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Post by Fake Jesus on Feb 3, 2024 13:49:30 GMT -5
Even if the idea is, "Well, even people who don't care about wrestling will for some reason decide to care about wrestling if it involves a dude who's barely had any movies break even in the current decade!", then it's still completely stupid because Seth and Roman would be completely interchangeable to those people. The Rock is 52. Kids 20 and under view them as their *dads* action star. well action movies are kinda generationally dead. the only big action stars are Tom Cruise, the Rock and Keanu Reeves. |
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Zone Was Wrong
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Currently living off the high that AEW brings every Wednesday and Friday
Posts: 17,782
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Post by Zone Was Wrong on Feb 3, 2024 13:50:12 GMT -5
This could have been avoided if they just had Cody win last year.
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Boozeman
Team Rocket
Hair and makeup on fleek
Posts: 781 
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Post by Boozeman on Feb 3, 2024 13:50:31 GMT -5
Interesting that Rock has been radio silent on social media so far. Typically by this point with his previous comebacks, there would already be a:
"Last night was electric...
MANA
GRATITUDE
LOVE"
post on Instagram.
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UN PLOMBIER NIGHTMARE #blm
Wade Wilson
Sponsored by Arizona Green Tea/Peanuts But Only At Baseball Stadiums/Biscuits Cat Adoption Agency
Posts: 27,049 
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Post by UN PLOMBIER NIGHTMARE #blm on Feb 3, 2024 13:50:46 GMT -5
Step aside Cena, you don't need to beat JBL. What we need is Steven Seagal!
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xxshoyuweeniexx
King Koopa
Going Big and Saying That
Posts: 10,228
Member is Online
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Post by xxshoyuweeniexx on Feb 3, 2024 13:51:44 GMT -5
It really feels like people are missing the point on Twitter. They are flooding it with pro Cody anti Rock stuff. Still trending. And WWE couldn’t be happier about it. Because you know what none of those people are tweeting about? Vince McMahon. They’re getting exactly what they wanted. Honestly if that's the plan that's a really short lived one. The accusations are gonna come back later ,with many more names involved It’s also dumb because people can have more than one simple thought. I can think Vince McMahon is a rapist and think The Rock is an egomaniacal dickhead for f***ing over Cody Rhodes too. |
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Post by ben:friendship frog on Feb 3, 2024 13:52:06 GMT -5
The Rock is 52. Kids 20 and under view them as their *dads* action star. Kids under 29 see him as the voice of Maui Dwayne hasn't been full time since Cody was 15 years old |
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Feb 3, 2024 13:52:45 GMT -5
The Rock was genuinely one of the most unselfish main event guys when he was full time throughout the Attitude Era. I think that Rock would be pretty disappointed in the actions of this Rock. He's let Bret down.  Imagine if Bret just took the IC title from Rock in 1997? Rock never has a reason to turn heel. Bret stays in WWE because he accepts being a mid-card champion while Shawn is the world main event champion. No Montreal Screwjob. No Mr. McMahon Character. Fast forwards to 2024............ No Rock vs. Roman Reigns, because the The Rock never happened.... |
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Feb 3, 2024 13:55:34 GMT -5
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Gus Richlen: Ruffian
Patti Mayonnaise
Metal Maestro: Co-winner of the FAN Idol Throwdown!
BAU BAU
Posts: 39,280
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Post by Gus Richlen: Ruffian on Feb 3, 2024 13:56:19 GMT -5
The top trend on Twitter is "WE WANT CODY" This could be a WM 30 situation all over again. Only difference really is that they're not risking buys over it. My only question is whether Dwayne's ego can be convinced to let the audible happen this time too. I hope it does. |
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Feb 3, 2024 13:56:34 GMT -5
Oh wow, just saw with it hitting page 100 today.
This thread doubled in just 14 hours.
Crazy the love we all have/had/haven't for Cody!
