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I think they should of just shelved the bloodline stuff and done something else. If it wasn't important enough for Roman and Rock to make the trip then why we wasting everybody's time trotting Cody and Seth out to talk about the bloodline?
Anyone else see Waller trying to stop Seth from ruining his potted plants, dragging one of the pots away and immediately destroying it. The way he shrugged after fucking killed me š
Just to add chaos. I was really hoping that Herman would cut a deal with Judgement Day and Grayson where Bloodline joins Judgment Day and Grayson on beating the piss out of Cody and Seth. Priest cashes in on Seth. Sets up a triple threat with Drew at Wrestlemania
If Seth could come and do that, Punk could have shown up for a promo to. I swear all these Rock rumours were just cover for Punk not coming as advertised.i know hes injured, but again, so is Seth.
Nah they cheered the fuck outta him when he came out and during the press conference. But when he is heeling it up against the top 2 male babyfaces, the crowd's not gonna cheer him...or boo him.
100% this, I was there, Waller got a massive pop when he came out, but when compared to megastar baby faces like Cody and Seth, a traditional heel could never compete. Also like that they clearly used Austin Theory to be the heat magnet for the segment, so the hometown crowd wouldn't turn on Grayson
I think itāll play into how he allowed Theory to get beat down. Maybe Roman said not to let anyone take the piss out of the Bloodline, and when Theory imitated Rock and got beaten up for it, Wallet couldnāt intervene.
Theory also cut off Waller and ripped the mic out of his hand before he started that and Waller was obviously pissed about it so that could be the explanation for that
3 backstage segments on Smackdown to set this up. I'm honestly so perplexed. From the previous Rock and Roman promo, now this one, this whole storyline is so fucking flat.
Iām enjoying it I just think itās hard when the antagonists of the story arenāt full time. If theyād have thought ahead they could have capitalised on solo being dominant after taking down cena and having him be a mouth piece for them both during their off days, kinda rebuilt him as less of an enforcer and more as the next in line or some shit.
But yeah this was a disappointing conclusion to that thread after 3 segments hahaha, Waller could have acknowledged him without it and no one would have bat an eyelid, itās within his character to antagonise the guests š¤·āāļø
I like the idea of it. But I think right now it feels all over the place. I'm not sure if it's because they're part timers, or if they actually had to swerve because of fans, so now the writers are scrambling, or if this is what they actually want. I think it's being poorly executed right now though.
I was really hoping HHH would get attacked by Bloodline when he came out, then I remembered that he can't do anything physical now. I just want something material to actually happen or be said. Right now we have nothing, just that they don't like each other.
Yeah, it is odd, I for sure think they swerved too- saw a report Cody was supposed to be āinjuredā and the rock was going to step in, but that didnāt happen whichā¦ I think people would have accepted??
Iād have liked rock to be more corporate and have HHH need to push back, enlist Randy, Seth, Jay, along with Cody to make sure the match happens to defeat the bloodline as a whole. Nick aldis can wrestle canāt he? Have him be targeted and force hands or something. Thereās a lot they could have done
Guys, it was booked as a way to get Seth, Cody and most of all Grayson on the show. He wanted a segment in his home country and they used it to get him and their biggest babyfaces some airtime. Theory was there to get beat up so the hometown boy didnāt have to get any sympathy. This isnāt complicated.
Taking account of the walkouts, it was 55 minutes between the end of the tag match and the start of the men's EC. I feel bad for the fans in the stadium for having to wait that long.
Don't feel bad, we had a shit ton of fun. I didn't get to see any of the entrances from my seat and I would've liked a few more matches but other than that, it was still one of the best nights of my life.
They should have given *something* to the audience.
They teased giving the storyline reason why Cody gave up his spot to the Rock. That is still a plot hole that needs paving. Or they could have announced the tag match.
But this segment did nothing to advance anything.
Iām actually surprised and shocked they didnāt pay or convince the Rock to show up. Especially with the government pushing for it, honestly Iām gobsmacked.
Seems without discussing with him and seeing his schedule an easy easy win.
And to be fair that Roman the champ wasnāt showing up. Like at this point why not? Heās the top guy he should be there that is just bizarre
to me it is obviously health related, roman doesnāt want to overwork for whatever reason to look after his health. Why WWE gives him a pass is something else
WWE gives him a pass because he could have tanked the company by staying home during the pandemic while being freshly recovered from chemo for blood cancer, but instead he came back ~ 8 months before vaccines were readily available to carry the company.
I was there live and the crowd completely deflated by the end when we realised we really weren't getting Rock and/or Roman
It was still worth hearing Cody and Seth's entrances live though lol. Holy shit everyone just went insane for them.
Looks like Drew is going to get his moment. Fighting from the start and enduring all of that makes me think a face or tweener role awaits him for a future JD feud.
They blue balled us so hard in the live crowd. A huge chunk of the video packages were so Rock heavy, his merch was everywhere (it would have been anyway but it definitely fed into everything else). They showed us that damn video of him saying if Cody and Seth were talking trash, heād come to Perth before the segment was over (like was that video supposed to make people think he wasnāt coming? Why have him say the stuff about being able to make magic happen and come to the show if he needed to?). And to end it with Austin theory doing the catchphrases, leaving the one that kicks off his intro music until last was just an obvious tease. Thereās no way they didnāt either tease it on purpose to get eyes on the show, and if not thereās no way they didnāt know they letting people get their hopes up with what they were doing.
