WWE has been on a hot streak, the product is the best its been in over 20 years at the moment. Just enjoy it whist it lasts because it will cool off. Great time to be a pro wrestling fan at the moment.
I do wonder how long a Cody babyface championship reign will last. besides fighting Gunther and the inevitable Drew feud the roster is a bit light in heels to keep him engaging as a champion, i dont see him keeping the belt for a whole year
Don't f*** this up for us Dave, the WWE spent decades completely ignoring what the fans want and now they're finally listening to us. DON'T ROCK THE BOAT
Decades? We ignoring DB 10 years ago? The fans demand to push Drew or to turn Roman heel? Kofimania Becky Lynch and all the other things that's happened
Way to backpedal there. That's not what you originally said. And I also find it interesting that someone who's name is Jeff Jarrett reference is in any position to talk about booking listening to the fans
1:46 that maybe the low-key funniest thing I've seen in a while. I'm of 2 minds on Rock's current run, Rock makes this feel a bit larger than last year's straight up Cody v Roman match. But Rock isn't as big a star as he was 3-4 years ago. Rock was involved in profitable movies sure (the Fast series is profitable but are good in a subjective sense depending on taste) Red Notice bombed Black Adam was such pure trash it brought about a much-needed structure change to the DC branded movies. I know Rock v Roman sounds good, very deep story build but 11 years ago a vastly younger Dwayne tore his abdominal and adductor tendons tore from his pelvis. Fans now have different interests like Cody, Seth plus a new fresher young crop of stars to hold their interest like Breaker, Carmello (both great 'cool heels), potentially Cargill. Dominick maybe the best pure heel with no redeeming likable qualities since Seth turned on Shield.
Rock is a movie star.Sly and Arnold went downhill in their 50's . That's what happens to action stars. But, they are still movie stars. Cody never get on that level.
@@erickennedy8534True. I'm not a fan of Rock's involvement cause in wrestling as in most things timing is crucial. Timing for the Tribal Chief/Bloodline story and Rocks involvement feels like it should've been started at WrestleMania 38 with Rock and Roman feuding into a match at WrestleMania 39. Roman is still a great heel but Roman doesn't feel as special as he did last year/2022/2021.
@@erickennedy8534 I still think the right time was2022-2023. But setting preference aside I can see how this is the ideal. Round number Manias need to go all out cause their milestones. Setting aside my own distaste for his movies its better Rock is back now that HHH is booking cause high buyrate solidifies HHH as the creative head and proves with buy rate HHH is best for business. I don't want Vince to come back for another power grab like last year
Why couldn't WWE Creative just have The Rock win the Royal Rumble? I mean, that would have prevented all of this. Cody fans would still be upset but not at this rate or to this degree. It made no sense for Cody to win the Rumble, be hyped up so much to finish his story, then choose Roman at the end of the Rumble only to have him step aside for the Rock. You wanna call me a "Cody Cry-baby" seriously, I don't care. I got thick skin and can handle it. But even The Rock's appearance that night Cody stepped aside felt like an awkward moment because it wasn't his moment. And that's where I disagree with you full heartedly that it is Cody's story to finish. The reign itself, you're right, I have no idea where you go after he wins, but to me, it's the Royal Rumble fiasco. At least there's the investment made from all parties involved, TKO, Creative, the performers and the fans.
I agree the Rock winning the Rumble would have been the path of least resistance. I also think Gunther winning and challenging Seth would have been an alternative too
Cody Rhodes didn't need two WrestleMania to get the gold, there was a nice summerslam, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble right there in 2023 to dethrone Roman Reigns.
Is it bc anyone can point out, rock wins then what? Same response to his cody take. Ones late 30s in prime the other is fucking 51 and barely around. So what happens after he wins and is barely around? It ain't gonna bring back "casuals", it brings back laps attitude era fans who still won't stick around bc this ain't the MF they remembered he got old and they don't wanna see their guy get old. It's why they they talked about Roman vs rock the picture they posted was rock 11 years ago.
I'm curious what Cody will look like post title win. The point about fans being FICKLE is fair and I would not be surprised if we start to get a backlash to Cody, especially if he keeps up his "Super Cena"-esque qualities (I don't hate Cena, just used that term for reference). It's also something I wonder about Daniel Bryan back in 2014, would he has still been massively over and loved or would the fans have soured on him? The injury makes it something we'll never know the answer to.
