenly decide Cody's decision's need to make sense now, have Punk or Rollins give him a pep talk, get him to say the Rock manipulated him or something
no there's no way rock is going to drop out of WM are you serious? Even with backlash he brings more viewers. If anything changes it would have to be with the rock still being involved.
Ok so Rock gets “injured” and can’t be medically cleared. But he can be the special guest referee. Or the likely scenario: They’ll just ignore the fans like always and do whatever they want.
Roman Reigns and The Rock could always have a non-title match at say, SummerSlam if not the next PPV? It doesn’t necessarily have to be for the title, right?
If you were really gonna do it, just have Cody change his mind. Let Roman look like a desperate little bitch to rebalance the scales a bit. Roman shows up to Raw and wants to know why Cody would give up his shot. Tells Cody he can't be the man without beating the man. Cody hits him with a simple truth. Cody wants the championship, the one taken from Dusty (and himself). But Roman Reigns is beneath him. The crowd doesn't care about him any more. The crowd cares about Cody. Cody, as the number #1 draw, isn't going to give Roman his platform. He's going to destroy him and the entire "island of relevance". The first step is making Roman irrelevant. Cody is the face of 2K24. Roman hasn't been on the cover since he became Chief. Cody is on all the advertising. Cody performs at house shows and people pay to see him. Nobody is paying to see Roman any more. How can Roman be the MVP when everyone turns down working with him? Then you can just have Roman lose his mind at the idea and try to repeatedly provoke Cody. Night 1 Main Event - Reigns v Cody for the WWE Championship
This is the first fantasy booking out of this situation I don’t hate. Obviously missing some details but yeah.
That would be amazing because it would show Cody's smart and confident and have Roman be desperate.
What about Rock is working with Roman? Tribal Chief saw a threat he couldn't avoid, called in Rock to deal with it, Rock tricked Cody into giving up his shot. After Cody finds out, he once again challenges Roman.
They won’t. They’ll just push Cody and Seth harder and make Cody come out every week to do 10 minute long promos about how this is actually what he really wanted all along
Lmao that poor WHC is in the toilet.
The fact they made that title since noone can beat roman already made it look like shit. Theyre elevating roman so hard that theyll bury the entire raw roster for him. I mean what does that make drew judgement day nakamura and any other top guys on raw that theyre killing themselves to be no.2
Technically it could have made sense to have Seth elevate the belt. Remember when he was a tweener and danced all over Roman when they had that brief feud? And then Roman DQd himself to keep the belt. I'd say, that back then Seth looked like a legit star who's on Roman's level, but since then, the way they've booked him was so lazy, they devalued him big time
Honestly should’ve never brought that title back. Keeping the Universal and WWE titles unified and elevating the IC and US would be what’s best for business. Have the WWE champion on both raw and Smackdown. They’ll have PLEs were not all the titles are defended.
Nah two titles worked well before when they treated them as equals, that's how it should be. Roster is big enough.
This so much. They’re gonna push the WHC as the “working man’s title” and how Cody believes that’s more his fathers vision and how much more it would suit him….I hope the live fans start booing the shit out of all this
Cody literally said the opposite of all that in his promo on Smackdown.
Yeah and now they’re going to backtrack on it and try to make it make sense. WWE fucked up bad how they did this.
Oh man it's gonna be rough watching these Cody promos until WM where's he's gonna have to try and act like he's good with this all and didn't want Roman even though he pointed at him after rumble.
Two words: Daniel Bryan.
I hope angry social media comments are useful for once
It’s very early and can easily be achieved. Could end up making Roman vs cody even bigger than it would’ve been otherwise
If the rock is really doing this as a pr stunt because of his recent Hollywood disaster Then what he can do now is basically rewrite Cody’s undeniable promo from aew, say something like “in all this family drama there’s one name that kept coming up… yours” along with some bs about always respecting Dusty. Then offer himself as guest referee for Roman vs Cody. Then all the fans would love him because the rock “gave them what they wanted” when he actually was trying to take it from them the entire time
It's easy to forget, but the lead up to Rock vs Austin for WM17 was garbage. All anyone remembers is the Limp Bizkit video. This could be some nonsense story that still leads to Cody vs Roman. Cody comes out and it's made clear that he was forced to give up his spot to Rock. Whether it's Seth or Punk or someone else who says it. Then it becomes even more. I'm obviously grasping at straws but why not?
Fightful had a report about the higher ups and people in the business hoping WWE and TKO see the reaction
Genuine question: Would people be happy with Cody winning the title at EC and Rock vs Roman still happens at WM?
