Current State of WWE: The Rock vs Roman Reigns

This is WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre, and you're listening to the WWE podcast show,
the one that everybody wants met for sixteenths. Your ass is mind,
you're going to acknowledge me. It's time for the current state of WWE.
Here on this Monday, the eighth of January twenty twenty four. We are
now just a few less than three weeks away, now two weeks in five
days, if you want to be exact, until the Royal Rumble, which,
as we always know every year, kicks off WrestleMania season officially, and
also what's been kind of unofficially official is the Rock and the fact that he's
he returned a couple of weeks ago on mo No Net Raw and or last
week rather, and he made himself very well aware or made the fans aware
that this is going to happen, referring to the head of the table that
where should he sit? And then Paul Hayman followed up on SmackDown, telling
the Rock that you know you are not invited to the island of relevancy,
and it looks like we are now finally going to get Roman reigns versus the
Rock. Now where it happens when it happens has been up for a lot
of debate. But first, Anthony, here we go, and how you
doing? Not too bad man? And I'm sure people realize that this past
week I released I released After Dark a day later, and sometimes I do
dropped on Saturdays, but that's mainly out of laziness. This time it was
by design because with the New Year's Revolution branded version of SmackDown and so much
at stake in the way of the number one contendership for the undisputed championship on
the line in the main event, I really wanted to reserve doing my podcast
until we got clarity on that. And to be honest, they went in
a way that I didn't expect. They went in a way that I thought
was kind of like a want Want want type of ending to what was somewhat
of a quasi pay per view. In other ways, I really liked it.
I'm really digging nickoldis as SmackDown GM. He's not a babyface or a
heel. He just feels like a real life executive. He feels like a
quick side note on Nick all of this, does he not feel like someone
that would work in like a sports franchise's front office, like in the mlvia
NFL. He's authentic. Yes, so that part I really liked. I
like that, like he's a nobs kind of guy. But I'm very skeptical
in how this fatal four way will play out here, because not because I
don't like it being a fatal forward, to be honest, when I actually
think of how the match will be, I think it's kind of a breath
of fresh air. It's very rare that we see these multimn matches, especially
more than triple threat matches for world titles. Like I can't even really remember
the last time Rome was involved in one. I imagine it was at it
May happened. And actually he's in terms of defending this championship. He's never
defended this championship in a fatal four way. Okay, Yeah, So the
only other the only other multiman match I could think of was the triple threat
with Edge and Daniel Bryan at Wrestling in thirty six I believe it was.
So that is coming up on three years ago, and it's going to be
an interesting kind of in ring from an in ring perspective, and I do
think that maybe they were overdone. I think they even had a fatal four
way pay per view in the early twenty tens or late two thousands that obviously
didn't last long for obvious reasons. But I guess I'll start with like the
in ring approach of this and how I think this will play out, before
we get into maybe more of a macro scale that for you, are you
excited to see a fatal four way match with the four competitors involved. I've
been back and forth on this since it happened. From in one sense,
I am disappointed that it's not one on one, especially with Randy Orton.
He's got an eighteen month story behind him being out being injured. Randy Orton
in Roman Reigns, one on one makes one hundred percent sense. Now,
the rumblings coming out of the newswire is that WWE didn't want him to get
pinned so soon after his return, which to me is a lame excuse,
because Randy Orton can't be damaged at this point in his career. He's a
he's a made man. There's nothing you can do. I understand why they
would say that, but that's to me a nonsensical reason. But when I
heard it was a fatal four way. It did feel like a wompwomp for
me. But I'm thinking to myself, well, why are they doing this?
And yes, inherently it instantly makes it more unpredictable because now you have
three guys instead of one. Roman doesn't have to be involved in the decision
to lose, which is the one of the first time or one of the
few times in his career defending the championship that he has to deal with this
scenario and unpredictability in this case is a lot more fun and something that has
been missing from roman reigns matches for years is unpredictability, and this one does
add more to that because could the rock interfere, you know, could he
come out afterwards? What's gonna happen? So I like the unpredictability. I
don't like that it's not one on one, but I understand why they're doing
it. And the other thing is are these men, all three men going
to be exempt from the rumble? It depends on when this match goes on.
Are they before the rumble? Is that after the rumbles? So that
really matters? Is okay if Roman retains, but can those three men still
enter the Royal Rumble. Yeah, Well, my pick leaning up to this
past Friday for the Rumble, which was I guess somewhat of a dark horse,
was La Knight because I was still buying the drum that he was going
to go over to Monday Night Raw and challenge Drew mcindiv for the World Heavyweight
Championship. But now, like you said, depending on when this match goes
on, who knows. And it's kind of like an double edged sword because
if this match doesn't go on last well, then it means that Roman Rains
is retaining the championship one hundred percent, because there's no way they're not going
to close the show with him without him losing, or with him losing.
I kind of lost myself there. But if it goes on before the Rumble,
then that means La Knight isn't involved there, Orton's not involved, their
Styles isn't involved. But we don't think that Orton or Styles have a snowballs
chance of hell in winning this Rumble. But I think La Knight would be
a really cool X factor at all this because everyone is obviously pointing to the
favorites, whether it be Tody or CM Punk, obviously to a lesser extent
and maybe Drew McIntyre, although I wonder if he's gonna get another crack at
the world title at the Rumble. But I'm really looking forward to it from
an in ring perspective, and I think the match quality is gonna be fun.
It's gonna be something different. It's not gonna be the same old,
copy paste Roman Reigns match that we've been accustomed to for the last eighteen months
or so. But I'm disappointed because for me, the first thought in my
head was he's gonna retain. He's going to retain the title, because there's
no bleeping way that they're gonna make Roman Reigns drop the championship after close to
four or three and a half years in a fatal four way match. But
then I started thinking, like, is this their way of protecting Roman Reigns
going into WrestleMania, And have they maybe started thinking along the lines of us,
like, Hey, there's no way that we're ever gonna pay this off
with like a groundbreaking title change that's gonna shock the world and he's gonna be
remembered forever because then, let's just say, for argument's sake, he loses
to Cody at WrestleMania. Everyone's gonna know he's losing. There's no way that
Cody Roads is gonna lose back to back WrestleMania's with the way that they've built
Cody Rhads as this generation's John Cena for in a lot of ways. So
I'm starting to think maybe this is them saying, well, we're going to
find a way to take the belt off of Roman while protecting him and not
suffering a pinfall while we get him ready for the Rock. Because for me,
that's exactly what this comes down to. It comes down to whether or
not he's gonna win the title because for me, that the entire branding of
this match potentially being a success hinges on that this is a fascinating next couple
of months. You're right, this is I mean, this is a match
that looks like it's a set up to protect Roman Reigns because he doesn't have
to take the pinfall to lose it. He can continue his streak in some
respects he loses the belt without actually being pinned. He has an ax to
grind that does protect Roman Reigns going in and if you want to have Roman
Reigns versus the Rock in a nine title, which you and I and others
have been a very big proponent of. Because the belt in a very rare
instance, detracts from the match here and several ways. Then that's how you
could get to it. Now, I've heard rumblings and you probably have two
on social media of well where does Rock Roman have happen? It? Could
it happen in Perth? Should it happen in Perth? It's at elimination chamber?
But what if Cody wins the rumble? Is it going to be a
triple threat with the Rock and Roman and Cody at WrestleMania? Like we've heard,
and I've heard so many different iterations and people believing that Rock Roman should
happen at the at an elimination chamber. I'm not of that belief. I
understand the temptation to do it, but you can't sell me on the fact
or make me believe that The Rock is going to come back for WRESTLEMANI or
for the elimination chamber. Face Roman reigns win loser draw, then he's just
gonna go away for WrestleMania. He has to have a match for WrestleMania.
That to me, though, is one of the final few fantasy matchups that
still exist, and you're telling me it's going to happen at Elimination Chamber and
not just a month and a half later at WrestleMania. It makes no sense
to me why people think it's a better idea to have Rock Roman as an
you know, at Elimination Chamber, unless, of course, their idea is
to add Cody to the mix to make it a triple threat at WrestleMania for
the Indisputed Championship with Rock and Roman as well. There's just there's so many
different scenarios, So I don't know what your thoughts are, well my thoughts
on here's the thing. Obviously, Elimination Chamber isn't really the typical B level
pay per view that it has been accustomed to, but because it's obviously literally
across the world and it's in a stadium of sixty thousand people, so you
could kind of say, well, this is on par with WrestleMania, Summer
Slammer, Survivor Series or whatever, not even Survivor Series, more like the
Rumble. But it's just like, you're gonna make the Rock and Roman,
a match that has been four years in the making, a match that could
argue to be the like the biggest match of the decade in a lot of
ways if you look at it from a perspective that transcends wrestling because of how
big of a star of the Rock is and you're not gonna do it on
like part of the cliche, but the grandest stage of them all. But
at the same time, I could imagine it like, I mean, is
the Rock coming back because Australia is just paying a bleep ton Is he going
to come back and put Roman over and make Roman look as strong as ever
heading into the fortieth anniversary of WrestleMania. It's just so like I'm fearful of
that because then it's just back to back pay per views, one of them
being WrestleMania. Of just predictable outcomes to me, you have him beat the
Rock at the Elimination Chamber because if he faces the Rock for the championship at
an elimination chamber, we all know Roman Raids is winning, right, There's
no way the Rock deep rones him at WrestleMania and it's Cody versus the Rock.
But him facing Roman at Elimination Chamber for the championship would be the worst
outcome, because then you would you know he's beating Rock at Mania at Chamber,
and then you pretty well know that Cody's going to defeat him at WrestleMania.
And I am not always here to say that it has to be unpredictable,
but at the same time, like when it's that predictable for consecutive pay
per views in such a big way, when there's unpredictable options and better options,
to be honest, that's when I would probably start getting frustrated. Well
for all the Cody fans out there, and I understand why you want Cody
in the main event here, why people feel that The Rock is taking Cody's
spot, and why he is a better candidate to beat Roman for the title.
I am of that belief as well, that he's a better candidate than
the Rock. The Rock should be nowhere near the belt. But my concern
is if you are a Cody fan and and many people believe that Roman Reigns
could drop the belt in the next few weeks at the Rumble, well you
can't have the Royal Rumble winner face Roman Reigns if he's not the champion,
So you could get Rock Roman at elimination chamber non title where Roman drops the
belt a month earlier at Rumble to Orton or I mean probably not aj styles,
but you could get that where you have a nine title perfect and then
it's Rock Roman and elimination Chamber. But then where does Cody fit in?
Does he face Randy Orton as we have thought about in the past as well,
with their history, you could have Roman Reigns or rather Cody Rhodes face
off against Randy Orton. Given their history. That'd be a fun matchup.
But for the triple threat to happen, I just it has to be because
and I'm bringing up this triple threat because it has been a big talking point
among other major podcasts and you know, other circles in wrestling that this triple
threat is a better idea than Rock Roman one on one WrestleMania forty as to
help save face for Cody. If this is all about protecting Cody, then
Roman Reigns should probably retain at the Royal Rumble and then you get Cody Roads
selecting Rome rains and that's when the Rock faces Roman non title. He could
still see here's the thing. Roman Reigns could still be champion and he says
I'm not putting the belt on the line, and the Rock says good because
that's not what I'm after. And you get rocked Roman at Elimination Chamber,
non title, and that's when Cody brings himself into the mix, and then
it is a triple threat at WrestleMania for the Undisputed Championship with the Rock involved.
I mean, because I can't see Rock doing anything else other than something
with Roman Reigns, whether it's a one or two man match or three man
match at WrestleMania forty. It's just it doesn't make sense to me that people
think Cody Roads should be the one to do it from a from just a
business perspective, that it should be Cody Roads and Roman Reigns one on one.
You have the biggest star literally on the on planet Earth, and you're
gonna tell me he shouldn't doesn't belong in the main event and you want to
make money. It doesn't make sense. Well, here's the thing, as
we try and like jump through loot like hoops, like trying to figure out
how it all makes sense. Because as much as I hate Cody Rhodes,
I still do think that he shouldn't be pushed aside, like because he has
no spot on Raw for the world title because that's Punkin Rolins or Drew McIntyre
in some way, right, And if it's Rock and Roman, then what
is he going to face Damian Priest again? And on telematch? Like,
for as much as I despise Cody, he deserves to be used in a
prominent spot And all of the options here, like all the best case scenarios
could just be solved by Roman dropping the championship. And it's kind of like
what we've been talking about since Sammy zane last year Elimination Chamber in Montreal is
how much are you willing to sacrifice at the altar of Roman Reigns? Like
are you going to sacrifice Rock versus Roman head of the Table match? Are
you going to sacrifice a potential Cody versus Orton for the un disputed championship match
with Orton reinvigorated after an eighteen month absence and Cody Ruins are looking to finish
the story against his mentor, Like, are you going to sacrifice the likes
of you know, La Knight and aj Styles taking yet another prominent loss?
Are you going to sacrifice thoughting out two back to back main events at prominent
pay per views in arguably the most important time of the wrestling year. For
me, It's like, you always talk about what's best for business, both
behind the scenes and on camera historically, and what's best for business right now
is Roman not holding that championship because look how much we're twisting our brains into
a pretzel, Like, OK, you could face the Rock here, but
then maybe a triple threat match. Oh what if he has a non title
match against the Rock while he's still the like and we're all like trying to
jump through hoops and make sense of how everybody gets their fair share. But
at the same time, simultaneously, there's an option there where you could say
you could have three major main events, Like I've I've been about beating the
drum for four major main events, but I've kind of like, at this
point lost hope on the Drew versus La Night World title match, especially since
ly Knight might not even be in the rumble. But you could have three
major main event caliber matches Rock versus Roman, Head of the Table, Phunk
vers Rolins World Heavyweight Title, Rhodes versus Orton WWE championship, to say nothing
of what we could see on the women's side. So for me, at
this point, like I just cannot see a logical way aside from destroying everything
in all to get Roman Reigns to whatever record you want to get them to.
But at this point you are only hurting the product to keep the title
in Roman Reigns. Well, that's it. That's the thing we've been talking
about for months is at what costs are we doing this to keep Roman as
champion? There there is a lot of expense and a lot of a lot
of things you have to give up for what you believe is a better choice
used to keep Roman his champion, And so far I have not seen,
at least the last especially six months, a good reason to keep it on.
It really since last year's WrestleMania, it just doesn't really make a ton
of sense to keep the belt on for so many reasons as we've gone over.
But yeah, the fact that we are having to come up with these
scenarios that are I don't know if it's off the wall is the right word,
but because they're not off the wall crazy, they're just they're over complicated.
They're not we're over complicating a scenario that may not need to be even
though there are several people in the there are many players in the room here,
but it really may not be that difficult to figure out as you laid
out. I like the card you laid out. I think that it makes
sense. But I also think that Roman reigns, as you said, if
he drops the belt, a lot of these problems go away. But it
all comes down to does wwe value that damn streak and beating Hogan over everything.
I would hope that they look at this and say no, but I
know that remains to be seen now when when we get that official face to
face. Let me ask you this kind of working from rumble to mania here,
do you think that Roman? Let me let me just ask your point
blank, does Roman Reigns drop the belt at the World Rumble. I'm gonna
say yes, just because I think they know what they have at their fingertips,
Because I know I was kind of on an island about a month ago
when I think I was the first person to suggest Cody Versus important for the
championship. So I'm gonna I'm gonna, you know, pump my own tires
because of that. But now if you look at like people discussing things on
the internet and podcasts, like this is something that's actually gaining traction ever since
the Row came back, because it's a way to have your cake and eat
it too, and it's just so obvious and obviously the right choice in so
many ways that there's no way that Triple H and ww Creative can't see this,
Like there's no way that they can't be staring at this and saying,
man, we have the chance for three major box office smashes here. And
we all know that WWE has notoriously promoted ww WrestleMania rather with three main events.
That's one of the reasons Cmpunk left actually was that, yeah, you're
one of the main events. And whether you agree or disagree with it,
those all three of those matches could justifiably main event the second night of WrestleMania,
right, and one of them is probably going to be arguably a Match
of the Year candidate with Orton and Rhodes, one of them is five years
in the making with Punk and Rawlins and would see Punk's first Mania match in
eleven years, and the other would transcend the wrestling business with the Rock and
Roman reigns, and there's just like you don't even need to really say anything,
like you just put them in front of each other, and the story
writes themselves. And if I'm triple h I just can't really come up with
any logical and rational explanation as to why you'd forego that so in a big
lawn and long easy enough for me to say roundabout way, I really got
lost in my words there. I just think that yes, he will be
dropping the title at the Royal Rumble, although I'm very, very skeptical about
it, just because there is always that chance that they will destroy everything to
get Roman reigns farther along on this title rain and don't forget I mean the
Rock could enter the Royal Rumble like, I mean, that's still possible.
What if the Rock wins the Royal Rumble. I don't think that's the case.
I think it will be likely it will be Cody Rhodes. I'm still
on that train. I think he is the right guy the right time.
As much as you and I don't like his character anything, it's just horrific
as a babyface, he is the right guy. We can acknowledge him,
no pun intended and also hate him at the same time. And I think
that if Randy Orton wins, I think he will, you'll probably have The
Rock come out to face Roman Reigns. Roland Rains could even be lost lose
the belt because of the Rock. What's happening here is I think that the
Rock and Roman Reigns. Roman Rains is playing a little bit coy right now
with the Rock where he's not even acknowledging him, he's just laughing him off,
giving him emojis. And what's going to happen is And I've brought this
up on my podcast a couple of times, but I'm drawing back to this
rivalry of WrestleMania twenty six with Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker with part two here,
and they Shawn Michaels wanted a match with Undertaker, an Undertaker said no
and kept saying no and no, and that eventually he forced the Undertaker's hand
by costing him the championship inside the elimination chamber right before WrestleMania, and the
Undertaker finally gave in. So it could be a little bit of that where
the Rock is, you know, trying to get Roman's attention and you know,
which is weird that the Rock is chasing Roman for a match here,
but it seems to be where they're headed, and the Rock eventually gets Roman's
attention by costing him the championship at the Royal Rumble. It could happen.
I still think we get an opportunity to see the Rock and Roman face to
face at the Rumble, which is going to be that moment. I think
we're under selling how crazy that moment's going to be because you said it was
what four or five years in the making. I think it's nine years in
the making. When you look at this matchup that takes back all the way
to Philadelphia nine years ago at the Royal Rumble, where it was a disaster
for the company. W W was gifted from the Wrestling Gods a snowed in
raw the next night so they didn't have to deal with the crowd that would
have ate them alive. And it dates back to then. So it's really
to me nine years that this match has been kind of on the table back
and forth and that moment, I think we're under selling how awesome that's going
to be with the crowd is when they finally just come within a couple of
inches of each other face to face. It's gonna be something to be old,
and I just you cannot understate how big this match is when yes,
it may not live up to the wrestling of Codyan and Roman, but the
story supersedes that. It's not all about having the five star match. Sometimes
the story supersedes what could happen in the ring, and I'm not worried about
that. So I like the three main events that you laid out there,
Rock Roman. You have Punk and Rollins, and then you have Orton and
Rhodes. I think those three are right there for the taking. If they
want WrestleMania forty to be the biggest of all time, it's right there.
But I'm just I'm still fearful that they're just gonna do what we said is
probably gonna happen. If I know, Vince isn't there anymore, but sometimes
his legacy lives on in spirit. It's just gonna be Rock Roman for the
championship at WrestleMania forty. I'm still fearful that's on the table. Still.
It's the problem here is that the entire bloodline angle has gone completely stale,
and I never thought that we would see the day, but it's like they
ran out of all the ideas. And we talked about how it was kind
of going stale post wrestling in thirty eight against Brock Lesner and Sammy Zane prolonged
it, and then it was kind of going stale again, but then the
Civil War stuff was short but sweet and it prolonged it. And since SummerSlam
it has just been more stale and more stale and more stale, and you've
even seen like the like the wind come out of the solo sicoa sales.
Jimmy Uso is just I feel bad for him given what his brother's doing on
Raw, but he is just like it's just like channel changing with him,
because it's like he tries to be like funny in a helish way, which
I can kind of respect. It's not his fault. But aside from Rock
versus Roman, there's no more intrigue for the bloodline, and I don't know
that with him holding the title, there's anything more that you could do that's
interesting here. If you take the title off of him and then you stretch
it to Mane against the Rock, at least it's different and it's not the
prominent thing that's being held hostage with him taking two, three, four weeks
off at a time, if not longer. If it's just like a side
angle between two part timers for the Head of the Table, I have all
the time in the world for that, and with the Rock hinting and I
could be wrong here, but has the Rock not hinted that this might not
be a one off? Yeah? So if this is so, it isn't
going to be a one off, right, So he's saying, and that's
what he's saying. So if it's not going to be a one off,
and he actually wants to do the whole you know, ending something but starting
something else, would it not make most sense for the Rock to defeat Roman
Reigns at WrestleMania. Roman Reigns goes away, y'all. Hear that he's going
to take off like significant time, And if they're saying Hey's taking off significant
time, then that means it's like at least six months, right, a
year? Yeah, yeah, exactly, So maybe that ends the Head of
the Table Tribal Chief version of Rowan rains he comes back as a babyface,
you do a bloodline babyface run and then next year at WrestleMania. It's Roman
saying, you humbled me, I changed, but now I need another crack
at you him and Rock number two. Roman wins, the Rock retires.
That's how I see it. If you really want to squeeze the most out
of anything to do with the bloodline, that's how you book this thing,
assuming that the Rock is willing to give you another year. But the Rock's
what fifty one. He probably knows that he only has X amount of time
left that he can play this character and perform in the ring up to the
expected capabilities. He's a spring chicken. He knows he's on the wrong side
of fifty. Maybe he's saying to Triple it's like, look, I'm gonna
give you one more run kind of what I did in twenty eleven to twenty
thirteen. I'll give you a fifteen month run. Put a bow on the
Roman reign stuff. Give you back to back Mania matches one that cements him,
closes the chapter on him as a heel, and then he comes back
as a baby face. A bloodline run as Babyfaces, which I think we
all want to see. That's how you prolonged the bloodline this time around,
but with the current version of Roman as the heel champ and the minions of
Jimmy and Solo and him beating everyone in every single pay per view going off
air with him holding up the championships and fireworks going off. It's done and
it was awesome. It was bleeping great. Should I should redo this speech
on after dark so I could really not bleep myself out? But it was
so good. I've spoken to several of my buddies who were just like,
it was awesome. It was great, one the best joys ever. But
it's done. It's over, and it's okay. You squeezed a solid three
years out of it, because everything since SummerSlam to me hasn't been good.
But up to Summer Slim everything was really really awesome. You squeeze three years
out of it. But it's done. And that's the framework for me that
I would go with. Well, that's exactly what they could be. If
Rock is so concerned about starting something and ending something, well, you could
end Roman Reigns's run and start his babyface run there. I mean this,
just like you said, I've still am of the belief that the moment Roman
Reigns drops the belt, that he becomes a baby face. Now, if
he drops it at Rumble, he's not going to be a babyface facing the
Rock. But anytime from WrestleMania forward, if he drops the belt, he's
instantly going to become a baby face because people are gonna look at him and
not look at him and just get angered, almost in reflex that seeing him
is a reminder of just, you know, of keeping that beat hostage for
so damn long. You know, he's the face of the absentee champion.
And I think that people have they've kind of tuned out of the story.
It's not even it's not even that you're just angry with the character. You're
just kind of like you're starting to reach indifference. And that's the kiss of
death for any storyline when you just go, man, I don't really care.
That's not what WW wants you to do. So I think fans are
starting to feel that way, and I think that it could be absolutely a
babyface run in twenty twenty four for Roman reigns. I do believe Roman Rains
will be a babyface in twenty twenty four. I still believe he's going to
drop the belt, don't. I haven't really thought about or really definitively decided
when it's going to be. It could be as soon as two and a
half weeks from now, it could be as late as September of twenty four.
But I still think that whenever it happens, Roman reigns is going to
be on that path becoming one of the biggest baby faces of all time.
The bloodline story completely changes, Solo maybe goes off on his own, or
maybe the whole group turns babyface. Maybe eventually Jay comes back into the fold
in late twenty four into twenty five, they have a babyface run as a
group. I mean, there's a lot you can do. It's just we
haven't even seen the babyface version of this whole thing yet. It just can't
be with Roman at the top here as champion, and I'm just looking forward
to I mean, just there are so many different ways to go with this.
I'm just to me though, when I specifically hone in on the Rock,
I do believe it's going to be Rock Roman in the main event of
WrestleMania. I mean to say it's a boring selection, but to say it's
for the championship could still be the right, could be the right solution,
even if it is one that is predictable, because if the Rock's willing to
give you some time, then sure, Like if he's going to stick around
for a little bit, then then fine. But if Rock turns into a
Roman schedule, then what the hell is the point of giving Rock the belt?
I mean that that would be you know what I mean. I wasn't
saying that he should have the belt. I'm saying that he should defeat Roman
in a non time I don't match like the way I would book, and
I don't usually like to do fantasy booking, but I would have the Rock
screw Roman in some way at the during the Fatal four way. I would
have J involved as well in some capacity, like maybe the Bloodline screwed J
and the Rumble early on in the match in the night, rather Ja gets
involved, the Rock is gets involved. Because I don't know if people have
realized, but Jay has started using some Rock mannerisms in the ring, like
the whole slapping thing, spit on the hand like. I feel like J
and the Rock are going to cross pass in a partnership in some way soon,
and I could see an elimination chamber them doing another Bloodline Civil War type
thing like and one that I would actually be intrigued with. If you have
j in the Rock in a handicapped match against Roman, solo and Jimmy,
kind of similar to Evolution versus Rock and saw Connection nineteen years ago at WrestleMania.
So that and then that would lead into Rock versus Roman non title at
WrestleMania. The Rock defeats Roman reigns. No, I no way should the
Rock hold the championship. I'm sorry if I if I misconstrued that, like,
no, there's no they can have another part time chat. They can't.
It has to be as much as it twists my stomach to say and
makes me want to vomit through my nostrils, Cody Road should be the WWE
champion post WrestleMania. That's the way it should be. As much as I
detest everything to do with his stupid blonde hair and his dumb outfit and his
stupid weight belt and his dumb neck tattoo and everything stupid about him, he
should be objectively the guy to walk out with the undisputed championship. The Rock
should defeat Roman in a non title match at Mania that humbles Roman, makes
Roman go away till at least SummerSlam, and when he comes back, he's
humbled as a babyface. It really could be that simple, guys. I
mean, I hate to say it, and I twisted myself to a pretzel
earlier in the show. But that's kind of where the fans are at right
now, and it's actually an envious spot if you're a WWE. That's kind
of where you want the fans. You want them just kind of going this
way and that way. Well, if this, then that, then this,
well, I don't know, this has to happen for that to happen.
There's so many different scenarios. It's a great place to be if you're
WWE, but also a dangerous one because no matter what you choose, the
fans are going to second guess it and say, ah, well, this
would have been better, that would have been better. We only have one
reality to live in. There's a whole lot of great options, honestly,
and very few ones that are awful. So to me, they can't really
step on a landmine here. There are a lot of great options. They're
not dumb enough to choose the ones that are just horrific. What are the
horrific ones? