WrestleMania Main Event Spoiler

[Outsider]

It's funny how so many "smart" fans can get worked so easily. Just look back at history when Becky was out of main event and Vince chose Charlotte Flair to challenge Ronda at Mainia. We all wanted Becky and she became a huge Babyface. 

Use that same logic. 

You heard it here 1st. 

Rock vs Roman night 1. Roman takes a beating. It doesn't matter who wins if it's non title match. 

Night 2 Cody beats Roman for the title. And Roman stays "strong" because he took a beating the night prior. He might walk to the Ring with medical wraps on his mid section or his limbs. But he'll be somewhat injured so he has excuse why he lost. 

It's funny to me how gullible the media is. 

Of course Cody will main event maina. Just give them time to announce it. 

The tragic thing to me is how WWE treats the real star of 2022 and 2023...Sami Zayn. He is made to put Drew over on TV constantly. Zayn was the top guy exactly 1 year ago. He is the reason WWE got red hot with the bloodline angle. 

If they give him a mic and some creative freedom he could still be the man but the new execs have slotted him waay down and he's all about business so he won't complain much. 

But I will repeat the spoilers. 

Night 1 Rock vs Roman

Night 2 Cody goes over Roman 

Roman won't  be 100% night 2 so he will stay strong until he returns for SummerSlam. 

All the "We want Cody " is part of the angle. It's not organic like the Daniel Bryan Yes movement. 

[Outsider]

Sorry for 2 same topics.

The last one didn't work. Maybe because I used emoji in title?

But this one works fine. 

So moderator can remove the other one if necessary. 

[NintendoLogic]

That's not a spoiler, that's a prediction.

[KawadaSmile]

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.

[Alucard]

If sami was "the top guy", he would've won the Rumble instead of Cody who was always positioned in that spot. 

I absolutely don't believe this was the grand plan to "work the fans", they wanted Rock vs Roman and have for years but the reaction was not what they hoped for. The Smackdown Segment to tonight's press conference change in tone from Cody and Rock makes little sense to be "the plan all along". Rock seemingly turning heel is absolutely a pivot and reaction to the reactions.  I don't think Roman vs Rock is happening anymore, night 1 or otherwise, unless they try again next year 

[MoS]

It is very clearly a pivot from the original plan. Meltz won't report it like that because both Rock and Cody are his sources so he reports whatever bullshit they feed him, and it is certainly in Rock's interest at least to act like this was not a pivot but part of a grand plan all along, because saying otherwise would mean yet another failure for him in the last few years, after spending a full decade experiencing only mega-success and no failure. 

[SirEdger]

4 hours ago, Alucard said:

If sami was "the top guy", he would've won the Rumble instead of Cody who was always positioned in that spot. 

I absolutely don't believe this was the grand plan to "work the fans", they wanted Rock vs Roman and have for years but the reaction was not what they hoped for. The Smackdown Segment to tonight's press conference change in tone from Cody and Rock makes little sense to be "the plan all along". Rock seemingly turning heel is absolutely a pivot and reaction to the reactions.  I don't think Roman vs Rock is happening anymore, night 1 or otherwise, unless they try again next year 

Rock vs Roman certainly doesn't happen at this year's Mania anymore. But nothing says it doesn't happen later this year or even at next year's Mania, after all, Rock did say he was in it for the long game.

And if Seth's knee was holding up, Roman/Rock vs Cody/Seth in Perth would be a pretty awesome match to set the table for Mania.

[sek69]

I wonder how much Punk getting hurt affected plans. Clearly the idea before the Rumble was Roman/Cody and Seth/Punk, but then he turns his tricep into crab meat and all of a sudden Cody is saying Finishing The Story isn't that big a deal anymore. Slotting Seth with Cody an Rock/Roman gives them two solid main events again, and makes the most sense business wise.  Plus it has been stated in the reports since Raw that they expected fan backlash but not the fans heeling on Rock at the level they did which makes me think this was the (possibly panicked) backup plan.

The big difference now is when faced by the fans rejecting the plan, instead of plowing forward like Vince they actually did a pivot that ended up better for almost everyone involved (Seth still a bitch...).

[Outsider]

Now I'm kinda thinking maybe the Rock isn't ready for long match. So it's looking like Rock & Roman vs Cody and Seth? Night 1. Then night 2 Seth will also work again vs Drew which is a crappy match but it seems Drew is getting a push. And obviously Cody vs Roman. 

I love the Rock heel shtick. So much more entertaining. 