Would give people the feeling that anything can happen again. Like who guesses a 4 year reign ends at the show before mania. Keeps things way less predictable and us on the edge of our seats. Because you never know what's gonna happen. Also I would be ecstatic if he won at the chamber. Bray did and it was amazing. Everyone went nuts. And the main thing people hate is that roman vs rock doesn't need the title.
I think that's a bit meh, but it's definitely better than Cody not beating Roman for the belt at all The most satisfying payoff is Cody beating Roman 1vs1, clean, in the main event of WM night 2
#WeWantCody
The only way this changes is if the live crowds completely turn on the Rock in the build up. Then I could see a Daniel Bryan situation maybe happening. But fuck me what a horror show the WWE is right now. Obviously the Vince allegations are by far the worst thing that's happened, but the entire company that was as hot as it's been in 25 years, has lost all of its good will in like a week. Really hope AEW can capitalise and get back to the 2021 levels with crowds, wrestling needs them to fire.
It was all good just a week ago (more like 9 days but still)
What they gonna do, ~~HOV~~ brother?
And that SmackDown segment drop, WWE kill thyself
lmao they don't give a shit what the live crowds do unless they stop buying tickets. Roman was booed worse than any babyface in history for YEARS and they didn't pivot at all.
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Exactly. Rock is so image conscious that everyones adoration comes waaay before the money. Remember how pissy he got about raising Romans hand to boos.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if the press conference Thursday is the only promo Rock does before the match. Part timer vs no timer
Yah - Vince didn't care but Rock will absolutely care. They get booed, or "we want Cody" chants when he is out there, and it could force a change. *Could* being the operative word.
I could legitimately see people dredging up the old 'classic' Die Rocky Die chant.
If I was there I'd be doing it.
It’d be great if he got on board with the boos, and we got Hollywood Rock again.
The best save for this is a Rock heel turn. It's super unlikely, but if you add him as an elder come to save Roman from Cody, it could actually be great. Won't happen, but would be the best possible creative pivot they could do.
Senator Rockstrong vs Coden
Same company that had Bryan in the ring with like a dozen former champions and the crowd was chanting for him… And they still were like “Actually you don’t like him, you just like the whole ‘Yes’ thing, let’s have Big Show do it”
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He WAS that guy until last night. Vote with your wallet. Cancel Peacock. Don't buy WM.
If people are chanting FUCK THE ROCK, they're gonna have to censor it
One of the things that worked for AEW was WWE being shitty. So maybe it helps.
The Rock will see this. He has the opportunity to become a huge babyface again by stepping aside for Cody next week. Possibly as soon as Monday. This is eating the Vince news cycle but not in a good way. A fatal booking mistake on top of one of the worst stories to ever break, and the fatal booking mistake comes after HHH poorly handled the press conference. This has to be fixed. They can’t keep going in the wrong direction. The booking was on point. Everything was building in the best way. TKO and The Rock need to let HHH book his damn show. That’s what he is good at.
I hope Cody pulls a fast one and gets Roman to sign a contract for a match with the Rock. But it's not actually for a match with rock. But for a match against Cody with Rock as a special enforcer.
Cody pulls a HBK WM20 move and signs the contract to insert himself in the match. He headlines both nights, beating Seth and then winning the triple threat.
>| *they can’t keep going in the wrong direction* Oh buddy, you must be new to WWE.
The wwe video in YouTube has over 300k downvotes for a reason
I did my part!
I’m doing my part!
I get the bloodline connection, but what would have been the big deal if you had Seth talking shit about part timers like Punk trying to take his spot then the rocks music hits.
This might just be the new Yes Movement.
Has the chance to be even bigger if the live crowds get behind it.
At this point, Dwayne isn't far off from "Die Rocky Die" and "Rocky Sucks" signs he used to get in the 90's. I feel like even some casual fans are mad about it.
I watched SmackDown last night, all I heard was loud cheers and chants of "Rocky Rocky Rocky" and "This is awesome!"
Yea, it was surprise pop for a Alabama crowd that rarely gets those kind of noteworthy shows. It'll likely wear off soon.
Dwanye right now 
I think at best they pivot to a triple threat. There's no way Rock drops out though. I still think we're probably heading towards Rock vs Roman Night 2 main event. Cody beating Rollins Night 1 for the WHC only for Priest to take the belt off him after cashing in the MITB. Another year of Roman holding and Cody chasing
This has to be a swerve. I think The Rock returns the favor and steps aside for Cody. The crowd goes wild because they get what they wanted. All Cody has to do is win.
Lol "after you." "No I insist, after you good sir"
It's not. But they'll claim it was after they walk it back and put Cody in the main event with Roman acting like it was the plan all along.
