KawadaSmile

I think that, for once, they had an early backup plan if fans didn't go with what they wanted. Or plans, even. Now, they will absolutely do something like Rock/Roman vs Cody/Seth. Which is a fucking HUGE match. Now, Cody is so over, so damn beloved by the fans, that they essentially booed the shit out of The Rock. Crazy to think about.

The Vegas Presser was MUST WATCH. They pivoted beautifully, bubbas. Good fucking stuff.

Him having to tap into his Hollywood Rock persona is good - despite Cody's Crybabys being a very old head thing to say - because he'll probably not get absolutely destroyed like he was with Cena and Punk. Dude was ready to SHOOT when Cena talked about him writing promo notes on his wrist.

LOL

How about Roman does to Cody and Rock the same thing he did to Edge and Bryan? Stack 'em and pin 'em fair and square in the middle of the ring? Sounds perfect to me.

Rollins was BEGGING for a match at Wrestlemania. As a champion. You don't need to say anything else.

Yeah I am not so sure the story is as simple as "Anthem's higher ups are a bunch of morons." It could be the case, sure, but at the same time firing someone who was well-liked by wrestlers and was good at their job is a bit too sudden to not raise any eyebrows.

I mean, dude's ring name is literally WIZARD. He was doing some gnarly holds seamlessly AND was torching Bryan with strikes. Gimme him vs Claudio, I'm sure that big fella has flexibility.

I think it's possible they tried to postpone the publicization of the lawsuit, yes. Vince was already in the hot seat years ago, so they had some prior knowledge of what could go down. Not impossible that they just managed to stall news a bit while they got rid of VKm.

Reagan was the president of the Screen Actor's Guild when they had that huge strike alongside Aftra. On the other hand, The Rock is a HUGE multi-front entrepreneur and legit box office draw. I think there's a possible chance, specially considering what his moves were, that he wants to aim for public office. Maybe he'll start as governor?

Hell no. At 51, he's still a very young up-and-comer in the realm of public office. Reagan, who also was an actor was almost 70 when he started his mandate, and was over 55 when he became the governor of California.

Ehhhhhh Rollins is a weird case and in hindsight having him cash-in at WM and not give Roman the win was 100% the wrong decision. Certainly Roman winning then would have spared us from that other Mania match he had against Brock, which feels similar to Cody possibly losing twice at WM.

And honestly, a possible pivot that fast after a decision that harsh would be fairly... uncharacteristic for them.

Oh, don't get me wrong - the fault lies on who booked that. Maxxine Dupri has the excuse of being a newbie, at least. Sarah Logan has been doing this for over a decade now.

GUNTHER vs Jey Uso. Let's go

Sarah Logan and Maxxine Dupri are legit two of the worst wrestlers I have seen. Holy shit.

Giving Seth that belt was a dumb coice to begin with. And let's be honest, there are THREE champions with at least a year long reign. This is not sustainable.

LOL We Want Cody chants already

I think some things come across as such, yeah. Vignettes, "whoop that trick" chants and the like are more accidental than anything. Triple H's answer, on the other hand, is both an answer that falls in line with what you are talking about, about bubble thinking and a "we can get away with this" mentality, but to me it's a bit of him not trying to implicate himself or someone else with a more thoughtful response. Maybe he should have gone the "We are aware of the lawsuit and we are looking into it" route, but I imagine a hot seat can make you say dumb shit.

Telling of what exactly? That they don't give a shit? Possibly they don't, but then wouldn't that contradict other things they have done that in fact indicate they are worried?

The Rock tried to pull a coup on WARNER BROS. It failed, but he does have *some* pull. How he got there is a curious story. Remember that he tried to go as Dwayne Johnson and not "The Rock" when he first started doing his movies? Maybe he thought being tied to professional wrestling, at least in the beginning of his career, would be damaging to him. While I don't blame him for trying to divorce from such a fucking scummy business, he was never going to make it without the brand name recognition. He has done MULTIPLE successful blockbusters. Jumanji, Fast and the goddamn Furious, Moana. He has his own tequila brand, he was operating in the XFL, he has other business ventures, too. The Rock has become a marquee name. A successful entrepreneur. Him selling t-shirts on WWE is but a fraction of the reason he is on the board right now. There's a VERY good summary of his career here, made by Patrick Willems.

What's wild is that Cody is the most over babyface going against the most over heel for the most important belt at the most important event they have. Not even getting into the "Rock vs Roman is a bigger match" thing, but they didn't need to do all of that in order to put out the flames of a federal investigation. In fact, maybe doing that the way they did had the opposite effect.

I can see how one can look at the vignette and get reminded of Vince, but at the same time, wouldn't the fact that this vignette even made the air amidst the most turbulent time in company history indicate that more than enough people do NOT make that connection? Like, you'd think it would follow some booking decisions and go out of its way to make people avoid going "Oh, that is JUST LIKE VINCE!"

Cody vs Rock vs Roman still makes sense. Or would. I dunno what the fuck they are gonna justify that last Cody promo.

Triple Threat is the way. I've been telling you, brothers.