@sek69 I agree. CM Punk getting hurt really fuct Seth. Seth's ego can't handle it. Roman cracks me up every time he says Seth is wearing his wife's clothes!

[MoS]

54 minutes ago, Outsider said:

Now I'm kinda thinking maybe the Rock isn't ready for long match.

Of course he isn't. Last time he had a proper match was 11 years ago and he ended up tearing half the muscles in his body. Now he is a couple months shy of turning 52, hasn't been a full-time wrestler since 2002, and also has an obscene amount of roided muscle mass on his body, which won't help with either protecting his muscles, tendons and ligaments during a match, or his conditioning. 

Punk needed several matches on a weekly basis on his return in 2021 to get into a good enough ring shape to do high-end main event matches, and even he cannot seem to go 2 months without injuring himself anyway

[DMJ]

I don't really care where we are on the "We're All Getting Worked"/"WWE Had To Pivot" spectrum. I just know, this storyline sucks.

They had a clear narrative that everyone was happy with. Cody won the Rumble. He pointed to Roman. He was going to finish his story.

I don't really understand why CM Punk getting injured needed to effect Roman/Cody. Rollins/Punk being off the cards obviously hurt Raw significantly, but they have plenty of time before Mania, including the Elimination Chamber show, to get someone else hot: GUNTHER and Drew are already there, but you could've had Sami win the Chamber (it'd make for an interesting dynamic face/face dynamic against Seth plus Sami being Sami means he probably would've made the storyline even better than we know) or Jey Uso or bring someone over from SmackDown because 'tis the season for brands to not really mean that much.

But, instead, ignoring the fan response, we saw Cody give up his title shot last week to the Rock for no apparent reason like a doofus, The Rock turn heel via social media and The Pat McAfee show, Seth Rollins doubling-down on his "Pick Me" energy and getting ether'd on the mic by Roman, and then Cody reconsidering and deciding he wanted to finish his story after all. Oh, and Triple H is involved now too? Great. He's exactly the guy I want to see on my screen a few days after it was essentially confirmed that top WWE execs covered up Ashley Massaro's rape. 

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck  thiiiiis. 

This storyline, whether its been "the plan all along" or they're just making it up as they go along, has had no logic, Cody has not been the character that guy that I was rooting for prior to all this nonsense, and they've found a new way for me not to like Rollins (which is commendable, I must say). 

[Dav'oh]

20 minutes ago, DMJ said:

we saw Cody give up his title shot last week to the Rock for no apparent reason

Only the Rock is big enough to overshadow the Vince nastiness. Classic distraction, that the established roster couldn't provide on their own. It worked here.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, DMJ said:

Oh, and Triple H is involved now too? Great. He's exactly the guy I want to see on my screen a few days after it was essentially confirmed that top WWE execs covered up Ashley Massaro's rape. 

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck  thiiiiis. 

This. Above. All of this.

Triple H being involved on the worked scene after "I did not read the lawsuit" is fucking pathetic. 

[DMJ]

2 hours ago, Dav'oh said:

Only the Rock is big enough to overshadow the Vince nastiness. Classic distraction, that the established roster couldn't provide on their own. It worked here.

Oh, I know that.

I was speaking in kayfabe terms.

If you were trying to follow the character motivations over the past 7 days, you'd be so thoroughly confused because nobody - save for Roman (and, arguably, Seth, who has consistently been portrayed as being a "pick me"-type and clearly jealous of Roman) - is acting like the characters they've established.

Cody gave up his spot for no kayfabe reason, after spending the past 12 months trying to "finish his story," including entering and winning the Royal Rumble - which should be treated like a Herculean feat with a huge, undeniable prize, but that Cody handed over willingly.

The Rock, a popular babyface for the past few decades who was seemingly ready to lay the smackdown on his cousin Roman last week, turned heel in an interview on The Pat McAfee Show and was all buddy-buddy with Roman at the Peacock-exclusive Kickoff Show. 

And then you insert Triple H because no "working the marks," "wink*wink," "breaking the 4th wall" storyline can happen without an Authority Figure...which, in kayfabe terms, would be Nick Aldis, right? Nope. Because this is such a "smart" storyline, it has to be Triple H...the guy most associated with the sex trafficker who once ran the place.

Its just shitty writing. Russo-at-his-worst-level garbage where the thought process is, "We need you to be a heel and we need you to be a face right this moment, so let's just do that as quickly and messily as possible, motivations and character-building be damned, because the pay-off will be worth it, bro, I swear." 