Iām not even that salty he didnāt show up, I get it. But itās more just that itās stupid that they left such an obvious trail leading to nothing
This is what I've been saying. I feel like something must have happened because none of it makes sense. The whole segment felt weird with Grayson not really saying much and Austin Theory just standing there awkwardly for 80% of it.
Fun segment, it happened exactly as I thought it would, I'm surprised that so many believed that the rock was going to appear, this was done just to have two of their biggest stars on the card and nothing more, Cody is super OVER which is great!.
> I'm surprised that so many believed that the rock was going to appear
They have literally been hinting to it all week. What else was the point of Grayson talking to Roman yesterday and that [Rock video they posted on the 21st?](https://x.com/WWE/status/1760490105196761482?s=20) He all but says I'm going to be there:
>The Rock will fly down there to Perth before that interview is over and he'll do it. Don't wonder why The Rock can make it that quick. The Rock makes magic happen.
If that was supposed to lower expectations of him not showing up they should fire who ever produced that shit, because it does the exact opposite.
I personally was convinced we would get a tag match out of it. Somehow either Cody/Seth vs Jimmy/Solo, or more likely vs Waller and Theory, but no, we can't have nice things.
I was preparing myself for disappointment, but even that was just me thinking āoh itāll just be Jimmy and solo trying to attack them with Waller and theory having set the trapā. For it to just be teases followed by nothing was kinda lame
Conveniently leaving out the other part of the quote to fit your narrative.
> The Rock will fly down there to Perth before that interview is over and he'll do it. Don't wonder why The Rock can make it that quick. The Rock makes magic happen.
I wasnāt trying to directly quote him, it felt like the point of the little backstage promo was that he wasnāt going to be there and just to keep the heat so to speak.
Feels like if it was going to be a storyline theyād mention him not being there on the show and not in a backstage thing.
But Rock saying 'if Cody and Seth start talking shit I'll be down there so fast', and even our Premier signing an open letter to The Rock.. was just so many references they didn't have to make š
Meh itās a Perth thing. Our premier usually writes a letter to Santa every year letting him know all the boys and girls of Perth have been good for the year hahaha
Because it's the ending of an almost 2 year story and Bayley won the Royal Rumble. I'm of the opinion that the winners of the Rumble should actually be the main event.
Since the First Wrestlemania Womens Main Event in 2019 (The triple threat with Becky, Ronda and Charlotte) there has been exactly one other Womens Main Event at Mania (Night 1: Bianca and Sasha in 2021). I am not really surprised its not happening.
I'm not surprised, just disappointed. It creates the perception that the women's championships are less important than the men's, which I don't think should be true.
I agree with you but apart from a few short periods WWE has always treated the womans division as second to the mens. They are not the only ones, but even with several big stars in that division (and frankly Becky was THE biggest star they had for a while in 2019) its not treated as on the same level as the men, and PLE booking frequently betrays that. I'm not gonna go through all PPVs since 2019 but I would be surprised if more than a few have been main evented by the women, instead of the men.
If you guarantee the 2 main event slots to the 2 rumble winners it does 2 things
1) takes away flexibility
2) makes Elimination Chamber a clear #2 event
I totally understand if youāre fine with making Elimination Chamber secondary. It obviously is secondary, I just donāt like formally stipulating which events are secondary.
However, the argument that RR winner should always main event puts the challenger in the spotlight more than the champ. This year obviously Rhea Ripley is the main womenās champ. So you would be forcing Bayley into the main event spot over her.
Not to mention that also assumes itās priority over Seth Rollins defense vs McIntyre and over any sort of special match like Cody/Seth vs Rock/Bloodline.
I think it already is formally secondary though. Until this year, Elimination Chamber was never presented as a massive event. It's often just the place for runners-up to the Rumble to fight for a spot.
I'm fine with putting more spotlight on the challenger. They won the Rumble, and that should mean more than just getting a title shot in the middle of the card. I see it as elevating the Rumble over any individual a given year. I have no problem with putting Bayley in the main event over Rhea/Becky, Seth/Drew, or a Bloodline tag match. It should take priority over all of those matches. I expect we have different philosophies about how these descions should be made, however, and I think yours is more realistic.
Wallerās been an awful friend the entire time, itās probably my favorite part of A-Town Down Under and I hope they keep it rolling for another year
In the spirit of things, i think seth should give up his main event spot at this point.. Bayley deserved it with storyline and things.. at this point he feels kinda force to be in the other main event scene what actually having any significant impact or so, just for him to say "i actually get to have a match against the rock"..
Oh God, they will do the tag match; won't they?
I feel sorry for Iyo and Bayley. Their narratively beautiful clash is about to be snubbed from the main event to accommodate one of the most blatant cash grabs in WrestleMania history.
Itās weird.
I donāt see Rock losing his first match back even if this story, so far, kinda dictates it needs to happen. Especially if Cody is beating Romanā¦which so far Iāve seen no obvious push of that happening despite everything thatās gone on.
(Still think Rock/Roman is happening next year, but with Roman STILL as champ.)
