Everything about yesterday's event was awesome. I've been really thinking about it all day and I'm just so excited to see where everything is going and to watch Smackdown tonight.
It’s in Philly. Give me Cody either entering to or having his vignette for the match being to eye of the tiger. I don’t care how overused, overplayed or cliched it might be just do it.
Almost certainly a pivot, because there is still a pretty huge disconnect with what happened last Friday and what happened last evening. Cody going from "Not at Wrestlemania" to "This is bullshit" on the match that HE SET UP still doesn't make any sense. People have come up with some (admittedly, thin) explanations as to why Cody changed his mind, but I haven't seen a convincing argument for why Cody gave his spot to The Rock in the first place.
I think they did a very good job of covering it up and making it seem like this was the plan all along but I feel like 100% when you look at everything this definitely was a pivot when they saw the backlash
In kayfabe, what's so bad about going through a table?
Watching the Hangman/Swerve match on Dynamite and the crowd blows up at the first sight of a table. I get it - the sound and visual are immensely satisfying! But barring the odd move like the Deadeye through the table (which would still have hurt if done from the apron to the floor) it doesn't seem like it would do more harm.
Is this just something I should accept, or has it ever been explained what added damage going through a table causes?
I think the sound and visual cover it pretty well, plus it's something that can be set up and then possibly forgotten to be a surprise for later - Chekov's furniture, if you will.
Also, and I'm dead serious about this, wrestlers have been hitting each other with chairs for decades. Hitting someone with a table is like a logical evolution.
I think a consequence of doing table spots safely is having them break easily but in kayfabe the move is forceful enough to break through a hard wooden table. What's funny is AEW has this table at ringside covered in a black cloth that doesn't seem as gimmicked because it doesn't usually break.
Imagine if Rock came back to WWE in the mid 2000s with this hairstyle
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It seems like a yearly stop for both companies. Wednesday was the second time there for AEW and I'm sure they would have gone there more if not for the pandemic.
I know he’s removed out of the company for now, but it would have been interesting for Brock to somehow have an angle in this current Rock/Rhodes/Rollins/Roman storyline. Coming in as a relentless force of nature while everyone’s trying to mediate with each other would have made for some good entertainment.
Every wrestling promotion is having a clown fiesta start to the year except NOAH, where Kaito Kiyomiya just won a vacuum cleaner
(yes it was an interpromotional show but let me have this)
My comments last week about why I didn't like this was that it felt just like what we thought we'd moved away from, even allowing that if it was a work, I had trouble seeing how they could get the story turn without everyone looking bad. I was maybe 50/50 on work/shoot for that reason. BUT, I didn't see the Mr. RockMahon turn coming.
I'm now maybe 90/10 work/shoot...there's still a piece or two out there that makes me think this was all a "legit pivot" after the reaction...but overall, enough of this makes perfect story sense that it was likely a wrestling storyline all along. (and given that it would be a story crafted by HHH, Rock, Roman, Cody, Heyman, and Hayes ie. the workiest workers to ever work, even those "well this doesn't make sense" bits could honestly be shit they planted to muddy the waters).
But even with all that said.. if it was all real, good on them for reacting quickly, and if it was a work, good on them for a masterful job. They restored the feeling!
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Either he gets involved at Mania, or he might become the first person to take it to the year - I don't think WWE has ever specifically stated it has to be cashed in before the following year's match, which would be logical, or by the end of the following year's show, which seems to be the broad meaning. So whichever title is defended in the main event of MITB, Priest could cash in as a last resort - and if it's something like Drew/Jey then it looks like a masterstroke as he takes advantage of the exhausted winner to take the title.
But I hope they start to ramp up the cash-in attempts as the deadline looms, even having him miss out at live events - maybe crash an SD show the week before MITB which would likely go viral.
I actually would have Rollins say he's cleared to compete in a couple weeks, have Damian cash in, rematch at mania. I don't really know what Seth's place is in in Rock-Roman thing, so forcing a shift would work. Don't need to see double gold dash.
So The Rock joins the bloodline, but eventually takes over the bloodline after Roman reigns loses.
Roman gets kicked from bloodline and brutally beaten by Jimmy, Solo and the rock while Paul heyman cheers them on. This writes Roman off tv for a few months.
Roman returns as a baby face to destroy his creation (the bloodline) and faces the rock at wrestlemania 41 to become the head of table once and for all.
This has to be the way they’re trying to go, right?
If this is true Hollywood style baby face writing, Roman would challenge the Rock but not to be the head of the table, but to prove the table was and is meaningless and family is what counts not who leads it
I'm really disappointed in how AEW books its women's division. It does not book women to succeed. I am still pissed that Ruby Soho was capable of being a top woman in the company, but instead of taking their time to build her as a competitor for Britt, they fed her to Britt right away, destroying the aura from her debut.
Seems like they are doing the same thing with Deonna. I'm not a big Ruby fan but I am a huge fan of Deonna. The absolute wrong approach. Deonna should be having separate feuds with other women, and then be built simultaneously with Timeless Toni Storm. So by the time you get to, let's say All Out, it's a bigger match. Instead she's set to already take on Toni Storm at Revolution.
Just absolutely no patience from AEW when it comes to booking women.
I enjoy Ruby and I've been enjoying Deonna thus far, but some people are just hired and brought in to be midcarders, and that isn't a negative thing. Quite the opposite as it can be a long-term comfortable living. Midcarder for a nationally televised promotion is basically a .01% best outcome for someone in the pro wrestling industry. Ruby is super solid, but she just was never going to be a top 3-5 woman in AEW, she can't deliver the caliber of matches that are basically required to hold that position in this company.
Similarly, I mean, yes, they *could* build a six month feud culminating at All In for Deonna and that would be great *for Deonna*. But the best thing for AEW is absolutely building a bigger match for a show as big as All In, something like Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm or Mercedes vs. Toni Storm, both of which are just bigger.
> I enjoy Ruby and I've been enjoying Deonna thus far, but some people are just hired and brought in to be midcarders, and that isn't a negative thing. Quite the opposite as it can be a long-term comfortable living. Midcarder for a nationally televised promotion is basically a .01% best outcome for someone in the pro wrestling industry. Ruby is super solid, but she just was never going to be a top 3-5 woman in AEW, she can't deliver the caliber of matches that are basically required to hold that position in this company.
I don't like Ruby, but she had a star making moment that could have been capitalized on. Instead, now it meant nothing. Claiming Ruby should be at a certain level is antithetical what should be. If Ruby can have a connection with the crowd, she should be able to rise to whatever heights. That's what AEW was supposed to be about.
> Similarly, I mean, yes, they could build a six month feud culminating at All In for Deonna and that would be great for Deonna. But the best thing for AEW is absolutely building a bigger match for a show as big as All In, something like Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm or Mercedes vs. Toni Storm, both of which are just bigger.
Handicapping your talent for future feuds is why AEW can't build multiple female stars. Jamie Hayter has been gone for how long and you are still reserving a spot for her AEW's PPVs? A division needs multiple players. If Mercedes comes in and beat Toni at All Out, she'll need a challenger besides Toni. Building someone up does not mean that they need to win the title. It just puts more value in the actual match. Right now Deonna hasn't been built enough to be a person who could potentially beat Toni. Rather than rush her, take your time and have her feud with other women. That's all I'm asking.
> Claiming Ruby should be at a certain level is antithetical what should be. If Ruby can have a connection with the crowd, she should be able to rise to whatever heights. That's what AEW was supposed to be about.
Pro wrestling isn't real and not everyone is getting paid the same amount or based on wins/losses; companies are going to give more tv time/opportunity to people who are getting paid more and some people get paid to be mid carders versus main eventers. As for getting pushed based on connections with the crowd, that happens constantly and unfortunately, Ruby Soho just never hit that level. Just look at Jamie Hayter for a huge example. Or Ricky Starks or Eddie Kingston who literally got hired based on crowd reactions when they initially came in for a one-off. Or Bryan Keith, or Willow. Or the Acclaimed/Julia Hart, who went from Dark regulars to AEW Champions.
> Jamie Hayter has been gone for how long and you are still reserving a spot for her AEW's PPVs?