[Dale Wolfe]

It's not too late to get Sami and Jey involved and bring it all back to last year

[KawadaSmile]

40 minutes ago, DMJ said:

Cody gave up his spot for no kayfabe reason, after spending the past 12 months trying to "finish his story," including entering and winning the Royal Rumble - which should be treated like a Herculean feat with a huge, undeniable prize, but that Cody handed over willingly.

The Rock, a popular babyface for the past few decades who was seemingly ready to lay the smackdown on his cousin Roman last week, turned heel in an interview on The Pat McAfee Show and was all buddy-buddy with Roman at the Peacock-exclusive Kickoff Show. 

Despite me liking, even loving the Kickoff Show, the hardest part is justifying Cody handing the spot to Rock. Rhodes did mention he's had many multiple wonderful and beautiful talks with The Rock beforehand, so there is an implication of Rock using his soft skills (charisma, affability) and hard skills (board position) to get that main event match to himself.

However, since not only Dwayne used that influence to speak ill of the Codemaniacs, but also turned, in kayfabe, the main event of Wrestlemania and the world title match into essentially The Bloodline Special, Cody felt betrayed, the mask fell off, Rock showed his true colors and intent. He wasn't using his position to end Roman's reign of terror over the company, but wanted to take part in it.

It takes some goodwill, but it's what I took away from all that, in terms of write-arounds and all that.

[strobogo]

All part of the plan or hard pivot, the whole thing needlessly complicated a very straightforward clean story that would have satisfied everyone. This is just a stupid extra thing people probably will forget over the years, like Debra managing The Rock in the build up to WM 17.

[fxnj]

I admit to being a little bummed that Rock/Roman won't be happening soon, if ever, but that press conference was one of the most unique, heated, and interesting angles I've ever seen. So of course WWE fans are gonna say it sucks and nitpick over things that makes that make perfect sense if you give it more than 2 seconds thought.

[Johnny Sorrow]

2 hours ago, fxnj said:

I admit to being a little bummed that Rock/Roman won't be happening soon, if ever, but that press conference was one of the most unique, heated, and interesting angles I've ever seen. So of course WWE fans are gonna say it sucks and nitpick over things that makes that make perfect sense if you give it more than 2 seconds thought.

Dude, it's not "WWE Fans" nitpicking. WWE fans are my 13 year old  nephew and his friends who are super into all this, and me, who did nitpick it and figured out what they're doing. 
The maniacs who lost their their minds last week and now are scrambling because they feel worked have been legion. And it doesn't matter if it was all planned ahead of time, or if they had to pivot and it was incredibly convenient that the pivot was perfect and at a giant press conference.
 

[Coffey]

That moment where The Rock said to Cody "now we have a problem" & then slapped the holy shit out of him was an ALL-TIME pro-wrestling moment. That was fucking magic! Good Lord. 

 

[Dale Wolfe]

Great performance from Cody at this press conference thing, got to say. Think i have judged him unfairly before 

[Embrodak]

Cody in WWE is like Omega in NJPW, there’s just a certain magic that only adheres in that context. Predictions that he was going to be a midcarder in WWE just didn’t take into account how badly the ‘E needed a John Cena type of babyface.

[Stiva]

Cody in early AEW was pulling some all-time babyface stuff off before he got bogged down in his own isolated nonsense. I’m not surprised he’s still showing the chops in WWE but it still remains a surprise that they booked him so well out of the gate. That HIAC match with the sick looking injury was the kind of legendary visual that cements a guy at the top 

[NintendoLogic]

16 hours ago, fxnj said:

I admit to being a little bummed that Rock/Roman won't be happening soon, if ever, but that press conference was one of the most unique, heated, and interesting angles I've ever seen. So of course WWE fans are gonna say it sucks and nitpick over things that makes that make perfect sense if you give it more than 2 seconds thought.

Why are you bummed about Rock/Roman not happening? You can't possibly think the match would be any good from an in-ring standpoint, and an accolade like "biggest match of all time" doesn't really mean anything unless you're there to witness it in person or you own a significant amount of TKO stock.

[KawadaSmile]

On 2/10/2024 at 9:39 PM, NintendoLogic said:

Why are you bummed about Rock/Roman not happening? You can't possibly think the match would be any good from an in-ring standpoint, and an accolade like "biggest match of all time" doesn't really mean anything unless you're there to witness it in person or you own a significant amount of TKO stock.

I guess - heavy emphasis on guess - the sheer spectacle of such a big match would make the crowd go insane for it and enhance the overall match. Like, no one would expect Hogan, age 48, to have THAT match against The Rock at WM18, and it was not only good action, but they fed on the energy of the crowd without doing too much.