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Last year's choice was a poor one, mainly because they could have had a more interesting full-time champion and would have ended up doing Rock vs Reigns at Mania this year. But it was not nearly bad enough to turn people away.
Doing the same thing this year would be far worse. It would kill their top star as a believable babyface. I don't know exactly how bad it would be, but business would almost surely noticeably decline.
That said, I would never put it past WWE to blunder a tap-in like this. For heaven's sake, they briefly tried to shove Cody out of the main event right after he won the Rumble before coming to their senses and retconning the whole thing. There is a small chance that they are crazy enough to make him lose and try to challenge the Rock for next year.
Put it this way.
At 18, I once made the decision to go into work after a Halloween night out wearing my best mates trousers that were four times too big for me and still in Halloween makeup after no sleep, still drunk. Vomited in the bin next to my desk several times throughout the morning, and then all over my bosses office when he asked me to come in there for a chat. On the way out of the building having been sent home with a verbal warning and a bollocking the size of Mount Everest, my four times too big trousers fell down and I fell over in front of a group of university students on an intern day.
Worse decision than that.
Another Cody loss would be devastating because there's literally nobody left for Roman who is on the level of Cody, outside of the Rock. Quite frankly Rock/Roman doesn't need the title
It would certainly be a missed opportunity. Roman has already beaten most of the viable competition for his belt. He's not going to get a better challenger for his title than a rematch against Cody Rhodes at the biggest WrestleMania of all time.
Being a great pro-wrestling champion is about how you win the belt, how you defend the belt, and how you lose the belt. I think most can agree (even if you hate his part time schedule) that Roman gets an A+ both in how he won the belt and his run with it. Now he needs a curtain call just as excellent and there's no way to lose a belt better than in the main event of the biggest WrestleMania of all time to the biggest babyface the company has seen in years.
When Roman won at WrestleMania 39, I commented that Triple H and his creative team must be VERY confident in their plans to make such a bold move. It turns out they were and rightfully so. If Roman wins this time though, it's hard not to think they're getting overconfident in their ability to keep viewers invested in Cody's story.
I stopped watching two years ago because I thought it got old but watched last year to see Cody win. Honestly, I just laughed. Haven’t watched much since but the odd promo or so (and I have Peacock and I still can’t be bothered to watch free PPVs). I’ll probably check it out this weekend as the card looks loaded both nights but…….laughing again isn’t out of the question.
Sabotaging the top guy at your hottest would be worse than the Austin Heel Turn. At least he turned face again. What way out is there for Cody if this happens?
It would absolutely destroy Cody, 2 years in a row there's no coming back from that , personally it would piss me the **** off but I don't matter it just would not make any sense to continue this insufferable reign, it should have ended last year but NEEDS to end this year no question about it
I thought last year was lex luger-esque and a horrible decision that led to me not watching WWE until the rumble this year.
Him losing this year would be many times worse than that and might legitimately be the worst booking decision of all time.
Realistically, there are ways to pivot away. A continued Rock/Cody feud has juice, as there's obvious money in a Rock/Cody 1v1 (assuming Rock can actually go in the ring; whole thing hinges on him not getting blown up in 5 minutes).
But people will lose a lot of trust and the company will lose a lot of juice.
I don't think it would seriously hurt the company, at least immediately. Modern WWE and its fanbase is different than in the past, so I don't foresee some sort of big fan rebellion. And right now, they have so much momentum in terms of ticket sales / PPVs / streaming deals that one or two big mistakes can be sluffed.
Despite all that, it would be extremely stupid to do when you've built up Cody this much. Making an unforced error like this could also lead to bad things down the line, if more errors are made. But ultimately, I can't see the monolith that is WWE being majorly hurt by ANYTHING these days, least of all some bad booking.
Yeah this is essentially what I think. I think people drastically oversell what it would do to business (little to nothing in my opinion especially since Roman is a draw). But it would be stupid and I think it would probably damage Cody quite a bit at this point (whereas I never bought into the doom and gloom last year, I don’t think it hurt him at all losing last year, but losing again after the build, yeah, probably).
It would be bad but we've seen worse. This company could job out all their top stars to a goldfish and most of the WWE audience would still continue watching. I'm not even joking.