Because that's what you do with top stars? When she got injured, she was the Women's World Champion, consistently getting the biggest reactions of any woman on the roster, and putting on great matches. Not having a spot waiting for her to come back would be like WWE not having a spot waiting for Becky Lynch or Charlotte Flair following an injury, it's just lunacy. Top stars get treated like top stars and Hayter proved herself to be a top star.
Not to mention, as the last few years have proven, wrestlers at the top in AEW have a lot more input/freedom over their own stories than in WWE. Not to say they have full creative control, but Tony Khan let's his talents pitch ideas far more than WWE ever has. Who is to say Toni Storm didn't pitch feuding with Deonna to give her a big platform as a launching pad, they are friends after all. There is no way of knowing where the story idea came from, all we know is that its happenign.
> Pro wrestling isn't real and not everyone is getting paid the same amount or based on wins/losses; companies are going to give more tv time/opportunity to people who are getting paid more and some people get paid to be mid carders versus main eventers. As for getting pushed based on connections with the crowd, that happens constantly and unfortunately, Ruby Soho just never hit that level. Just look at Jamie Hayter for a huge example. Or Ricky Starks or Eddie Kingston who literally got hired based on crowd reactions when they initially came in for a one-off. Or Bryan Keith, or Willow. Or the Acclaimed/Julia Hart, who went from Dark regulars to AEW Champions.
Companies need to book their talent to get the most of them. Ruby did hit on that level and I remember seeing it. They put her on posters and everything. What happened was instead of taking advantage of their momentum, they had her lose every major title match and feud until she didnt matter anymore.
AEW can fail at things, and we can criticize them on that.
> Because that's what you do with top stars? When she got injured, she was the Women's World Champion, consistently getting the biggest reactions of any woman on the roster, and putting on great matches. Not having a spot waiting for her to come back would be like WWE not having a spot waiting for Becky Lynch or Charlotte Flair following an injury, it's just lunacy. Top stars get treated like top stars and Hayter proved herself to be a top star.
You can build up another star while they are gone. It's practically essential. Booking All Out as if it has to be Jamie Hayter in the title match is ridiculous. They did that with Statlander and look where they got her. They picked her as the person to defeat Jade, delayed when Jade would lose the title since Statlander got injured. Statlander won and it had no effect, and Jade left shortly thereafter.
Hayter should be booked well on her return, but they shouldnt not push someone because she might come back. You need to push people while the injured are not on the show.
> Not to mention, as the last few years have proven, wrestlers at the top in AEW have a lot more input/freedom over their own stories than in WWE. Not to say they have full creative control, but Tony Khan let's his talents pitch ideas far more than WWE ever has. Who is to say Toni Storm didn't pitch feuding with Deonna to give her a big platform as a launching pad, they are friends after all. There is no way of knowing where the story idea came from, all we know is that its happenign.
This isn't an AEW vs WWE thing. Talent don't know how to book necessarily. A talent may prioritize having a good match while a booker should be prioritizing creating stars. Khan's gotta be the boss and make decision on who gets pushed and when. That's what being a booker means.
That is what's going on though? It's not like they're sitting around twiddling their thumbs and not doing anything in the interim - there are a bunch of active women's storylines going on and multiple people currently rotated in getting varying levels of push.
I didn't say it has to be Jamie Hayter at All In, just that it is a bigger match, which it is. The key is just that the matches at the absolute biggest show of the year involve the biggest talents. Random lower midcarders aren't getting Wrestlemania matches and I wouldn't expect random midcarders to get All In matches either.
And it isn't AEW vs. WWE to point out that the two companies do things differently. Each strategy has pros and cons, neither way is better or worse, they're just different.
> I don't like Ruby, but she had a star making moment that could have been capitalized on. Instead, now it meant nothing. Claiming Ruby should be at a certain level is antithetical what should be. If Ruby can have a connection with the crowd, she should be able to rise to whatever heights. That's what AEW was supposed to be about.
In the case of Ruby her star making moment was... winning a number 1 contender's battle royal ala the Rumble. You couldn't then not have her challenge for the title. In contrast look how patient they were with someone like Statlander or Jamie and all the while people were just screaming "you can't just keep building them without the belt, AEW needs stars now!". It happens in the men's division of AEW as well, have one good match or good feud and the fanbase screams "belt them or let them go". They did the "let's build him for a while and then put them on a collision course" with Jay White and what was the reaction? "You gotta strike while the iron is hot, how do you expect anyone to consider that signing a game changer if they don't come in and challenge for the belt right away"? He was feuding with everyone's favorite in Ricky Starks but because it wasn't for a belt it wasn't the right way to bring in a star. Someone will complain no matter what, it's just what you prefer.
> In the case of Ruby her star making moment was... winning a number 1 contender's battle royal ala the Rumble. You couldn't then not have her challenge for the title.
Winning the battle royal was not the star making moment. It was being in the battle royal as a top star. A better call would be to have her make to the final three, and then get eliminated by a heel that she can feud with, while the babyface wins and goes on to feud with the champion. That way you take Ruby's momentum and push it past the title match. She wins her first feud and then is in a better position to challenge later.
This leaves fans wanting for more rather than blowing the momentum built in three months.
And with Mercedes coming, that leaves little room for Deonna to keep having meaningful storylines unless she feuds with Mercedes herself. I just know it’s gonna be tough because AEW only does 1 main women’s storyline at a time.
> AEW only does 1 main women’s storyline at a time.
Active storylines in the AEW Women's Division right now that have all had developments in the last 2-3 weeks:
- Toni/Deonna for the World Title (match confirmed for the PPV) with Mariah May lurking around the periphery
- Willow/Statlander's friendship and their dealings with Stokely (who doesn't like Willow and has seemed to want to manage Statlander). I'm predicting this is where Mercedes slots in, feuding with Willow and Statlander, potentially with Stokely as her manager.
- Saraya, with Harley, trying to sabotage Ruby/Cool Hand. They tried to pin the blame on Anna Jay which was a short sidequest as part of this. I'm assuming this has to be leading to a babyface turn for Ruby and match/feud with Saraya.
- Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb returning from long injuries and climbing the ranks.
- I assume somebody will be going for Julia Hart and the TBS title, she's been a bit AWOL lately which usually means an injury of some sort, but who knows.
- The teases for Mercedes Moné are getting started.
- And in ROH (which tapes with Collision, so it has an AEW live crowd), they're doing Athena/Nyla Rose (with Billie Starkz and Lexy involved) and also a Women's TV title tournament (I know Billie Starkz, Red Velvet, and Taya Valkyrie have referenced it at least), then some other stuff as well involving Leyla Hirsch/Rachel Ellering, Diamante, and then Maria Kanellis managing Cole Karter/Griff Garrison.
All this and two of the absolute biggest names in the division (Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter) are still injured and surely due back at some point and will have spots waiting for them. The AEW Women's Division has been absolutely rolling for a while now and actively is poised to catch significantly more fire with Mercedes/Hayter/Baker. Mercedes will be the biggest signing in the division's history and Hayter/Baker represent 2 of the 8 ever Women's World Champions. The notion that they only do one storyline is just woefully out of date at this point. Even the notion that AEW does less women's matches than WWE is pretty crazy if you actually look at the cards. AEW is running as many (or slightly more) than Smackdown. Raw only does more because they have 50% more television time, combine Dynamite/Rampage to get a similar three hours and AEW is going to have more.
> I assume somebody will be going for Julia Hart and the TBS title, she's been a bit AWOL lately which usually means an injury of some sort, but who knows.
Arm injury apparently :(
How exactly did Randy Orton get the distinction of being the only wrestler in the modern era to attack women?
Was it because he was endlessly feuding with Cena and they needed to make him as evil as possible?
He hears voices in his head.
But I think it ties into his being, in kayfabe, the most dangerous person in WWE when the mood takes him, because he just doesn't have the same limitations that other people do.
Hitting women, punting people in the head, torching the Fiend... It's all one to Orton.
Rewatching the press conference I kinda can't shake the feeling that the final scene has overwhelming "we wrote and rehearsed this last minute" energy that is just executed to the highest level and The Rock is just that good lol. If it was a 200 IQ work they would've probably done something less cliche than "Cody comes out and says this is bullshit"
"Here's some bullet points. Make it sing, guys."