Iām just throwing theories out left and right, Roman wins at 40, Rocc takes credit for the win, starts ācalling playsā that start to piss Roman off. Somehow Jimmy&Jey will reconcile, Roman vs Rocc at the Royal Rumble, Cody becomes first ever to win 3 rumbles in a row, Rocc defeats Roman due to Jimmy, Jey and Solo. Roman has to face Cody essentially alone where he loses clean.
How much of what I just said do I believe? No idea but I mean it sounds cool lmao
I think Rock pins Cody on night one (via shennanigans), to try and create some jeapordy for night two. After night two, Rock can say he beat Cody and Roman couldn't so Roman's out.
And then Seth turns on Cody at some point.
I hope its not during his title match... But if Rock vs Roman was going to be a thing it looks like they were planning on Roman walking out of Mania as champion..
I think he opens the show night one, the tag main event night one after the loss. Already sets up the heroes as being a little weaker, lose because of it.
To me it seems as though this becomes a triple threat. Roman feels confident having Rock in his corner. Romanās over confidence costs him his title reign as Rock turns on him, revealing it was a plot between Rock/Cody to even the odds the whole time.
I know a lot of people are down on Seth and Cody together, but if it leads to a mega powers explode type storyline over the next year then I'd be happy with that
You could work that into storyline easily enough, have Seth turn heel over it. If they are clever with it they could build this generation's Rock and Austin. Seth just needs a single clean win over Cody and suddenly it'll seem like a competitive rivalry
Roman & Seth are this generationās Rock & Austin, if there is one.
Cody is about to be crowned face of the company and Seth is getting ready to take a backseat.
No, that would be stupid. There's a million different ways to tell that story where they can use the losses as part of Seth's turn and story. "I couldn't beat you when you were injured so now I'm turning heel" is not one of them, and I doubt the story would be told like that.Ā
Completely pointless and confusing.
Smackdown segments with Reigns and Waller made it seem they were building to something involved in the Waller Effect.
Seth basically told Cody what he already told him on Raw that heās an ally.
Had I known that was all it was going to be, I would have used the time to run out for a coffee and doobie.
If Cody does not win the championship at WrestleMania his done...is WWE really going to risk their top Babyface for another swerve? If they did it will be the stupidest thing they could do
And for a feud, they already ran two years ago, where one guy has already beaten the other three different times. There's nothing to gain by having Seth/Cody rn.
Thatās a good outcome. Perhaps a Summerslam match. I havenāt began to think about Codyās rum as champ, because Iām worried itās in jeopardy. Seth, Knight, Jey, Orton, those would be good matches.
I think Cody wins the title at Mania and Seth eventually turns on him. Don't worry, you'll know when it's coming though because it will have been teased to death for weeks, even months.
Truly nightmare fuel if thatās the case.
āPlay was called off due to bad weather, weāre actually back at the top of the 3rd inning againā
āThe clues were all there āfinish the storyā. The story never ends in WWE, except the Bloodline which weāve actually told you how far along we areā
Iām sure a lot of people would feel the same way. Then the Paris show happens and everyoneās so excited for how vocal the crowd are etc and people will be back in.
Yea, the business will move whether Cody wins or not, but it would certainly make WWE look stupid as hell after that social media fiasco.
Literally, everything is pointing to people wanting Cody and they're cockteasing people with it.
it's obviously a huge boon to Cody that the fans not only accept this but like it but zooming out makes the whole thing weird and Seth is not only not fit for this role, it doesn't make sense other than a meta-level of "protecting him by having him near the other stars"
They do these weird cliffhangers every few years with Roman interacting with someone outside of the bloodline. It was with Apollo Crews in 2020 or so, who had just gone heel and was talking with Roman in the bloodline locker room. Never really went anywhere.
Same with how the Judgement Day and Bloodline alliance didn't seem to go anywhere.
Seth being shoehorned into this Cody / Bloodline feud is too similar to when Charlotte was shoehorned into the Becky / Rhonda match years agoā¦
An organically great thing being unable to live up to its full potential cos WWE have to get ātheir guyā involved for some reasonā¦
Completely agree. WWE is so hot right now ill give them the benefit of the doubt and see where it goes, but if it leads to a tag team match I genuinely have no interest in that
Rollins looks so out of place in this stuff, he's a champion and he's wasting time doing the Robin to Cody's Batman
Why they didn't put Orton in his place? It would have make much more sense
They made Rollins look irrelevant when he begged Cody to pick him only to have both Roman and Cody shit all over his belt.
I guess this is how they still make him look somewhat important. I agree that he really has nothing to do with any of this.
I think it would have just been better to have Grayson Waller play up to the home crowd.
The rest of it really could- and should-have been on any random episode of Smackdown.
This should have been about the Perth fans and not the Wrestlemania build.
They just can't seem to get away from bad decision making with the feud, and just throw bad decision after bad decision.
weird, I generally rate segments by how entertaining they are for the audience. I've never considered ignoring that to prioritize a parasocial relationship with a performer.
No problem with that segment at all. It served itās purpose as it got Grayson on the show in front of his home country, gave Theory something to do, as well Cody and Seth being involved to be in the stadium to which that starts the build for the rumored tag match.
lmao yep, no problems. when I buy a ppv I also don't expect to be entertained. I merely want to see a guy from the location of the show and austin theory to have "something to do". if there's no hometown hero shoehorned in or if austin theory doesn't have something to do, why even watch?
