The Cody Rhodes Story Thread (IT'S OVER)

[ssdrivin]

Feb 4, 2024 8:28:42 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

Feb 4, 2024 1:33:00 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Hollywood Rock was basically the only time I've ever enjoyed watching him. Even as a kid I hated Rock.

I think people tend to forget that the reason Hollywood Rock even was a thing in the first place is because crowds turned on him hardcore when he became a part timer. There are lots of fans, myself included, who have always found it a chore when he’s been around after that initial full time run.

The main thing I don't like is his promos that still sound like he's trying to sound like a late 90s edgy teenager.

"JBL is poopy" level maturity but if a kid who would write that got a few years older and learned it was cool and funny to make tedious homophobic insinuations about people's sexuality.

We're all older now. He is, we are, the company is. He probably wasn't funny 25 years ago either but at least it fit the rebellious counterculture of the time and it was aimed at stupid teenagers who would've thought it's funny. But now? He's Gary King from The World's End. The guy who can't let go, can't move on, when the rest of us have become older and wiser and aware of consequences. I don't think that's who he is as a person but trying to drag that "The Rock" character this far into the future, which is what made him who he is, it's just kinda tone deaf.

[Ryback on a Pole!]

lol the Rock's ego-stroking twitter post is just full of We Want Cody posts.

[BorneAgain]

It doesn't help that with the Rock, is that for a lot of people there's not really a big hook to him beyond the big pops from fans at live events. His ring stuff never got back up to pre 2005 levels, his promos are fine (though wholly predictable), and even the novelty of him vs Reigns feels like it passed the window where it would have been most meaningful for Roman.

Its Batista in 2014 all over again without the likelihood of the returning name becoming a fun heel character like Dave did.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 4, 2024 7:42:40 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Really I do definitely believe Triple H deserves a lot of the blame here because at the root of it he is the one who opted to have Cody choke for no particular reason last year, acted completely petulant about people criticizing that decision, and then had the following year do absolutely f*** all with that to where Roman has defended the title three times since, in universally terrible matches no one especially cared about because everyone knew he was winning all of them while Cody's just spent the whole year being completely aimless. If there was any chance at all of Rock swooping in to do the match at Mania 40 then they should have just given the damn thing to Cody at 39 because the Rock match not only does not need the belt but is actively diminished by having it be involved.

Either way I do certainly appreciate being validated that no, being patient with WWE and giving them the benefit of the doubt is absolutely never something you should do because one way or another they will continually find a way to f*** it up.

Yeah HHH isn't absolved from blame here. He chose to not do it last year when he could have, even reportedly VINCE told him to f***ing do it last year, VINCE, that guy, the guy who never does the right thing told HHH he should do the right thing, and it was the right thing, and he didn't do it

And what did he do when he didn't do it? Basically giggled at the media scrum afterwards and told everyone just wait and see what happens, "Tune in on Monday!", which was also by the way, god f***ing awful and one of the worst RAW's of recent memory.

But all that being said, he overcommitted and doubled down guaranteeing that it'd all be worth it and everyone could be complaining would look so stupid... because it was his show now, he had the power! Until he didn't, it wasn't his show anymore, and he didn't have the power... and oh by the way the guy who now does have power? He's booking HIMSELF to be in the Mania main event now.

So not only did you f*** yourself over for no reason, you forced everyone to sit through another year of Roman bullshit, a third consolation prize world title because you refused to have Roman lose and he went on an immediate part timer schedule, and forced the main event scenes into total stagnation... in the end, for the Rock, the f***ing ROCK, to ruin everything, when all you had to do, was do what Cody was screaming to do, and finish the f***ing easiest story in the world, that now, may never get finished, and even if it does in some other fashion, it's f***ed and you've ruined the moment and what it should have been, twice.

Ultimately it's on The Rock for forcing himself into power and actively saying he was doing it to "Save Mania" with Punk hurt and the Vince scandal, but in the end, this all stems from delaying your biggest story of recent memory, for no reason, pissing everyone off in a slow simmering mess for a whole extra year, just for all of this to go to shit because of that decision.