With that much talent out there, I could see it. I liked the visual of Rock in front of Roman, both in terms of stepping in front of him *and* him being closer to the front of the stage. From memory Cody was in front of Seth, but Seth was closer to the crowd.
My GF who has zero interest in wrestling and only knows about stuff because she overhears it when I'm watching, has decided she hates Toni Storm's 'Timeless' character. Seeing her getting worked for the first time ever is hilarious. Anyone else have similar stories?
The Bloodline is the gift that keeps giving. I didn’t expect the Rock to seemingly join it, but here we are.
Just the thoughts of Heyman and The Rock on the same side for a promo … inject it into my veins.
It’s crazy how The Bloodline story has been going for 3 & a half years, yet we still are possibly yet to see the peak of the story.
Rock joining breathes new life into the story & man I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Sonny is the English translator for Stardom. He is very much bias towards Rossy and trying to make Rossy look good. He's also a giant leaker of backstage info. All the recent backstage Stardom news is most likely from Sonny.
Now that we're definitely getting the Cody-Roman rematch, does that mean I never have to hear the word "flinch" again? The use of that word was embarrassing from start to finish
Was reading about the murders of some teenagers he confessed to being present for in the 80's. Guy was apparently muscle for drug traffickers as a side hustle in between wrestling, was in Arkansas where some kids were killed due to being in the vicinity of a drug deal, and laid on train tracks to destroy the bodies. People aren't 100% on if he was ever telling the truth but he confessed in 2018.
At the press conference he yelled something to Rock about Rock lying to him. He also seemed to be getting worked up about all the family talk.
Possibly he's going to say that Rock fed him a line about the importance of family (you may not have heard, but Cody takes family quite seriously...) and Cody fell for it, but then quickly realised he'd been fooled so changed his mind.
At this point I hope TK *keeps* terminally tweeting purely out of the spite for the morons who have nothing better to do than whine about it. I’m doubling the fuck down.
I've mostly stayed away from the internet wrestling scene over the past week since I knew it would be a complete mess. Checking back in after last night's press conference and I am astonished to see that there are tons of fans (a majority?) who actually believe that WWE "pivoted" and that what we are now seeing was not the original plan.
Are you people nuts? Do you actually believe that Dwayne Johnson - one of the most image-conscious people on earth - suddenly decided to turn heel on a whim because some internet wrestling fans on Twitter and Reddit were mad at him? If you do believe that, I've got a tremendous multi-level marketing business opportunity to sell to you.
Look man, reviewing everything as a whole, i believe it was a work from the start. Hhh and the rock are very in tune. If it was someone like vinny mac or another old head, I could absolutely seeing them botch it in this regard. This entire saga was built for the engagement. Cody even had to tweet "trust me" lmao
Are you nuts? Do you think someone such as the Rock who decided in ring during his Hogan match that he needed to work heel isn't going to look at the crowd reactions and adjust whatever he does in wrestling?
In 2002, the Rock was still primarily a pro wrestler. He understood during the Hogan match that he had been outmaneuvered by the master and adjusted accordingly. Rock himself has said that he learned a valuable lesson about crowd manipulatiom from the Hulkster that day.
In 2024, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a brand in-and-of-himself and one of the most famous people on Earth. The amount of planning and thought that goes into every little thing he does is enormous. If he wanted to return to WWE and face Roman one-on-one as a babyface, that's what would have happened. Instead, it is clear that he and the folks in WWE had something different - and much, much bigger - in mind from the start. The end goal here is not Cody finishing his story, but Roman Reigns finishing his story.
Rock is NOT turning heel without him thinking it through and planning for months.
I guess THIS is why he didnt work WM 39. He didnt want to do a face Rock thing again. He said he wated to do something unprecedented.
I think being the face of WWE as TKO board member AND being Heel in the same faction as his cousin is truly unprecedented.
Its like Mr Mcmahon, but without a rapist.
There is nothing about the way this has played out that is confusing to me in the slightest. Every step they've taken has made perfect sense. WWE is running a modified version of the Tyson/Austin angle, only with the added layer of the Rock being a wrestling legend.
Anyone else feel kinda bad for Bayley? Rhea and Becky got a segment and they don’t even have an official match yet. Bayley vs IYO is official. With the big angle on Smackdown and everything. She’s been the most disrespected out of the big 4 by a long shot. The last to get called up. The only without a mania main event. She has the match that basically started the women’s evolution. Also, she won the rumble!! She should’ve had a promo at the presser. Bayley should be pushed as the second biggest face in the company honestly
Bruh when Cody said his family woukd be ashamed of him Roman legit looked fucking devastated, like his soul was crushed. It actually made me feel so fucking bad for him 😭😭😭
He has a future in Hollywood, and not even just action.
It's funny but kinda annoying how this sub has two distinct groups of people who either think "this all was definitely a work and you're stupid for thinking otherwise" or "this was definitely a pivot and you're stupid for thinking otherwise" and they both post really condescending replies towards the opposite group.
I think it's fine to just say "maybe it's planned, maybe it's a pivot, either way it was good and it ain't that deep"
It’s not just this sub my friend. In fact it’s not just this subject either. If you’ve been a fan of wrestling for an extended period of time you’ll know that this is wrestling fandom as a whole. People can’t have any opinions that differ what they believe themselves. The majority of fans I would say think it’s just one way and it can’t be any other way. In the end, who cares? If it’s the right thing in the end, idc what the “original” plan was, or if it’s a work or not. I just wanna have fun watching and go through all the emotions
What’s funny is people will tell me I’m wrong yet there’s two threads posted today that say otherwise
The one about WWE overestimating how many fans would show up for the press conference and the one about STARDOM wrestlers not being a fan of Tony’s tweet about Rossy
You’re far from wrong. You can go back 5 years since AEW started and look at probably every single tweet from Dave about either company and just read the comments and your point will be proven quite easily. To me, not much of a debate
God, it reminds me of the complete inability to figure out what 'paid attendance' means over how many tickets AEW sold for Wembley.
None of us can read.
People have floated the idea of Nick Aldis wrestling in WWE. Is there any chance that him and Adam Pearce could have a match? Could be a fun thing to do at Survivor Series if they brought back the Team Raw vs Team Smackdown match.
The way Roman looked over at the Rock when he stepped up to Cody, that was the moment he knew he was little brothered. Rock had that anime villain evil aura.
It was in poor taste and has huge sore winner vibes but that's literally all he tweeted. He really does need to stop though. One of AEW's issues isn't even WWE as much as perception and he turns people off when he acts that way.
The Rock saying "Whether you like it or not THE People's Champ" as he was sliding into heeldom in that promo was fucking fire.
What a fantastic way to show that he's gone mad with power.
He's still representing us. He's still our champion. He knows what's best and he doesn't give a fuck what we think about it. Fuck you, I am your champion. God I LOVED all of it.
It could just be me, but it almost looked like Roman was deferring to Rock already. I'm sure they can build on that later if Rock costs Roman the championship, but for now it feels like Rock is the head of the table.
Absolutely this. Roman knows - he's *always* known - that he's not quite as good as he says. He can talk an amazing game, can gaslight like no-one's business, and is fantastic in the ring... but he's not invincible, and he knows it.
And Rock put the Bloodline back on the map and back at the top of the card before Roman was even out of high school. Roman knows his role...
It just felt weird how it went form Roman going after Dusty and Cody getting in his face to Rock stepping forward. The rest of the screen time form slapping Cody to yelling at Hunter just verbally and physically appeared that Roman was really demure and stepped right behind Rock and letting him call the shots. Just a complete opposite of their interactions since Smackdown.
They have a huge international audience and WrestleMania is a Super Bowl like event. They're too big too fail to the point the actual in-ring product doesn't matter as much as the spectacle.
I checked out nxt this week cause of the Vengeance Day main event and it really is incredible how badly they need to leave the PC. Im pretty sure some fans literally shused a group who would not shut up during the Dijak Ilja segment
So according to Super J Cast/Voices of Wrestling, the one of the main reasons for all this NJPW/Stardom/Rossy chaos is that Bushiroad is basically out of money and their mobile card games are all dead. I know those guys have a mixed track record at best but they did get the Okada thing right so they seemingly do have at least some sources. Has anyone heard any more on this or something like this from any other sources?