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Feb 3, 2024 13:58:36 GMT -5
LMAO
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Post by Richard on Feb 3, 2024 13:59:17 GMT -5
I know some will dismiss this but I wonder how much this plays to talents that might be afraid to jump or return. Cody was their go to for most things and heavily pushed as the Roman beater, only now to be shoved away by Rock because Cody isn't big enough a star in Rock's eyes. Everything he did means less now and he's not even in a match yet. Who knows where that goes?
And not just him, Jade was heavily hyped and then forgotten because they reportely don't think she can work. Maybe she gets focus and follow up from the Rumble or she goes back to being a "free agent" that does nothing again.
Throw all that in with how bad the Vince stuff is and will be, I think this may end up worse than they think.
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Post by ben:friendship frog on Feb 3, 2024 14:00:47 GMT -5
I know some will dismiss this but I wonder how much this plays to talents that might be afraid to jump or return. Cody was their go to for most things and heavily pushed as the Roman beater, only now to be shoved away by Rock because Cody isn't big enough a star in Rock's eyes. Everything he did means less now and he's not even in a match yet. Who knows where that goes? And not just him, Jade was heavily hyped and then forgotten because they reportely don't think she can work. Maybe she gets focus and follow up from the Rumble or she goes back to being a "free agent" that does nothing again. Throw all that in with how bad the Vince stuff is and will be, I think this may end up worse than they think. As I said the other day, I think it's fanciful at best to think the Vince stuff will stop people from wanting to sign with WWE. This though? 100% people will see this and second guess how they'll be treated. |
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Facetious
King Koopa
ADAM COLE BAYBAY
Posts: 12,577
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Post by Facetious on Feb 3, 2024 14:01:47 GMT -5
{Spoiler}In one of the most controversial moves in wrestling booking history, The Rock is poised to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 instead of Cody Rhodes.
We will preface this story by stating that nothing has been officially announced, and as always in pro wrestling, plans can change – just as they did over the last week. There are many in the company that are cautiously optimistic that if the reaction that WWE received Friday night
As of now, the plan for WrestleMania is The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins. Sources in creative confirmed that as of recently, the working plan was Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns, and CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins. Punk’s title shot was to be set up at the WWE Elimination Chamber PLE. Brock Lesnar vs. Dominik Mysterio at Elimination Chamber and Lesnar vs. Gunther from WrestleMania were also canceled from creative plans, as Lesnar and Punk were eliminated from creative moving forward.
While Cody Rhodes professed loudly at Royal Rumble that he was coming after Roman Reigns, there were some in the company that claimed that they heard as of that afternoon that The Rock had agreed to face Reigns. We’ve also heard that there was Rock “Head of the Table” WrestleMania themed merchandise prototypes within the company by that weekend.
Nobody we spoke to could make the order of operations make sense, but many were hopeful that WWE and TKO would see the reaction and pivot. You can see many of the reactions we’ve garnered below.
Those that we’ve spoken to said that The Rock had not only pushed to work the match, some thought he was even pushing to win the match. Regardless of what the finish will be, multiple sources said that they viewed this as a political move that TKO believes will result in more immediate money than what would have been with Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns. Sources within TKO swore this wasn’t done out of malice to Rhodes, and value him as a talent, but believe that those involved with the decision making underestimated how the patience of the audience has worn thin on the situation.
There have been some creative shakeups within WWE of late, and sources on the creative team expect Rock’s longtime business partner and friend, and former WWE creative member Brian Gewritz to factor in heavily to the Rock’s creative plans moving forward. He’s expected to be around from time physically, as well. Fightful reached out to Gewirtz about his role, but were not immediately able to get comment unless it was an interview approved by WWE. TKO sources did say they valued Gewirtz’s skill set and that they could see him in a key WWE role creatively if the right situation aligned between all parties.
Regarding the timeline of events, we’re told that Cody at least was informed as of Friday that this was the decision, and he didn’t travel to Smackdown without knowing. Talent, including The Rock, had all been booked for the February 8 press conference in Las Vegas by that time, though The Rock’s involvement wasn’t clear.