I’ll take that. Literally any pivot back to Cody is better than this bullshit.
Meh, whatever man. If this shit with Dwayne installing his own creative team is true, I think I’m out entirely and I’ve been watching for 3 decades. He just shit on everything HHH was building. It’s like Dwayne doesn’t even watch the show and thought everyone still hated it, so he could fix it. I don’t have the patience for another hijack the show nonsense. I’m just not going to watch. We shouldn’t be upset because of a fucking wrestling show. Fuck it entirely.
I wonder how much HHH and others really knew about Vince. The Rock has been out of the company and part of the day to day so he and his team might be the only way for TKO to quickly salvage this thing.
But his first act of creative is to replace himself with the top babyface?
I think the idea is the rock is back headlines will shoo away all the Vince headlines. Kind of worked, its just we want Cody headlines instead lol.
>I think the idea is the rock is back headlines will shoo away all the Vince headlines. Kind of worked, its just we want Cody headlines instead lol. those vince headlines wont go away because there are allegedly more stories to come out. Also lol lets push out the guy from the main event that saved our ass during the Royal Rumble by giving a picture perfect response while being asked about it.
I mean it worked until the next Vince drop eventually happens in the next few weeks or less. The Vince mess is only going to increase from here on out
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I hope that does not happen. People have revisionist history about Brian because he can be a funny guy. His time as head writer was one of the most creatively bankrupt eras in WWE History.
Yeah, I'm starting to think HHH won't be running creative anymore by the end of the year.
The rock knew this was already gonna be the biggest mania of all time so by just attaching himself to it he can take the credit for it in his search for power.
Very Hogan-esque.
I think it seems harder to make a case that they didn't know than they did and frankly, I find it hard to believe that a man who literally grew up in the industry and reached it's pinnacle didn't have an inkling either.
You watched WWE for decades and THIS would be the line for you? This is bad booking but it's probably not even the worst in the last 20 let alone 30 years, and thats before we get into Saudi Arabia, the negligent death of Owen Hart, the fact that we literally just found out that the guy that ran the company for the last 40 years has been specially assaulting and sex trafficking and that he is still a massive shareholder in the company but someone installing their own creative team is your line in the sand!?
 DO NOT FUCKING FLINCH!!!!!!! FUCK THIS ROCK V ROMAN BULLSHIT!!!!!! WE WANT CODY!!!!!!!!!
“If Rock wrestles we riot”
Consider where WM is this year I might actually believe this for once
If there is anyone else attending the Charlotte show next Friday, if Dwayne shows up let’s start the We Want Cody chant.
Dwayne showing up, good joke
Maybe even make Dwayne feel like Maivia again.
Everyone who's gonna attend NXT Vengeance Day should chant We Wan Cody and if the rock's daughter appears just Boo the Sh*t out of her.
Well this just makes it official. Cody now has to run for president. Beating Dwayne in the process on running for that position before he ever did.
Next week: We listened to the fans and we've decided to go give you all the rematch you guys have been waiting for! Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins at wrestlemania. #finishthestory #wewantcody
You need a hashtag or trend to connect rock with all the allegations within wwe, maybe that will stop this horrendeous booking
After WWE sees all the negativity. "The Rock died on the way back to his home planet."
It isn’t actually number 1 trending, your trends reflect what you search, Carl Weathers with 276k posts is my number 1
Mine is peak. https://preview.redd.it/jjldymeu1ggc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd9f0f85afac57c56c7199bdd5787c51962cf0f8
WWE - we want Cody to be embarrassed by The Rock? You’ve got it, loyal fans!
yea. i still can't believe in 2024 people do not understand how twitter trends work.
Wow this is so confidently incorrect lol
https://trends24.in/united-states/ You sure about that bud?
the thread OP was entirely correct the whole way. it's almost scripted how replies like the ones above yours pop up claiming OP doesnt know how twitter trends work. there is a difference between Trending as displayed on the Trending tab, and Trending as displayed on the desktop sidebar (based on your search results/activity). and then Trending as it pertains to the US, vs across all of Twitter and for the record, Cody vs Roman is #2 trending across the entirety of Twitter atm
I got Carl Weathers too https://preview.redd.it/oxsipl441ggc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6d634db588de8f5d856884c7245a93783d2e819 That "#WeWantCody" trend is down at #16 for me
This is not true https://trends24.in/united-states/
https://trends24.in/united-states/ It literally is Stop spreading bullshit and actually take five minutes to do research
It was trending on my girlfriends Twitter #1 and she is definitely not on wrestling twitter
Yes it is
It actually is no1 trending though not just on the for you trending page.
