The Cody Rhodes Story Thread (IT'S OVER)

[Snaptastic]

This is why they should have made it one and done last year when they had the chance.

Swerving and delaying events never turns out well.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 4, 2024 5:41:49 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

The more Rock doubles down on this the more he’s just going to breed resentment. There is no salvaging this.

Rock really is going to just make the outward majority of the fandom hate him while a loud sect will defend him, cheer for him, and always obnoxiously have his back

I guess he took a lot from his DCU experience since he seems to want to become the next Zack Snyder

[Final Countdown Jones]

Feb 4, 2024 4:21:50 GMT -5 HIM said:

So Rock posted a new IG post. It's 3am bruh, we know why it's posted at this time. Let alone this comment at the end shows he clearly he hears the backlash.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2612ONOewk

There is something so naked and so pathetic about The Rock burying his tweets in the asscrack of the night, clearly too busy thinking about this and how his rejection has trended all day on twitter, that honestly does more damage to my childhood than the Vince allegations do. Like, you know Vince is scum. The depth is surprising but it's not that surprising. This? This is finding out Santa's really Uncle Larry. This is finding out that God bleeds.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 4, 2024 5:41:58 GMT -5 Snaptastic said:

This is why they should have made it one and done last year when they had the chance.

Swerving and delaying events never turns out well.

Should've been done last year, the excuses that it wasn't were bullshit and waiting a whole other year for "Maybe a slightly bigger pop" wasn't worth it before this but now it's becoming one of the biggest dropped balls in the history of the company

It's going down rather quickly as one of the biggest self inflicted wounds I've ever seen and honestly the reasoning behind it only makes that all the more truthful, nothing needed to change, it changed because of an asshole who wanted to be the star instead to "Save WWE" as the Vince news torches their PR. Good news is the Vince news is now not the only thing torching their PR, now they have it on and off camera!

Congrats to WWE for really taking us back to the vibes of the 2016 Rumble finish, we're really finishing the story, and the story is complete and utter apathy...

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

Feb 4, 2024 5:41:49 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

The more Rock doubles down on this the more he’s just going to breed resentment. There is no salvaging this.

His doubling down really isn't a surprise at all now that I think about it. In the wake of Black Adam's critical and financial failings, he all but had a massive prolonged temper tantrum in public. Trying to spin its box office as a positive however he could, eventually settling on, "Wait, if we cook the god damn books just a little, whatdyakno, it actually has a small profit!" Granted that very, very, very, very, VERY tiny sliver of victory for The Rock came from counting money WB was paying itself to license the film for Max to drag it across that profitability threshold.

Plain and simply, he just doesn't like being told "no", and so we are in for a loooooooong drawn out back and forth here.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Apr 3, 2023 6:05:37 GMT -5 Lupin the Third said:

Apr 3, 2023 0:14:55 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

"WRESTLING HAS MORE THAN ONE... ROYAL BITCH..."

*Kingdom starts playing, but on the kazoo.*

I went back and looked at some of the first few pages of this thread and saw this

You'll be happy to know everyone, that this actually does exist, and after all this, we deserve to hear it.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Honestly it's kind of lost in everything else but this whole situation is super f***ing unfair to Seth. His title reign has been terrible, sure, but dude has been putting the work in to try to make it work, is now presently busting his ass trying to rush back from injury in time for Mania, and they're throwing him to the wolves in a match that no one on the planet wants to see, that they're openly advertising does not matter, and the crowd is probably going to spend the entirety of it chanting, "Rocky sucks," when he's not even part of the match.

[EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese]

Nine f***in days. That’s all it took for WWE’s goodwill, how much of it there may have been, to completely evaporate.

That’s how quickly things can turn, why it’s so fleeting to make sweeping statements both good and bad about any company’s fortunes.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 4, 2024 5:59:48 GMT -5 EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese said:

Nine f***in days. That’s all it took for WWE’s goodwill, how much of it there may have been, to completely evaporate.

That’s how quickly things can turn, why it’s so fleeting to make sweeping statements both good and bad about any company’s fortunes.