If we're being honest here, the big reason Mania 40 is being talked about to this extent is because of The Rock's involvement. Other than a small corner of the internet wanting the Cody/Roman rematch, there were a lot that didn't want this rematch. I fall into the latter, the one that didn't want it. The Cody fans may have got what they wanted, but what's going to happen when his "story" is finished? In all the examples where the perceived underdog wins the big one, they don't care as much once the goal has been reached. They're invested now, but once a Rock vs Roman feud starts, it will overshadow everything else in the same way Rock vs Cena did when it was booked a year in advance. It's very possible that Cody ends up like the Daniel Bryan's Benoit & Kofi's of the world where the chase is better than the reign.
They probably thought have thought of this scenario have plans in place. In any case you are underestimating the so call "small corner" it's the core wwe base who will go to the shows, buy merchandise and engage in all their media.
Goldberg was talked about to a big extent, did his terrible run burying current talent make the company more popular? Brock Lesnar was popular, had a dominant run with the world titles every year, did that make the company more popular when he left? The Undertaker was popular, had a few returns with mediocre matches tarnishing his legacy, did that make the company more popular when he left? Hulk Hogan returned in 2002, had a match with The Rock then politicked as usual until leaving in 2005, did his run make the company more popular? The Rock is popular, had a groin injury the last time he wrestled, he's pushing 50, and he hasn't wrestled in a decade, and was gassed just from attacking Jinder Mahal, so his match with Roman is probably gonna suck at WrestleMania 40 if that happened, so will THAT make the company more popular when he leaves again?
@Abridgimation What are you trying to imply here? That Cody finishing his story is going to make the company more popular? Cody has done nothing to make WWE more "popular". The ratings are god awful, especially on Raw. If this is some sort of attempt to gaslight me into thinking Cody is some big star, it's not working.
@@ShaunInce123 Nope, I'm simply implying that bringing in older guys that used to be stars does nothing for the company, cause if you look at the track record, it really doesn't. Hell, the only people that talk about Rock vs Cena to this day are wrestling fans, not the mainstream. At least if you focus on your current crop of guys and building them up and focusing on their storylines, you might get a star out of it that's a current star and will be for a few years.
Them changing it back to cody just cause fans got mad is sad. We dont book the show. Its there vision and story. We only watch how it plays out. Going back on there decision make cody looks pathetic and even weak getting help from rollins. If roman actually loses the title it wont feel as special cause of all these changes.
Cody fans can't wait until April 7th. Because , Cody fans might made Roman a baby face. Now, made Rock heel the fans cheering Bloodline now, so the fans been up and down last few weeks. Cody not over just, has his daddy's nostalgic.
I don't fully buy it as a work, I also don't fully buy it as a change in direction. My view is somewhere in the middle, I think this Wrestlemania was HHH and the booking team playing it safe; where as they didn't have a set in stone main event going into it and I believe the somewhat sloppy booking and handling of this story going into it is the proof in the pusding so to speak, because as it stands there was multiple different people who could main event this year all of which seemed like good options at the time hence why there was build up for both Cody and Roman respectively in retrospect. That said, I have to say I never understood how WWE could have thought Cody giving his Royal Rumble win to The Rock was a good idea because it is like you said, similar to the Daniel Bryan/Batista situation, sure The Rock is a bigger star but Cody earned his spot and it reflected horribly on him if he gave it up so brazenly [in kayfabe]. I don't hate The Rock or anyone related to him, but it was rather really deflating to see, I saw someone say "It's like if Stone Cold won The Rumble in 1998 and gave it to a returning Hulk Hogan or something." It's hard to not see it like that either. Really it's like someone else in the comments section said before: "Rock winning the Rumble would have lead to less complaints", even with me being largely Pro-Cody for this main event I would have accepted that outcome with no complaint, at least Cody tried from a Kayfabe standpoint you know? As for why the people are cheering for the Rock again, honestly I compare it to something similar to Roman when he turned heel years ago; the people never truly hated him, the response was clear because if fanbase did; they would just be silent, treat it like a nothingburger and call it a day without a hint or question, similar to The Rock when he started out, he was talented; everyone knew that, but he had such a cringe inducing gimmicm attached that it just did not work. When he became "The Rock" as we know him now after joining The Nation, you could see the change in responses from the crowd pretty quickly, plus this was the first time we seen Heel Rock in god