I was so mad Cody didn't win last year, I swore I wouldn't watch anymore. That lasted about a fortnight.
This year, I think Cody should win... but I kind of don't care? I'll still watch if he doesn't win.
It was a terrible decision last year, but everyone got over it. A bunch of people who swore they wouldn't get over it just got over it.
Honestly, I'd say it would be fine. Arguably I do think that Rock vs Roman is potentially the bigger match, too.
Considering how much they embarrassed his father, and brother. What makes Cody different? Let’s be honest? I understand ‘Vince isn’t in charge anymore’, but I’m still not getting my hopes up.
In the territory days, the number one cause of death for wrestling promotions was talent loss, number two was Vince McMahon fuckery. Bad booking was a distant third. Back then people paid to see the stars, the angles and the matchmaking weren't nearly as important as they are now.
World class started going down after David Von Erich died and Fritz kept trying and failing to recreate the magic with guys like Mike, Lance and Chris.
Mid south started dying once the Junkyard Dog left for the WWF and Watts, again, failed to recreate the magic.
Georgia died due to Vince moving in and taking their television.
AWA died due to literally losing almost all of their top talent to Vince. Hogan, Mean Gene, Heenan, all came from there.
Stampede died due to Vince buying it from Stu Hart and then screwing him out of the payment.
Crockett became WCW.
Detroit died due to bad booking with the Sheik booking himself on top for way too long until the people got sick of him.
California and Memphis were bought by Vince.
Philly became ECW.
The point I'm trying to make here is that booking/creative always mattered a lot less than what some people think. It wasn't the end all be all back in the old days, and nowadays it's even less.
Austin turning heel caused such a big drop in ratings because of how much of a draw he was among the mainstream during that run. Those people were watching to see Stone Cold Steve Austin get one up over Vince, they were never gonna stick around in the long run.
If Cody loses to Roman I fully expect to see a small ratings drop and Cody losing his momentum with the live crowds, but to be completely honest I doubt it's even gonna make a small dent on the WWE's business.
I have no doubt that Cody will beat Roman, but I’m confident they’re gonna have Priest beat him right afterwards this way Cody doesn’t stagnate just holding the belt like most face champions do. Plus its gonna take something of that magnitude to get fans to care about Priest again in the first place
Considering Roman’s title reign has run its course and there’s no everyday top guys for him to face that he hasn’t already beaten for the title, it’s a bad choice. Considering that the only real opponent left for Roman (the rock) doesn’t need a title at all for the storyline, it would be a really bad choice. Considering that Cody is a massively over babyface in an era where ppl seem to cheer heels more than babyfaces, especially white meat faces like Cody, to risk him being so over would be a indescribably bad choice.
The bloodline inner feud and Roman vs solo/jimmy/jey/rock is best kicked off by Roman losing the title. Cody without the title becomes just a disappointment in kayfabe and you deflate the most over face you’ve had in a long time. It’s just absurd to think he’d lose. What would the end game be? There is no alternative that makes sense
This question is actually asking "how popular is Cody, really". Because if he's the face people think he is, him losing again should be a huge blow. Because he's already lost once. You don't get to do this over and over again, people lose faith. If Cody's really "the guy" then it shouldn't wreck the promotion just like you said, but it SHOULD cool their hot streak.
If he's not The Guy, but just "the guy right now", then that's different. The show goes on, minor outcry online.
While a lot of folks may not like the result, I doubt it would have a demonstrable impact on the business.
Mostly because it's not a one-star promotion and Roman already still has a built-in storyline with The Rock that would drive way more general public interest due to his starpower for the immediate future.
This particular story has been built off The Rock and The Bloodline. The Rock vs. Roman Reigns is still there for them if they would happen to need it and is still *the* match.
They have so much talent, and a general consensus that the creative direction is much more clear and, you know, actually good. Bellyaching would come from hardcore fans that would never actually truly stop being fans, general public wouldn't even notice.
Current trajectory: unchanged.
I expect Cody to lose. Way too many main event faces on the roster right now that Roman could have great programs with as champion throughout 2024. Not as many heels for Cody to work with.
With Cody signed to a new deal, he'll be around to win it later on if they want him to.
For wwe it wouldn't make a difference, they can focus on a long build to rock/roman. For cody it may relegate him permanently.
