El-P Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 42 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: You only get one shot at putting someone over with it, so you have to make it count. If you're going to end it, it has to be to someone who can carry the company for the long haul and not just to pay off a particular storyline. Roman Reigns is still the Ace of the company even after losing. Don't get confused, people. He's coming back at the latest next Mania to get his title back, probably as a straight face, which he can be now without any rejection from the audience. He's the Man and will remain so. Cody winning it makes him close to be that guy, but there's no need to replace Roman Reigns as of now when he's at his best and most over ever, unless he wants to branch out into movies. Cody is also a banged up 38 years old guy who had said in the past he wanted to retire at 40 (yeah, I know). And fuck, if I'm Cody and get the Roman Reigns streak victory, as soon as my contract ends, I'm flying back to AEW and cut the following promo : Cody, looking emotional : "I know you feel I abandoned you when you most needed it. But I needed to conquer the other guy, not gonna lie, yes I did it for me, I did it for my father, but above everything, I did it for you, I did it for US ! And now I'm back home !!!!!!!!!!" And then doing the teary eye gimmick. Do it, ya carny mofo. BTW, Cody doing a salute to the Bucks after his victory was really cool and says a lot about their personal relationship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav'oh Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 I'll give you amazing: Last year's mainstream WrestleMania attraction was Sami Zayn. We all know how that went. Ahem. People want this year's headline WrestleMania attraction to be Sami Zayn. After the whole world saw what happened last year. Ahem. How do you explain (ahem) away when Sami's doing a round of media, hyping a "serious" world title grudge match? You can't. Sami is Mousetrap Jackass Boy to the wider, once-a-year audience and media. Wins and losses matter. Presentation matters. And yes, I've read every rationalisation and justification as to why that loss didn't matter. And then some. But for any talk of "booking themselves into a corner", that began at last year's 'Mania when they gave the mainstream world Sami the Clown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 If everyone is raving about the Bloodline angle, maybe let the people who've crafted the storyline determine where it goes instead of saying they've blown it and trying to insert your fantasy booking ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Man, the missing the forest for the trees shit in here. There's only one THE GUY at any given time, but the supporting cast are absolutely integral to such a THE GUY, and guys like Sami and KO are every bit as important as Foley and Taker were to Austin/Rock, Savage/DiBiase were to Hogan. Sami has essentially been the acknowledged main character of WWE TV for months now by everyone doing media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 29 minutes ago, strobogo said: Man, the missing the forest for the trees shit in here. There's only one THE GUY at any given time, but the supporting cast are absolutely integral to such a THE GUY, and guys like Sami and KO are every bit as important as Foley and Taker were to Austin/Rock, Savage/DiBiase were to Hogan. Sami has essentially been the acknowledged main character of WWE TV for months now by everyone doing media. Believing that someone is being wasted because they are not the champion or in the main event is peak smark thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 I would call that the Cesaro Syndrome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Literally no one is saying this. Sami Zayn is going to be fine either way, and Cody probably will too (unless they really fuck things up to the point they turn the crowd against him, then again, that never happened, right ?). If after the Rumble angle, you don't get why Sami Zayn vs Roman Reigns is the right match for Mania, then really, that's called being completely tone deaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man in Blak Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 One goofy outcome at Wrestlemania doesn't necessarily flatline a WWE career - Daniel Bryan got pinned in record time and then ended up winning huge two years later at WM30. The difference between Bryan's run and Zayn, though, is that I don't know if Sami Zayn has ever been presented as a credible threat on the main roster in WWE. Bryan had already been a world champion before the Yes Movement storyline began - as great as the Bloodline storyline may be, has it done enough for Sami to undo years of booking damage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man in Blak Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Also, speaking of booking malpractice, slotting in Cody at 30 to go head-to-head against Gunther is an incredible screw-up if they actually want him to run with the ball as a babyface. If they throw Cody into the mix at 7 or 8 and have him mixing it up with Gunther all Rumble long before leading up to that killer final stretch, what do they lose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 One of the most intriguing thing is how are they gonna book a babyface star, something they have been totally inept at for almost a decade now. Because let's face it, Triple H record says everything you have to know about his approach. They haven't booked a babyface champ well since the Cena days. Not to mention, at a time where a sell will be imminent. And although it can look like a goofy argument on the surface, honestly the fact that the Saudis are in the race has to not help Sami Zayn in the long haul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRH Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 The thing about Sami winning the title is, where do you go with him after he wins? All I see are a bunch of matches against Bloodline members. Meanwhile, with Cody we've already got ready-made feuds with him against Gunter and Rollins, and potential for other ones as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Is it a given that Roman does not not leave Mania as (double) champ? The only reason I see that he *should* drop the belt is that I don't see anyone who would be ready to be THE guy in a year, who would not be overshadowed by Roman (in a Warrior-Hogan 1990 way). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 10 minutes ago, Robert S said: Is it a given that Roman does not not leave Mania as (double) champ? The only reason I see that he *should* drop the belt is that I don't see anyone who would be ready to be THE guy in a year, who would not be overshadowed by Roman (in a Warrior-Hogan 1990 way). This has been my thought. Why lock yourself into a title change when the Bloodline story has legs and a Cody win would bear limited fruit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 There's a very real possibility that they split the titles again, one for each "brand". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 And it plays into the story of Cody wanting to win the WWE title, which is the lineage back to his father and the title he never won. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 4 hours ago, Dav'oh said: Last year's mainstream WrestleMania attraction was Sami Zayn. We all know how that went. Ahem. People want this year's headline WrestleMania attraction to be Sami Zayn. After the whole world saw what happened last year. Ahem. How do you explain (ahem) away when Sami's doing a round of media, hyping a "serious" world title grudge match? You can't. Sami is Mousetrap Jackass Boy to the wider, once-a-year audience and media. This isn't the condemnation you seem to think it is....everyone thought that Jackass stuff was way better than expected and Sami was a big part of that. He turned something that by all rights should have been the worst kind of Wrestlecrap and made it Sports Entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 It seems like some people are making the mistake of viewing this as a self-contained story rather than part of a continuing narrative. Sami beating Roman for the belts would be the perfect storybook ending, but where do you go from there? Will crowds be as into him if he's the champ feuding with Gunther or Austin Theory or whoever else? And what does Roman do if he vanquishes both Cody and Sami? Fight Brock for the 800th time? Cody's only meaningful feud since returning was with Rollins, so there are loads of potential fresh and compelling matchups available with him as champion. Plus, he's the only star of stature in the company Roman has yet to beat, so he would likely suffer irreparable damage if he challenged for the title(s) and came up short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Sami can easily be this generation's Mick Foley, lovable babyface who can have short runs with the title without being damaged because the crowd loves him so much. Speaking of, since WWE loves Creating Moments, Sami winning the title could be the new "Mrs Foley's Baby Boy has done it" moment for this era. Also if pushing Sami is such a booking dead-end, then why the hell did they devote so much time building it up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Reedy Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 It's like if people got obsessed that if Tommy Dreamer doesn't beat Raven at Barely Legal the whole feud was a farce. What a no fun way to watch wrestling. This is one of the most clever storylines ever. Who says it ends at Mania. They've set up a whole cast of characters who can bounce off each other for another year. Have HHH and Heyman not earned some good will from their booking runs at paying off stories? The guy who gave us Sami beating Neville is in charge, he understands the appeal of this Sami guy. Heyman has significant input and the link with Gabe and ROH, ROH basically being ECW's child, he gets it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 By the Summer, the company will be sold and Vince is gonna take over everything anyway, so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 At this point I'm starting to think Vince really did just want to bum rush the board so he can broker a sale to cash out. From all accounts he hasn't made any attempts to take over creative, and lord knows Vince's patterns are so obvious we'd clearly have seen it on TV if he did. Maybe his time in exile finally made him realize he doesn't have to do this shit 24/7 anymore. Of course Vince wouldn't trust anyone else to sell his baby than himself, so perhaps after its sold he just goes around the world partaking in hookers, blow, and pancakes with the Great O-Khan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 Also holy shit, not only did this show draw a $7.7 million dollar gate that doubled the previous record (which was the last time the show was at the Alamodome), viewership on the 'Cock was up 52 percent from last year. This show did absolutely stupid numbers in all metrics The Logan Paul/Ricochet spot got like 26 million views on Youtube too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 28 minutes ago, sek69 said: viewership on the 'Cock was up 52 percent from last year. It's because Peacock has much more viewers than last year. Still huge numbers of course, but it was predictable. Like Mania is gonna be the biggest ever, by far. The most viewed moment that has nothing to do with a shitbag influencer is, well, the Sami Zayn/Roman Reigns angle. As far as Vince not getting involved, there's no point for him to make more waves until the company is sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 15 hours ago, sek69 said: Also I just was thinking about it, and doing Roman/Sami in Montreal is dumb since it pretty much telegraphs Sami isn't winning and I can't imagine that is going to go over well with the crowd. Cody getting crowned as the company choice while the guy the crowd wants getting jobbed out is such a rehash of the Daniel Bryan stuff it's hilarious. If they wait to Montreal to reunite KO & Sami together, the loss to Roman won't matter. That crowd is gonna be electric for that moment, trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetsujin Posted January 30, 2023 Report Share Posted January 30, 2023 3 hours ago, JRH said: The thing about Sami winning the title is, where do you go with him after he wins? All I see are a bunch of matches against Bloodline members. Meanwhile, with Cody we've already got ready-made feuds with him against Gunter and Rollins, and potential for other ones as well. You can put Sami with literally anyone and he will make it work regardless of booking. I think he has proven that enough already. But whatever, without thinking too much: a Reigns rematch, Jey, Owens, Drew, Orton when he comes back. I don't think anybody here is saying he should be the Ace of the company. I mean, he definitely can be that and if you see him at NXT in 2014 that's a guy you start to build as your new top babyface. But whatever, he doesn't need that, and I think the fanbase understands that. If he wins the titles, then time will tell when he has to drop them. Sometimes (hell, most of the times), looking at long term booking too much hurts the stories. The guy is fucking over as hell as a foe of the world champ? Fuck it, have him beat him with a proper build up then, and let's see where that goes later. It's not like WWE is gonna suffer financially with or without him on top (nobody has that effect anymore, not even Brock or Roman). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.