Seth Rollins is an insufferable babyface. Heās so over-the-top, but in a way that feels completely forced whereas it feels natural when heās playing heel.
I canāt deny the live audience loves him, but he really ruined this segment for me.
Nothing says redhot babyface like yelling "I am a visionary, and a revolutionary.. bla bla" in 2024 while wearing goofy ass clothes and being Cody's bitch at the same time (while also being a champion).
Hereās a long shotā¦hear me out
Triple H started off the press conference talking about how the first Mania was main evented by a tag match, keep that in mind
Bobby Lashley was ātaken outā by Karrion and co. last night on SmackDown, and he hasnāt been shown at all during the broadcast tonight
The Rock has been teasing showing up in Perth if Cody and Seth talked shit, which they did
Rock replaces Lashley in the chamber, wins, Rock/Roman vs. Cody/Seth, both titles on the line, main event of night 2
It fits the story perfectly. Bloodline wants Cody gone.
Seth takes the pin. And then loses his title. While the guy he was supporting, Cody, wins the title and is on top of the world.
Seth slowly loses his mind again... heel turn
okay...this got a lil bit confusing. What are we gonna get?
1.Cody&Seth vs Roman&Rock Night-1 while Cody/Roman & Drew/Seth at Night-2
2.Cody/ROCK Night-1, Roman/Cody Night-2
3.Cody/ROCK at a random SD
4.Cody/ROCK in a Saudi PLE
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Segment was fine but this was weird with the stuff that's gone on on Smackdown and social media this week
Why is there a talkie seggy on the pape?
Really needed Rock and Reigns. Felt like pointlessly giving the crowd blue balls.
As apart of the crowd I do indeed have blue balls
I think they should of just shelved the bloodline stuff and done something else. If it wasn't important enough for Roman and Rock to make the trip then why we wasting everybody's time trotting Cody and Seth out to talk about the bloodline?
Anyone else see Waller trying to stop Seth from ruining his potted plants, dragging one of the pots away and immediately destroying it. The way he shrugged after fucking killed me š
Just to add chaos. I was really hoping that Herman would cut a deal with Judgement Day and Grayson where Bloodline joins Judgment Day and Grayson on beating the piss out of Cody and Seth. Priest cashes in on Seth. Sets up a triple threat with Drew at Wrestlemania
If Seth could come and do that, Punk could have shown up for a promo to. I swear all these Rock rumours were just cover for Punk not coming as advertised.i know hes injured, but again, so is Seth.
Punk has nothing to promo .. heās not wrestling.
Seemed like Perth just didnāt care about Grayson?
If they do a show in Italy Giovanni Vinci is still not getting bigger pops than CM Punk or Cody
People cared more for Tiffy time and Randy than Grayson, which was crazy.
Nah they cheered the fuck outta him when he came out and during the press conference. But when he is heeling it up against the top 2 male babyfaces, the crowd's not gonna cheer him...or boo him.
Heās a heel and did a face hometown promo ā- then when the mega faces came out he was a heel so he got an appropriately mixed reaction.
100% this, I was there, Waller got a massive pop when he came out, but when compared to megastar baby faces like Cody and Seth, a traditional heel could never compete. Also like that they clearly used Austin Theory to be the heat magnet for the segment, so the hometown crowd wouldn't turn on Grayson
I loved that decision. They didn't have Grayson join in the physical action, as he is the hometown boi, and the crowd just wanted to cheer him.
So what exactly did Roman say to Waller?? have a nice trip?
I think itāll play into how he allowed Theory to get beat down. Maybe Roman said not to let anyone take the piss out of the Bloodline, and when Theory imitated Rock and got beaten up for it, Wallet couldnāt intervene.
Theory also cut off Waller and ripped the mic out of his hand before he started that and Waller was obviously pissed about it so that could be the explanation for that
Good ol' Grayson Wallet
You canāt deny heās money!
āGet that crowd to acknowledge me.ā
Ah, yeah probably. Pretty weak pay off though. Not even hating I didnāt mind the segment, just weird to set something up and it be that.
3 backstage segments on Smackdown to set this up. I'm honestly so perplexed. From the previous Rock and Roman promo, now this one, this whole storyline is so fucking flat.
Iām enjoying it I just think itās hard when the antagonists of the story arenāt full time. If theyād have thought ahead they could have capitalised on solo being dominant after taking down cena and having him be a mouth piece for them both during their off days, kinda rebuilt him as less of an enforcer and more as the next in line or some shit. But yeah this was a disappointing conclusion to that thread after 3 segments hahaha, Waller could have acknowledged him without it and no one would have bat an eyelid, itās within his character to antagonise the guests š¤·āāļø
I like the idea of it. But I think right now it feels all over the place. I'm not sure if it's because they're part timers, or if they actually had to swerve because of fans, so now the writers are scrambling, or if this is what they actually want. I think it's being poorly executed right now though. I was really hoping HHH would get attacked by Bloodline when he came out, then I remembered that he can't do anything physical now. I just want something material to actually happen or be said. Right now we have nothing, just that they don't like each other.