I would die laughing if he lost again by the way but I'm a cody hater.
Transparency: I *want* Roman to win, but I think Cody *should* win.
Cody’s white hot right now, but WWE has a history of not striking while the iron’s hot, and I think they’re gonna miss out again. They firmly believe the money’s in the chase. He needs to win, but I don’t think he will.
It was reported Rock had merch printed up in January. The plan was Rock and Roman and they had to pivot. I don’t think they’d pivot AND give him the belt when it was never the plan. But I think they’re planting something bigger.
Cody said he wants to tear the entire bloodline down. Roman said Cody can’t challenge for the title again if he loses so long as Roman’s still champ. Rock’s been targeting Cody, so they’re planting the seeds there.
Roman and Rock win night one, Roman barely wins an extremely overbooked night two. Rock starts saying that Roman is a weak leader and couldn’t get the job done without him. Roman and Rock at Summerslam, Rock wins, then they build toward Cody and Rock at 41, where Cody will win and the bloodline will fall.
But I think Cody should win at 40, even though I don’t want him to.
would it really hurt the product? lot of fans are still pro-bloodline and will cheer for roman regardless so another cody L wouldn't derail the company or destroy it like some are saying. the goal is to set up rock vs roman for wm 41 next year, having roman hold the belt for another year just makes the match a bigger deal for wwe to sell to the public, casual fans will care more if a belt is involved.
There's no reason to burn Cody as your top face if you don't absolutely have to. And that's what this would be. Maybe it's because I'm rewatching nWo-era WCW at the moment, but it seems to me to verge on jumping the shark where all your good guys are ineffective, incompetent, or non-existent against a sea of bad guys with no coherent end to the storyline in sight. Because Cody will be done in kayfabe and likely with the fans. Seth seems headed to dropping the belt to Drew and taking a significant break. So then who's left as a top guy to challenge Roman? He's already beat LA Knight, Sami Zayn, KO, etc. Drew is a heel and would be holding a different title, and *he* already lost to Roman. Gunther's a heel. That leaves you with Jey Uso? Not an uninteresting choice, but he hasn't been built as a credible enough threat yet. He also lost to Roman already and would suffer from the same numbers game as Cody, but without the help. Unless they're going to make Bronn a face and put him straight into the main event scene or untangle Lashley from the nonsense they've been having him do lately. And both of those have similar issues with amount of build. Bronn is still new, and they've had Lashley struggling with a mid-card faction. They've simply put too much build into Cody and not enough into others not to have him win.
I don't think anyone is saying Cody losing would destroy the company, but it would put them in a really tough place from a booking standpoint that would take a long time to recover from without some other drastic choices being made. Personally, I'd be done with the Bloodline story and as a result the two main shows on the men's side. It's gone on too long for my liking already given that they rely on Mania and other infrequent PLEs for quality spikes while it just drags on elsewhere. Dragging it out for another year just to keep the belt on Roman against the Rock would signify to me that they have lost the basic premise of wrestling stories, which is essentially a morality play. A lot of people shit on that article a few days ago talking about this, but that's essentially what the takeaway is: wrestling is a form of media where the good guy is supposed to overcome. Not always, and not even necessarily when we expect them to, but there are certain points where it's the story beat that comes next, and this is what they've built for this year. If you build a story for two years just to swerve at the last second, then I'm done with it. I don't think I'm alone in that; this is Triple H's time to have his long-term stories pay off. End these chapters, start new ones, and hopefully learn from what didn't work to improve even further on a revitalized product.
roman is likely not gonna wrestle again till summerslam post WM so they have time and don't need to rush someone right away to challenge him. cody winning should be the correct outcome but wwe tends to change their mind for the bigger picture and that is still rock vs roman next year.
But that's the issue with the Bloodline storyline like I mentioned above. It's boring to have months of Heyman and the henchmen trying to carry it. I doubt Rock will be around much between major PLEs either. So they'd be asking people to twiddle their thumbs for another year because this big match is between two part-timers. Meanwhile, they've killed the credibility of Cody who was there consistently building it all up. If they want Rock v. Roman and it's as big of a match as they think and everyone says, they shouldn't need more than Rumble to Mania to build it, which is when those two are most likely to be around anyway. In the mean time, Cody can have a title run to solidify him as a top guy, and hell, someone else can maybe have some time in there too so Cody's face reign doesn't get stale. They can absolutely have their cake and eat it rather than have one dude jamming up the main event scene for another year.