And again, all of that was just to "Make the chase feel grander" or some shit, maybe for a slightly louder Pop? Cody was already over, he was already a superface everyone liked before this, none of it was worth it, I'd argue it wasn't worth waiting a full year for even BEFORE it f***ing went off the rails like this in the first place, but in the end, this is what WWE has to deal with now, a perfect storm of completely tanking their good will with their fans who were burned, still waited patiently for what they were told to wait for, and then got blown away again. F*** them and honestly it couldn't have happened to more deserving egotists than HHH and The Rock who both tbh think their farts smell like perfume.

Glad everyone's told them lately they just smell like shit.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 4, 2024 8:55:07 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Feb 4, 2024 7:42:40 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Really I do definitely believe Triple H deserves a lot of the blame here because at the root of it he is the one who opted to have Cody choke for no particular reason last year, acted completely petulant about people criticizing that decision, and then had the following year do absolutely f*** all with that to where Roman has defended the title three times since, in universally terrible matches no one especially cared about because everyone knew he was winning all of them while Cody's just spent the whole year being completely aimless. If there was any chance at all of Rock swooping in to do the match at Mania 40 then they should have just given the damn thing to Cody at 39 because the Rock match not only does not need the belt but is actively diminished by having it be involved.

Either way I do certainly appreciate being validated that no, being patient with WWE and giving them the benefit of the doubt is absolutely never something you should do because one way or another they will continually find a way to f*** it up.

Yeah HHH isn't absolved from blame here. He chose to not do it last year when he could have, even reportedly VINCE told him to f***ing do it last year, VINCE, that guy, the guy who never does the right thing told HHH he should do the right thing, and it was the right thing, and he didn't do it

And what did he do when he didn't do it? Basically giggled at the media scrum afterwards and told everyone just wait and see what happens, "Tune in on Monday!", which was also by the way, god f***ing awful and one of the worst RAW's of recent memory.

But all that being said, he overcommitted and doubled down guaranteeing that it'd all be worth it and everyone could be complaining would look so stupid... because it was his show now, he had the power! Until he didn't, it wasn't his show anymore, and he didn't have the power... and oh by the way the guy who now does have power? He's booking HIMSELF to be in the Mania main event now.

So not only did you f*** yourself over for no reason, you forced everyone to sit through another year of Roman bullshit, a third consolation prize world title because you refused to have Roman lose and he went on an immediate part timer schedule, and forced the main event scenes into total stagnation... in the end, for the Rock, the f***ing ROCK, to ruin everything, when all you had to do, was do what Cody was screaming to do, and finish the f***ing easiest story in the world, that now, may never get finished, and even if it does in some other fashion, it's f***ed and you've ruined the moment and what it should have been, twice.

Ultimately it's on The Rock for forcing himself into power and actively saying he was doing it to "Save Mania" with Punk hurt and the Vince scandal, but in the end, this all stems from delaying your biggest story of recent memory, for no reason, pissing everyone off in a slow simmering mess for a whole extra year, just for all of this to go to shit because of that decision.

And again, all of that was just to "Make the chase feel grander" or some shit, maybe for a slightly louder Pop? Cody was already over, he was already a superface everyone liked before this, none of it was worth it, I'd argue it wasn't worth waiting a full year for even BEFORE it f***ing went off the rails like this in the first place, but in the end, this is what WWE has to deal with now, a perfect storm of completely tanking their good will with their fans who were burned, still waited patiently for what they were told to wait for, and then got blown away again. F*** them and honestly it couldn't have happened to more deserving egotists than HHH and The Rock who both tbh think their farts smell like perfume.

Glad everyone's told them lately they just smell like shit.

I’m almost positive Vince was making the calls for Mania (Lesnar-Omos, Shane return, a lot of the night 2 results). Plus the night after on Raw was the episode that Vince completely torpedoed.