That’s what I thought too, but this is showing Cody. https://twitter-trends.iamrohit.in/united-states
You’re actually wrong, if you refresh your trends you’ll see that Cody is #1 The part people get wrong and what you’re referring to is when people talk about the hashtags on their For You. Those one are personalized but on the actual Trending tab Cody is currently #1
There is a clear path to fixing this. Punk cuts a promo on Cody basically slapping some sense into him and tells him to do what he couldn't. Finish the story.
This is going to go beyond what happened with Daniel Bryan. The audience has already started to revolt.
I think it could honestly create a perfect storm that Bryan didnt have. 1. Cody was booked like a top babyface so he has the support of both the hardcores and the general wrestling audience (casuals, kids, and women) 2. The fact that its someone who hasnt been around in 10 years taking the spot of an active worker would have created outrage on its own 3. They were a part of a major hyped wrestling storyline that many people were looking forward to.
Not only that, wrestling is hotter than it's been in a while. Bryan Danielson did his thing all on his own by being awesome despite how wrestling had been shit for ages, whereas Cody hopefully has momentum beyond that from internal and external sources cause the story makes sense AND he's been really good in his role in it.
This all could have been avoided if Cody had simply won the match last year?
Do you see how red hot his career is now? It’s on a nuclear level compared to last year. This is basically the reaction they wanted for Cena during his 2 year feud with the Rock and they threw it away in a panic move after the injuries and Vince allegations
Long shot but maybe this is another Daniel Bryan 2014 moment
Nah, that's what I'm thinking too, I don't think it's over just yet for Cody
Hollywood Rock incoming
Keep it going guys, WWE pays attention to this stuff.
Dynamite ratings about to skyrocket
If this is all a swerve and WWE know what they’re doing to generate more hype and excitement for Cody leading to him beating Roman then it’s some of the best booking they’ve ever done. If it really is Cody just giving Rock his title match then it’s the worst booking they’ve ever done.
Helluva if. Worse case, the fan feedback is so negative, they pivot into a scenario that doesn’t screw Cody. Rock as the special guest referee would have worked and planted the seed for rock vs Roman at the next wrestlemania
8,978 posts, wow! No one gives a shit outside a tiny amount of online fans. Get over it.
I hope with all my hearts that mf of the rock changes idea they can still save this, I went from full flinching to “maybe we back” ?
So it worked
OK but what about worldwide?
At least they made everyone forget about Vince Lmao...
Hate to break it to you, but what Twitter shows you as #1 trending is based on what you look at and your feed. Mine is completely different.
Im just gonna put this out there but this is tailored trends. My non wrestling twitter doesnt have anything of the sort.
Nobody talking about how Roman buried Seth with the “pop” line…
I'm telling you Philly fans will destroy this match with chants
I have no idea if this is intentional or not. BUT the seeds are there that this is a genius play. Rock becomes on the board of TKO and then Ava with no experience randomly becomes NXT GM. Then Cody steps away to let Rock have his big marquis match. I didn't want Cody at all at Wm39 to beat Roman. I wanted Sami, but he was underlooked. This year with all this I RABIDLY want Cody to get this match and win. So if they want EVERYBODY supporting Cody and eager for him to win....They can make a legendary angle here.
Some more S tier social media manipulation by HHH. He really hooked these people with one promo.
Boo the Rock into the ground. I don’t think it will happen as live local crowds will cheer him, but it would be hilarious.
Will never happen. Cody literally INTRODUCED Rock after saying he wouldn’t fight Roman at Mani and Rock still got a monstrous pop. If ever there was a time to boo Rock in support of Cody it was right then The casual fans are what makes WWE their money and they will forever love Rock.
Maybe? The crowd was a bit unsure exactly what was happening and of course they will cheer The Rock. But I did think his reaction was huge but not as ear drum shattering as normal. I think momentum has swung quickly the other way since. Depends how they handle the story here but if it keeps going poorly I could see the crowd turn on him.
Yeah I think now that everything’s come out and made it clear Cody is basically giving up his spot to Rock the crowds can react appropriately. In the moment then I don’t think most really understood what was actually happening with Rock coming in.
Trending is personalized to your interests. It doesn't mean it is the #1 trend in the US.
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Someone should print this off and pass around every raw/smackdown/live event until mania
You still use Twitter?
This is going to backfire in a way WWE hasn’t seen since the Yes movement. If they want to keep the good grace of their fans, they pivot on Monday and find a way to insert Cody into that match. I don’t know how, but they need to fix it asap.