Naturally, Fightful asked if this move was done in order to take attention or publicity away from the WWE, Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis scandal and lawsuits that were going on. Sources in the know claimed that The Rock was actually pushing for this before, but admitted that it couldn’t have hurt the process to get any mainstream publicity that was not associated with the scandals.
It’s work noting that The Rock and Ari Emanuel have had a long standing relationship, and The Rock is the biggest star tied to the Endeavor brand. Fightful had heard as of three weeks ago there was a talent element being pitched for his role with TKO, as both sides wanted to maximize the huge deal they made around the board position, licensing fees, and rights of “The Rock” name.
For those wondering, the early word is that The Rock will attempt to work a full-length match, but there’s no word on if he’d be open to continuing to wrestle. There were some concerns about him working a WrestleMania main event-length match after his recent appearances.
All parties involved will be at the Las Vegas media presser Thursday. Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp and Instinct Culture's Denise Salcedo will be on the scene.
Reactions Within WWE
For the sake of transparency, Fightful reached out to over three dozen contacts within WWE across all departments. None that got back to us even played devil’s advocate for the decision to run The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, and the decision was universally panned from those we spoke with.
“I’ve known Dwayne a long time,” one wrestler told Fightful. “Not only did the look on Cody’s face tell a story, the look on Dwayne’s told a story. I think in that moment he knew that this decision wasn’t going to work out quite the way that he imagined it. He was experiencing the same thing that he and Roman experienced in Philadelphia. He was being co-signed for something the vast majority didn’t want.”
Everyone that we heard back from understood the business implications of running the match, but believed it wasn’t a good decision for long-term WWE business.
“The Rock vs. Roman made sense several years ago when we were running back Roman and Lesnar repeatedly. It could have made sense this year had Cody won the title last year. This is one of the few years it just doesn’t make sense in any capacity,” one former world champion told Fightful.
A source in creative said that many on the team were deflated, and it felt like a decision they’d hear about being made under the previous regime at the expense of helping cultivate new crossover talent.
Another source that had worked with the Rock was much more stern, saying “The Rock eroded his trust with the comic and superhero community, with the film community, maybe with the football community, and might do it with the one he has almost universal goodwill with. He’s not a bad guy, don’t mistake that or get me wrong – he’s a great guy. However, bad timing and overexposure and fatigue will make fools of us all. You have to know when to take a back seat.”
PWInsider was told that the move was not done to politic Cody out of his main event with malice, and one top talent sent Fightful a screenshot and said “I truly believe that The Rock wasn’t being malicious. Not being malicious with intent and actions not having malicious repercussions aren’t exclusive.”
Another longtime member of the creative team said “there have been numerous meetings, pitches, attempts to get The Rock in on this match, or really any match, for years and it never happened. One year the excuse was that the story didn’t make sense. Not only does it make less sense than ever right now, it’s undermining one of the biggest stories we’ve ever told and turning off a lot of our fans.”
“The Rock’s family passed the McMahon family in the past week as far as power dynamic in pro wrestling, and it’s probably not going to change any time soon,” said one person who has worked with all parties involved numerous times. - Fightful Spoiler for sheer size. My bad lol |
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DichEvans
Samurai Cop
Lenny Lazy Lane Stinks
Posts: 2,245
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Post by DichEvans on Feb 3, 2024 14:01:52 GMT -5
It's now smashed the record for dislikes and has by far the worst down vote ratio in WWE's YouTube history  |
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Post by ChitownKnight on Feb 3, 2024 14:02:59 GMT -5
I know some will dismiss this but I wonder how much this plays to talents that might be afraid to jump or return. Cody was their go to for most things and heavily pushed as the Roman beater, only now to be shoved away by Rock because Cody isn't big enough a star in Rock's eyes. Everything he did means less now and he's not even in a match yet. Who knows where that goes? And not just him, Jade was heavily hyped and then forgotten because they reportely don't think she can work. Maybe she gets focus and follow up from the Rumble or she goes back to being a "free agent" that does nothing again. Throw all that in with how bad the Vince stuff is and will be, I think this may end up worse than they think. Did Cody even sign an extension yet? I think he should Finish his story at the company he helped start. |
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Feb 3, 2024 14:03:11 GMT -5
Here's the remaining Raw/Smackdown TV up until Wrestlemania 40, just incase you were curious about the crowds:
Feb 5, 2024 WWE: Raw, Enterprise Center, MO
Feb 9, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Spectrum Center, NC
Feb 12, 2024 WWE: Raw, Rupp Arena At Central Bank Center, KY
Feb 16, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Delta Center, UT
Feb 19, 2024 WWE: Raw, Honda Center, CA
Feb 26, 2024 WWE: Raw, SAP Center, CA
Mar 1, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Desert Diamond Arena, AZ
Mar 4, 2024 WWE: Raw, Frost Bank Center, TX
Mar 8, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, American Airlines Center, TX
Mar 11, 2024 WWE: Raw, Toyota Center - TX, TX
Mar 15, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, FedExForum, TN
Mar 18, 2024 WWE: Raw, PNC Arena, NC
Mar 22, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Fiserv Forum, WI
Mar 25, 2024 WWE: Monday Night RAW, Allstate Arena, IL
Mar 29, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Mohegan Sun Arena - CT, CT
Apr 1, 2024 WWE: Raw, Barclays Center, NY
Apr 5, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Wells Fargo Center - PA, PA
Which crowds are most likely to hijack/backlash this Cody storyline?
Any bets?
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DichEvans
Samurai Cop
Lenny Lazy Lane Stinks
Posts: 2,245
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Post by DichEvans on Feb 3, 2024 14:03:21 GMT -5
Maybe we should realize that all the guys who called that alleged rapist a "father figure" are maybe not the best human beings.
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The Kevstaaa
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Heck of a wrestler, great technician, and a jam up guy
Posts: 18,564
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Feb 3, 2024 14:04:11 GMT -5
Interesting that Rock has been radio silent on social media so far. Typically by this point with his previous comebacks, there would already be a: "Last night was electric... MANA GRATITUDE LOVE" post on Instagram. Also something about him having only seven bucks in his pocket when he met baby Roman. |
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DichEvans
Samurai Cop
Lenny Lazy Lane Stinks
Posts: 2,245
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Post by DichEvans on Feb 3, 2024 14:04:43 GMT -5
Here's the remaining Raw/Smackdown TV up until Wrestlemania 40, just incase you were curious about the crowds: Feb 5, 2024 WWE: Raw, Enterprise Center, MO Feb 9, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Spectrum Center, NC Feb 12, 2024 WWE: Raw, Rupp Arena At Central Bank Center, KY Feb 16, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Delta Center, UT Feb 19, 2024 WWE: Raw, Honda Center, CA Feb 26, 2024 WWE: Raw, SAP Center, CA Mar 1, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Desert Diamond Arena, AZ Mar 4, 2024 WWE: Raw, Frost Bank Center, TX Mar 8, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, American Airlines Center, TX Mar 11, 2024 WWE: Raw, Toyota Center - TX, TX Mar 15, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, FedExForum, TN Mar 18, 2024 WWE: Raw, PNC Arena, NC Mar 22, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Fiserv Forum, WI Mar 25, 2024 WWE: Monday Night RAW, Allstate Arena, IL Mar 29, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Mohegan Sun Arena - CT, CT Apr 1, 2024 WWE: Raw, Barclays Center, NY Apr 5, 2024 WWE: Smackdown, Wells Fargo Center - PA, PA Which crowds are most likely to hijack/backlash this Cody storyline? Any bets? The reality is the casual markets will still just cheer for Rock, because they just want to see the biggest stars possible. The Northeast and LA crowds would be the hypothetical ones to dump on the situation |
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