[Urethra Franklin]

Feb 4, 2024 8:16:41 GMT -5 jp49er80 said:

Honestly if this was all it led to then they should've just put the belt on Sami at his hottest.

You couldn’t put the belt on Drew in front of 70K people in Cardiff because of Cody at WrestleMania.

You couldn’t put the belt on Sami, the hottest act in the company, in front of his hometown crowd in Montreal because of Cody at WrestleMania.

You, uh, couldn’t put the belt on Cody at WrestleMania because you needed to wait until next WrestleMania to finish the story.

You can’t finish the story now because this other story is more important and you just need to ignore the one they’ve been telling for the past year.

[cornettesracket]

The latest between the sheets podcast episode covers punk walking out and the start of the mess around Daniel Bryan and wow is it funny to think nearly ten years to the day, WWE decided(well the rock did) to just say “f*** it” I’m going to get my shit in.

[King Devitt: What Plants Crave]

Feb 4, 2024 5:01:56 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Never forget the time Cena threatened to shit on the Rock's chest.

He also threatened to give him a pearl necklace...which...yeah.....

The entire feud was basically both men saying "her her gayyyyyy" and then threatening to do gay stuff to each other. Just abysmal. And we had TWO YEARS of it.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Feb 4, 2024 9:09:46 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

Feb 4, 2024 8:16:41 GMT -5 jp49er80 said:

Honestly if this was all it led to then they should've just put the belt on Sami at his hottest.

You couldn’t put the belt on Drew in front of 70K people in Cardiff because of Cody at WrestleMania.

You couldn’t put the belt on Sami, the hottest act in the company, in front of his hometown crowd in Montreal because of Cody at WrestleMania.

You, uh, couldn’t put the belt on Cody at WrestleMania because you needed to wait until next WrestleMania to finish the story.

You can’t finish the story now because this other story is more important and you just need to ignore the one they’ve been telling for the past year.

And if they do the match at SummerSlam like is rumored, then it'll be, "You can't finish the story because Roman will pass Hogan next month."

The only way Roman will ever lose the belt is if Rock decides he wants to win it. Otherwise Roman is retiring with it.

And really I wish he'd just hurry up and do that. So utterly goddamn sick of these lazy ass part time assholes doing a fraction of the work, usually completely phoning it in when they do turn up, and making the actual entertaining parts of the show look like utter trash in the process. I'd be fine with Roman never losing the belt if he just got off my TV for the rest of time tomorrow.

[ssdrivin]

Feb 4, 2024 8:55:07 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Yeah HHH isn't absolved from blame here. He chose to not do it last year when he could have, even reportedly VINCE told him to f***ing do it last year, VINCE, that guy, the guy who never does the right thing told HHH he should do the right thing, and it was the right thing, and he didn't do it

And what did he do when he didn't do it? Basically giggled at the media scrum afterwards and told everyone just wait and see what happens, "Tune in on Monday!", which was also by the way, god f***ing awful and one of the worst RAW's of recent memory.

(snip)

And again, all of that was just to "Make the chase feel grander" or some shit, maybe for a slightly louder Pop? Cody was already over, he was already a superface everyone liked before this, none of it was worth it, I'd argue it wasn't worth waiting a full year for even BEFORE it f***ing went off the rails like this in the first place, but in the end, this is what WWE has to deal with now, a perfect storm of completely tanking their good will with their fans who were burned, still waited patiently for what they were told to wait for, and then got blown away again. F*** them and honestly it couldn't have happened to more deserving egotists than HHH and The Rock who both tbh think their farts smell like perfume.

Glad everyone's told them lately they just smell like shit.

It's classic WWE. The "makes the chase worth it" thing only works if you actually have people win sometimes otherwise people get apathetic at the inevitability of their favourite guy not being able to win.

HHH, Cena, Lesnar, Reigns, it's been the same story for 20 years. They pick a guy and they go all in so hard that nobody has a chance of challenging them, there's a chasm at the top between the guy with the title and anybody else below them, even the #2 guy, is ever going to climb to the top. When you beat that formula to death for 20 years and you train people to believe you're shoving years of boring crap down their throats on purpose of course nobody's going to buy it any more, there's no point, your guy's gonna lose, it's a foregone conclusion, so why bother showing up and cheering him on?