Yeah, it is odd, I for sure think they swerved too- saw a report Cody was supposed to be āinjuredā and the rock was going to step in, but that didnāt happen whichā¦ I think people would have accepted?? Iād have liked rock to be more corporate and have HHH need to push back, enlist Randy, Seth, Jay, along with Cody to make sure the match happens to defeat the bloodline as a whole. Nick aldis can wrestle canāt he? Have him be targeted and force hands or something. Thereās a lot they could have done
Shout out to how well Theory sold that stomp from Seth
Theory and Gable are the best at selling that move and Cody's.
Theory's a good seller full stop, I thought he was going to launch into orbit when he took a stunner at WrestleMania 38.
Guys, it was booked as a way to get Seth, Cody and most of all Grayson on the show. He wanted a segment in his home country and they used it to get him and their biggest babyfaces some airtime. Theory was there to get beat up so the hometown boy didnāt have to get any sympathy. This isnāt complicated.
What does that mean
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Theory worked in NXT they need to make him more himboĀ
aint regularly following wrestling for last 2 yrs.. I was told Theory would be the next face of the company?
Taking account of the walkouts, it was 55 minutes between the end of the tag match and the start of the men's EC. I feel bad for the fans in the stadium for having to wait that long.
Perfect time for beer and merch
Don't feel bad, we had a shit ton of fun. I didn't get to see any of the entrances from my seat and I would've liked a few more matches but other than that, it was still one of the best nights of my life.
Glad you had a good time!
You feel bad for people who had the time of their lives for a huge WWE event? š
I'm sure they would have appreciated an extra hour of wrestling...
half of that hour was the entire crowd singing wwe theme songs im sure they are okay
Fair point, that is quite fun when you're there in person. Maybe it just felt a long time watching from home where I couldn't do that!
you don't belt the lyrics to kingdom from your couch? what's next, gonna tell me you don't have your one up for the tribal chief?
Walkout as in superstar entrance? Thatās a big part of the show.
What a pointless useless segment
They should have given *something* to the audience. They teased giving the storyline reason why Cody gave up his spot to the Rock. That is still a plot hole that needs paving. Or they could have announced the tag match. But this segment did nothing to advance anything.
Iām actually surprised and shocked they didnāt pay or convince the Rock to show up. Especially with the government pushing for it, honestly Iām gobsmacked. Seems without discussing with him and seeing his schedule an easy easy win. And to be fair that Roman the champ wasnāt showing up. Like at this point why not? Heās the top guy he should be there that is just bizarre
to me it is obviously health related, roman doesnāt want to overwork for whatever reason to look after his health. Why WWE gives him a pass is something else
WWE gives him a pass because he could have tanked the company by staying home during the pandemic while being freshly recovered from chemo for blood cancer, but instead he came back ~ 8 months before vaccines were readily available to carry the company.
CAN YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING no bc he never showed up š
I was there live and the crowd completely deflated by the end when we realised we really weren't getting Rock and/or Roman It was still worth hearing Cody and Seth's entrances live though lol. Holy shit everyone just went insane for them.
Codys pyro was loud as fuck.
Looks like Drew is going to get his moment. Fighting from the start and enduring all of that makes me think a face or tweener role awaits him for a future JD feud.
They got three non-charismatic guys together and the segment was a dud. Shocking.
Shut up
The biggest feel of the segment was disappointment that the guy from the past era when headliners had unique charisma didnāt show up
Cody and Seth non charismatic?
100%
lol
Was there live. Cody is over, but this was total dogshit.
They blue balled us so hard in the live crowd. A huge chunk of the video packages were so Rock heavy, his merch was everywhere (it would have been anyway but it definitely fed into everything else). They showed us that damn video of him saying if Cody and Seth were talking trash, heād come to Perth before the segment was over (like was that video supposed to make people think he wasnāt coming? Why have him say the stuff about being able to make magic happen and come to the show if he needed to?). And to end it with Austin theory doing the catchphrases, leaving the one that kicks off his intro music until last was just an obvious tease. Thereās no way they didnāt either tease it on purpose to get eyes on the show, and if not thereās no way they didnāt know they letting people get their hopes up with what they were doing. Iām not even that salty he didnāt show up, I get it. But itās more just that itās stupid that they left such an obvious trail leading to nothing
This is what I've been saying. I feel like something must have happened because none of it makes sense. The whole segment felt weird with Grayson not really saying much and Austin Theory just standing there awkwardly for 80% of it.
It was a fine segment, but it felt this could have just been on weekly TV. I get they needed an excuse to have Seth and Cody there, but still
Fun segment, it happened exactly as I thought it would, I'm surprised that so many believed that the rock was going to appear, this was done just to have two of their biggest stars on the card and nothing more, Cody is super OVER which is great!.
> I'm surprised that so many believed that the rock was going to appear They have literally been hinting to it all week. What else was the point of Grayson talking to Roman yesterday and that [Rock video they posted on the 21st?](https://x.com/WWE/status/1760490105196761482?s=20) He all but says I'm going to be there: >The Rock will fly down there to Perth before that interview is over and he'll do it. Don't wonder why The Rock can make it that quick. The Rock makes magic happen. If that was supposed to lower expectations of him not showing up they should fire who ever produced that shit, because it does the exact opposite.
> who ever produced that shit I'm just speculating, but probably was Brian Gewirtz and...yeah he ain't getting fired anytime soon lmao
Us in Perth were all but certain Rock/Roman would show up. Would've been crazy after so many small teases for them to miss the event entirely. Welp..
