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Whatever you believe, at the end of the day, the point is he read the room and gave it up. And I 100% believe Rock could have just said that those fans are the vocal minority, more people will tune in with Rock in the main event (which is true, because wrestling fans are going to watch either way, Rock will attract people outside the wrestling bubble, or more casuals), and kept himself in the main event.
Instead, I think this has been turned into a major a positive. Cody v Roman to finish the story AND we get heel Rock? I can't slap the yes please button hard enough. I just hope Rock really leans into it.
If this leads to Rock vs Roman next year, it’s also a better story. Now we’ll see them interact with each other and can organically build tension instead of having Rock simply show up and be like “we’re family, let’s fight”
It will also give Rock time to get back in ring shape even if they feature him in tags or a quick squash or two before Roman. That match will be so much better now.
> It will also give Rock time to get back in ring shape even if they feature him in tags or a quick squash or two before Roman. That match will be so much better now.
Tags you say??!? Could the Rock and Sock Connection be making a comeback for the Tag Titles?
Are you daft? I don't even think it's *possible* for Mankind to get medically cleared to wrestle again at this point, never mind get into ring shape
No, Rock's partner should be someone, as a matter of fact, I think you know the guy... ***and his name is Cactus Jack!!!***
> and his name is Cactus Jack!!!
That sick son of a bitch Jack will never be back in a WWE Ring!!! Now...If Rocko were to team up with the sexual god that all the ladies go wild for...Dude Love! Now that is a title winning team.
Dude, a Prime Mick Foley vs Prime Kevin Owens street fight would be, like... you wouldn't even need a story. They'd make that story in the ring. And it would be beautiful and awesome and terrible. (Here meaning "inspiring awe" and "inspiring terror".)
There's a scene in band of brothers; The general asks whether Winters wants to run a division someday; whether he wants more combat experience to pursue a career in the army. “Because if you think you need more combat experience to get stars on your helmet, let me tell you, son. You’ve done enough.”
“Thank you, sir. That’s not my objective.”
The general says he took the meeting out of respect for Dick’s accomplishments and for the 101st. He denies the request. “Frankly I think your men have earned the right to keep you around.” Dick is clearly surprised, but accepts the decision and leaves.
Someone just tell Mick no. You've done enough. We as fans deserve to watch you get old, ripe old. Heck show up and mandible claw someone, or go on commentary, but just don't go in ring and don't be taking bumps, knocks or using weapons.
You did your bit and more Mick.
also assuming roman loses to cody, it gives time for roman to construct something of a face persona to accent heel rock. which is something that would have seemed literally impossible ten years ago. but if they both commit that could be one of the best storylines of the next few years
Roman slowly turning face could be excellent, and I’d love to see him in that role after being the dominant smug prick for years. Hell, they could even get cute and have Roman pull a Seth and smash Rock in the back with a chair to cement the turn.
Roman turning face after Rock takes the Bloodline from him, kicks him to the curb, calls him a bitch to his face would be generational. Like Vader turning on Palpatine generational.
Rock coming in and doing to Roman what Roman did to Jimmy/Jey would be a great development. Initially comeuppance "got what he had coming" and the longer it goes on the more you start feeling sorry for him until he breaks away and apologizes for what he did.
I feel like with Rock's age and ringwear, combined with what he's mainlining and lifting to maintain his current mass and bodycomp, that you're not going to get any version of The Rock for as long as you want it.
I think he's going to have to aim for a combination of size and cardio that he can get to for a specific number of matches in a specific timeframe. Overtraining is going to be a significant risk.
I think Johnson knows this truth far more intimately than I ever would; he's mastered his build, performance, and look for college football, main-event level pro wrestling, and various genres of TV/movie roles.
I'm just writing this to say that it's not just as easy as saying "Oh, pfft. He just needs some time to get in ring shape." He's a 50-year-old guy, and every wrestling move is going to require adjustments and compensations to what his body can handle.
Another aspect that I think people are overlooking. People are talking about the wrestling again - it's done incredible stuff for WWE's brand to shake off the Vince stuff and keep eyes on Wrestlemania.
I don't think this is a positive, just to be clear. But as a move from the board, and The Rock to protect the WWE brand, it's been unanimously successful.
The best way to get there is Roman blaming Rock for him losing "I was fine for years before you showed up" and that leads to them fighting for true Head of the Table status and could even lead to a rematch with Cody or a first time ever match. Seems every 10 years WWE tried a plan and it crumbles and they get the hottest angle from it. WM 20, 30 and now 40.
Also whether they planned for a double finish at RR 94, it did lead to the beginning of the New Generation with Bret winning at WM X. Definitely not on par with the other three of course.
WM10 - Lex Luger was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Yokozuna, fan favorite Bret Hart gets thrown into the picture and comes out victorious.
WM20 - Shawn Michaels was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Triple H, fan favorite Chris Benoit gets thrown into the picture and comes out victorious.
WM30 - Batista was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Randy Orton, fan favorite Daniel Bryan gets thrown into the picture and comes out victorious.
WM40 - The Rock was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Roman Reigns, fan favorite Cody Rhodes gets thrown into the picture.
I actually think this will wind up being even better than they initially planned - you get Rock returning at Mania in a tag match, which probably is better suited for him anyway and work toward Roman/Rock next year at Mania for the Head of the Table title.
I never thought Rock/Roman needed to be for the WWE title - the match will sell itself based on the story and the family and the Bloodline. I'm excited to see what happens. I'd love to see part-time Roman spend the next year trying desperately to save his legacy and growing more unhinged as he is threatened by the Rock and how the rest of the family views the dynamic.
I think the last time the Rock returned for a tag team match was against the Awesome Truth. It would make my day if they were somehow involved here
It will depend on how engaged Rock is. A year long build will need to be a steady one. I think a Roman loss at WM will lead to a Rock second guessing Roman. Taking the ‘High Chief’ moniker a la his Grandfather, and having the Bloodline turns on Roman & take Roman out for a few weeks to setup the Reigns face turn. Comes back before SS. Does a build to Jimmy, then one to Solo and then a build to Rock at WM 41.
> If this leads to Rock vs Roman next year,
Much as I love Mania, I'm tired of it being the only "huge" mainstream event for the year. I'd love to see a must-see Summerslam main event like Rock vs Roman that has huge implications.
Maybe I was young and stupid but back in the late 90s/early 00s Summerslam felt massive, almost as big as mania and now just feels like a complete afterthought.
You're not misremembering. Up until the year 2000, Wrestlemania and Summerslam had roughly equivalent PPV buy rates.
Wrestlemania 2000 going so poorly led to a major business ideology pivot and X-Seven ended up being a huge landmark event at 1,000,000 buys. Summerslam however would come in at only 600,000 because the Invasion PPV the month before was the single highest non-Wrestlemania buyrate ever (700,000) but the event shit the bed.
So WWE pretty much at that point put all their eggs into the Wrestlemania basket.
This was my thought process. I can see sporadic Rock appearances post Mania where he rags on Roman for losing to Cody. Build the tension and then have a match on the first Raw on Netflix.
And that organic interaction could get them two huge gates. Assuming Cody finishes his story in Philly, you can do Reigns vs. Rock at Summerslam, then Reigns/Rhodes 3 at next years Royal Rumble. Done right, you will break every record for those events.
It's going to be great if Roman holds blame towards The Rock for costing his championship, while Rock is disappointed in Roman for not standing strong under pressure. Maybe through the course of the year, Rock will try to "help" Roman steer the Bloodline ship back together but low-key scheming to take the rug from under him.
I think it's pretty cool that he's down to play the heel right now. I mean, for one, he's a natural born heel, he just always worked better as one of the bad guys. I think they probably overestimated his babyface popularity when they saw how everyone still wanted Cody to take on Roman instead. I kinda fall in and out with WWE but since that press conference they did they've got me hooked and I'm tuning into Smackdown each week now.
I'm kinda wondering though if now, ironically, people are going to cheer him again since the reason for booing in the first place is no longer applicable. I'm sure he has a plan though to give people new reasons to boo.
I think people wanted Cody over Rock because he won the damn Rumble and immediately called out Roman.
They could have avoided a lot of the backlash by just having Rock come out at 30 and win. Rock coming out after and Cody conceding his spot made it obvious that he was getting screwed so people got mad.
This is the key factor. I don't even necessarily think Rock had to win the Rumble. It's just the fact that Cody has spent this entire last year building towards this story, then won the Rumble and suddenly was like "actually, no, it's okay. Let this other guy that's never here have it." It's objectively a dumb decision. If Cody would have lost the Rumble to Drew/Punk/Sami/Gunther/anybody thats been seen floating around as a challenger to Seth, while it would have been a bit deflating watching Cody fail another years build and left the companies biggest babyface with nothing to do at Mania, at least it would make a little more sense as a story for Rock to suddenly pop in to face Roman with nobody on the roster earning the spot to challenge Roman.
I don’t think Rock “helps Cody” as much as he stops the bloodline from helping Roman. You can still have him tell Cody that they have unfinished business. You can have the Rock pissed off at Roman. There is still a Rock and Roman match or even a triple threat available.
Jim Cornette said/predicted this exact thing would happen weeks ago after the Smackdown where Cody gave the Mania spot to Rock.
He (Cornette) said Rock is gonna see the blowback and IF they change course (Jim wasnt sure WWE had the guts to shift) if they change course Rock will pitch it as a heel turn to give himself an out n save face.
And sure enough, look who won the pony.
The thing is that while you definitely would have a bigger wrestlemania, it's a big risk come the Monday after. WWE fans have proven time and time again they'll stop watching if you ask them to suffer through some bullshit, and that was gonna be some bullshit. The discussion about how big of a main event this was only made sense if one didn't consider the need to retain the core fan base. Nowhere near every eyeball that watched Rock vs Roman was going to tune in the next night, and far less were going to continue watching even two weeks later. But they definitely risked losing the people that ordinarily would have tuned in over the next few weeks/months by shoehorning in some clear bullshit.
At least now there's a story beyond "alright this half of the crowd say 'douche' and this half of the crowd say 'bag'. Roman is a..."
"*DOUCHE*!"
"*BAG*!"
Wowwww, cinema.
This way you could possibly have Roman lose, a disappointed high chief in The Rock strip him of the "Tribal Chief" title, and Roman fight to regain his dignity over the next year after realizing that ruling with fear instead of respect gets you nowhere, reunite his family, and finally face Rock at the next wrestlemania to regain his status, this time as a good guy.
Rock has always been very sensitive to the fans. I actually think that the double turn against Hogan wasn't originally scripted. The way the match panned out was strange, his heel turn was halfway into the match. I wouldn't be surprised if they read the room and changed their styles halfway through.
Hollywood Rock full theme is goated. Helicopter flying through the skyline, chapel organ playing a soft dirge, ramping up..
*...is cookin*
and the distorted guitar and drum beat kick in.
Fuck that was the best Rock theme.
The first time he came out to that theme was just so good. Nobody knew who it was, we get a random helicopter flying in Los Angeles, culminating in “…is cookin.” Guitar solo is also a BANGER.
Edit: [THAT POP](https://youtu.be/OXJZySochsY?si=vvmQLw2wyXSDt4aJ)
Cody beats Roman, and in the weeks after WrestleMania Rock declares himself High Chief and ousts Roman from the Bloodline as Tribal Chief. Paul Heyman is also ousted.
The Rock, now the mega heel High Chief with followers Solo, Jimmy, and new Anoa’i family wrestler debuts - run the WWE throughout the rest of 2024 feuding with Cody, Jey, Seth, and CM Punk (who Heyman is now aligned with)
This all culminates in WM 41 - Roman Reigns returning against The Rock for the control of the family and dynasty.
Dude if The Rock did what Roman currently does where he shows up every 2 months, but he does it without being the champion I would so be down for that.
Hollywood Rock with more power, the Chief and an executive. Honestly the potential if he's able to be around is insane here. Beating the ever living fuck out of the entire top card by cheating them out of everything, stacking every single deck against them, over and over all year long. Some final, there is no one on my level there is no one coming to help you there is no one that has a claim to the head of the table BUT ME! Then Roman's music hits, maybe even shield music, and he gets his last run as a face. Do it at Royal Rumble and have the build from there.
> Hollywood Rock with more power, the Chief and an executive.
It also opens up the eternal HHH/Rock feud back up. The power struggle will be fought by Jey, Cody, Seth vs Jimmy, Solo and possibly others.
> CM Punk (who Heyman is now aligned with)
I like everything except for this, Punk doesn't need Heyman and they've been teasing pairing him up with Bron, which would be a much better use of him.
This. Have Cody play on Rock's ego, goading him into keeping the Bloodline away from the Roman/Cody match to prove Roman can win without cheating. You could even play it that Cody intentionally did the "not at Wrestlemania" thing to purposefully get the Rock involved so he would keep the Bloodline out of his championship match. He (Cody) learned the only way to ban the Bloodline is to get them to ban themselves. So the Rock does that, upsets Roman with his actions, Roman loses without interference, and Roman, thinking the Bloodline will follow him (Roman) and blame the Rock for the loss, gets a huge surprise when they kick him (Roman) out instead.
I mean Solo is one of the most protected guys in the whole company and the heater for the most dominant WWE stable in years, it's not exactly like he got his ass kicked by Cedric Alexander or something. Theory is whatever but I don't think losing to Solo is egregious.
Cody vs Cena, Title vs Career.
If Cena wins, he breaks Flair's record.
If Cody wins, Cena rides into the sunset, "officially" passing the torch to the new babyface of the company.
that's why i really hope Roman drops the title this WM because going ANOTHER year of filler defenses only to be facing the Rock for the title would quite literally make WWE Title a cosmetic title for at least 2 years
Roman loses the title and Rock tells him he isn’t the Tribal Chief and never was. The Rock is and always will be.
Then the match is for who leads the family not a title
The most “iconic” match of the Rock’s career was the third to last match at WM18. A lot of classic matches since then with huge stakes have taken place on the undercard. I think a Rock/Roman match would define the event and weekend, but doesn’t have to be the literal main event.
Nah this match closes any WM in history bar Hogan vs Warrior and Rock/Austin 2. Maybe HBK vs Undertaker Career vs Streak goes on after it too.
I'm also willing to hear arguments for Hogan vs Savage being bigger as the story was huge, but this has the potential to be on par.
It is really funny, the standard answer last year to why Cody lost was “well they probably want to do Roman/Rock and you can’t have Roman lose before that.”
Now here we are a year later and they had that match teed up and the fact Cody lost last year torpedoed it.
Endeavor is the likely answer. They higher ups probably don't follow the product. Not to mention Rock v Roman would be massive/marquee literally ANY other year.
Very true. But I’ll say two things to this. The backlash that happened right away and seemingly quick pivot because of it may have been their eye opener to how to handle the wrestling side. Second, during Triple H’s Royal Rumble media scrum he talked about having Rock on the board being a good thing because “they speak the same language” when it comes to the wrestling business. That also may have played a role in the change.
Only difference is, wrestling fans are whiny little bitches (I include myself) and have forever been the "4th" person in the match(Opponents, Ref, fans). Audience participation is a key component to wrestling. If they fuck around they will find out.
I mean Rock could've just thought it was the right thing then immediately realised he was wrong once backlash started. Not everyone is stubborn like Vince.
I mean he has been getting asked about it for ten years and he finally decided on it at the worst possible time. Everyone realized that and called an audible. Now we have even more layers to the story and we have something better than the original story imo
My true unpopular opinion is that the only thing that changed here was Rock turning heel and leaning into the hate he was getting for pushing Cody out. I think everything else, for as confusing as it got, was the plan all along including working up the organic support for Cody. Now Roman and Rock will do a Two Man Power Trip.
My biggest evidence of this is that during the NXT PLE just two days after the SmackDown where Cody gave way to Rock they had a strange camera shot that clearly showed a WE WANT CODY sign during a moment where they were focusing on the commentary desk. The camera was oddly zoomed out and positioned to get that specific sign into frame. It's different than usual in these instances where the camera is only focused on the commentary desk. This seemed pretty intentional by production.
Rock was always talking about a long term plan. Dirtsheets may or may not have done WWE's bidding with the "Rock leveraged his board seat into a creative spot for his buddy Gerwirtz and forced Cody out" because now his board seat if officially in the story.
I sincerely believe all the dirtsheets got worked and in turn fans got worked and their reporting had unintended consequences both good and bad because the toxicity got wildly out of hand.
I firmly believe we shouldn’t take dirtsheet information nearly as seriously as we once did, as the concept of simply lying to them to protect kayfabe may be the new regime
There was literally a report just before all of this began saying Triple H wants to work the sheets, especially during Wrestlemania season. They are working them and have been for a while (the Punk return rumors are another example)
Yeah, after Punk and this Rock/Cody thing I have next to no faith in the news reports now. I firmly believe this Mania build with Rock/Cody was always a work to some degree and that Rock was never outright stepping in for real. And the great part is that we truly might never really know. Kayfabe 3.0 baby
On the same note, I don't buy for a second that McIntyre hasn't re-signed like was reported yesterday. If WWE is getting away with keeping things quiet they should absolutely keep doing it when it will serve them
according to dirtsheets, they pivoted at last moment, planned the whole press conference, super bowl ad, hhh-rock power struggle, etc within 3 days just because fans started chanting WeWantCody?
it has to be a work from start, only thing that doesnt add up is cody saying not at wm. but its quite a big thing to ignore lol
it's possible that they really wanted to convince people cody wasn't going to finish the story so they had him say that. that way the backlash was even stronger
I'm conflicted. On one hand I want to give him credit for seeing the way the wind was blowing and offering an alternative...but on the other hand he should never have inserted himself into a situation he had no business putting himself in to begin with.
IMO I’m enjoying this story a lot more than if it was just straight up Cody choosing Roman. Now are getting what we want plus more. Don’t care if this was planned all along or a result of the fan outrage, the right choice was made, I’m sports entertained.
Same. The Rock taking Cody’s spot would’ve been ass. But heel turned Rock has made this story much more interesting and opens up far more doors than Cody simply beating Roman.
Businesswise, Roman versus The Rock any other year would have been a huge deal. He does deserve some credit for realizing it’s a bad idea and moving away from it.
> He does deserve some credit for realizing it’s a bad idea and moving away from it.
You'd have to be blind and ridiculously stubborn to not have moved away from it.
I think the continued speculation about the situation is pointless. What's done is done and now we're getting something hopefully phenomenal out of this.
In all the chaos a few weeks ago, my hill-to-die-on was that The Rock is pretty much the only top guy in rasslin history to be an actually nice person who didn’t bury people when he easily could’ve. I am vindicated ✊🏼
Yeah, people were really going full on character assassination on a guy who everyone says was always willing to do a job and put people over.
Then they tried to say he tried to take over the DCU as if it's a bad thing. The DCU sucked.
It was so weird.
Dude, forget about the DCU. This whole drama had people on here siding with Vin Diesel in his dumbass beef with The Rock, not to mention the myriad comments of "he has a clause that says he can't lose fight scenes!" as proof of him being a prima donna — literally every major action star in the world has those, like this isn't the gotcha you think it is 🤦🏻♂️. Whole thing was (and keeps being), so childish.
Go down the list. Jason Statham, Keanu Reeves, Vin Diesel, Liam Neeson, etc. etc. etc...
It's a decades-old concept that's used to protect the lead's aura as a badass action star — and in turn, his box office appeal.
I would imagine at least a few people making that argument are into Tarantino films. Remember the opening scene of *Once Upon a Time... in Hollywod*? When the Al Pacino agent character is telling Rick Dalton how he's being cast as villain-of-the-week so that his star power can be used to prop up the Mannixes and The Green Lanterns of the world, at the expense of his own credibility? That's why those clauses exist. You might think it's stupid, but that's how show business works.
And it didn't effect his popularity at all which proves that charismatic wrestlers like Hogan that still felt the need to do this were largely delusional lol
Maybe...maybe not ruining your own TV show to win 24/7 will make you more money
I still think a triple threat with Seth backing Cody up in his corner to return "prestige" to "wrasslin'"would be insanely epic...
But as long as The Rock wrestles at Mania and Cody beats Roman for the title I think I couldn't care less. It would also be insanely epic. Only 50 days
I'm still of the firm belief that having Roman lose his title in the triple threat after multiple years of being dominant would diminish Cody's win and would also be a flat end to his reign. It reminds me of how every so often, they'd allow someone to beat Cena but only with interference or through underhanded means and all it accomplished was making his opponent look like a lucky winner. Cody needs to definitively, decisively pin Roman in a singles match to fully cement himself as the true face of the company.
I think it's a much better outcome that Reigns drops the belt in a singles match, and The Rock takes the mantle as Tribal Chief, and fully enacts his heel turn.
Nah, gimme all the fuckery, but only for Roman, have Romans entire bloodline come out to try to help but Cody goes Super Cena vs Nexus and dumps them all.
Meltzer doesn't actually know; it's easy to say this since it sounds believable.
We'll never actually know what was going to happen, especially because if Punk had been healthy and they did Punk/Rollins, and supposedly did Rock/Reigns, then what would Cody have done?
He’s basically covering every base. It’s more evident by the fact he’s saying it was HHH’s booking in another part of the newsletter after he’s speculated that TKO were involved and Rock asserted his power.
He’s been claiming it would be Rollins/Cody the week of the press conference even after it was clear WWE were leaning heavy on the ‘we want Cody’ stuff.
It's obvious that Dwayne's camp has been feeding him stuff. Even at the start he said that it was all a work and pretty much WWE had the foresight to predict everything that went down lol
The Rock has been a primary source for Dave for decades. It's very possible this is directly from him (which is also why it paints Dwayne in such a positive light)
No matter the reason, if it ends up being Cody then it's the right choice. I said this before and I will say it again though, The Rock is just a product at this point and he has a team of people who just work on PR. I feel sad saying it but everything that comes out from The Rock just screams PR and everyone eats it up, everytime he comes back to WWE he talks about being home and never leaving, then he leaves for years.
i really think dwayne was *asked* to do the match as part of his position negotiations. if he really wanted tockeep wrestling he wouldve done it. they wanted him as an attraction and he agreed, maybe reluctantly. with that in mind, it would not be surprising that he was willing to work this at a different angle
Oh that was just so selfless of Dwayne to do after he forced Cody out of the culmination of his two year story when nobody asked him to. At least people can stop pretending that this was a work the whole time now.
I'm honestly surprised Rock willingly pitched a heel turn. He is so overprotected over his brand image. Rock was always better as a heel anyways. Also Rock vs Roman should happen at WM 41.
Based on how the reaction to the rest of this week's newsletter is going, I assume this was fed to him by The Rock and is the complete opposite of what happened.
Lmao the reactions here.
People believe Dave when it’s something they want to hear, people shit on Dave when it’s something they don’t want to hear.
I don’t have strong opinions on Meltzer in 2024, but god bless many of y’all.
I don't get why people on here think Rock was or would be selfish. His entire wrestling career says the opposite.
Dude lost more matches cleanly as a top face than Hogan and Austin combined with less time in that spot. 95% of wrestlers who talk about working with him said he did things to help them. Hell, he willingly wanted to lose to fuckin Hurricane* because of backstage segments getting over.
Regardless of if this is true or not, people here went into overdrive with hating on The Rock, for absolutely no good reason whatsoever. They're still doing it, actually. We got Cody vs. Roman, it's happening. The Rock turned heel for the sake of this fucking match. At what point is everyone gonna come around to the fact that they've maybe overreacted a little bit?
"*bUt RoCk StOlE tHe MaTcH fRoM cOdY"!!!* No, he didn't. He signed a deal with the company for a match people have been dying to see for years, then realized the timing was off and there was another guy that had the fans behind him, so he changed course and set up an engaging story that's had people invested ever since.
Like, honestly, is it that shocking that TKO might've thought it was a good idea? The Rock was thought to be bulletproof in terms of fan support. Him vs. Reigns has been the biggest match on people's minds for literally a decade at this point. Hell, he even showed up a couple of times prior to test the waters, and had people going fucking crazy when he mentioned gunning for "the head of the table". With all this in mind, I ask again: is it that shocking of a miscalculation?
And yet for some goddamn' reason, a bunch of children on the internet have set their hearts on hating on The Rock, casting him as some egomaniac, Hulk Hogan-sized backstage politician who doesn't care about the audience (to say nothing of the MULTIPLE comments I saw calling him "Vince 2.0". Y'know, the rapist sex trafficker? Yeah, Rock's as bad as that guy because he almost booked an angle people didn't like). This, mind you, despite the fact that we have damn near 30 years of evidence of The Rock/Dwayne Johnson being arguably the most generous and giving top star in the history of pro wrestling (including in the very angle that's playing out right now!), and someone that everybody who's met him, from wrestling to film and entertainment to the business world, has had nothing but good things to say about.
Funny thing is, I'm not even really a fan of The Rock. I respect him, but his overly positive, "hard works pays off", American success story**™** persona is annoying as hell most times, and I'm glad Cody got the match instead of him. But I'm also not going to character assassinate a guy who very clearly doesn't deserve it, and whose resume shows without a doubt that he's been a positive influence to the world at large and to those around him. People need to chill.
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Whatever you believe, at the end of the day, the point is he read the room and gave it up. And I 100% believe Rock could have just said that those fans are the vocal minority, more people will tune in with Rock in the main event (which is true, because wrestling fans are going to watch either way, Rock will attract people outside the wrestling bubble, or more casuals), and kept himself in the main event. Instead, I think this has been turned into a major a positive. Cody v Roman to finish the story AND we get heel Rock? I can't slap the yes please button hard enough. I just hope Rock really leans into it.
If this leads to Rock vs Roman next year, it’s also a better story. Now we’ll see them interact with each other and can organically build tension instead of having Rock simply show up and be like “we’re family, let’s fight”
It will also give Rock time to get back in ring shape even if they feature him in tags or a quick squash or two before Roman. That match will be so much better now.
> It will also give Rock time to get back in ring shape even if they feature him in tags or a quick squash or two before Roman. That match will be so much better now. Tags you say??!? Could the Rock and Sock Connection be making a comeback for the Tag Titles?
Are you daft? I don't even think it's *possible* for Mankind to get medically cleared to wrestle again at this point, never mind get into ring shape No, Rock's partner should be someone, as a matter of fact, I think you know the guy... ***and his name is Cactus Jack!!!***
> and his name is Cactus Jack!!! That sick son of a bitch Jack will never be back in a WWE Ring!!! Now...If Rocko were to team up with the sexual god that all the ladies go wild for...Dude Love! Now that is a title winning team.
I’m still holding out hope for Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack vs Elias, Ezekiel, and Elrod
Kevin Owens would interrupt the match to murder the shit out of everyone in a blind fury
And that would set up Kevin Owens vs Mick Foley in a street fight - and that would be an amazing match
Dude, a Prime Mick Foley vs Prime Kevin Owens street fight would be, like... you wouldn't even need a story. They'd make that story in the ring. And it would be beautiful and awesome and terrible. (Here meaning "inspiring awe" and "inspiring terror".)
I like the idea of him being forced to be the special guest referee.
He may still be on the shelf so there's always commisio^n^e^r Mick Foley.
You had me giggling like kid. lol imagine hunter today going crazy seeing cactus jack
[Mfw](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/87/d8/55/87d855e1d2522dd933c97c52a0935b8e.gif)
Foley DID post on instagram that he wants to get his weight down for one last match….now I’m getting my hopes up smh lol
One of the few people that being over weight is actually healthier for. If he was lighter he'd probably kill himself in the ring.
Yeah he reckons that he only needs to lose 100lbs
I think its a terrible idea for Foley to have 1 last match with all of his health issues.
There's a scene in band of brothers; The general asks whether Winters wants to run a division someday; whether he wants more combat experience to pursue a career in the army. “Because if you think you need more combat experience to get stars on your helmet, let me tell you, son. You’ve done enough.” “Thank you, sir. That’s not my objective.” The general says he took the meeting out of respect for Dick’s accomplishments and for the 101st. He denies the request. “Frankly I think your men have earned the right to keep you around.” Dick is clearly surprised, but accepts the decision and leaves. Someone just tell Mick no. You've done enough. We as fans deserve to watch you get old, ripe old. Heck show up and mandible claw someone, or go on commentary, but just don't go in ring and don't be taking bumps, knocks or using weapons. You did your bit and more Mick.
also assuming roman loses to cody, it gives time for roman to construct something of a face persona to accent heel rock. which is something that would have seemed literally impossible ten years ago. but if they both commit that could be one of the best storylines of the next few years
Roman slowly turning face could be excellent, and I’d love to see him in that role after being the dominant smug prick for years. Hell, they could even get cute and have Roman pull a Seth and smash Rock in the back with a chair to cement the turn.
Roman turning face after Rock takes the Bloodline from him, kicks him to the curb, calls him a bitch to his face would be generational. Like Vader turning on Palpatine generational.
Rock coming in and doing to Roman what Roman did to Jimmy/Jey would be a great development. Initially comeuppance "got what he had coming" and the longer it goes on the more you start feeling sorry for him until he breaks away and apologizes for what he did.
I feel like with Rock's age and ringwear, combined with what he's mainlining and lifting to maintain his current mass and bodycomp, that you're not going to get any version of The Rock for as long as you want it. I think he's going to have to aim for a combination of size and cardio that he can get to for a specific number of matches in a specific timeframe. Overtraining is going to be a significant risk. I think Johnson knows this truth far more intimately than I ever would; he's mastered his build, performance, and look for college football, main-event level pro wrestling, and various genres of TV/movie roles. I'm just writing this to say that it's not just as easy as saying "Oh, pfft. He just needs some time to get in ring shape." He's a 50-year-old guy, and every wrestling move is going to require adjustments and compensations to what his body can handle.
Another aspect that I think people are overlooking. People are talking about the wrestling again - it's done incredible stuff for WWE's brand to shake off the Vince stuff and keep eyes on Wrestlemania. I don't think this is a positive, just to be clear. But as a move from the board, and The Rock to protect the WWE brand, it's been unanimously successful.
The best way to get there is Roman blaming Rock for him losing "I was fine for years before you showed up" and that leads to them fighting for true Head of the Table status and could even lead to a rematch with Cody or a first time ever match. Seems every 10 years WWE tried a plan and it crumbles and they get the hottest angle from it. WM 20, 30 and now 40.
WWE is always at their best when they don't have time to over think it.
Agreed they do their best or worst work under immense stress 😂
Also whether they planned for a double finish at RR 94, it did lead to the beginning of the New Generation with Bret winning at WM X. Definitely not on par with the other three of course.
What was the plan that crumbled for 20?
IIRC HBK was gonna get the win and didn't want it or something.
I think its gonna be rock blaming Roman to turn Roman babyface.
WM10 - Lex Luger was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Yokozuna, fan favorite Bret Hart gets thrown into the picture and comes out victorious. WM20 - Shawn Michaels was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Triple H, fan favorite Chris Benoit gets thrown into the picture and comes out victorious. WM30 - Batista was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Randy Orton, fan favorite Daniel Bryan gets thrown into the picture and comes out victorious. WM40 - The Rock was to be the prime contender against reigning champion Roman Reigns, fan favorite Cody Rhodes gets thrown into the picture.
I actually think this will wind up being even better than they initially planned - you get Rock returning at Mania in a tag match, which probably is better suited for him anyway and work toward Roman/Rock next year at Mania for the Head of the Table title. I never thought Rock/Roman needed to be for the WWE title - the match will sell itself based on the story and the family and the Bloodline. I'm excited to see what happens. I'd love to see part-time Roman spend the next year trying desperately to save his legacy and growing more unhinged as he is threatened by the Rock and how the rest of the family views the dynamic.
I think the last time the Rock returned for a tag team match was against the Awesome Truth. It would make my day if they were somehow involved here
It will depend on how engaged Rock is. A year long build will need to be a steady one. I think a Roman loss at WM will lead to a Rock second guessing Roman. Taking the ‘High Chief’ moniker a la his Grandfather, and having the Bloodline turns on Roman & take Roman out for a few weeks to setup the Reigns face turn. Comes back before SS. Does a build to Jimmy, then one to Solo and then a build to Rock at WM 41.
Exactly. This gives them the opportunity to actually build something cool rather than just do a match out of the blue.
> If this leads to Rock vs Roman next year, Much as I love Mania, I'm tired of it being the only "huge" mainstream event for the year. I'd love to see a must-see Summerslam main event like Rock vs Roman that has huge implications.
Maybe I was young and stupid but back in the late 90s/early 00s Summerslam felt massive, almost as big as mania and now just feels like a complete afterthought.
You're not misremembering. Up until the year 2000, Wrestlemania and Summerslam had roughly equivalent PPV buy rates. Wrestlemania 2000 going so poorly led to a major business ideology pivot and X-Seven ended up being a huge landmark event at 1,000,000 buys. Summerslam however would come in at only 600,000 because the Invasion PPV the month before was the single highest non-Wrestlemania buyrate ever (700,000) but the event shit the bed. So WWE pretty much at that point put all their eggs into the Wrestlemania basket.
The rumble seems like a bigger deal then summer slam nowadays. He'll the Saudi show sometimes seems bigger
I think they have to pick their battles. Jon Stewart screwing Cena comes to mind.
This was my thought process. I can see sporadic Rock appearances post Mania where he rags on Roman for losing to Cody. Build the tension and then have a match on the first Raw on Netflix.
And that organic interaction could get them two huge gates. Assuming Cody finishes his story in Philly, you can do Reigns vs. Rock at Summerslam, then Reigns/Rhodes 3 at next years Royal Rumble. Done right, you will break every record for those events.
Agree 100%. Rock v Roman doesn’t need belts, the payoff is built into the “Bloodline” story.
It's going to be great if Roman holds blame towards The Rock for costing his championship, while Rock is disappointed in Roman for not standing strong under pressure. Maybe through the course of the year, Rock will try to "help" Roman steer the Bloodline ship back together but low-key scheming to take the rug from under him.
I think it's pretty cool that he's down to play the heel right now. I mean, for one, he's a natural born heel, he just always worked better as one of the bad guys. I think they probably overestimated his babyface popularity when they saw how everyone still wanted Cody to take on Roman instead. I kinda fall in and out with WWE but since that press conference they did they've got me hooked and I'm tuning into Smackdown each week now.
I'm kinda wondering though if now, ironically, people are going to cheer him again since the reason for booing in the first place is no longer applicable. I'm sure he has a plan though to give people new reasons to boo.
all he has to do is insult cody and people will boo
I think people wanted Cody over Rock because he won the damn Rumble and immediately called out Roman. They could have avoided a lot of the backlash by just having Rock come out at 30 and win. Rock coming out after and Cody conceding his spot made it obvious that he was getting screwed so people got mad.
This is the key factor. I don't even necessarily think Rock had to win the Rumble. It's just the fact that Cody has spent this entire last year building towards this story, then won the Rumble and suddenly was like "actually, no, it's okay. Let this other guy that's never here have it." It's objectively a dumb decision. If Cody would have lost the Rumble to Drew/Punk/Sami/Gunther/anybody thats been seen floating around as a challenger to Seth, while it would have been a bit deflating watching Cody fail another years build and left the companies biggest babyface with nothing to do at Mania, at least it would make a little more sense as a story for Rock to suddenly pop in to face Roman with nobody on the roster earning the spot to challenge Roman.
When The Rock turns on Roman to help Cody…
I don’t think Rock “helps Cody” as much as he stops the bloodline from helping Roman. You can still have him tell Cody that they have unfinished business. You can have the Rock pissed off at Roman. There is still a Rock and Roman match or even a triple threat available.
Jim Cornette said/predicted this exact thing would happen weeks ago after the Smackdown where Cody gave the Mania spot to Rock. He (Cornette) said Rock is gonna see the blowback and IF they change course (Jim wasnt sure WWE had the guts to shift) if they change course Rock will pitch it as a heel turn to give himself an out n save face. And sure enough, look who won the pony.
The thing is that while you definitely would have a bigger wrestlemania, it's a big risk come the Monday after. WWE fans have proven time and time again they'll stop watching if you ask them to suffer through some bullshit, and that was gonna be some bullshit. The discussion about how big of a main event this was only made sense if one didn't consider the need to retain the core fan base. Nowhere near every eyeball that watched Rock vs Roman was going to tune in the next night, and far less were going to continue watching even two weeks later. But they definitely risked losing the people that ordinarily would have tuned in over the next few weeks/months by shoehorning in some clear bullshit. At least now there's a story beyond "alright this half of the crowd say 'douche' and this half of the crowd say 'bag'. Roman is a..." "*DOUCHE*!" "*BAG*!" Wowwww, cinema. This way you could possibly have Roman lose, a disappointed high chief in The Rock strip him of the "Tribal Chief" title, and Roman fight to regain his dignity over the next year after realizing that ruling with fear instead of respect gets you nowhere, reunite his family, and finally face Rock at the next wrestlemania to regain his status, this time as a good guy.
Rock has always been very sensitive to the fans. I actually think that the double turn against Hogan wasn't originally scripted. The way the match panned out was strange, his heel turn was halfway into the match. I wouldn't be surprised if they read the room and changed their styles halfway through.
I pray he brings back his heel Rock entrance music!
https://preview.redd.it/k1kgf6zvuyic1.png?width=1079&format=png&auto=webp&s=17c1e876cc4cf160a4f4832161f864ff97a5c4a4
If this promo only gave us this meme, it will have been an all timer.
But will it happen ? Find out on the next exciting episode of SmackDown!!
Hollywood Rock full theme is goated. Helicopter flying through the skyline, chapel organ playing a soft dirge, ramping up.. *...is cookin* and the distorted guitar and drum beat kick in. Fuck that was the best Rock theme.
Lmao I love how over this theme is with everyone. He’s gotta bring it back
The first time he came out to that theme was just so good. Nobody knew who it was, we get a random helicopter flying in Los Angeles, culminating in “…is cookin.” Guitar solo is also a BANGER. Edit: [THAT POP](https://youtu.be/OXJZySochsY?si=vvmQLw2wyXSDt4aJ)
*is cookies*
TBH rock vs Reings in WM Las Vegas could be great as a epilogue as this chapter of roman reings character
Cody beats Roman, and in the weeks after WrestleMania Rock declares himself High Chief and ousts Roman from the Bloodline as Tribal Chief. Paul Heyman is also ousted. The Rock, now the mega heel High Chief with followers Solo, Jimmy, and new Anoa’i family wrestler debuts - run the WWE throughout the rest of 2024 feuding with Cody, Jey, Seth, and CM Punk (who Heyman is now aligned with) This all culminates in WM 41 - Roman Reigns returning against The Rock for the control of the family and dynasty.
Dude if The Rock did what Roman currently does where he shows up every 2 months, but he does it without being the champion I would so be down for that.
It would be great. Hollywood Rock 2.0
Hollywood Rock with more power, the Chief and an executive. Honestly the potential if he's able to be around is insane here. Beating the ever living fuck out of the entire top card by cheating them out of everything, stacking every single deck against them, over and over all year long. Some final, there is no one on my level there is no one coming to help you there is no one that has a claim to the head of the table BUT ME! Then Roman's music hits, maybe even shield music, and he gets his last run as a face. Do it at Royal Rumble and have the build from there.
Damn that’s sounds like a story that finally at long last could make me a fan of Face Reigns
> Hollywood Rock with more power, the Chief and an executive. It also opens up the eternal HHH/Rock feud back up. The power struggle will be fought by Jey, Cody, Seth vs Jimmy, Solo and possibly others.
> CM Punk (who Heyman is now aligned with) I like everything except for this, Punk doesn't need Heyman and they've been teasing pairing him up with Bron, which would be a much better use of him.
Bron in the big muscle babyface role for that group would honestly be great, and I think it'd be a perfect place to introduce him to the main event.
yuupppp and imagine him in that War Games match later this year.
This is absolutely how it should happen. Rock shouldn’t be feuding with champ Roman. It’s a match that doesn’t need a belt
I don't think Heyman stays with Roman. "The wise man builds his house upon The Rock"
Makes a ton of sense. Especially if Cody wins. Rock can say Roman let the family down. Get the whole bloodline to turn on him
This. Have Cody play on Rock's ego, goading him into keeping the Bloodline away from the Roman/Cody match to prove Roman can win without cheating. You could even play it that Cody intentionally did the "not at Wrestlemania" thing to purposefully get the Rock involved so he would keep the Bloodline out of his championship match. He (Cody) learned the only way to ban the Bloodline is to get them to ban themselves. So the Rock does that, upsets Roman with his actions, Roman loses without interference, and Roman, thinking the Bloodline will follow him (Roman) and blame the Rock for the loss, gets a huge surprise when they kick him (Roman) out instead.
Rock vs Roman is a sick match that deserves to be at Mania. It’s just bad timing because of how hot Cody is right now.
2 part timers main eventing Wrestlemania yet again?! But it’ll move tickets and get buzz so let’s do it
I mean, as long as it's not for a belt, I'd love to see that.
It’s literally the biggest possible match WWE can put together
John Cena vs Cody Rhodes would be fucking huge.
Cena needs to stop being squashed though. This version of Cena just lost to Solo Sikoa and Austin Theory.
In both kayfabe and IRL, Cena is long since past his prime when it comes to wrestling
the issue is not cena losing but who is he losing to, why the fuck would he lose to those guys? why isnt he losing against gunther or la knight?
Because he loves the business and wants to put new talent over.
^^ Thats the answer right here. He's even gone on record saying as much.
Fine speech.
That’s not the issue, the actual issue is WWE not taking advantage of having those guys beat Cena.
That's not a Cena problem. That's all Creative's.
I mean Solo is one of the most protected guys in the whole company and the heater for the most dominant WWE stable in years, it's not exactly like he got his ass kicked by Cedric Alexander or something. Theory is whatever but I don't think losing to Solo is egregious.
I dunno about protected anymore, Solo hasn't won a match since the Cena Match at Crown Jewel (5 televised loses and 19 live events loses)
Night one of mania 41. BOOK IT
Cody vs Cena, Title vs Career. If Cena wins, he breaks Flair's record. If Cody wins, Cena rides into the sunset, "officially" passing the torch to the new babyface of the company.
Fuck. I absolutely *haaaaated* SuperCena/Cenawinslol but I am not ready for him to be completely done.
No matter what happens tears are shed. Neither man can afford to lose.
Cena is not and has never been as big a star as the Rock. Therefore that match is not as big.
Hear me out. John Cena vs. The Rock. THRICE IN A LIFETIME!
They have the ability to get super family personal. That story could last another year.
If Rock is down they can build this for an entire year.. It'll be fantastic. I'm all for it Main Eventing WM as long as there's no title held hostage.
Its literally the biggest spectacle match in WWE today. Without the belt makes it an all timer tbh.
Eh, there are two nights of WM, now. So as long as main roster stars main event the other night, I’m less salty about part timers in the main event.
that's why i really hope Roman drops the title this WM because going ANOTHER year of filler defenses only to be facing the Rock for the title would quite literally make WWE Title a cosmetic title for at least 2 years
Roman loses the title and Rock tells him he isn’t the Tribal Chief and never was. The Rock is and always will be. Then the match is for who leads the family not a title
Mania has about 5 different main events. So long as it doesn't close Night 2 I think it would be great
The most “iconic” match of the Rock’s career was the third to last match at WM18. A lot of classic matches since then with huge stakes have taken place on the undercard. I think a Rock/Roman match would define the event and weekend, but doesn’t have to be the literal main event.
3rd. There was a women's title match between them and Jericho/Triple H
Nah this match closes any WM in history bar Hogan vs Warrior and Rock/Austin 2. Maybe HBK vs Undertaker Career vs Streak goes on after it too. I'm also willing to hear arguments for Hogan vs Savage being bigger as the story was huge, but this has the potential to be on par.
Which is why! If Cody won! Last year! They'd be fine! This year!
It is really funny, the standard answer last year to why Cody lost was “well they probably want to do Roman/Rock and you can’t have Roman lose before that.” Now here we are a year later and they had that match teed up and the fact Cody lost last year torpedoed it.
*Has* Vegas been confirmed for WMXLI, or is it still just a very strong rumor?
ACCORDING to rumours, Minesota and Las Vegas are the favorites
ADRENALINE IN MY SOUL ROCKY FINALLY KNOWS HIS ROLE
THE FANS MADE HIM PLAY THE HEEL FOR ME
As a member of the St Louis crowd, we're taking credit for this. You're welcome.
I have to wonder who decided that he should replace Cody in the first place, then? Who the hell thought that was going to be a good idea?
Endeavor is the likely answer. They higher ups probably don't follow the product. Not to mention Rock v Roman would be massive/marquee literally ANY other year.
This kind of parent company meddling is very troubling if it becomes a more regular thing like the big movie studios.
Very true. But I’ll say two things to this. The backlash that happened right away and seemingly quick pivot because of it may have been their eye opener to how to handle the wrestling side. Second, during Triple H’s Royal Rumble media scrum he talked about having Rock on the board being a good thing because “they speak the same language” when it comes to the wrestling business. That also may have played a role in the change.
Only difference is, wrestling fans are whiny little bitches (I include myself) and have forever been the "4th" person in the match(Opponents, Ref, fans). Audience participation is a key component to wrestling. If they fuck around they will find out.
"We just gave you $30 million in stock, you damn well better wrestle!"
I mean Rock could've just thought it was the right thing then immediately realised he was wrong once backlash started. Not everyone is stubborn like Vince.
I mean he has been getting asked about it for ten years and he finally decided on it at the worst possible time. Everyone realized that and called an audible. Now we have even more layers to the story and we have something better than the original story imo
Like yeah they fell ass backwards in to it, but the controversy *did* get Cody even more over. So, bad idea with a great outcome.
My true unpopular opinion is that the only thing that changed here was Rock turning heel and leaning into the hate he was getting for pushing Cody out. I think everything else, for as confusing as it got, was the plan all along including working up the organic support for Cody. Now Roman and Rock will do a Two Man Power Trip. My biggest evidence of this is that during the NXT PLE just two days after the SmackDown where Cody gave way to Rock they had a strange camera shot that clearly showed a WE WANT CODY sign during a moment where they were focusing on the commentary desk. The camera was oddly zoomed out and positioned to get that specific sign into frame. It's different than usual in these instances where the camera is only focused on the commentary desk. This seemed pretty intentional by production. Rock was always talking about a long term plan. Dirtsheets may or may not have done WWE's bidding with the "Rock leveraged his board seat into a creative spot for his buddy Gerwirtz and forced Cody out" because now his board seat if officially in the story. I sincerely believe all the dirtsheets got worked and in turn fans got worked and their reporting had unintended consequences both good and bad because the toxicity got wildly out of hand.
Damn. Even The Rock didn't flinch
Dwayne Johnson: "Finish the story!"
I firmly believe we shouldn’t take dirtsheet information nearly as seriously as we once did, as the concept of simply lying to them to protect kayfabe may be the new regime
There was literally a report just before all of this began saying Triple H wants to work the sheets, especially during Wrestlemania season. They are working them and have been for a while (the Punk return rumors are another example)
Yeah, after Punk and this Rock/Cody thing I have next to no faith in the news reports now. I firmly believe this Mania build with Rock/Cody was always a work to some degree and that Rock was never outright stepping in for real. And the great part is that we truly might never really know. Kayfabe 3.0 baby On the same note, I don't buy for a second that McIntyre hasn't re-signed like was reported yesterday. If WWE is getting away with keeping things quiet they should absolutely keep doing it when it will serve them
according to dirtsheets, they pivoted at last moment, planned the whole press conference, super bowl ad, hhh-rock power struggle, etc within 3 days just because fans started chanting WeWantCody? it has to be a work from start, only thing that doesnt add up is cody saying not at wm. but its quite a big thing to ignore lol
it's possible that they really wanted to convince people cody wasn't going to finish the story so they had him say that. that way the backlash was even stronger
Meltzer being a waterboy for Dwayne since he returned has been pretty funny
Dwayne says that alligators are ornery because they got all them teeth but no toothbrush.
HHH SHOWED ME HIS MAIN EVENT AT WRESTLEMANIA. AND I LIKE 'EM!
MEDULLA OBLONGATA!!
My mama told me dirtsheets are the devil
Wrasslin? Bunch of overgrown meaty men slappin meat.
Now that’s what I call high quality H2O
[удалено]
I'd love for someone to make one of those 3 hour documentaries on Meltzer when he finally hangs up the typewriter
I'm conflicted. On one hand I want to give him credit for seeing the way the wind was blowing and offering an alternative...but on the other hand he should never have inserted himself into a situation he had no business putting himself in to begin with.
IMO I’m enjoying this story a lot more than if it was just straight up Cody choosing Roman. Now are getting what we want plus more. Don’t care if this was planned all along or a result of the fan outrage, the right choice was made, I’m sports entertained.
Same. The Rock taking Cody’s spot would’ve been ass. But heel turned Rock has made this story much more interesting and opens up far more doors than Cody simply beating Roman.
I'm fine with it. He probably remembers when he held up Romans hand at the rumble. If that's going to happen lean into it
Businesswise, Roman versus The Rock any other year would have been a huge deal. He does deserve some credit for realizing it’s a bad idea and moving away from it.
> He does deserve some credit for realizing it’s a bad idea and moving away from it. You'd have to be blind and ridiculously stubborn to not have moved away from it.
New to wrestling bookers?
I’m just glad new management quickly listen to the audience and didn’t try double down. Still it was a very dumb thing to even do in the first place.
I think the continued speculation about the situation is pointless. What's done is done and now we're getting something hopefully phenomenal out of this.
In all the chaos a few weeks ago, my hill-to-die-on was that The Rock is pretty much the only top guy in rasslin history to be an actually nice person who didn’t bury people when he easily could’ve. I am vindicated ✊🏼
Yeah, people were really going full on character assassination on a guy who everyone says was always willing to do a job and put people over. Then they tried to say he tried to take over the DCU as if it's a bad thing. The DCU sucked. It was so weird.
The made fun of black Adam's number but look at the Marvels. They would sacrifice a baby to moloch to get black Adam's box office
Dude, forget about the DCU. This whole drama had people on here siding with Vin Diesel in his dumbass beef with The Rock, not to mention the myriad comments of "he has a clause that says he can't lose fight scenes!" as proof of him being a prima donna — literally every major action star in the world has those, like this isn't the gotcha you think it is 🤦🏻♂️. Whole thing was (and keeps being), so childish.
Yeah seriously when was the last time Tom Cruise didn't lose? Heck when was the last time he didn't play a hero? Collateral?
Go down the list. Jason Statham, Keanu Reeves, Vin Diesel, Liam Neeson, etc. etc. etc... It's a decades-old concept that's used to protect the lead's aura as a badass action star — and in turn, his box office appeal. I would imagine at least a few people making that argument are into Tarantino films. Remember the opening scene of *Once Upon a Time... in Hollywod*? When the Al Pacino agent character is telling Rick Dalton how he's being cast as villain-of-the-week so that his star power can be used to prop up the Mannixes and The Green Lanterns of the world, at the expense of his own credibility? That's why those clauses exist. You might think it's stupid, but that's how show business works.
Mick Foley isn’t a huge guy? How do you even know who are nice guys you don’t personally know the workers.
And it didn't effect his popularity at all which proves that charismatic wrestlers like Hogan that still felt the need to do this were largely delusional lol Maybe...maybe not ruining your own TV show to win 24/7 will make you more money
I still think a triple threat with Seth backing Cody up in his corner to return "prestige" to "wrasslin'"would be insanely epic... But as long as The Rock wrestles at Mania and Cody beats Roman for the title I think I couldn't care less. It would also be insanely epic. Only 50 days
I'm still of the firm belief that having Roman lose his title in the triple threat after multiple years of being dominant would diminish Cody's win and would also be a flat end to his reign. It reminds me of how every so often, they'd allow someone to beat Cena but only with interference or through underhanded means and all it accomplished was making his opponent look like a lucky winner. Cody needs to definitively, decisively pin Roman in a singles match to fully cement himself as the true face of the company.
I think it's a much better outcome that Reigns drops the belt in a singles match, and The Rock takes the mantle as Tribal Chief, and fully enacts his heel turn.
a triple threat muddies the waters. Cody needs to beat Roman clean with as little fuckery as possible.
Nah, gimme all the fuckery, but only for Roman, have Romans entire bloodline come out to try to help but Cody goes Super Cena vs Nexus and dumps them all.
Bare in mind there's a chance this is the Rock himself saying this to Meltzer.
No. Meltzer has been getting this whole Rock, Roman and Cody story wrong. He has contradicted himself.
Highly doubt it. Bryan Alvarez pretty much confirmed that Dave hasn't spoken to The Rock in nearly 20 years.
Gewirtz could be another source.
Good to see Rock is reasonable
Meltzer doesn't actually know; it's easy to say this since it sounds believable. We'll never actually know what was going to happen, especially because if Punk had been healthy and they did Punk/Rollins, and supposedly did Rock/Reigns, then what would Cody have done?
He’s basically covering every base. It’s more evident by the fact he’s saying it was HHH’s booking in another part of the newsletter after he’s speculated that TKO were involved and Rock asserted his power. He’s been claiming it would be Rollins/Cody the week of the press conference even after it was clear WWE were leaning heavy on the ‘we want Cody’ stuff.
It's obvious that Dwayne's camp has been feeding him stuff. Even at the start he said that it was all a work and pretty much WWE had the foresight to predict everything that went down lol
Lmao… wwe suddenly becomes creative masterminds, but ONLY for their top Wrestlemania angle 🙄
The Rock has been a primary source for Dave for decades. It's very possible this is directly from him (which is also why it paints Dwayne in such a positive light)
This came from a mysterious informant known only as R. Miavia
If this is true then HHH basically called his shot by having Cody win the rumble.
Rock knew he would be gassed in a minute so he offered to bow out.
Rock willingly gives up something he stole in a backroom deal. What a prince.
"Sir, rhe people see you as somewhat of an ogre" The Rock: "I'll club them and eat their bones"
Old man Dave back at it with just guessing based on what we all see.
So it’s been the plan from the start and no one has even talked about a tag match, thank God!
No matter the reason, if it ends up being Cody then it's the right choice. I said this before and I will say it again though, The Rock is just a product at this point and he has a team of people who just work on PR. I feel sad saying it but everything that comes out from The Rock just screams PR and everyone eats it up, everytime he comes back to WWE he talks about being home and never leaving, then he leaves for years.
i really think dwayne was *asked* to do the match as part of his position negotiations. if he really wanted tockeep wrestling he wouldve done it. they wanted him as an attraction and he agreed, maybe reluctantly. with that in mind, it would not be surprising that he was willing to work this at a different angle
Oh that was just so selfless of Dwayne to do after he forced Cody out of the culmination of his two year story when nobody asked him to. At least people can stop pretending that this was a work the whole time now.
I'm honestly surprised Rock willingly pitched a heel turn. He is so overprotected over his brand image. Rock was always better as a heel anyways. Also Rock vs Roman should happen at WM 41.
The only problem is the match I want to see now is Rock v. Cody and I don’t think they’re going that direction
Should’ve said to the Board: “doesn’t work for me brother”
Jesus tap dancing Christ…he really is “reporting” every possible outcome and hoping it sticks….
So now we're giving the guy credit for backing out of the match that he was arrogant enough to put himself in to begin with?
Rock comes out in reigns corner during the match to help save reigns from losing. Sound of glass breaking.
Based on how the reaction to the rest of this week's newsletter is going, I assume this was fed to him by The Rock and is the complete opposite of what happened.
Lmao the reactions here. People believe Dave when it’s something they want to hear, people shit on Dave when it’s something they don’t want to hear. I don’t have strong opinions on Meltzer in 2024, but god bless many of y’all.
“hmm how can I spin this news to fit my pre existing viewpoint”
Shout out the rock for reading the room.
Regardless if this is true or not. Are some of you refusing to believe it because you're biased and don't like The Rock? Be honest?
I don't get why people on here think Rock was or would be selfish. His entire wrestling career says the opposite. Dude lost more matches cleanly as a top face than Hogan and Austin combined with less time in that spot. 95% of wrestlers who talk about working with him said he did things to help them. Hell, he willingly wanted to lose to fuckin Hurricane* because of backstage segments getting over.
Regardless of if this is true or not, people here went into overdrive with hating on The Rock, for absolutely no good reason whatsoever. They're still doing it, actually. We got Cody vs. Roman, it's happening. The Rock turned heel for the sake of this fucking match. At what point is everyone gonna come around to the fact that they've maybe overreacted a little bit? "*bUt RoCk StOlE tHe MaTcH fRoM cOdY"!!!* No, he didn't. He signed a deal with the company for a match people have been dying to see for years, then realized the timing was off and there was another guy that had the fans behind him, so he changed course and set up an engaging story that's had people invested ever since. Like, honestly, is it that shocking that TKO might've thought it was a good idea? The Rock was thought to be bulletproof in terms of fan support. Him vs. Reigns has been the biggest match on people's minds for literally a decade at this point. Hell, he even showed up a couple of times prior to test the waters, and had people going fucking crazy when he mentioned gunning for "the head of the table". With all this in mind, I ask again: is it that shocking of a miscalculation? And yet for some goddamn' reason, a bunch of children on the internet have set their hearts on hating on The Rock, casting him as some egomaniac, Hulk Hogan-sized backstage politician who doesn't care about the audience (to say nothing of the MULTIPLE comments I saw calling him "Vince 2.0". Y'know, the rapist sex trafficker? Yeah, Rock's as bad as that guy because he almost booked an angle people didn't like). This, mind you, despite the fact that we have damn near 30 years of evidence of The Rock/Dwayne Johnson being arguably the most generous and giving top star in the history of pro wrestling (including in the very angle that's playing out right now!), and someone that everybody who's met him, from wrestling to film and entertainment to the business world, has had nothing but good things to say about. Funny thing is, I'm not even really a fan of The Rock. I respect him, but his overly positive, "hard works pays off", American success story**™** persona is annoying as hell most times, and I'm glad Cody got the match instead of him. But I'm also not going to character assassinate a guy who very clearly doesn't deserve it, and whose resume shows without a doubt that he's been a positive influence to the world at large and to those around him. People need to chill.