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Feb 4, 2024 9:06:30 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 4, 2024 8:55:07 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Yeah HHH isn't absolved from blame here. He chose to not do it last year when he could have, even reportedly VINCE told him to f***ing do it last year, VINCE, that guy, the guy who never does the right thing told HHH he should do the right thing, and it was the right thing, and he didn't do it

And what did he do when he didn't do it? Basically giggled at the media scrum afterwards and told everyone just wait and see what happens, "Tune in on Monday!", which was also by the way, god f***ing awful and one of the worst RAW's of recent memory.

But all that being said, he overcommitted and doubled down guaranteeing that it'd all be worth it and everyone could be complaining would look so stupid... because it was his show now, he had the power! Until he didn't, it wasn't his show anymore, and he didn't have the power... and oh by the way the guy who now does have power? He's booking HIMSELF to be in the Mania main event now.

So not only did you f*** yourself over for no reason, you forced everyone to sit through another year of Roman bullshit, a third consolation prize world title because you refused to have Roman lose and he went on an immediate part timer schedule, and forced the main event scenes into total stagnation... in the end, for the Rock, the f***ing ROCK, to ruin everything, when all you had to do, was do what Cody was screaming to do, and finish the f***ing easiest story in the world, that now, may never get finished, and even if it does in some other fashion, it's f***ed and you've ruined the moment and what it should have been, twice.

Ultimately it's on The Rock for forcing himself into power and actively saying he was doing it to "Save Mania" with Punk hurt and the Vince scandal, but in the end, this all stems from delaying your biggest story of recent memory, for no reason, pissing everyone off in a slow simmering mess for a whole extra year, just for all of this to go to shit because of that decision.

And again, all of that was just to "Make the chase feel grander" or some shit, maybe for a slightly louder Pop? Cody was already over, he was already a superface everyone liked before this, none of it was worth it, I'd argue it wasn't worth waiting a full year for even BEFORE it f***ing went off the rails like this in the first place, but in the end, this is what WWE has to deal with now, a perfect storm of completely tanking their good will with their fans who were burned, still waited patiently for what they were told to wait for, and then got blown away again. F*** them and honestly it couldn't have happened to more deserving egotists than HHH and The Rock who both tbh think their farts smell like perfume.

Glad everyone's told them lately they just smell like shit.

I’m almost positive Vince was making the calls for Mania (Lesnar-Omos, Shane return, a lot of the night 2 results). Plus the night after on Raw was the episode that Vince completely torpedoed.

I know Vince reportedly booked the following RAW but reports always were he wanted Cody to win but HHH had the say on that one

It's a weird conflict of interests it sounds like but in the end it doesn't matter because HHH still made the decision whether the Vince part is true or not.

[Push R Truth]

This is either the greatest work in the history of our sport or the most braindead booking in the history of our sport.

[ace]

I have had it with this Cody story nonsense. He didn’t even have the best story last year when everyone whines about him losing. Sami did. Sami spent months building his story with Bloodline.  He was in his hometown.  Cody entered 30 in a Rumble. It’s like everyone fell for some really lazy branding. Because he made up a story about Dusty having a photo on his nightstand so ridiculous it’s funny not moving. A photo that buries Dusty’s actually accomplishments winning an actual world title….whose lineage (we care SOOOO much about that right now right?) Cody already f***ing won. Not to mention the entire point of the story that everyone willfully misses…there is supposed to be a struggle. But no…Jhe should have won right out of the gate after 8 months away and entering last in a glorified Battle Royal. Because that was a good story? No. It wasn’t.

[ssdrivin]

Feb 4, 2024 9:24:20 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

This is either the greatest work in the history of our sport or the most braindead booking in the history of our sport.