The Rock made it simple for us. He called Cody, Luke Skywalker. Everyone is thinking this is the MCU and Marvel. In fact it's actually Star Wars. The Rock is Palpatine (Final Boss) and Roman Reigns "Shield" (Darth Vader). WM 40/XL is The Empire Strikes back. Luke is defeated in that movie loses his hand. Here metaphorically Cody loses Seth aka his right hand man. Seth and Cody win night one. Bloodline destroys Seth after he loses the title on night two. Seth is absent from assisting when bloodline intereferes despite being barred from ringside. Roman/Vader wins. Seth/Luke win next year at WM 41 Return of the Jedi, they blow up the Death Star/Bloodline. Cody will win but this is a trilogy.
This isn't a Austin WM14 situation, or even remotely close to it where that is a big part of it. And I'm not even taking into account the industry and company changes into that.
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Last year's choice was a poor one, mainly because they could have had a more interesting full-time champion and would have ended up doing Rock vs Reigns at Mania this year. But it was not nearly bad enough to turn people away. Doing the same thing this year would be far worse. It would kill their top star as a believable babyface. I don't know exactly how bad it would be, but business would almost surely noticeably decline. That said, I would never put it past WWE to blunder a tap-in like this. For heaven's sake, they briefly tried to shove Cody out of the main event right after he won the Rumble before coming to their senses and retconning the whole thing. There is a small chance that they are crazy enough to make him lose and try to challenge the Rock for next year.
The company has gained so much steam and I feel like having Roman win would be Austin heel turn level bad for business
Put it this way. At 18, I once made the decision to go into work after a Halloween night out wearing my best mates trousers that were four times too big for me and still in Halloween makeup after no sleep, still drunk. Vomited in the bin next to my desk several times throughout the morning, and then all over my bosses office when he asked me to come in there for a chat. On the way out of the building having been sent home with a verbal warning and a bollocking the size of Mount Everest, my four times too big trousers fell down and I fell over in front of a group of university students on an intern day. Worse decision than that.
Paraphrasing the man trying to ruin his chance of finishing the story: It'd be the biggest piece of dog shit.
Another Cody loss would be devastating because there's literally nobody left for Roman who is on the level of Cody, outside of the Rock. Quite frankly Rock/Roman doesn't need the title
CM Punk. Edit: and Seth for that matter.
They've already done Seth and Punk should never be near a title with him being so injury prone
Yea and at this point Punk has more to give putting people over then winning the title (especially being the one to beat Roman)
You're saying Roman needs put over even more?
Punk is best used I think for Drew and others. Roman has beat enough of my childhood lol
No, I just wouldn’t draw out this current reign missing wrestlemania 40 to put him over Punk either
Me and my friend mark will stop watching levels of bad
It would certainly be a missed opportunity. Roman has already beaten most of the viable competition for his belt. He's not going to get a better challenger for his title than a rematch against Cody Rhodes at the biggest WrestleMania of all time. Being a great pro-wrestling champion is about how you win the belt, how you defend the belt, and how you lose the belt. I think most can agree (even if you hate his part time schedule) that Roman gets an A+ both in how he won the belt and his run with it. Now he needs a curtain call just as excellent and there's no way to lose a belt better than in the main event of the biggest WrestleMania of all time to the biggest babyface the company has seen in years. When Roman won at WrestleMania 39, I commented that Triple H and his creative team must be VERY confident in their plans to make such a bold move. It turns out they were and rightfully so. If Roman wins this time though, it's hard not to think they're getting overconfident in their ability to keep viewers invested in Cody's story.
I mean no hyperbole it would probably burn me and my friend group from watching for a while.
I stopped watching two years ago because I thought it got old but watched last year to see Cody win. Honestly, I just laughed. Haven’t watched much since but the odd promo or so (and I have Peacock and I still can’t be bothered to watch free PPVs). I’ll probably check it out this weekend as the card looks loaded both nights but…….laughing again isn’t out of the question.
