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Post by Friday Night SmackOwn on Aug 6, 2023 11:06:50 GMT -5
Right! Like, *all* is would have taken was a 5 min promo from Brock saying something along the line of "You're not ready until you go through, *me*" Hell, I wouldn’t have even had him talk too long. Like, match one could’ve been Cody, rocked by his Mania loss, getting outclassed by Brock, but afterwards swears he can’t go after the title again until he overcomes Lesnar, so they have a rematch. Second match is more even, but Brock’s still in the driver’s seat; he gets cocky, though, and Cody uses his own amateur wrestling skill to get Brock in a flash pin for three. Now Brock isn’t cocky, he’s *pissed*. Cody says he wants to go for the title now, but Brock attacks and berates him, screaming “you’re good with a roll up?! $/&@ outta here with that!” Third match is Cody having to earn it, but he does so by showing he’s learned from the last two matches; maybe it’s a brutal gimmick match, but no matter what Cody wins definitively. Then Brock shows him respect because Cody finally gave him the fight he wanted. But the problem is I can’t figure out why they would’ve had the first match in the first place. Brock just attacking Cody out of nowhere but not attacking Roman made no sense, and there’s no reasoning behind it beyond the non-kayfabe “well, we need one of them to be a heel” excuse. Hot take time: if you feel you *have* to turn a wrestler heel in order to have a feud with another babyface, it means you have no faith in the characters you book, because you’re just placing them into slots labeled “good guy” and “bad guy” instead of relying on the character having distinct motivations that might lead them to want to fight someone else. Obviously not all heel turns are bad, but if you’re only doing it to facilitate a face/heel dynamic you intend to immediately walk back once the feud is over, then it’s just a lazy booking crutch. Like, why is Brock suddenly breaking Cody’s arm in front of his family? I get “well, he’s Brock, he kills things”, but dude was a face just before that AND right after, have enough faith in his character and the audience’s intelligence that people will just enjoy the dynamic between his and Cody’s character, it doesn’t have to be “oh, it’s personal because the now temporarily dastardly Brock did whatever.” Even the basic set up of Brock attacking Cody because we see footage of him cutting a deal with Heyman to keep Cody busy ans off of Roman’s business would’ve worked. Then once that’s revealed, you could use the fact that Heyman went behind Roman’s back, even to benefit him, as more fuel for the crumbling of the Tribal Chief’s world.
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Renslayer
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
every time i come around your city...
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Post by Renslayer on Aug 6, 2023 11:08:48 GMT -5
And Brock, for all the crap I've given him before, sold everything perfectly. As the match wore on, his demeanor changed from "I'm going to kill you" into "Christ, why won't any of this work?" Brock is an insanely talented performer, but because of his monster aura and what they ask him to do doesn’t always get to show just how f***ing great he is When Brock is dialed in, he's one of the best performers and wrestlers I've ever seen. I hope he stays as cowboy Brock for as long as he wants to
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Post by Treklubj on Aug 6, 2023 11:15:13 GMT -5
It’s cool that the people are eating up mega face Cody for now but I can’t help but feel they are treading a very thin line here where it won’t take much for crowds to turn against him. I feel like people have been saying this every week since he returned 18 months ago Many people absolutely have been doing this. And since it hasn't happened yet, we'll just make up reasons as to why Cody's popularity has only grown since his return. See below: He was gone for half of it and wasn’t as over as Sami was in the build to his big title match. He’s lucky he got hurt. Only way his Rumble win wasn’t getting booed. Imagine booking a babyface to enter 30 so he can throw out the guy who entered #1 and thinking that’s strong booking Roman definitely made Sami Zayn a top-of-the-card guy. He got hella over and has maintained a high level of popularity since being removed (temporarily, I think) from the Bloodline story. That said, what are you basing the thing about Sami being more over than Cody on? Also, if Cody hadn't gotten injured, the entire booking up to and including the Rumble might have been different. It doesn't make a lot of sense to just take one time line and drop it into another one with no other changes.
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Post by Friday Night SmackOwn on Aug 6, 2023 11:22:02 GMT -5
the thing is that as the weeks and months pass by since January 2023, Cody has become even more popular, to the point that people are literally singing his song every week he makes an entrance.
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Aug 6, 2023 12:23:11 GMT -5
Brock must love Cody. This might be the most he's ever put someone over. Bloodied and pinned in the first match. Wins the second one but still can't get an injured Cody to quit and the ref has to stop the match. Loses the final match then shakes Cody's hand afterwards which I'm not sure if Brock has done since his glazed over concussed face shook Angle's hand at WM19.
Seth and Goldberg are probably the other two who got the better off him most. Seth beat him at both WM and Summerslam in 2019 and also took the title from him (by pinning Roman) 4 years earler. Goldberg had his number at WM 20, Survivor Series 2016 and Royal Rumble 2017 but Brock did end up winning the war in the end.
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Post by clc on Aug 6, 2023 12:30:27 GMT -5
During the kimura lock, Cody asked Brock, "If you were a chick, who is the one guy would you sleep with". "John Stamos!"
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Aug 6, 2023 12:41:17 GMT -5
This might just be me, but I almost appreciated that Brock doing that at the end allowed us to go “OHHHH, he was putting him through the wringer” as opposed to needing the promo. I don’t think it’d work for everyone, but it worked for Cody.
I also get those saying they’re treading a line, but I think we’re still years from people turning on the dude.
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XIII
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Post by XIII on Aug 6, 2023 12:48:39 GMT -5
I was one of the ones that thought that the fans would eventually turn on Cody, but if it hasn’t happened yet it’s not likely to anytime soon. Dude is 100% over with every crowd, nothing happening that one could even say that there’s a vocal minority against him. If losing to Roman and then getting sidetracked by Brock didn’t put a damper on his overness it’s going to take something insane for crowds to turn against him right now.
He’s probably the closest thing to an 80s face that we’ve seen in a long time.
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Post by Zombie Mod on Aug 6, 2023 13:18:05 GMT -5
Brock being a dick "just because" is believable and pretty much on brand for his character in the long run (his re-debut in 2012 where he came out to destroy Cena was done pretty much for that reason.) sure it was an abrupt turn from face cowboy Brock but not 100% out of character as he's always been a bit of a dick even when a face.
Brock giving Cody a sign of respect is also believable as he got to the point of "to keep him down I have to fully end him, and I'm bored of hitting him" and him thinking Cody earned it by surviving him for this long.
Brock's recent feuds usually are shorter than they seem, they just seem dragged out as he vanishes for chunks of time during them causing them to go on longer than they normally would or get re-visited a few times (Roman/Taker/Cena and so on.) which makes it seem like they never end.
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Fade
Patti Mayonnaise
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Post by Fade on Aug 6, 2023 13:18:14 GMT -5
This might just be me, but I almost appreciated that Brock doing that at the end allowed us to go “OHHHH, he was putting him through the wringer” as opposed to needing the promo. I don’t think it’d work for everyone, but it worked for Cody. I also get those saying they’re treading a line, but I think we’re still years from people turning on the dude. What I loved was the trajectory of the matches. In the first, Brock dominated (despite losing) and Cody’s offense was a whimper. In the second, Brock gave him his first loss. In this third and final bout, yes Brock was portrayed as a Monster but it was the most equal-footing the two ever were. All that, plus that rare Brock moment after, one can imagine has only done wonders for Cody’s already insane stock. the thing is that as the weeks and months pass by since January 2023, Cody has become even more popular, to the point that people are literally singing his song every week he makes an entrance. He’s even brought it up in interviews. Don’t think it’s coincidence I’ve been enjoying wwe so much since he got there. He’s such a clear cut protagonist. The like I haven’t seen in any medium in a long ass time.
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Post by sarkerpolseng on Aug 6, 2023 13:28:50 GMT -5
I have mixed feelings about the match.
"Hey! Let's do Cena/Lesnar from SS14 again, but this tine Cena (Cody) somehow still wins!"
It was still the best match between them.
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Post by HIM on Aug 6, 2023 13:34:41 GMT -5
Felt like when Taker gave Jeff his respect but Cody won. Loved it.
Also the "hey guys, fans are gonna boo Cody see" stuff has been said since dude returned. I don't get it.
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Post by HMARK Center on Aug 6, 2023 14:02:25 GMT -5
Brock being a dick "just because" is believable and pretty much on brand for his character in the long run (his re-debut in 2012 where he came out to destroy Cena was done pretty much for that reason.) sure it was an abrupt turn from face cowboy Brock but not 100% out of character as he's always been a bit of a dick even when a face. Brock giving Cody a sign of respect is also believable as he got to the point of "to keep him down I have to fully end him, and I'm bored of hitting him" and him thinking Cody earned it by surviving him for this long. Brock's recent feuds usually are shorter than they seem, they just seem dragged out as he vanishes for chunks of time during them causing them to go on longer than they normally would or get re-visited a few times (Roman/Taker/Cena and so on.) which makes it seem like they never end. I can agree on Brock being a violent chaos agent like that to some degree...but it just seemed weird that he outright turned on Cody without also throwing a threat towards Roman when he had the chance. I also agree that I wouldn't want Brock cutting promos about his motivations, that's just not who he is, but there were other ways to do it. Again, having him attack Cody while also eyeing Roman/the title would've provided some context (e.g. "this punk doesn't get another shot until either I get one, or he proves he can beat me"), but they didn't really go for it; it took Brock giving Cody the handshake after the third match for it to retroactively seem like that was the story.
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Post by Mid-Carder on Aug 6, 2023 14:10:20 GMT -5
It's wild given how important he was to AEW just how much better suited Cody is to WWE. Everything that was Codyverse about him in AEW just suits him in WWE.
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BlackoutCreature
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Post by BlackoutCreature on Aug 6, 2023 14:24:05 GMT -5
I, personally, hated it. Cody vs. Brock was supposed to be a blood feud, not a battle for respect. I mean, Brock intentionally broke Cody's arm at one point. It needed to end with one guy kicking the other guy's ass and throwing him out of his ring saying "I'm done with you, I have more important things to do", not a handshake and a mid-ring hug.
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Post by A Platypus Rave is Correct on Aug 6, 2023 15:27:25 GMT -5
I, personally, hated it. Cody vs. Brock was supposed to be a blood feud, not a battle for respect. I mean, Brock intentionally broke Cody's arm at one point. It needed to end with one guy kicking the other guy's ass and throwing him out of his ring saying "I'm done with you, I have more important things to do", not a handshake and a mid-ring hug. I mean it wasn't that either... it was just Brock attacked Cody because he felt like it. It didn't feel like any kind of blood feud... it just felt like three unconnected matches between two of hte same guys. Also Brock apparently decided to do it on his own.
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mrbananagrabber
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Post by mrbananagrabber on Aug 6, 2023 18:24:31 GMT -5
I, personally, hated it. Cody vs. Brock was supposed to be a blood feud, not a battle for respect. I mean, Brock intentionally broke Cody's arm at one point. It needed to end with one guy kicking the other guy's ass and throwing him out of his ring saying "I'm done with you, I have more important things to do", not a handshake and a mid-ring hug. The hug, apparently, was unplanned and off Lesnar’s own back. And if Lesnar wants to hug, you’re getting f***ing hugged.
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Post by "Trickster Dogg" James Jesse on Aug 6, 2023 19:24:55 GMT -5
I, personally, hated it. Cody vs. Brock was supposed to be a blood feud, not a battle for respect. I mean, Brock intentionally broke Cody's arm at one point. It needed to end with one guy kicking the other guy's ass and throwing him out of his ring saying "I'm done with you, I have more important things to do", not a handshake and a mid-ring hug. Sounds like the beginnings of a dominant tag team.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Aug 6, 2023 19:42:45 GMT -5
Surprise hugging someone isn't even the most affectionate thing Brock's done to an opponent.
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Post by King Devitt and the Woke Mob on Aug 6, 2023 19:57:50 GMT -5
Surprise hugging someone isn't even the most affectionate thing Brock's done to an opponent. Exactly. Until Cody gets a full on kiss on the lips he'll always be the bridesmaid.
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