Either way it's probably not what you want to be doing if you're trying to convince the world that WWE has changed and moved on from both its old booking/reliance on nostalgia pops and its past controversies under new management.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Feb 4, 2024 9:26:34 GMT -5 ace said:

I have had it with this Cody story nonsense. He didn’t even have the best story last year when everyone whines about him losing. Sami did. Sami spent months building his story with Bloodline. Cody entered 30 in a Rumble. It’s like everyone fell for some really lazy branding. Because he made up a story about Dusty having a photo on his nightstand so ridiculous it’s funny not moving. A photo that buries Dusty’s actually accomplishments winning an actual world title….whose lineage (we care SOOOO much about that right now right?) Cody already f***ing won. Not to mention the entire point of the story that everyone willfully misses…there is supposed to be a struggle. But no…Jhe should have won right out of the gate after 8 months away and entering last in a glorified Battle Royal. Because that was a good story? No. It wasn’t.

The man powered through a torn pec to win a Hell in a Cell match, got injured further in the process, came back from injury to win the Rumble, had Heyman demean him and tell him his dead dad never loved him, worked to repair Sami and KO's friendship so he could have backup, and fought a dude who's been champion for literally years and has an army of minions at his disposable. If all of that isn't a struggle what the hell is?

[Stu]

Well, I'm intrigued by how much momentum this is getting and the possibility of fans hijacking Raw tomorrow. I just hope none of you are so upset, that you're losing sleep over this.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 4, 2024 9:20:39 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Feb 4, 2024 9:06:30 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

I’m almost positive Vince was making the calls for Mania (Lesnar-Omos, Shane return, a lot of the night 2 results). Plus the night after on Raw was the episode that Vince completely torpedoed.

I know Vince reportedly booked the following RAW but reports always were he wanted Cody to win but HHH had the say on that one

It's a weird conflict of interests it sounds like but in the end it doesn't matter because HHH still made the decision whether the Vince part is true or not.

I don’t remember any of the legitimate reporters putting that out there (like SRS, Meltzer, Mike Johnson). Maybe that came from one of the banned sources like Wrestlevotes?

[polarbearpete]

Feb 4, 2024 9:26:34 GMT -5 ace said:

I have had it with this Cody story nonsense. He didn’t even have the best story last year when everyone whines about him losing. Sami did. Sami spent months building his story with Bloodline.  He was in his hometown.  Cody entered 30 in a Rumble. It’s like everyone fell for some really lazy branding. Because he made up a story about Dusty having a photo on his nightstand so ridiculous it’s funny not moving. A photo that buries Dusty’s actually accomplishments winning an actual world title….whose lineage (we care SOOOO much about that right now right?) Cody already f***ing won. Not to mention the entire point of the story that everyone willfully misses…there is supposed to be a struggle. But no…Jhe should have won right out of the gate after 8 months away and entering last in a glorified Battle Royal. Because that was a good story? No. It wasn’t.

Whether you personally like the story or not, the crowd at large is 1000% behind it and are behind him to a degree not seen in years.

[ghost]

The sad thing is, waiting a year to do the rematch actually worked. Cody is more over than ever, and the fans are dying to see the title change. Probably more so now than last year.

[ssdrivin]

Feb 4, 2024 9:34:27 GMT -5 Stu said:

Well, I'm intrigued by how much momentum this is getting and the possibility of fans hijacking Raw tomorrow. I just hope none of you are so upset, that you're losing sleep over this.

I'm probably not who you were talking about, but for me I'm not upset, just disappointed that if there really was a WWE renaissance then it seems like someone slammed the brakes on, threw the thing in reverse, and has their foot jammed on the go pedal.

I'm not nearly invested enough these days for it to be personally offensive to me, it's just really baffling because we all know it doesn't have to be this way, even HHH knows that, he's been trying to prove that point throughout NXT's development.

There have been so many chances to wipe the slate clean and be something else, with all the crazy crap that's happened over recent years, with the big bad boss gone and other changes in management/corporate and departmental structure, but somehow we're still here right now having this conversation about how WWE's gonna WWE.