Super J Cast is usually almost always right. VOW is a little iffy.
The only other one I can think of is Dave Meltzer who's hit-or-miss with Japan scoops
It was specifically Super J Cast I heard it on, I just mentioned VOW overall because they're under that umbrella. And if that's the case then for better or worse they're probably gonna be even more dependent on Tony and AEW moving forward because they made it sound really bad (they also said Bushiroad was demanding a lot of specific booking choices which were getting push back from Gedo and Rossy which is a part of why Rossy quit so maybe it's actually a good thing if NJPW get new management even if it's not good if we get a TK Monopoly)
Bianca Belair would work far better as a heel. She just has a natural cocky, prideful vibe and she could really use her braid lot of creative evil ways (garrote, whip, mace)
I mean I was thinking a year or two. That's not that far away and certainly feasible.
Miz has been a heel and has a reality show. And montez was supposed to be a part of a heel group, but the fans love bobby lashley.
What are you even talking about?
I've said this a few times now, but imagine that in 2016 when Cody left WWE, someone told you that 8 years later he would become such a megastar that the Rock was forced to turn heel.
"In 2002-03, Rock was in the ring with the biggest locker room politician in the business, Hulk Hogan.
Today, he IS Hogan."---me, February 5.
Inevitably, Cody vs. Rock will happen. However, the 1st order of business is Cody "finishing the story" at Wrestlemania. Save Rock vs. Cody for Summerslam, and Rock-Roman for later.
This whole Cody/Rock situation is just like the Arn Anderson car jacking analogy. The Wrestlemania main event with Roman is the car. At first, Cody was just going to let Rock take it. Then after talking to more people (probably Arn again) he decided to pull out the metaphorical glock and take it back.
I do wonder what's gonna happen to Seth and his world title in all of this. He has been working his butt off to the point that he injured himself. He definitely has earned a shining moment in my eyes. As much as I like Drew, beating him three times seems like overkill. Maybe he drops the title and fights his way back.
I do like the kind of Game of Thrones feel when it came to Roman insulting Dusty and Rock getting offended by Cody invoking their grandfathers. Even the hand clasp between the Rock and Roman seemed to invoke the blood pact that was made generations ago. They truly believe their family is the only royal family and see someone like Cody whose grandfather was a plumber to be of lesser origin even with a father like Dusty.
How I want to see this Road to Wrestlemania go down
EC, announce Rollins and Cody vs Rock and Roman, but prior to the match, have the Corporate Bloodline "beat down" Rollins, so it covers for his injury, but Rhodes, being all proud, insists on the fight, which ends in a DQ after a valiant effort, as the Corporate Bloodline brutalize him a la Zayn at RR23.
Cue RAW and a beaten down Cody comes out still to cut a passionate promo, Rock comes out and beats him down and declares himself as replacing Cody, citing his role on the board and Codys injury. Cut to two weeks prior and The Bloodline come out to cut another promo, with the Rock there too, and Rollins returns to beat down The Rock, and just before Roman starts helping, Codys music starts playing and Roman stops in fear as Cody comes out to stare him down.
From there, The Rock, mad at the disrespect that Rollins showed him, challenges for the title, which will help legitimize it, and Cody vs Roman still goes on. The Rock wins, Cody wins, the power dynamic in the Corporate Bloodline changes while Cody finishes his story.
Thoughts?
I want The Rock to open the TKO checkbook and start making WWE-TNA-like agreements with MLW and any other promotion. Cody has to go on a two month gauntlet match facing The Bloodline and winning. He faces The Rock night 1. The Rock loses because Bloodline interference gets halted by someone like John Cena or Stone Cold (a WWE pillar) and then Roman loses night 2. This kickstarts The Rock doubting Roman as head of the table because of how badly the entire Bloodline failed. We then start a year long storyline that hopefully slowly morphs Roman into a huge babyface, as The Rock continues to pull the strings from Hollywood, leading up to 41.
Sting’s extremely large sons would crush the Young Bucks in a shoot. I can only suspend so much disbelief.
Lol right, they kept saying on commentary "they're civilians!" But those lads were beef
Dalton Castle vs Johnny TV is my favorite feud right now
Everything about yesterday's event was awesome. I've been really thinking about it all day and I'm just so excited to see where everything is going and to watch Smackdown tonight.
Vince looms over everything even after he was kicked out. Fucking vampire.
Roman is awesome but right now I truly think Drew is the best heel in WWE and deserves to have a rocket strapped to his back
My kid is currently obsessed with this Netflix show called Teletubbies. Time really is a flat circle.
It’s in Philly. Give me Cody either entering to or having his vignette for the match being to eye of the tiger. I don’t care how overused, overplayed or cliched it might be just do it.
So is there a consensus opinion on whether Cody/Roman 2 was the plan all along or just a hasty pivot after Rock/Roman was received so poorly?
Almost certainly a pivot, because there is still a pretty huge disconnect with what happened last Friday and what happened last evening. Cody going from "Not at Wrestlemania" to "This is bullshit" on the match that HE SET UP still doesn't make any sense. People have come up with some (admittedly, thin) explanations as to why Cody changed his mind, but I haven't seen a convincing argument for why Cody gave his spot to The Rock in the first place.
I think they did a very good job of covering it up and making it seem like this was the plan all along but I feel like 100% when you look at everything this definitely was a pivot when they saw the backlash
In kayfabe, what's so bad about going through a table? Watching the Hangman/Swerve match on Dynamite and the crowd blows up at the first sight of a table. I get it - the sound and visual are immensely satisfying! But barring the odd move like the Deadeye through the table (which would still have hurt if done from the apron to the floor) it doesn't seem like it would do more harm. Is this just something I should accept, or has it ever been explained what added damage going through a table causes?
I think the sound and visual cover it pretty well, plus it's something that can be set up and then possibly forgotten to be a surprise for later - Chekov's furniture, if you will. Also, and I'm dead serious about this, wrestlers have been hitting each other with chairs for decades. Hitting someone with a table is like a logical evolution.
I think a consequence of doing table spots safely is having them break easily but in kayfabe the move is forceful enough to break through a hard wooden table. What's funny is AEW has this table at ringside covered in a black cloth that doesn't seem as gimmicked because it doesn't usually break.
Imagine if Rock came back to WWE in the mid 2000s with this hairstyle https://preview.redd.it/ewdqr4xb7nhc1.jpeg?width=863&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d38c910976e9ce198b1ebb2940abfad1399b2ab
The Rob Schneider Special
Bro what’s LA Knight gonna do. My guy’s been forgotten
I would put him with Logan Paul.
Vs Logan Paul for the US title seems to be the consensus
You think ko gonna lose to Logan twice? Because it definitely looks like they're squaring off again.
Why don't WWE/AEW have more shows in Phoenix? AEW had one this week and it was almost full house.
It seems like a yearly stop for both companies. Wednesday was the second time there for AEW and I'm sure they would have gone there more if not for the pandemic.
They had a great crowd to!
I know he’s removed out of the company for now, but it would have been interesting for Brock to somehow have an angle in this current Rock/Rhodes/Rollins/Roman storyline. Coming in as a relentless force of nature while everyone’s trying to mediate with each other would have made for some good entertainment.
Wouldn't that be how Goldberg was used a few years ago? I don't know how many people would want to do that ride again.
WWE work shoot 😅
Darby Allin has a face tattoo?
He's had one for a few months but it's usually not noticeable because it's covered by face paint.
who woulda guessed the generation of wrestlers that grew up with LiveLeak would be pretty good at bumping and selling
I just want to say Whoop that trick (Yeah!) Whoop that trick (I like it!) Whoop that trick (Uh huh!)
I wonder what will happen to trick when he moves to main roster without Booker t actively pushing him in commentary
They should just re-record his theme song with Bookers parts added to it
Wade Barrett has him covered
SHAMONE
They should make Booker T be on comms just for when Trick is wrestling.
