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Post by The Heartbreak TWERK on Feb 9, 2024 15:46:23 GMT -5
I should probably bow out at the "stories don't really matter, why are people still complaining or analyzing the f***up, they fixed it you IWC goofs" phase of the thread Yeah, I had bowed out long before it took that turn because it was so obvious that this was going to happen. I will say, WWE has gotten me interested in Mania again despite not being into the company or the product as a whole because I really want to see Cody finally win the big one, but it's just crazy to me the extent to which "the more things change, the more they stay the same" with WWE. It's absurd that we even had to get to this nonsensical pivot because the powers that be in WWE apparently believed that the fanbase would just accept at face value that the Rock was waltzing in and taking Cody's spot after almost 2 years of build. And, frankly, Final Countdown Jones predicted this a week ago, but the "masterful gambit, sir" type defenses of this nonsense that was very clearly and obviously not planned are so obnoxious that it's painful to even follow the build to Mania at this point. Can we frame this post? Perhaps use it as case law on how to behave in this WWE does something stupid situations? Denny and MM are spot f***ing on.
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asuka007
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 24,318
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Post by asuka007 on Feb 9, 2024 15:48:31 GMT -5
People are suggesting maybe doing Rock vs. Seth (the family trying to control all of the gold). And that’s, potentially interesting. I think the WHC is entirely valid and legit enough (Seth has been having constant matches) but if you wanna immediately make it mean something, that would do it overnight. Only issue and huge worry I have is that if Rock were to get it, there is ZERO chance the WWE could resist doing a two man power trip thing which means Cody loses at Mania again and we're in an even worse spot than we were. You could also have Rock win and Roman lose. Which could feel the story of Roman feeling like he’s losing his grip on power.
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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 9, 2024 15:50:45 GMT -5
I think the WHC is entirely valid and legit enough (Seth has been having constant matches) but if you wanna immediately make it mean something, that would do it overnight. Only issue and huge worry I have is that if Rock were to get it, there is ZERO chance the WWE could resist doing a two man power trip thing which means Cody loses at Mania again and we're in an even worse spot than we were. You could also have Rock win and Roman lose. Which could feel the story of Roman feeling like he’s losing his grip on power. Roman losing his grip on the power he once had, have hollywood rock go out there and immediately be a giant hypocrite saying the WHC is the only title that matters. Sounds good to me but I want Drew or Sami to win that thing as soon as possible. Lots of moving pieces.
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Post by Starshine on Feb 9, 2024 17:17:29 GMT -5
So Cody willingly gave The Rock the match, then came back and said “nuh-uh, takesies-backsies.” I don’t get how Rock is the bad guy here. It just makes Cody look like feckless and indecisive bitch.
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Post by Jedi-El of Tomorrow on Feb 9, 2024 17:23:42 GMT -5
So Cody willingly gave The Rock the match, then came back and said “nuh-uh, takesies-backsies.” I don’t get how Rock is the bad guy here. It just makes Cody look like feckless and indecisive bitch. If, and that's a big if, they legit had this planned out from the beginning I've got to imagine this was supposed to go longer till Cody turns back to Roman, but they weren't expecting the reaction to be that massive. Again that's a big if. There's no doubt they weren't expecting the reaction to be that massive. Rock was getting booed harder than he was in 2002 (when fans were even booing him making fun of Stephanie).
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Post by BorneAgain on Feb 9, 2024 17:33:53 GMT -5
So Cody willingly gave The Rock the match, then came back and said “nuh-uh, takesies-backsies.” I don’t get how Rock is the bad guy here. It just makes Cody look like feckless and indecisive bitch. I think Cody does have a decent defense in that he thought (and was maybe even told that) Rock was facing Roman to genuinely challenge him as a competitor. Showing up at the press conference to embrace Reigns and seemingly just taking the spot so their family could have the biggest main event of all time? That's not something worthy of giving up title shot for especially when Rock's done nothing to earn it. If Rock had confronted Roman and said he's here to beat Reigns' ass? Then Cody would look dubious. As is, Rock is the one that comes off as two faced for embracing the Bloodline when before he was wanting to challenge it.
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Post by bearned on Feb 9, 2024 17:41:53 GMT -5
So Cody willingly gave The Rock the match, then came back and said “nuh-uh, takesies-backsies.” I don’t get how Rock is the bad guy here. It just makes Cody look like feckless and indecisive bitch. I think Cody does have a decent defense in that he thought (and was maybe even told that) Rock was facing Roman to genuinely challenge him as a competitor. Showing up at the press conference to embrace Reigns and seemingly just taking the spot so their family could have the biggest main event of all time? That's not something worthy of giving up title shot for especially when Rock's done nothing to earn it. If Rock had confronted Roman and said he's here to beat Reigns' ass? Then Cody would look dubious. As is, Rock is the one that comes off as two faced for embracing the Bloodline when before he was wanting to challenge it. Doesn’t make any sense why Cody would really care about Rock and Roman enough to say ‘eh, I’ll just fight Roman some other time even though my whole thing has been to beat the dude at mania and finish my story’ Particularly as any discussion they may have had was never seen on camera before the decision was made.
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Post by ChitownKnight on Feb 9, 2024 17:43:18 GMT -5
At this point I think the whole thing was a publicity stunt to distract us from Vince
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Post by "American Cream" Dusty Loads on Feb 9, 2024 17:55:48 GMT -5
At this point I think the whole thing was a publicity stunt to distract us from Vince I think it’s a mix of this and the company’s general track record of awful booking decisions.
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Post by noah29 on Feb 9, 2024 17:56:19 GMT -5
I’m just not fond of this mentality. Fan: Argh, I’m mad. You messed things up. WWE: Fine, we’ll go back to the original plan. Fan: Argh, I’m going to keep being mad because you never should have done it in the first place. That could then lead to: WWE: Fine, if you’re going to be mad anyway, we’re going back to the new plan. 100% agree with this. Just my personal opinion, but props to WWE. My reasoning being, we already had the Cody vs Roman Mania build up last year, and it was excellent!! KO and Sami, Usos, Solo and Heyman, MAJOR factors in that build as well. So you run it back for Mania this year- how do you make it different from last year's feud? Can't have Sami and KO as major bits in the buildup again, plus will fans be interested in all that Uso drama again? I'm in the belief you have to spice it up. Now, was this a pivot by WWE, or some mastermind plan? Who knows-but I will tell you one thing-after last night, I def feel the build-up for Mania is spicy this go-around, and the same match as last year, but with a whole new complete different build.
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ghost
Don Corleone
Posts: 2,081
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Post by ghost on Feb 9, 2024 18:13:11 GMT -5
So Cody willingly gave The Rock the match, then came back and said “nuh-uh, takesies-backsies.” I don’t get how Rock is the bad guy here. It just makes Cody look like feckless and indecisive bitch. Willingly gave Rock the match, hugged him in the ring, and then walked away to signify that he's not in the picture. Gave up his dream without a fight. Then walks it back a few days later without giving a valid reason as to why he 1) he changed his mind, and 2) agreed to it in the first place. He just walked out and said "this is BS" and "I won the Royal Rumble so I get to pick", which is ridiculous because all of that applied a week earlier when he let Rock have the match. As I said, Cody needs to cut the promo of his life to make sense of this. I know most fans won't care as they get the match they wanted all along, but the Bloodline story and Roman's title reign possibly ending deserve great execution, not half-assed.
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Post by The Heartbreak TWERK on Feb 9, 2024 18:16:06 GMT -5
Someone, dunno who so feel free to take credit, pitched this in regards to Cody giving Dwayne the spot initially:
"When you asked me to step down, you made it about business. I was ready to do the right thing for the company. Now I see you were just in it for yourself, and that doesn't work for me."
Seems consistent with his character that he presents in and out of the ring. Hope they do something like that.
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Post by ChitownKnight on Feb 9, 2024 18:26:29 GMT -5
I’m just not fond of this mentality. Fan: Argh, I’m mad. You messed things up. WWE: Fine, we’ll go back to the original plan. Fan: Argh, I’m going to keep being mad because you never should have done it in the first place. That could then lead to: WWE: Fine, if you’re going to be mad anyway, we’re going back to the new plan. 100% agree with this. Just my personal opinion, but props to WWE. My reasoning being, we already had the Cody vs Roman Mania build up last year, and it was excellent!! KO and Sami, Usos, Solo and Heyman, MAJOR factors in that build as well. So you run it back for Mania this year- how do you make it different from last year's feud? Can't have Sami and KO as major bits in the buildup again, plus will fans be interested in all that Uso drama again? I'm in the belief you have to spice it up. Now, was this a pivot by WWE, or some mastermind plan? Who knows-but I will tell you one thing-after last night, I def feel the build-up for Mania is spicy this go-around, and the same match as last year, but with a whole new complete different build. I just hope that Roman doesn’t get overshadowed in the fued. If it’s the tail end of his run, it should focus on his downfall
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Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Feb 9, 2024 18:30:17 GMT -5
So Cody willingly gave The Rock the match, then came back and said “nuh-uh, takesies-backsies.” I don’t get how Rock is the bad guy here. It just makes Cody look like feckless and indecisive bitch. Simple Rock is the bad guy because people don’t want to see him fight Roman Reigns at Mania, storyline nonsense and silliness aside they wanted Cody v Roman
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Post by Starshine on Feb 9, 2024 18:39:23 GMT -5
I think Cody does have a decent defense in that he thought (and was maybe even told that) Rock was facing Roman to genuinely challenge him as a competitor. Showing up at the press conference to embrace Reigns and seemingly just taking the spot so their family could have the biggest main event of all time? That's not something worthy of giving up title shot for especially when Rock's done nothing to earn it. If Rock had confronted Roman and said he's here to beat Reigns' ass? Then Cody would look dubious. As is, Rock is the one that comes off as two faced for embracing the Bloodline when before he was wanting to challenge it. Doesn’t make any sense why Cody would really care about Rock and Roman enough to say ‘eh, I’ll just fight Roman some other time even though my whole thing has been to beat the dude at mania and finish my story’ Particularly as any discussion they may have had was never seen on camera before the decision was made. Right, and to play devil’s advocate on the minute chance all this was planned out (it 100% wasn’t, and I don’t believe for a second anyone actually does), if the plan was to muddy things up by involving Rock, there’s easier ways to create conflict without making Cody look so weak in execution. Secondly there’s ways of doing it that also don’t make Reigns feel like an afterthought. As critical as I am about WWE’s abilities to tell cohesive stories, they’re at least better than this if for nothing else protecting the guys they truly get behind.
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Tom Turkey
Ozymandius
The King of North America
Posts: 61,985
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Post by Tom Turkey on Feb 9, 2024 19:04:34 GMT -5
So Cody willingly gave The Rock the match, then came back and said “nuh-uh, takesies-backsies.” I don’t get how Rock is the bad guy here. It just makes Cody look like feckless and indecisive bitch. Simple Rock is the bad guy because people don’t want to see him fight Roman Reigns at Mania, storyline nonsense and silliness aside they wanted Cody v Roman And now, in-story, Rock’s the bad guy because of belittling Cody’s fans and seemingly being the true head of the Bloodline that even Roman falls in line for.
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Jonathan Michaels
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Archduke of Levity
Here since TNA was still kinda okay
Posts: 18,612
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Post by Jonathan Michaels on Feb 9, 2024 19:17:49 GMT -5
100% agree with this. Just my personal opinion, but props to WWE. My reasoning being, we already had the Cody vs Roman Mania build up last year, and it was excellent!! KO and Sami, Usos, Solo and Heyman, MAJOR factors in that build as well. So you run it back for Mania this year- how do you make it different from last year's feud? Can't have Sami and KO as major bits in the buildup again, plus will fans be interested in all that Uso drama again? I'm in the belief you have to spice it up. Now, was this a pivot by WWE, or some mastermind plan? Who knows-but I will tell you one thing-after last night, I def feel the build-up for Mania is spicy this go-around, and the same match as last year, but with a whole new complete different build. I just hope that Roman doesn’t get overshadowed in the fued. If it’s the tail end of his run, it should focus on his downfall If he does, Shawn and Miz have a spot on the couch for him.
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ssdrivin
ALF
Claims to be squishy, has yet to be proven.
Posts: 1,042
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Post by ssdrivin on Feb 9, 2024 20:03:14 GMT -5
I'd have to think that most people who are going to watch it would've been watching regardless of any of this mess, so the people you'd want to be trying to reach (especially with The Rock involved) would be the lapsed fans... who are lapsed fans for a reason and there's no universe in which loudly demonstrating (even as a work) that you're still the same shitty company with the same shitty booking as before the merger, or Vince leaving, or HHH's NXT makes any sense as a selling point.
Nonsensical misery booking is a large part of why I stopped watching regularly, then entirely, so as I've said a few times since the Rumble it's incredibly disappointing that after hearing all the hype about the company having turned a corner (or several) we're here talking about this right now. It reeks of "same old WWE" even if they really have changed.
Last night felt like anything but “same old WWE”, imo. I don’t think a Vince led WWE tells that same story (or if not a work, pivots in a matter of days).
It might not, but it's a matter of appearances as much as it is about the outcome. If you've got a reputation for being ignorant, abusive, and tone-deaf, and for doing the opposite of what makes sense just to boost your own ego, the very last thing you want is to point a big neon sign at how you seem to be doing exactly that again. Guys like me who come back right now and see this happening might not stick around to see if the ending is different to usual because the road which leads to that ending looks littered with the same old corpses of logic, reason, character progression and worldbuilding, continuity, and fan satisfaction. If it looks like a duck...
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Post by yokohamacpfc on Feb 9, 2024 20:28:52 GMT -5
How about this: Cody mentions that he received a call from a family member who "doesn't work here but used to" and this family member showed him that he still indulges in a voyeuristic hobby. Cody makes a dramatic breathing gesture and reveals the return of GTV.
On the Titantron Rock and Roman are seen yucking it up backstage with Heyman screaming "I can't believe he fell for it!" Roman says, "Thanks coz I was worried about facing Cody" as the two schemers shake hands.
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Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
FANatic
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Posts: 247,596
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Feb 9, 2024 22:11:13 GMT -5
Someone, dunno who so feel free to take credit, pitched this in regards to Cody giving Dwayne the spot initially: "When you asked me to step down, you made it about business. I was ready to do the right thing for the company. Now I see you were just in it for yourself, and that doesn't work for me, Brother." Seems consistent with his character that he presents in and out of the ring. Hope they do something like that. Fixed it
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