knows how long; 20 years now? It's an event in of itself! I don't think people turned against Cody or are starting to (yet, I will get to that), it's just a different kind of thing going on. And while I cannot speak in the name of everyone I do wanna say that my stance as being more Pro-Cody does not mean I support the harassment against The Rock's Daughter, that was too far for me and I think that people deserve to be online and interact with each other in a safe environment, the world being crazy and messed up as it is now, the internet should be a relatively safe haven. That said I reject the notion that simply changing booking direction is rewarding that behavior; why should a significant portion (I am trying to avoid using the word majority here) of the fanbase have their voices and issues silenced because of the actions of a few, actions that me and many others largely dislike? As for the subject of weather the fans (the ones that aren't terrible and harass others) should get what they wish, I think to some degree we should have a say in the direction of the show TO AN EXTENT. I don't think we should be controlling every aspect of a show, but I do think we should have a say in who gets pushes at least based off of our general reactions. That used to be the case for the longest time that those who sell a fair bit of merchandise+loudest crowd reactions would be the ones getting their pushes. But nowadays in every Wrestling Company that kind of natural growth doesn't exist anymore. It's either the booking teams favorite at the top of the card or bust and if anyone tries to get that brass ring so to speak; they get the Zack Ryder treatment. It's not to me that a Wrestler's potential in a company or the business can get thrown to the side just because booking teams have a problem with them or they want absolute control as if Wrestling was like any other kind of performance or TV Show. But, speaking as a Cody fan; I can attest to the fears of Cody after Mania and how Cody was booked up until this point. Cody does need to be interacting with Roman more often in my view to make this feud feel really personal, and right now we got more feud fuel for Rock and Cody more than Cody and Roman, which is odd. I always kind of felt his close relationship with his Dad in regards to Wrestling was always a bit suspect, even when he reinvented himself in the Indies he seemed connected to Dusty in the sense of calling himself The American Nightmare, this might be his eternal fate considering Dusty was his manager early on in his WWE Career. But that said in spite of all the flaws Cody has, I do think he is as it stands, the best person to dethrone Roman at this stage. Not only has WWE exhausted my more favorable options like LA Knight, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles and even Randy Orton and Kevin Owens; they pretty much have no one but Cody or bringing in a legend like The Rock or Stone Cold (Vince asked him once apparently) to do it. Plus it would be a nice bookend to Roman that the person who defeats him finally is the son of a wrestler who never got the chance to be WWE champion. Cody is good talent and has potential to be onenofnthe greatest of all time but I think if he were to lose again against Roman or continued the story as it was with handing his Main Event title match at Mania against The Rock would have soiled any real prospects for that. Plus the problem of what to do after Roman loses at Mania also extends to Rock too, is he gonna have a long lasting run with the belt? Is he gonna keep going and wrestle from event to event? Is he gonna wrestle other big time stars in the company like Cody, Seth or even LA Knight or whomever? Or is he just gonna introduce a new belt and drop it? Then there's the prospect of what if Roman retains no matter who he Wrestles. That's even worse because at this point you might as well have him retire with the belt because WWE would have effectively exhausted everyone from their roster who could beat him, and honestly I cannot see that going down well for the fans.
I would like to point out that the reason Brock Vs Cody was a feud was to prepare cody for Roman. Thats why Brock hugged and riases cody's hand after their last match. Theyre were doing set up for Cody for about half of last year and then the judgement day stuff happened.
It was to setup for a feud that Cody already had? As I said, fans keep filling in the gaps and making the story up for creative just to try and rationalize things
I’ve always been of the belief that Rhodes/Reigns for the title at WrestleMania 40 was the correct route to go. I’m not against Rock/Reigns and there’s no doubt that it’s the bigger money making match and a great short term option but that’s all it is, a short term option. If you had Rock win then unless he was to drop the title the next night on Raw with a Priest cash in then you’re stuck as Rock wouldn’t be sticking around for any longer than the Raw after WrestleMania 40. If you have Reigns win then you’re stuck with him as champion for another 6-12 months and risk turning fans off by pushing him down their throats, people get bored far quicker with wrestling than 20-30 years ago. Rock’s involvement in Rhodes/Reigns brings an unpredictability aspect as well as mainstream attention that builds both Cody and Roman and Cody is there full time which the champion should be in my opinion.
This is the issue with Cody: he can't cut a promo. He tried to imply that the Rock manipulated him into giving up his spot, but he came to his senses... He just can't convey it properly because he needs someone to talk for him. Either way I'm happy: It surely wasn't planned this way, but the "10" Wrestlemanias are supposed to crown the guy that the fans have chosen. WM 10: Brett WM 20: Benoit WM 30: Bryan Danielson WM 40: Cody for some reason. I'm willing to die on that hill.
I wouldn't say that was his motivation. It's more of a sign that the fans are attempting to fill in the plotholes. I also think saying Cody can't promo is a bit harsh since he does have people mirroring his little ctachphrase for over a year
All this did was make the people who told Cody fans to “wait” and “trust HHH” after Cody’s mania loss look like clowns. We had to wait but these marks couldn’t? I do appreciate you mentioning the awful precedent this makes by rewarding the crazies who sent death threats. I will say tho that it’s allegedly death threats cause we haven’t seen any of them.
1) 8:41 - BURN! 2) I agree with Dave. I have argued with many Cody Crybabies who claim that his is a better story, because they've been building it up since last WM, whereas The Rock just came back and they only have a couple of months to build for that. I counter with: Technically, they've been building for that match their whole lives. If there is one thing that WWE does well, it's video hype packages. Get some old family photos and home movies, splice together with some promos, there you go. We're now hyped.
I have been thinking about what Cody would be like as champion and to be honest it might not be great. All the great long term or multi champs are the tough badass (Austin, Rock) or hero to the kids/Superman types (Cena, Hogan) or big final boss types (Lesnar, Reigns).
Cody taking the title at mania does nothing but reset everything. Roman had 2 separate angles going. Bloodline and champion, theyre not exclusive to the other, he has like 5 fresh feuds waiting after mania including a massive cm punk one that would do more with the title than Cody would starting from scratch.
Poor Rock's fanboy just can't accept the fact that he and others like him are minority by a large margin! This ain't 1999 dude. Majority of the fans wanted Cody to main event and WWE and dwayne himself realized that too! Finally We are on the right track now Rock vs Roman will be at WM 41 One year hype for a GOATed match! and we'll get a full time champion With one of the longest reigning title reign ending at the biggest stage & AT THE PERFECT TIME It couldn't get better.
You can't see that the only reason anyone is this excited for Cody is because the Rock got involved. This time last year, when you were all saying the fans were turning on him because he's not Sami. Or before that when you said he was desperate to be liked in AEW and he's dressed like Homelander. The Rock is the only reason why Cody has become undeniable. You're welcome
@@DaveKnowsWrestling well No gonna lie He did play a part But you can't give all the credit to him He's not the "only" reason dude Don't lie to yourself Cody's character work and past years work rate has to be counted when saying he's "undeniable" There were many people waiting for this rematch since mania 39 And fans would've still been excited(and u know at too) (I agree the rock largely did increase the hype) Btw if rock didn't return It doesn't mean Cody would've gotten booed or something He would still have been a lot over (I agree not as over as he is now because the rock brought more eyes I'll give him credit where it's due!)
@@DaveKnowsWrestling And no I was not in one of those saying him "homelander" or the other aew crap you mentioned! M just happy majority of the fans got what they wanted Credit to the rock for putting his ego aside!
I don't think Cody would have been booed but I don't think Cody (without the Rock) would be more over than LA Knight 6 months ago or Gunther now. Cody was splitting the crowd with Punk. Rock got him to S Class over because people began to feel sorry for him
@@DaveKnowsWrestling i agree after brock trilogy they did struggle to put him in a major feud But la knight was over during mitb season because of his character(gotta give credit)but it was also John Cena who came and put his hype to another level(before getting buried by mr.cheif ofcourse) Gunther is over but surely not on Cody's level but who's talkn about 6 months ago?? cody was not over 12 years ago lol😂 we're just talkin about the mania season and my point is "if rock DID NOT enter the situation AT ALL Cody 100% would've still been hugely over but i do agree rock's return boosted him to a different level him winning anywhere except mania 40 would've been a spit on the storyline! and would not have been as much effective! rock and the higher executives did realize it and made a smarter move & business wise it's even smarter if rock wrestled at 1 mania and now he's wrestling at 2 manias !(u tell me what's better) plus he's cooking the storyline in the bloodline(of joining and betrayal) and the fans got what they wanted! It could not have been ANY better" and i hope you agree with all of that!
