sek69 Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Happy birthday to my kid, and Cody is selling the hell out of this angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 The Rock's new Titantron with the lightning hitting around him as he walks out is pretty bad ass, I won't lie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 26 Author Report Share Posted March 26 Rock could have easily coasted for this run and no one would have really blamed him, but him going all out heel has made this 100% better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenese Sarwieh Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Just put the belt on Cody at WM so we can get the real money match with him and Rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 26 Author Report Share Posted March 26 I love that Punk seems to just be shooting this whole segment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
...TG Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 This segment was a hoot, especially Punk referencing Cornette's podcasts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 26 Author Report Share Posted March 26 Punk asking Drew what paragon of virtue named him the chosen one was interesting on several levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Punk, Drew, Becky, Rhea, Cody, Rock. All of them were on fire tonight, holy shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 GOATed shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 26 Author Report Share Posted March 26 All that was missing was Cody saying "MAKE IT GOOD" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 This dude is fucking MAKING Cody. Cody is made and he’s doing even more than it. It’s incredible. Never ever say Rocky doesn’t know how to do business. This is otherworldly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Listen, we are getting ALL TIME GREAT segments in this build. It's unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 2 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: GOATed shit Hey, finally some recognition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Checked out and I eat everything I said about Rock. This is GOAT-level shit, yeah. It's funny cuz in 2013, he seemed wildly out of place while Punk and Cena sort of ran circles around him, yet in 2024, it's him who is so much better than Punk, who is still doing shooty stuff in 2024, while Rock seems to have embraced his heel side and that's unlocked a new level to him. My biggest complaint with his 2010s run was what another poster described as the entire thing being Dwayne Johnson playing The Rock, and that has completely disappeared. Also has to be said, Cody was perfect too. Drew was also fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Either they lean into the "Rock is upstaging the champ" angle post-WM or Roman steps up his game. So far it's the only complaint I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 From the perspective of someone not watching the product and only being aware of what's getting all the hype, it's all about Rock and Cody. To the point where it's like : hey, remember about that Roman fella, who used to be the champ for a long ass time ? Whatever happened to him ? Oh, he's actually part of that supporting cast too now ? Wait, he's still the champ ? But, so Cody vs Rock at Mania is not for the WWE Title ? Wait, what ? That's not the actual match ? There could be so much said about how the biggest (in term of business) and maybe, at least on paper, the best Mania is taking place first thing after Vince is gone for "good" (although the fact the company has not been cleaned up and some of his corporate drones are still around make that statement relative), both how ironic it is and how it totally serves the purpose of making the audience look the other way and forget about the entire thing (which is a shame, really). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 4 hours ago, MoS said: Also has to be said, Cody was perfect too. Drew was also fantastic Cody being as over and the best babyface WWE could possibly imagine in this day and age Is what has allowed Rock to cook with his character. There's no Vince micro managing nor an overall fear of their main babyface (Cena) not looking strong against him. Fans rejecting Rock vs Roman for this year's Mania was the best thing that could've happened to them. It forced Rock to drop the lazy "Dwayne Johnson, social media jaggernaut" act and at the same time it let him know he could have fun being a heel doing whatever the fuck he wanted because Cody could take it and come out looking stronger. And the Roman side of the ecuation Is still untapped. That part of the angle r starts once WM finishes. I just hope we don't lose this version of Rock soon. Even if he just shows up 2-4 times the rest of the year, I don't want him going back to Dwayne for the Reigns feud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 It really is staggering how Roman has become a bit player in the story centered around the championships he's held forever. It's not really his fault, though. Hollywood Rock in the modern wrestling landscape is like Messi in MLS. Being upstaged is inevitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 They did mention and allude to Rock being higher in the pecking order and played into his insecurity on certain segments, but the focus right now is on Cody getting the belt. Like, Roman specifically asked The Rock to acknowledge him and not only it was framed as "oooh there may be dissension in the ranks" but it also reeked of Reigns being fearful for his spot. Somehow they worked their way into another six months of stories to tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 26 Author Report Share Posted March 26 4 hours ago, Jmare007 said: Cody being as over and the best babyface WWE could possibly imagine in this day and age Is what has allowed Rock to cook with his character. There's no Vince micro managing nor an overall fear of their main babyface (Cena) not looking strong against him. Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that once Vince was out of power suddenly WWE suddenly has been having some of the greatest babyface performances in decades. Not saying Uncle Paul is perfect but he's letting people cook which most of the time that's all you need to do when you have the level of talent they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 It's not that surprising since black and gold era NXT was based on a series of big face arcs carrying everything for years. What is surprising that HHH is the one behind that, considering how pretty much his whole main event run was just dominating heel killing every face for years and years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Not to yuck anyone's yum because I'm a fan of the storyline but I just wanted to note... The Rock is being named on commentary as the literal boss, with more backstage power than even Triple H, and I think that element is kinda still catnip to some of us, even if we don't want to admit it. I bring this up because I haven't really seen anyone mention that what we're getting is actually not all that different from the same ol' Authority Angle storyline that the company has leaned on heavily for the past 25+ years. What I think is making it work better than every other derivation since the original Austin/McMahon saga is that: (a) The Rock is much more physically imposing and has much more in-ring credibility than Vince McMahon did as Austin's rival, which is why Roman being the Corporate Surrogate is kind of unnecessary. At the same time, this alteration - where Roman's status as being the chosen "Corporate Champion" is not guaranteed because The Rock views himself as the true Final Boss in a way that the non-wrestler Vince could never be - of the "traditional" Boss vs. Held Down Employee narrative actually makes for a more intriguing storyline. Though it is still not a wholly original one because... (b) 10 years ago, a similar dynamic was playing out with then-Authority Figure Triple H and his surrogate, Randy Orton, against Held Down Employee #2 (Daniel Bryan). In that story, Triple H inserted himself into the fray when his own greed for the Championship and disappointment in his "Corporate Champion" Randy Orton failing to stop Bryan's rise boiled over. The Triple H/Orton tension built over time, just like The Rock and Roman's is now. But, again, The Rock and Roman - and arguably Cody Rhodes - have made this a much, much better story because, frankly, they're far better characters with more charisma and better sports-entertainment chops than Triple H and Orton were ever capable of. I'm a huge Bryan fan too, but at this point, Cody has also proven to be the true heir to Cena in a way that Bryan, as much as I love him, was really never going to be. Plus, and this goes without saying, The Bloodline saga of the previous 2+ years has given this current storyline a context and background that set the stage in a way the WWE were never able to manufacture before. I mean, as good as Bryan's rise was in 2013, tagging with Kane and wrestling gauntlet matches just doesn't compare to the stage that has been set here. If the Vince/Austin storyline was the organic result of the months leading up to the Montreal Screwjob and the creation of the Mr. McMahon character in late 97', the current Rock storyline feels very much like it could really only have existed after Roman Reign's historic Head of the Table run, Cody Rhodes managing to maintain his top babyface status after a controversial loss at last year's Mania main event, and the non-kayfabe appointment of Dwayne Johnson onto the TKO Board of Directors. TLDR - The Rock/Cody storyline is hitting lots of familiar notes, but it doesn't matter: the song slaps and it is being played by a crack band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 26 Author Report Share Posted March 26 50 minutes ago, DMJ said: TLDR - The Rock/Cody storyline is hitting lots of familiar notes, but it doesn't matter: the song slaps and it is being played by a crack band. Indeed. Sometimes bookers (and fans like us) get too wrapped up in trying to reinvent the wheel when the tried and true stories work for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 Somewhat :beli: that Rock is calling himself The Final Boss when I'm quite sure that's what Meiko Satamura was called her entire NXT/UK run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted March 26 Report Share Posted March 26 It was and is a weird dichotomy for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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