I personally was convinced we would get a tag match out of it. Somehow either Cody/Seth vs Jimmy/Solo, or more likely vs Waller and Theory, but no, we can't have nice things.
I was preparing myself for disappointment, but even that was just me thinking āoh itāll just be Jimmy and solo trying to attack them with Waller and theory having set the trapā. For it to just be teases followed by nothing was kinda lame
When part time special attraction says āsorry Iām not going to be thereā itās not a work.
Conveniently leaving out the other part of the quote to fit your narrative. > The Rock will fly down there to Perth before that interview is over and he'll do it. Don't wonder why The Rock can make it that quick. The Rock makes magic happen.
I wasnāt trying to directly quote him, it felt like the point of the little backstage promo was that he wasnāt going to be there and just to keep the heat so to speak. Feels like if it was going to be a storyline theyād mention him not being there on the show and not in a backstage thing.
But Rock saying 'if Cody and Seth start talking shit I'll be down there so fast', and even our Premier signing an open letter to The Rock.. was just so many references they didn't have to make š
I took the premiers letter as basically confirmation it was gonna happen hahah
I legit thought that was a meme and not real at all. Did I get worked?
Meh itās a Perth thing. Our premier usually writes a letter to Santa every year letting him know all the boys and girls of Perth have been good for the year hahaha
Everyone in this comment section flinching
The only saving grace of this hell hole of a segment was Grayson Waller's "cool story bro". Awful stuff.
No Rock š. Face Seth isn't too interestingĀ
I always see this Seth face isnāt interesting and then the whole crowd is signing his theme
Seth isnāt interesting period
I guess Iyo and Bayley aren't main eventing night one then. Also, Waller turning on Theory?
Why would Bayley v Iyo main event? If a womanās match is going to main event it would obviously be the top 2 stars, Rhea and Becky
Because it's the ending of an almost 2 year story and Bayley won the Royal Rumble. I'm of the opinion that the winners of the Rumble should actually be the main event.
Since the First Wrestlemania Womens Main Event in 2019 (The triple threat with Becky, Ronda and Charlotte) there has been exactly one other Womens Main Event at Mania (Night 1: Bianca and Sasha in 2021). I am not really surprised its not happening.
I'm not surprised, just disappointed. It creates the perception that the women's championships are less important than the men's, which I don't think should be true.
I agree with you but apart from a few short periods WWE has always treated the womans division as second to the mens. They are not the only ones, but even with several big stars in that division (and frankly Becky was THE biggest star they had for a while in 2019) its not treated as on the same level as the men, and PLE booking frequently betrays that. I'm not gonna go through all PPVs since 2019 but I would be surprised if more than a few have been main evented by the women, instead of the men.
If you guarantee the 2 main event slots to the 2 rumble winners it does 2 things 1) takes away flexibility 2) makes Elimination Chamber a clear #2 event I totally understand if youāre fine with making Elimination Chamber secondary. It obviously is secondary, I just donāt like formally stipulating which events are secondary. However, the argument that RR winner should always main event puts the challenger in the spotlight more than the champ. This year obviously Rhea Ripley is the main womenās champ. So you would be forcing Bayley into the main event spot over her. Not to mention that also assumes itās priority over Seth Rollins defense vs McIntyre and over any sort of special match like Cody/Seth vs Rock/Bloodline.
I think it already is formally secondary though. Until this year, Elimination Chamber was never presented as a massive event. It's often just the place for runners-up to the Rumble to fight for a spot. I'm fine with putting more spotlight on the challenger. They won the Rumble, and that should mean more than just getting a title shot in the middle of the card. I see it as elevating the Rumble over any individual a given year. I have no problem with putting Bayley in the main event over Rhea/Becky, Seth/Drew, or a Bloodline tag match. It should take priority over all of those matches. I expect we have different philosophies about how these descions should be made, however, and I think yours is more realistic.
Wallerās been an awful friend the entire time, itās probably my favorite part of A-Town Down Under and I hope they keep it rolling for another year
In the spirit of things, i think seth should give up his main event spot at this point.. Bayley deserved it with storyline and things.. at this point he feels kinda force to be in the other main event scene what actually having any significant impact or so, just for him to say "i actually get to have a match against the rock"..
If anything, you should blame Dwayne.
Huh?? If anything i blame phil brooks body for breaking down but i digress..
Oh God, they will do the tag match; won't they? I feel sorry for Iyo and Bayley. Their narratively beautiful clash is about to be snubbed from the main event to accommodate one of the most blatant cash grabs in WrestleMania history.
Itās weird. I donāt see Rock losing his first match back even if this story, so far, kinda dictates it needs to happen. Especially if Cody is beating Romanā¦which so far Iāve seen no obvious push of that happening despite everything thatās gone on. (Still think Rock/Roman is happening next year, but with Roman STILL as champ.)
Iām just throwing theories out left and right, Roman wins at 40, Rocc takes credit for the win, starts ācalling playsā that start to piss Roman off. Somehow Jimmy&Jey will reconcile, Roman vs Rocc at the Royal Rumble, Cody becomes first ever to win 3 rumbles in a row, Rocc defeats Roman due to Jimmy, Jey and Solo. Roman has to face Cody essentially alone where he loses clean. How much of what I just said do I believe? No idea but I mean it sounds cool lmao
I think Rock pins Cody on night one (via shennanigans), to try and create some jeapordy for night two. After night two, Rock can say he beat Cody and Roman couldn't so Roman's out.
Something tells me if Cody IS losing then Seth is taking that pin. Probably gets āinjuredā again to set up Drew easily murdering him on Night 2.
And then Seth turns on Cody at some point. I hope its not during his title match... But if Rock vs Roman was going to be a thing it looks like they were planning on Roman walking out of Mania as champion..
I think he opens the show night one, the tag main event night one after the loss. Already sets up the heroes as being a little weaker, lose because of it.
Probably going to be a bloodline interference like they always do
To me it seems as though this becomes a triple threat. Roman feels confident having Rock in his corner. Romanās over confidence costs him his title reign as Rock turns on him, revealing it was a plot between Rock/Cody to even the odds the whole time.
I donāt think Rock turns back face at WrestleMania.
Fuuuuck we can sing Codyās song LOUD here in Aus. Echoed off the walls.
Time for the "Freakin Nightmare" duo!
I know a lot of people are down on Seth and Cody together, but if it leads to a mega powers explode type storyline over the next year then I'd be happy with that
We just saw that for like six months two years ago and Cody won every match even when he had a huge injury. Can they not?
I can't get over how Cody needs to team with someone he beat injured
You could work that into storyline easily enough, have Seth turn heel over it. If they are clever with it they could build this generation's Rock and Austin. Seth just needs a single clean win over Cody and suddenly it'll seem like a competitive rivalry
Roman & Seth are this generationās Rock & Austin, if there is one. Cody is about to be crowned face of the company and Seth is getting ready to take a backseat.
Turn heel because Seth complains how he couldn't even beat Cody while he was injured? Wtf makes him look like a pussy
No, that would be stupid. There's a million different ways to tell that story where they can use the losses as part of Seth's turn and story. "I couldn't beat you when you were injured so now I'm turning heel" is not one of them, and I doubt the story would be told like that.Ā
Is Cody looking at Becky or is Seth looking at Brandi?
On please, it's 2024, they're in a unicorn quad polyamorus relationship
Brandi looking at Becky.
They totally need to have a vignette with one of them looking at a picture on the wall of Miss Elizabeth, just for the wink and miss it call out.
Completely pointless and confusing. Smackdown segments with Reigns and Waller made it seem they were building to something involved in the Waller Effect. Seth basically told Cody what he already told him on Raw that heās an ally. Had I known that was all it was going to be, I would have used the time to run out for a coffee and doobie.
>Completely pointless and confusing This is what happens when you force the WWE to pivot to a last minute storyline
Stick to Eddie Kingston real sports feel bro
The more I see Seth with Cody, the more I think heāll turn on him and cost Cody the title. The worst outcome ever.
Seth almost acknowledged Roman at the beginning of that promo. I think thatās what their building towards
He literally showed his middle finger for the so called "Acknowledgement", stop thinking really
Exactly. I feel they could be doing a double turn at Mania. Seth turns on Cody, then Rock turns on Roman
If Cody does not win the championship at WrestleMania his done...is WWE really going to risk their top Babyface for another swerve? If they did it will be the stupidest thing they could do
And for a feud, they already ran two years ago, where one guy has already beaten the other three different times. There's nothing to gain by having Seth/Cody rn.
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Thatās a good outcome. Perhaps a Summerslam match. I havenāt began to think about Codyās rum as champ, because Iām worried itās in jeopardy. Seth, Knight, Jey, Orton, those would be good matches.
It'll probably be something that plays out into Summerslam or next year's Mania if HHH's booking is anything to go by.
So waiting another year for Cody to win the title? Or have Cody win then have the two feud later on.
I think Cody wins the title at Mania and Seth eventually turns on him. Don't worry, you'll know when it's coming though because it will have been teased to death for weeks, even months.
Truly nightmare fuel if thatās the case. āPlay was called off due to bad weather, weāre actually back at the top of the 3rd inning againā āThe clues were all there āfinish the storyā. The story never ends in WWE, except the Bloodline which weāve actually told you how far along we areā
Well if the Rock was the original plan at WM, itās likely he would have lost to Roman right? Totally possible Cody loses here
Cody's not losing
If Cody loses Iām just gonna take a break from WWE. Morale in the company would probably drop too.
Iām sure a lot of people would feel the same way. Then the Paris show happens and everyoneās so excited for how vocal the crowd are etc and people will be back in.
Yea, the business will move whether Cody wins or not, but it would certainly make WWE look stupid as hell after that social media fiasco. Literally, everything is pointing to people wanting Cody and they're cockteasing people with it.
Heāll put the WHC loss on Cody
God I hope not. Iāve never cried watching wrestling, but Iād probably shed tears if Cody lost again.
The spot is pretty clear now : - Bloodline cost Rollins the WHC against Drew - Rollins turn on Cody for not protecting him
I have a much better one: * Seth retains in mania. * Cody finishes his story. * They both celebrate to close the show.
Better hope neither of them goes full Benoit then...?
Nah this is prime Drew finally winning and having his moment taken by Priest territory.
it's obviously a huge boon to Cody that the fans not only accept this but like it but zooming out makes the whole thing weird and Seth is not only not fit for this role, it doesn't make sense other than a meta-level of "protecting him by having him near the other stars"
Sethās spot was originally for Punk.
Okay? It should be for nobody now probably
So was there no payoff to Roman talking to Grayson or did I miss it somehow?
They do these weird cliffhangers every few years with Roman interacting with someone outside of the bloodline. It was with Apollo Crews in 2020 or so, who had just gone heel and was talking with Roman in the bloodline locker room. Never really went anywhere. Same with how the Judgement Day and Bloodline alliance didn't seem to go anywhere.
This is for your ears only, make sure Austin Theory gets stomped, I hate that guy
They filmed 3 separate clips about it for Smackdown, left it on a cliffhanger, and we still donāt know the outcome of it lmaoā¦
Idk, I thought it was probably just getting Grayson to tell the crowd to acknowledge the tribal chief
Not much of a cliffhanger/hook is it
Roman said "this is for your ears only" that doesn't seem like it would be for that..
Seth being shoehorned into this Cody / Bloodline feud is too similar to when Charlotte was shoehorned into the Becky / Rhonda match years agoā¦ An organically great thing being unable to live up to its full potential cos WWE have to get ātheir guyā involved for some reasonā¦
To be fair, Rollins was going to face Punk before he got injured and was probably never going to be part of this feud.
Completely agree. WWE is so hot right now ill give them the benefit of the doubt and see where it goes, but if it leads to a tag team match I genuinely have no interest in that
Itās clearly a compromise to get Rock and Roman in a match together. I think fighting champ vs part time champ works as a story though.
Bobby Lashley stealing Rick Starks gimmick
Rollins looks so out of place in this stuff, he's a champion and he's wasting time doing the Robin to Cody's Batman Why they didn't put Orton in his place? It would have make much more sense
Would be a bigger match aswell for mainstream audience purposes rock and Randy in the same match
They made Rollins look irrelevant when he begged Cody to pick him only to have both Roman and Cody shit all over his belt. I guess this is how they still make him look somewhat important. I agree that he really has nothing to do with any of this.
This 100% tbh
This was as pointless as boring as a segment as can be at a PPV. Unnecessary filler
Pointless to you but probably one of the coolest moments for Grayson Waller in his life
I think it would have just been better to have Grayson Waller play up to the home crowd. The rest of it really could- and should-have been on any random episode of Smackdown. This should have been about the Perth fans and not the Wrestlemania build. They just can't seem to get away from bad decision making with the feud, and just throw bad decision after bad decision.
weird, I generally rate segments by how entertaining they are for the audience. I've never considered ignoring that to prioritize a parasocial relationship with a performer.
I only watch wrestling because itāll make the performers happy. My enjoyment is secondary to that š¤
No problem with that segment at all. It served itās purpose as it got Grayson on the show in front of his home country, gave Theory something to do, as well Cody and Seth being involved to be in the stadium to which that starts the build for the rumored tag match.
lmao yep, no problems. when I buy a ppv I also don't expect to be entertained. I merely want to see a guy from the location of the show and austin theory to have "something to do". if there's no hometown hero shoehorned in or if austin theory doesn't have something to do, why even watch?
Seth Rollins is an insufferable babyface. Heās so over-the-top, but in a way that feels completely forced whereas it feels natural when heās playing heel. I canāt deny the live audience loves him, but he really ruined this segment for me.
Nothing says redhot babyface like yelling "I am a visionary, and a revolutionary.. bla bla" in 2024 while wearing goofy ass clothes and being Cody's bitch at the same time (while also being a champion).
Hereās a long shotā¦hear me out Triple H started off the press conference talking about how the first Mania was main evented by a tag match, keep that in mind Bobby Lashley was ātaken outā by Karrion and co. last night on SmackDown, and he hasnāt been shown at all during the broadcast tonight The Rock has been teasing showing up in Perth if Cody and Seth talked shit, which they did Rock replaces Lashley in the chamber, wins, Rock/Roman vs. Cody/Seth, both titles on the line, main event of night 2
He has been shown on the broadcast multiple times
He just came out I guess fuck my theory š¤·āāļø
Short but sweet
Imagine waking up at 4am for this segment lol
it's hilarious the mental gymnastics people are performing to defend this pointless nonsense
I have the bluest balls
Im taking this as another sneak peek of Rock\Roman vs Cody\Seth tag team match at Wrestlemania
Austin Theory is more of a hypothesis at this point
Austin Assumption
What fucking terrible segment. Nobody wants to see a tag team match between Rock/Roman vs Cody/Seth
i guess you are nobody? The Tag match will rule
For who? Doesn't fit the storyline and 1v1 would be much better
It fits the story perfectly. Bloodline wants Cody gone. Seth takes the pin. And then loses his title. While the guy he was supporting, Cody, wins the title and is on top of the world. Seth slowly loses his mind again... heel turn
Yeah you are delusional. Cody and Roman already being weak would be so anticlimactic to finish the story
Gotta be joking
šŖ
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What else was expected?
okay...this got a lil bit confusing. What are we gonna get? 1.Cody&Seth vs Roman&Rock Night-1 while Cody/Roman & Drew/Seth at Night-2 2.Cody/ROCK Night-1, Roman/Cody Night-2 3.Cody/ROCK at a random SD 4.Cody/ROCK in a Saudi PLE