"NINE DAYS WWE YOU F***ED IT UP IN NINE DAYS!"

[Lizuka #BLM]

WrestleMania 21 but Triple H wins then the next year when Batista's due to get his rematch he's suddenly thrown into a match with Kurt Angle instead while Triple H is now fighting Hulk Hogan.

[MrElijah]

Feb 4, 2024 6:02:44 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

WrestleMania 21 but Triple H wins then the next year when Batista's due to get his rematch he's suddenly thrown into a match with Kurt Angle instead while Triple H is now fighting Hulk Hogan.

You're wrong. Hogan would make it a 4 way so he can pin Kurt to get his win back, Brother.

[Woo]

The Rock is going to have to play the heel in the match. That's no way he's getting cheered in Philly, not even against Reigns.

[callmekc]

So, what are we setting the odds of Rocky getting 'injured' or otherwise forced to step out of the match at?

[PKO]

It’s going to be interesting to see where they go from here. Do they plow ahead with Roman/Rock knowing that a large portion of the fans will be actively against it or do they pivot back to Roman/Cody? This is an opportunity for TKO/WWE to say they listen and give the fans what they want, instead of just doing what the people in charge want (which has been the case for decades). HHH gained a lot of goodwill and confidence from fans doing just that with NXT - I always remember him bringing back Blue Pants and saying he didn’t personally understand it but the fans like her.

The negative reaction is impossible to ignore. The mainstream attention they were hoping for (and, to be fair, they got) has even had to include mentions that a lot of fans aren’t happy.

Roman vs Cody with The Rock in his corner makes the most sense to move towards.

[HMARK Center]

So, where to even begin with this...

In 1997, Sting stopped having matches on TV for a good, long while, and most Nitros ended with nWo run-ins, beatdowns, DQ finishes, that sort of thing. However, the implied deal WCW was making with their audience was clear: "Stick with us, put up with the nWo's shenanigans, and at Starrcade we'll deliver Sting vs. Hogan and give you the ending you want." During that time, Sting became the biggest name in wrestling; he wasn't telling much of a 'story' during that run, he'd just basically descend from the rafters, destroy guys with a bat, then point at Hogan, driving home that him dethroning this slimy, conniving, cheating heel bastard was the endgame of this entire run. Yes, I know, there were some story beats about WCW guys having to realize they could trust Sting, but we know what the focus was on.

Then what happened? WCW delivered the match, yes, even booked Sting to go over, but they didn't deliver what they'd promised, not really. It didn't hurt ratings or anything, at least not right away, and Hogan/Sting rematches did big business, but when it came to trust with the audience, the bloom was now off the rose, and WWF took advantage by saying "You want Stone Cold? We'll give you all the Stone Cold you could ever ask for."

If the goal all along was to do Cody vs. Roman 2 this year, then WWE had a choice after last year's Wrestlemania; they could either tell a really compelling story where we see the loss last year eat away at Cody and force him to build himself back up brick by brick, or they could basically not tell any story, but leave that implied promise to their audience: 'Stick with us, put up with Roman wrestling the same exact match every time, put up with Cody spinning his wheels, because next year we'll deliver what you want. Why wouldn't we? Wrestlemania's the only show that truly, actually matters, right?'

And, good Lord, it actually worked; Cody got even more over, Roman still drew big numbers!

But it's why I take issue with people saying "you've been building to this rematch for a year" - no, they really haven't. Immediately post-WM last year, they booked Cody and Roman into angles that only made sense if Roman had lost the title; during that time Cody had a feud with Brock that had no story or character purpose to it (credit to the wrestlers themselves for still making it work), then had repetitive tag main events on Raw against Judgment Day, no real signs of adversity or impact on his character to be seen. Roman saw the Bloodline lose a member, but he beat that guy in the same exact match he always has, so no real skin off his back.

No, WWE was operating on the WCW '97 principle - we don't really need a story, per se, we just need people to feel they're promised the eventual rematch on the biggest stage possible, and we just have to deliver that to them.