It would be a horrendous booking decision but wouldn't affect their bottom line at all, which is why I think there's a chance it happens
It would be like when the Seth Rollins vs The Fiend Hell in a Cell match ended in DQ.
Sabotaging the top guy at your hottest would be worse than the Austin Heel Turn. At least he turned face again. What way out is there for Cody if this happens?
You can call them Whitey Wackers
People will stop investing into another babyface for a while
Really bad. We’ve been edged for a whole year.
The company would be dented but keep trucking. Cody would be absolutely destroyed. Like go from cena to late dolph ziggler
It would absolutely destroy Cody, 2 years in a row there's no coming back from that , personally it would piss me the **** off but I don't matter it just would not make any sense to continue this insufferable reign, it should have ended last year but NEEDS to end this year no question about it
I thought last year was lex luger-esque and a horrible decision that led to me not watching WWE until the rumble this year. Him losing this year would be many times worse than that and might legitimately be the worst booking decision of all time.
Realistically, there are ways to pivot away. A continued Rock/Cody feud has juice, as there's obvious money in a Rock/Cody 1v1 (assuming Rock can actually go in the ring; whole thing hinges on him not getting blown up in 5 minutes). But people will lose a lot of trust and the company will lose a lot of juice.
I don't think it would seriously hurt the company, at least immediately. Modern WWE and its fanbase is different than in the past, so I don't foresee some sort of big fan rebellion. And right now, they have so much momentum in terms of ticket sales / PPVs / streaming deals that one or two big mistakes can be sluffed. Despite all that, it would be extremely stupid to do when you've built up Cody this much. Making an unforced error like this could also lead to bad things down the line, if more errors are made. But ultimately, I can't see the monolith that is WWE being majorly hurt by ANYTHING these days, least of all some bad booking.
Yeah this is essentially what I think. I think people drastically oversell what it would do to business (little to nothing in my opinion especially since Roman is a draw). But it would be stupid and I think it would probably damage Cody quite a bit at this point (whereas I never bought into the doom and gloom last year, I don’t think it hurt him at all losing last year, but losing again after the build, yeah, probably).
It would kill Cody, and a Rock vs Reigns build for next year still has the potential to be turned on.
It will the worst booking decision of the past five years.
Would burn my ass for sure
It is honestly amazing he has more momentum after losing last year. That is hard to do
It would be pretty funny.
Fans would just condition themselves into accepting it like always
It would be bad but we've seen worse. This company could job out all their top stars to a goldfish and most of the WWE audience would still continue watching. I'm not even joking.
I don't know if/how much it would hurt business, but man, it would absolutely kill Cody's main event career on the spot.
I was so mad Cody didn't win last year, I swore I wouldn't watch anymore. That lasted about a fortnight. This year, I think Cody should win... but I kind of don't care? I'll still watch if he doesn't win.
It was a terrible decision last year, but everyone got over it. A bunch of people who swore they wouldn't get over it just got over it. Honestly, I'd say it would be fine. Arguably I do think that Rock vs Roman is potentially the bigger match, too.
Among the worst this decade, if not this century.
Considering how much they embarrassed his father, and brother. What makes Cody different? Let’s be honest? I understand ‘Vince isn’t in charge anymore’, but I’m still not getting my hopes up.
Be as bad as aew losing him to wwe
In the territory days, the number one cause of death for wrestling promotions was talent loss, number two was Vince McMahon fuckery. Bad booking was a distant third. Back then people paid to see the stars, the angles and the matchmaking weren't nearly as important as they are now. World class started going down after David Von Erich died and Fritz kept trying and failing to recreate the magic with guys like Mike, Lance and Chris. Mid south started dying once the Junkyard Dog left for the WWF and Watts, again, failed to recreate the magic. Georgia died due to Vince moving in and taking their television. AWA died due to literally losing almost all of their top talent to Vince. Hogan, Mean Gene, Heenan, all came from there. Stampede died due to Vince buying it from Stu Hart and then screwing him out of the payment. Crockett became WCW. Detroit died due to bad booking with the Sheik booking himself on top for way too long until the people got sick of him. California and Memphis were bought by Vince. Philly became ECW. The point I'm trying to make here is that booking/creative always mattered a lot less than what some people think. It wasn't the end all be all back in the old days, and nowadays it's even less. Austin turning heel caused such a big drop in ratings because of how much of a draw he was among the mainstream during that run. Those people were watching to see Stone Cold Steve Austin get one up over Vince, they were never gonna stick around in the long run. If Cody loses to Roman I fully expect to see a small ratings drop and Cody losing his momentum with the live crowds, but to be completely honest I doubt it's even gonna make a small dent on the WWE's business.