Every wrestling promotion is having a clown fiesta start to the year except NOAH, where Kaito Kiyomiya just won a vacuum cleaner (yes it was an interpromotional show but let me have this)
My comments last week about why I didn't like this was that it felt just like what we thought we'd moved away from, even allowing that if it was a work, I had trouble seeing how they could get the story turn without everyone looking bad. I was maybe 50/50 on work/shoot for that reason. BUT, I didn't see the Mr. RockMahon turn coming. I'm now maybe 90/10 work/shoot...there's still a piece or two out there that makes me think this was all a "legit pivot" after the reaction...but overall, enough of this makes perfect story sense that it was likely a wrestling storyline all along. (and given that it would be a story crafted by HHH, Rock, Roman, Cody, Heyman, and Hayes ie. the workiest workers to ever work, even those "well this doesn't make sense" bits could honestly be shit they planted to muddy the waters). But even with all that said.. if it was all real, good on them for reacting quickly, and if it was a work, good on them for a masterful job. They restored the feeling! https://preview.redd.it/psl2qs7wmmhc1.png?width=231&format=png&auto=webp&s=08a83bd62768f12b640ec8390116789e94c6d78a
WWE really can’t have another failed cash in so soon, so Damian priest is 100% becoming world champion before July. When do you think it’ll happen?
Either he gets involved at Mania, or he might become the first person to take it to the year - I don't think WWE has ever specifically stated it has to be cashed in before the following year's match, which would be logical, or by the end of the following year's show, which seems to be the broad meaning. So whichever title is defended in the main event of MITB, Priest could cash in as a last resort - and if it's something like Drew/Jey then it looks like a masterstroke as he takes advantage of the exhausted winner to take the title. But I hope they start to ramp up the cash-in attempts as the deadline looms, even having him miss out at live events - maybe crash an SD show the week before MITB which would likely go viral.
I think he cashes in on Seth after his title match.
I actually would have Rollins say he's cleared to compete in a couple weeks, have Damian cash in, rematch at mania. I don't really know what Seth's place is in in Rock-Roman thing, so forcing a shift would work. Don't need to see double gold dash.
So The Rock joins the bloodline, but eventually takes over the bloodline after Roman reigns loses. Roman gets kicked from bloodline and brutally beaten by Jimmy, Solo and the rock while Paul heyman cheers them on. This writes Roman off tv for a few months. Roman returns as a baby face to destroy his creation (the bloodline) and faces the rock at wrestlemania 41 to become the head of table once and for all. This has to be the way they’re trying to go, right?
Jey and Roman also reunite (big pop)
If this is true Hollywood style baby face writing, Roman would challenge the Rock but not to be the head of the table, but to prove the table was and is meaningless and family is what counts not who leads it
Something similar to this seems like the best story. Opens a way for WWE to get a face Roman that the fans might actually cheer too
I know it’s a common wresting term, but “white meat baby face” will never sound right to me.
I'm really disappointed in how AEW books its women's division. It does not book women to succeed. I am still pissed that Ruby Soho was capable of being a top woman in the company, but instead of taking their time to build her as a competitor for Britt, they fed her to Britt right away, destroying the aura from her debut. Seems like they are doing the same thing with Deonna. I'm not a big Ruby fan but I am a huge fan of Deonna. The absolute wrong approach. Deonna should be having separate feuds with other women, and then be built simultaneously with Timeless Toni Storm. So by the time you get to, let's say All Out, it's a bigger match. Instead she's set to already take on Toni Storm at Revolution. Just absolutely no patience from AEW when it comes to booking women.
I enjoy Ruby and I've been enjoying Deonna thus far, but some people are just hired and brought in to be midcarders, and that isn't a negative thing. Quite the opposite as it can be a long-term comfortable living. Midcarder for a nationally televised promotion is basically a .01% best outcome for someone in the pro wrestling industry. Ruby is super solid, but she just was never going to be a top 3-5 woman in AEW, she can't deliver the caliber of matches that are basically required to hold that position in this company. Similarly, I mean, yes, they *could* build a six month feud culminating at All In for Deonna and that would be great *for Deonna*. But the best thing for AEW is absolutely building a bigger match for a show as big as All In, something like Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm or Mercedes vs. Toni Storm, both of which are just bigger.
> I enjoy Ruby and I've been enjoying Deonna thus far, but some people are just hired and brought in to be midcarders, and that isn't a negative thing. Quite the opposite as it can be a long-term comfortable living. Midcarder for a nationally televised promotion is basically a .01% best outcome for someone in the pro wrestling industry. Ruby is super solid, but she just was never going to be a top 3-5 woman in AEW, she can't deliver the caliber of matches that are basically required to hold that position in this company. I don't like Ruby, but she had a star making moment that could have been capitalized on. Instead, now it meant nothing. Claiming Ruby should be at a certain level is antithetical what should be. If Ruby can have a connection with the crowd, she should be able to rise to whatever heights. That's what AEW was supposed to be about. > Similarly, I mean, yes, they could build a six month feud culminating at All In for Deonna and that would be great for Deonna. But the best thing for AEW is absolutely building a bigger match for a show as big as All In, something like Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm or Mercedes vs. Toni Storm, both of which are just bigger. Handicapping your talent for future feuds is why AEW can't build multiple female stars. Jamie Hayter has been gone for how long and you are still reserving a spot for her AEW's PPVs? A division needs multiple players. If Mercedes comes in and beat Toni at All Out, she'll need a challenger besides Toni. Building someone up does not mean that they need to win the title. It just puts more value in the actual match. Right now Deonna hasn't been built enough to be a person who could potentially beat Toni. Rather than rush her, take your time and have her feud with other women. That's all I'm asking.
> Claiming Ruby should be at a certain level is antithetical what should be. If Ruby can have a connection with the crowd, she should be able to rise to whatever heights. That's what AEW was supposed to be about. Pro wrestling isn't real and not everyone is getting paid the same amount or based on wins/losses; companies are going to give more tv time/opportunity to people who are getting paid more and some people get paid to be mid carders versus main eventers. As for getting pushed based on connections with the crowd, that happens constantly and unfortunately, Ruby Soho just never hit that level. Just look at Jamie Hayter for a huge example. Or Ricky Starks or Eddie Kingston who literally got hired based on crowd reactions when they initially came in for a one-off. Or Bryan Keith, or Willow. Or the Acclaimed/Julia Hart, who went from Dark regulars to AEW Champions. > Jamie Hayter has been gone for how long and you are still reserving a spot for her AEW's PPVs? Because that's what you do with top stars? When she got injured, she was the Women's World Champion, consistently getting the biggest reactions of any woman on the roster, and putting on great matches. Not having a spot waiting for her to come back would be like WWE not having a spot waiting for Becky Lynch or Charlotte Flair following an injury, it's just lunacy. Top stars get treated like top stars and Hayter proved herself to be a top star. Not to mention, as the last few years have proven, wrestlers at the top in AEW have a lot more input/freedom over their own stories than in WWE. Not to say they have full creative control, but Tony Khan let's his talents pitch ideas far more than WWE ever has. Who is to say Toni Storm didn't pitch feuding with Deonna to give her a big platform as a launching pad, they are friends after all. There is no way of knowing where the story idea came from, all we know is that its happenign.