But it's not bad enough that they're not going to do so; what's even worse is the way they did it. Even if they backtrack now, get Cody into the match, and even have him beat Roman, the damage is done; you took this guy who was cemented to the audience as a never say day babyface the second he showed up to work with his pec discolored and torn to hell and back and basically emasculated him in front of the the world...shit, you had him do it to himself!

If they'd spent the last year actually telling a story about the effect last year's WM main event had on Cody, maybe this could be salvageable; maybe he's dealing with some weird frustration, self-doubt, or something that's been gnawing at him and he can't just take what's in front of him without something happening that pushes him to finally embrace his kayfabe destiny, that sort of thing. But you opted not to tell a story; you just kept trotting these guys out to do their entrances, catchphrases, and signature spots, and assumed the audience would just go with whatever.

It's the same nonsense as having Roman cheat worse than the Honky Tonk Man and constantly have babyfaces get visual pins on him, but making the announcers present him as a "God mode" world killer; that isn't a story. That isn't the "cinema" we keep getting told WWE presents. WWE isn't invested in stories, WWE is invested in characters. And, you know what? It's working for them! A huge reason they're selling out so many shows is because fans just want to roll in, sing along when Cody's/Seth's/whoever's theme comes on, do some kind of dance when Jey enters, hold up their fingers when the Bloodline's there, that sort of thing; we hear all the time how "nothing happens on the weekly shows", but people just enjoy that generally positive, party-like atmosphere. It's honestly Triple H's main strength as a booker, particularly given how used to Vince fans had gotten; when he sees an act get over, he doesn't try to sabotage them, and after years of "like what I tell you, damnit!" I can only imagine how refreshed it leaves a lot of WWE fans. Personally it isn't my thing at all, but I can't knock people for going somewhere and doing stuff like that if they're having fun.

But neglecting to tell a story has the potential to eventually bite you, and now here we are: you implicitly promised Cody vs. Roman 2, you're not even going to deliver it, and there's no sensible way to backtrack and fully undo the damage you've done to Cody's character, the main thing you've been riding over the last year to keep up the positive momentum the company's had since late '22. If you'd had a story constructed that set all this up over the last year, you'd have a way out, but instead you just kept these guys spinning their wheels, telling the audience "only Mania matters, only Mania matters..." ad nauseum, and now you've reaped what you've sowed.

[cornettesracket]

Cody showing why many fans are behind him. 

[Ben Wyatt]

Not the biggest Logan Paul guy, but him tweeting out 'We Want Cody' is tremendous

[cornettesracket]

From that same house show with Cody being a stand up guy, there’s a video of them showing the rock and Cody segment from smack down and the fans booed it.

[mistery]

Feb 4, 2024 6:49:31 GMT -5 Ben Wyatt said:

Not the biggest Logan Paul guy, but him tweeting out 'We Want Cody' is tremendous

Logan Paul and The Rock have legit beef with each other. Admittedly The Rock was absolutely in the right in their beef.

But I guess in this case the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[AdamAFL was sooooo wrong]

So despite having not watched a WWE show since AEW first debuted in 2019 (I’m now in my 30s and work full time plus other life commitments so just do not have the time to watch two wrestling companies). This is not a tribal thing, just providing context, and AEW personally gives me more of what I want wrestling to be. That being said I want WWE to do well because the healthier and more successful the whole industry is the better in my opinion. And I’ve still loosely followed the WWE via mainly things like reading stuff on this forum. My name is in reference to the bet that went round here last year about Cody vs Roman. The fact that I believed WWE would actually deliver for the fans last year and not only did they not but they acted pretty aggressively towards those who dared question the story only to prove them all right by ditching the rematch in favour of a 50+ year old actor blows my mind. I take no pleasure in this. I just feel sorry for the fans. And in particular I feel sorry for the fans who love this promotion so much that they feel the need to try and defend this. I did honestly think Hunter being head booker would change what we saw from Vince over the past 20 odd years but they clearly haven’t changed and just don’t give a f*** about their audience. Just a shitty situation and I feel for the fans.