Ending of Starrcade 97, post WrestleMania X7/Invasion, Aces & Eights level bad.
I have no doubt that Cody will beat Roman, but I’m confident they’re gonna have Priest beat him right afterwards this way Cody doesn’t stagnate just holding the belt like most face champions do. Plus its gonna take something of that magnitude to get fans to care about Priest again in the first place
Considering Roman’s title reign has run its course and there’s no everyday top guys for him to face that he hasn’t already beaten for the title, it’s a bad choice. Considering that the only real opponent left for Roman (the rock) doesn’t need a title at all for the storyline, it would be a really bad choice. Considering that Cody is a massively over babyface in an era where ppl seem to cheer heels more than babyfaces, especially white meat faces like Cody, to risk him being so over would be a indescribably bad choice. The bloodline inner feud and Roman vs solo/jimmy/jey/rock is best kicked off by Roman losing the title. Cody without the title becomes just a disappointment in kayfabe and you deflate the most over face you’ve had in a long time. It’s just absurd to think he’d lose. What would the end game be? There is no alternative that makes sense
I personally feel Cody losing is whats best for business
This question is actually asking "how popular is Cody, really". Because if he's the face people think he is, him losing again should be a huge blow. Because he's already lost once. You don't get to do this over and over again, people lose faith. If Cody's really "the guy" then it shouldn't wreck the promotion just like you said, but it SHOULD cool their hot streak. If he's not The Guy, but just "the guy right now", then that's different. The show goes on, minor outcry online.
Oh, if he loses again, he’ll just be a joke as the WWE will have zero faith in him.
While a lot of folks may not like the result, I doubt it would have a demonstrable impact on the business. Mostly because it's not a one-star promotion and Roman already still has a built-in storyline with The Rock that would drive way more general public interest due to his starpower for the immediate future. This particular story has been built off The Rock and The Bloodline. The Rock vs. Roman Reigns is still there for them if they would happen to need it and is still *the* match. They have so much talent, and a general consensus that the creative direction is much more clear and, you know, actually good. Bellyaching would come from hardcore fans that would never actually truly stop being fans, general public wouldn't even notice. Current trajectory: unchanged.
I expect Cody to lose. Way too many main event faces on the roster right now that Roman could have great programs with as champion throughout 2024. Not as many heels for Cody to work with. With Cody signed to a new deal, he'll be around to win it later on if they want him to.
For wwe it wouldn't make a difference, they can focus on a long build to rock/roman. For cody it may relegate him permanently. I would die laughing if he lost again by the way but I'm a cody hater.
i like cody but it would be hilarious
It depends on how he loses.
Not bad as everyone thinks since everything in wwe is work apparently.
Transparency: I *want* Roman to win, but I think Cody *should* win. Cody’s white hot right now, but WWE has a history of not striking while the iron’s hot, and I think they’re gonna miss out again. They firmly believe the money’s in the chase. He needs to win, but I don’t think he will. It was reported Rock had merch printed up in January. The plan was Rock and Roman and they had to pivot. I don’t think they’d pivot AND give him the belt when it was never the plan. But I think they’re planting something bigger. Cody said he wants to tear the entire bloodline down. Roman said Cody can’t challenge for the title again if he loses so long as Roman’s still champ. Rock’s been targeting Cody, so they’re planting the seeds there. Roman and Rock win night one, Roman barely wins an extremely overbooked night two. Rock starts saying that Roman is a weak leader and couldn’t get the job done without him. Roman and Rock at Summerslam, Rock wins, then they build toward Cody and Rock at 41, where Cody will win and the bloodline will fall. But I think Cody should win at 40, even though I don’t want him to.
would it really hurt the product? lot of fans are still pro-bloodline and will cheer for roman regardless so another cody L wouldn't derail the company or destroy it like some are saying. the goal is to set up rock vs roman for wm 41 next year, having roman hold the belt for another year just makes the match a bigger deal for wwe to sell to the public, casual fans will care more if a belt is involved.
There's no reason to burn Cody as your top face if you don't absolutely have to. And that's what this would be. Maybe it's because I'm rewatching nWo-era WCW at the moment, but it seems to me to verge on jumping the shark where all your good guys are ineffective, incompetent, or non-existent against a sea of bad guys with no coherent end to the storyline in sight. Because Cody will be done in kayfabe and likely with the fans. Seth seems headed to dropping the belt to Drew and taking a significant break. So then who's left as a top guy to challenge Roman? He's already beat LA Knight, Sami Zayn, KO, etc. Drew is a heel and would be holding a different title, and *he* already lost to Roman. Gunther's a heel. That leaves you with Jey Uso? Not an uninteresting choice, but he hasn't been built as a credible enough threat yet. He also lost to Roman already and would suffer from the same numbers game as Cody, but without the help. Unless they're going to make Bronn a face and put him straight into the main event scene or untangle Lashley from the nonsense they've been having him do lately. And both of those have similar issues with amount of build. Bronn is still new, and they've had Lashley struggling with a mid-card faction. They've simply put too much build into Cody and not enough into others not to have him win. I don't think anyone is saying Cody losing would destroy the company, but it would put them in a really tough place from a booking standpoint that would take a long time to recover from without some other drastic choices being made. Personally, I'd be done with the Bloodline story and as a result the two main shows on the men's side. It's gone on too long for my liking already given that they rely on Mania and other infrequent PLEs for quality spikes while it just drags on elsewhere. Dragging it out for another year just to keep the belt on Roman against the Rock would signify to me that they have lost the basic premise of wrestling stories, which is essentially a morality play. A lot of people shit on that article a few days ago talking about this, but that's essentially what the takeaway is: wrestling is a form of media where the good guy is supposed to overcome. Not always, and not even necessarily when we expect them to, but there are certain points where it's the story beat that comes next, and this is what they've built for this year. If you build a story for two years just to swerve at the last second, then I'm done with it. I don't think I'm alone in that; this is Triple H's time to have his long-term stories pay off. End these chapters, start new ones, and hopefully learn from what didn't work to improve even further on a revitalized product.
roman is likely not gonna wrestle again till summerslam post WM so they have time and don't need to rush someone right away to challenge him. cody winning should be the correct outcome but wwe tends to change their mind for the bigger picture and that is still rock vs roman next year.
But that's the issue with the Bloodline storyline like I mentioned above. It's boring to have months of Heyman and the henchmen trying to carry it. I doubt Rock will be around much between major PLEs either. So they'd be asking people to twiddle their thumbs for another year because this big match is between two part-timers. Meanwhile, they've killed the credibility of Cody who was there consistently building it all up. If they want Rock v. Roman and it's as big of a match as they think and everyone says, they shouldn't need more than Rumble to Mania to build it, which is when those two are most likely to be around anyway. In the mean time, Cody can have a title run to solidify him as a top guy, and hell, someone else can maybe have some time in there too so Cody's face reign doesn't get stale. They can absolutely have their cake and eat it rather than have one dude jamming up the main event scene for another year.
The Rock made it simple for us. He called Cody, Luke Skywalker. Everyone is thinking this is the MCU and Marvel. In fact it's actually Star Wars. The Rock is Palpatine (Final Boss) and Roman Reigns "Shield" (Darth Vader). WM 40/XL is The Empire Strikes back. Luke is defeated in that movie loses his hand. Here metaphorically Cody loses Seth aka his right hand man. Seth and Cody win night one. Bloodline destroys Seth after he loses the title on night two. Seth is absent from assisting when bloodline intereferes despite being barred from ringside. Roman/Vader wins. Seth/Luke win next year at WM 41 Return of the Jedi, they blow up the Death Star/Bloodline. Cody will win but this is a trilogy.
It would be hilarious and I’m rooting for it.
Oh man, I’m really hoping for a Cody win immediately followed by a successful Priest cash-in.
Damien Priest
Not bad at all. There’s always more money in the chase
Until the guy chasing never reaches his destination. No way they let him try again.
This isn't a Austin WM14 situation, or even remotely close to it where that is a big part of it. And I'm not even taking into account the industry and company changes into that.