> Pro wrestling isn't real and not everyone is getting paid the same amount or based on wins/losses; companies are going to give more tv time/opportunity to people who are getting paid more and some people get paid to be mid carders versus main eventers. As for getting pushed based on connections with the crowd, that happens constantly and unfortunately, Ruby Soho just never hit that level. Just look at Jamie Hayter for a huge example. Or Ricky Starks or Eddie Kingston who literally got hired based on crowd reactions when they initially came in for a one-off. Or Bryan Keith, or Willow. Or the Acclaimed/Julia Hart, who went from Dark regulars to AEW Champions. Companies need to book their talent to get the most of them. Ruby did hit on that level and I remember seeing it. They put her on posters and everything. What happened was instead of taking advantage of their momentum, they had her lose every major title match and feud until she didnt matter anymore. AEW can fail at things, and we can criticize them on that. > Because that's what you do with top stars? When she got injured, she was the Women's World Champion, consistently getting the biggest reactions of any woman on the roster, and putting on great matches. Not having a spot waiting for her to come back would be like WWE not having a spot waiting for Becky Lynch or Charlotte Flair following an injury, it's just lunacy. Top stars get treated like top stars and Hayter proved herself to be a top star. You can build up another star while they are gone. It's practically essential. Booking All Out as if it has to be Jamie Hayter in the title match is ridiculous. They did that with Statlander and look where they got her. They picked her as the person to defeat Jade, delayed when Jade would lose the title since Statlander got injured. Statlander won and it had no effect, and Jade left shortly thereafter. Hayter should be booked well on her return, but they shouldnt not push someone because she might come back. You need to push people while the injured are not on the show. > Not to mention, as the last few years have proven, wrestlers at the top in AEW have a lot more input/freedom over their own stories than in WWE. Not to say they have full creative control, but Tony Khan let's his talents pitch ideas far more than WWE ever has. Who is to say Toni Storm didn't pitch feuding with Deonna to give her a big platform as a launching pad, they are friends after all. There is no way of knowing where the story idea came from, all we know is that its happenign. This isn't an AEW vs WWE thing. Talent don't know how to book necessarily. A talent may prioritize having a good match while a booker should be prioritizing creating stars. Khan's gotta be the boss and make decision on who gets pushed and when. That's what being a booker means.
That is what's going on though? It's not like they're sitting around twiddling their thumbs and not doing anything in the interim - there are a bunch of active women's storylines going on and multiple people currently rotated in getting varying levels of push. I didn't say it has to be Jamie Hayter at All In, just that it is a bigger match, which it is. The key is just that the matches at the absolute biggest show of the year involve the biggest talents. Random lower midcarders aren't getting Wrestlemania matches and I wouldn't expect random midcarders to get All In matches either. And it isn't AEW vs. WWE to point out that the two companies do things differently. Each strategy has pros and cons, neither way is better or worse, they're just different.
> I don't like Ruby, but she had a star making moment that could have been capitalized on. Instead, now it meant nothing. Claiming Ruby should be at a certain level is antithetical what should be. If Ruby can have a connection with the crowd, she should be able to rise to whatever heights. That's what AEW was supposed to be about. In the case of Ruby her star making moment was... winning a number 1 contender's battle royal ala the Rumble. You couldn't then not have her challenge for the title. In contrast look how patient they were with someone like Statlander or Jamie and all the while people were just screaming "you can't just keep building them without the belt, AEW needs stars now!". It happens in the men's division of AEW as well, have one good match or good feud and the fanbase screams "belt them or let them go". They did the "let's build him for a while and then put them on a collision course" with Jay White and what was the reaction? "You gotta strike while the iron is hot, how do you expect anyone to consider that signing a game changer if they don't come in and challenge for the belt right away"? He was feuding with everyone's favorite in Ricky Starks but because it wasn't for a belt it wasn't the right way to bring in a star. Someone will complain no matter what, it's just what you prefer.
> In the case of Ruby her star making moment was... winning a number 1 contender's battle royal ala the Rumble. You couldn't then not have her challenge for the title. Winning the battle royal was not the star making moment. It was being in the battle royal as a top star. A better call would be to have her make to the final three, and then get eliminated by a heel that she can feud with, while the babyface wins and goes on to feud with the champion. That way you take Ruby's momentum and push it past the title match. She wins her first feud and then is in a better position to challenge later. This leaves fans wanting for more rather than blowing the momentum built in three months.
Taya was the same way. So was Athena.
And with Mercedes coming, that leaves little room for Deonna to keep having meaningful storylines unless she feuds with Mercedes herself. I just know it’s gonna be tough because AEW only does 1 main women’s storyline at a time.
> AEW only does 1 main women’s storyline at a time. Active storylines in the AEW Women's Division right now that have all had developments in the last 2-3 weeks: - Toni/Deonna for the World Title (match confirmed for the PPV) with Mariah May lurking around the periphery - Willow/Statlander's friendship and their dealings with Stokely (who doesn't like Willow and has seemed to want to manage Statlander). I'm predicting this is where Mercedes slots in, feuding with Willow and Statlander, potentially with Stokely as her manager. - Saraya, with Harley, trying to sabotage Ruby/Cool Hand. They tried to pin the blame on Anna Jay which was a short sidequest as part of this. I'm assuming this has to be leading to a babyface turn for Ruby and match/feud with Saraya. - Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb returning from long injuries and climbing the ranks. - I assume somebody will be going for Julia Hart and the TBS title, she's been a bit AWOL lately which usually means an injury of some sort, but who knows. - The teases for Mercedes Moné are getting started. - And in ROH (which tapes with Collision, so it has an AEW live crowd), they're doing Athena/Nyla Rose (with Billie Starkz and Lexy involved) and also a Women's TV title tournament (I know Billie Starkz, Red Velvet, and Taya Valkyrie have referenced it at least), then some other stuff as well involving Leyla Hirsch/Rachel Ellering, Diamante, and then Maria Kanellis managing Cole Karter/Griff Garrison. All this and two of the absolute biggest names in the division (Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter) are still injured and surely due back at some point and will have spots waiting for them. The AEW Women's Division has been absolutely rolling for a while now and actively is poised to catch significantly more fire with Mercedes/Hayter/Baker. Mercedes will be the biggest signing in the division's history and Hayter/Baker represent 2 of the 8 ever Women's World Champions. The notion that they only do one storyline is just woefully out of date at this point. Even the notion that AEW does less women's matches than WWE is pretty crazy if you actually look at the cards. AEW is running as many (or slightly more) than Smackdown. Raw only does more because they have 50% more television time, combine Dynamite/Rampage to get a similar three hours and AEW is going to have more.
> I assume somebody will be going for Julia Hart and the TBS title, she's been a bit AWOL lately which usually means an injury of some sort, but who knows. Arm injury apparently :(
Strip her of the title and put it on someone else.
Nope. Can’t pivot:(
Can't believe I rewatched a god damn press event, thank you papa h 🥰
How exactly did Randy Orton get the distinction of being the only wrestler in the modern era to attack women? Was it because he was endlessly feuding with Cena and they needed to make him as evil as possible?
He hears voices in his head. But I think it ties into his being, in kayfabe, the most dangerous person in WWE when the mood takes him, because he just doesn't have the same limitations that other people do. Hitting women, punting people in the head, torching the Fiend... It's all one to Orton.
I think his first heel turn after Evolution was when he RKO'ed Stacy and he's been doing it since
Rewatching the press conference I kinda can't shake the feeling that the final scene has overwhelming "we wrote and rehearsed this last minute" energy that is just executed to the highest level and The Rock is just that good lol. If it was a 200 IQ work they would've probably done something less cliche than "Cody comes out and says this is bullshit"
I feel like that's wrestling in a nutshell, like just imporvise something better than what was planned out.
"Here's some bullet points. Make it sing, guys." With that much talent out there, I could see it. I liked the visual of Rock in front of Roman, both in terms of stepping in front of him *and* him being closer to the front of the stage. From memory Cody was in front of Seth, but Seth was closer to the crowd.
what if actually wrestling is real and them saying it's fake was something made up to not have to follow the rules of sports commissions? 🤔
My GF who has zero interest in wrestling and only knows about stuff because she overhears it when I'm watching, has decided she hates Toni Storm's 'Timeless' character. Seeing her getting worked for the first time ever is hilarious. Anyone else have similar stories?
The Bloodline is the gift that keeps giving. I didn’t expect the Rock to seemingly join it, but here we are. Just the thoughts of Heyman and The Rock on the same side for a promo … inject it into my veins.
It’s crazy how The Bloodline story has been going for 3 & a half years, yet we still are possibly yet to see the peak of the story. Rock joining breathes new life into the story & man I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Fucking hell. Sonny sure is squealing a lot, huh? Hopefully he leaves with Rossy or BR finally catch on to him.
I have no idea what this is reference too. Do you mean Rossy Ogawa from STARDOM?
Sonny is the English translator for Stardom. He is very much bias towards Rossy and trying to make Rossy look good. He's also a giant leaker of backstage info. All the recent backstage Stardom news is most likely from Sonny.
Now that we're definitely getting the Cody-Roman rematch, does that mean I never have to hear the word "flinch" again? The use of that word was embarrassing from start to finish
Rollins defeats Reigns in a 1-on-1 on WM31 main event fair and square and yet people call it as Heist of the century, smh my head
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>It wasn’t a 1 on 1? Brock was in the match too lol 
Lmao my fault, the Brock allegations slipped my mind when I read that
Wooosh
With the tragic Billy Jack Haynes murder allegation, I really need wrestling news to slow down at some point What a weird year it's been.
Was reading about the murders of some teenagers he confessed to being present for in the 80's. Guy was apparently muscle for drug traffickers as a side hustle in between wrestling, was in Arkansas where some kids were killed due to being in the vicinity of a drug deal, and laid on train tracks to destroy the bodies. People aren't 100% on if he was ever telling the truth but he confessed in 2018.
in the span of 3 weeks we went from "we're back" to "it's so over" to "we're soo back" again. i cant handle this
8 weeks 'til Mania, something like that? And that's even assuming you're talking WWE and not TNA or whatever else. 2024 has been frenetic.
yes i'm talking about wwe. tna is currently in the "it's over" phase, but hopefully it can bounce back
I don't get it, so how did Cody explain his smack down promo where he said he won't fight roman?
At the press conference he yelled something to Rock about Rock lying to him. He also seemed to be getting worked up about all the family talk. Possibly he's going to say that Rock fed him a line about the importance of family (you may not have heard, but Cody takes family quite seriously...) and Cody fell for it, but then quickly realised he'd been fooled so changed his mind.
He sort of said "I've spoken to a bunch of people" didn’t he? I think they want us to just sort of forget it happened.
He hasn't yet, but it's as easy as saying he was willing to play ball but then Rock attacked his fanbase.
"I was good with the rock, but then he insulted the intro to my theme song!"
He said "I will win the title for YOU and I will win the title for ME"
He'll do a smooth as fuck backtrack on Smackdown
He didn't explain. Presumably he will at some point.
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If three of the last four winners fail to cash in they have to rethink what they’re doing.
At this point I hope TK *keeps* terminally tweeting purely out of the spite for the morons who have nothing better to do than whine about it. I’m doubling the fuck down.
Just watched the RVD vs Swerve match in full finally, and damn that was a good ass match. Props to both.
I've mostly stayed away from the internet wrestling scene over the past week since I knew it would be a complete mess. Checking back in after last night's press conference and I am astonished to see that there are tons of fans (a majority?) who actually believe that WWE "pivoted" and that what we are now seeing was not the original plan. Are you people nuts? Do you actually believe that Dwayne Johnson - one of the most image-conscious people on earth - suddenly decided to turn heel on a whim because some internet wrestling fans on Twitter and Reddit were mad at him? If you do believe that, I've got a tremendous multi-level marketing business opportunity to sell to you.
Look man, reviewing everything as a whole, i believe it was a work from the start. Hhh and the rock are very in tune. If it was someone like vinny mac or another old head, I could absolutely seeing them botch it in this regard. This entire saga was built for the engagement. Cody even had to tweet "trust me" lmao
Are you nuts? Do you think someone such as the Rock who decided in ring during his Hogan match that he needed to work heel isn't going to look at the crowd reactions and adjust whatever he does in wrestling?
In 2002, the Rock was still primarily a pro wrestler. He understood during the Hogan match that he had been outmaneuvered by the master and adjusted accordingly. Rock himself has said that he learned a valuable lesson about crowd manipulatiom from the Hulkster that day. In 2024, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a brand in-and-of-himself and one of the most famous people on Earth. The amount of planning and thought that goes into every little thing he does is enormous. If he wanted to return to WWE and face Roman one-on-one as a babyface, that's what would have happened. Instead, it is clear that he and the folks in WWE had something different - and much, much bigger - in mind from the start. The end goal here is not Cody finishing his story, but Roman Reigns finishing his story.
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Rock is NOT turning heel without him thinking it through and planning for months. I guess THIS is why he didnt work WM 39. He didnt want to do a face Rock thing again. He said he wated to do something unprecedented. I think being the face of WWE as TKO board member AND being Heel in the same faction as his cousin is truly unprecedented. Its like Mr Mcmahon, but without a rapist.
There is nothing about the way this has played out that is confusing to me in the slightest. Every step they've taken has made perfect sense. WWE is running a modified version of the Tyson/Austin angle, only with the added layer of the Rock being a wrestling legend.
One thing I liked about what Triple H did was not mention his name in the list of influential wrestlers during the press conference.
I was happy he mentioned Mick. Mick seems to get left out of lists like that but it seems Triple H is properly grateful.
Mick Foley MADE him.
Pepsi Phil was on his fucking A-game last night. Get that man back on commentary or something while he’s recovering.
You called?
That stardom post is wild. 600 comments yelling at each other and a good portion of them not even being familiar with stardom.
Rossy really set shit on fire. The bastard.
Whoever said that "it's a TK post so it'll get more comments than anything else" was unfortunately absolutely correct.
At this point if I see it's about TK's twitter I just hide the post. Nothing good can come from it.
Anyone else feel kinda bad for Bayley? Rhea and Becky got a segment and they don’t even have an official match yet. Bayley vs IYO is official. With the big angle on Smackdown and everything. She’s been the most disrespected out of the big 4 by a long shot. The last to get called up. The only without a mania main event. She has the match that basically started the women’s evolution. Also, she won the rumble!! She should’ve had a promo at the presser. Bayley should be pushed as the second biggest face in the company honestly
Bruh when Cody said his family woukd be ashamed of him Roman legit looked fucking devastated, like his soul was crushed. It actually made me feel so fucking bad for him 😭😭😭 He has a future in Hollywood, and not even just action.
I love how theyre integrating seth into the Rock - Roman - Cody story
It's funny but kinda annoying how this sub has two distinct groups of people who either think "this all was definitely a work and you're stupid for thinking otherwise" or "this was definitely a pivot and you're stupid for thinking otherwise" and they both post really condescending replies towards the opposite group. I think it's fine to just say "maybe it's planned, maybe it's a pivot, either way it was good and it ain't that deep"
It’s not just this sub my friend. In fact it’s not just this subject either. If you’ve been a fan of wrestling for an extended period of time you’ll know that this is wrestling fandom as a whole. People can’t have any opinions that differ what they believe themselves. The majority of fans I would say think it’s just one way and it can’t be any other way. In the end, who cares? If it’s the right thing in the end, idc what the “original” plan was, or if it’s a work or not. I just wanna have fun watching and go through all the emotions
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Wrestling fandom is wild eh?
What’s funny is people will tell me I’m wrong yet there’s two threads posted today that say otherwise The one about WWE overestimating how many fans would show up for the press conference and the one about STARDOM wrestlers not being a fan of Tony’s tweet about Rossy
You’re far from wrong. You can go back 5 years since AEW started and look at probably every single tweet from Dave about either company and just read the comments and your point will be proven quite easily. To me, not much of a debate
I think my favorite part is BOTH fan bases think he hates their favorite company
The conference attendance one is funny because they’re mad about something Meltzer didn’t even say, like they don’t understand what overshot means.
God, it reminds me of the complete inability to figure out what 'paid attendance' means over how many tickets AEW sold for Wembley. None of us can read.
TNA announced its first action figure line in about a decade - Moose, Josh Alexander, Eddie Edwards and Jordynne Grace.
People have floated the idea of Nick Aldis wrestling in WWE. Is there any chance that him and Adam Pearce could have a match? Could be a fun thing to do at Survivor Series if they brought back the Team Raw vs Team Smackdown match.
From what I understand, Aldis is fine to wrestle, Pearce may not be able to do a proper match but seems to be able to take an occasional bump.
The way Roman looked over at the Rock when he stepped up to Cody, that was the moment he knew he was little brothered. Rock had that anime villain evil aura.
Anyone else dislike the idea of doing the tag match Rock and Roman vs Cody and Seth or Seth vs Rock as the night 1 main event?
The Rock's hamstrings, quads, triceps...
Ootl wait what did Tony tweet about Stardom? Andy_From_ParksAndRec_AfraidToAsk.gif
He wrote "Bye Rossy!" and added a gif of The Big Goodbye from Curb. People are blowing it out of proportion as usual
Yea. He should not have done it, and also people are overreacting. Both are true!
Did the Drew McIntyre "I prayed for this and it happened" except it wasn't a character
Oof. C’mon Tony.
It was in poor taste and has huge sore winner vibes but that's literally all he tweeted. He really does need to stop though. One of AEW's issues isn't even WWE as much as perception and he turns people off when he acts that way.
I agree. I still think people overreacted though. But like maybe TK should have a good boy account and an anonymous naughty boy account.
Basically a burner account, it can be called Totally Not Tony Khan and have a picture of Tony Khan with Shad Khan's mustache to throw off suspicion.
Cactus Jack really cut 3 of the greatest promos ever all in a span of a month in sep-oct 95.
Props to HHH he played everyone like a fiddle.
The Rock saying "Whether you like it or not THE People's Champ" as he was sliding into heeldom in that promo was fucking fire. What a fantastic way to show that he's gone mad with power. He's still representing us. He's still our champion. He knows what's best and he doesn't give a fuck what we think about it. Fuck you, I am your champion. God I LOVED all of it.
The February 3rd episode of SmackDown ended directly after the Damage CTRL segment
That Cody segment is non canon imo Cody was so out of character after everything he been through to get to this point just to give up like that
There was a gas leak in the arena it doesn’t count
Anyone else find it hilarious that The Rock pulled out a fucking PowerPoint slide showing his family history. I died laughing
I thought he was going to use it to show the march would mathematically be the best ever
It could just be me, but it almost looked like Roman was deferring to Rock already. I'm sure they can build on that later if Rock costs Roman the championship, but for now it feels like Rock is the head of the table.
Absolutely this. Roman knows - he's *always* known - that he's not quite as good as he says. He can talk an amazing game, can gaslight like no-one's business, and is fantastic in the ring... but he's not invincible, and he knows it. And Rock put the Bloodline back on the map and back at the top of the card before Roman was even out of high school. Roman knows his role...
It just felt weird how it went form Roman going after Dusty and Cody getting in his face to Rock stepping forward. The rest of the screen time form slapping Cody to yelling at Hunter just verbally and physically appeared that Roman was really demure and stepped right behind Rock and letting him call the shots. Just a complete opposite of their interactions since Smackdown.
How many WrestleManias do you guys think would have to be ass in a row before they stop selling like they are now?
The whole product would have to be ass for a few years to get them down to a one night mania again.
They have a huge international audience and WrestleMania is a Super Bowl like event. They're too big too fail to the point the actual in-ring product doesn't matter as much as the spectacle.
I checked out nxt this week cause of the Vengeance Day main event and it really is incredible how badly they need to leave the PC. Im pretty sure some fans literally shused a group who would not shut up during the Dijak Ilja segment
Roman's reaction to the "Cody Crybabies" line was hilarious.
Roman and Heyman both have the best facial reactions in the company. GOATS
So according to Super J Cast/Voices of Wrestling, the one of the main reasons for all this NJPW/Stardom/Rossy chaos is that Bushiroad is basically out of money and their mobile card games are all dead. I know those guys have a mixed track record at best but they did get the Okada thing right so they seemingly do have at least some sources. Has anyone heard any more on this or something like this from any other sources?
Super J Cast is usually almost always right. VOW is a little iffy. The only other one I can think of is Dave Meltzer who's hit-or-miss with Japan scoops
It was specifically Super J Cast I heard it on, I just mentioned VOW overall because they're under that umbrella. And if that's the case then for better or worse they're probably gonna be even more dependent on Tony and AEW moving forward because they made it sound really bad (they also said Bushiroad was demanding a lot of specific booking choices which were getting push back from Gedo and Rossy which is a part of why Rossy quit so maybe it's actually a good thing if NJPW get new management even if it's not good if we get a TK Monopoly)
Okay yeah for some reason I thought you were asking which sources were reliable. Totally misread the question
That was what I was asking tbh, thanks for the clarification.
Does anyone else feel Cody needs a bit more edge? "They would be ashamed of you," and his reaction to the slap felt so tame.
The reaction was fine. He was immediately ready to fight and several people jumped in between them.
Bianca Belair would work far better as a heel. She just has a natural cocky, prideful vibe and she could really use her braid lot of creative evil ways (garrote, whip, mace)
Mace?
Attach an iron ball to the mfer and let it rip
Double turn with her and rhea ripley in the not so distant future.
She has a couples reality tv show series that just started airing, she’s not going to be a heel any time soon
I mean I was thinking a year or two. That's not that far away and certainly feasible. Miz has been a heel and has a reality show. And montez was supposed to be a part of a heel group, but the fans love bobby lashley. What are you even talking about?
I've said this a few times now, but imagine that in 2016 when Cody left WWE, someone told you that 8 years later he would become such a megastar that the Rock was forced to turn heel.
>"Yeah, sure. It's pro wrestling. Crazier shit has happened."
"In 2002-03, Rock was in the ring with the biggest locker room politician in the business, Hulk Hogan. Today, he IS Hogan."---me, February 5. Inevitably, Cody vs. Rock will happen. However, the 1st order of business is Cody "finishing the story" at Wrestlemania. Save Rock vs. Cody for Summerslam, and Rock-Roman for later.
“We want Cody” might become the new “Roman gets covid and misses Day 1” domino effect
It amuses me that Adrianna Rizzo appears on the Chase U calendar, considering that The Family is the reason Chade U went in debt in the first place
We need to help them get money so they can pay us.
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Cool that they actually explained it
I imagine it like the first episode of the Sopranos where the guy Tony's dad beats for his debts still come out to celebrate him coming out of jail
This whole Cody/Rock situation is just like the Arn Anderson car jacking analogy. The Wrestlemania main event with Roman is the car. At first, Cody was just going to let Rock take it. Then after talking to more people (probably Arn again) he decided to pull out the metaphorical glock and take it back.
I do wonder what's gonna happen to Seth and his world title in all of this. He has been working his butt off to the point that he injured himself. He definitely has earned a shining moment in my eyes. As much as I like Drew, beating him three times seems like overkill. Maybe he drops the title and fights his way back.
I do like the kind of Game of Thrones feel when it came to Roman insulting Dusty and Rock getting offended by Cody invoking their grandfathers. Even the hand clasp between the Rock and Roman seemed to invoke the blood pact that was made generations ago. They truly believe their family is the only royal family and see someone like Cody whose grandfather was a plumber to be of lesser origin even with a father like Dusty.
How I want to see this Road to Wrestlemania go down EC, announce Rollins and Cody vs Rock and Roman, but prior to the match, have the Corporate Bloodline "beat down" Rollins, so it covers for his injury, but Rhodes, being all proud, insists on the fight, which ends in a DQ after a valiant effort, as the Corporate Bloodline brutalize him a la Zayn at RR23. Cue RAW and a beaten down Cody comes out still to cut a passionate promo, Rock comes out and beats him down and declares himself as replacing Cody, citing his role on the board and Codys injury. Cut to two weeks prior and The Bloodline come out to cut another promo, with the Rock there too, and Rollins returns to beat down The Rock, and just before Roman starts helping, Codys music starts playing and Roman stops in fear as Cody comes out to stare him down. From there, The Rock, mad at the disrespect that Rollins showed him, challenges for the title, which will help legitimize it, and Cody vs Roman still goes on. The Rock wins, Cody wins, the power dynamic in the Corporate Bloodline changes while Cody finishes his story. Thoughts?
I want The Rock to open the TKO checkbook and start making WWE-TNA-like agreements with MLW and any other promotion. Cody has to go on a two month gauntlet match facing The Bloodline and winning. He faces The Rock night 1. The Rock loses because Bloodline interference gets halted by someone like John Cena or Stone Cold (a WWE pillar) and then Roman loses night 2. This kickstarts The Rock doubting Roman as head of the table because of how badly the entire Bloodline failed. We then start a year long storyline that hopefully slowly morphs Roman into a huge babyface, as The Rock continues to pull the strings from Hollywood, leading up to 41.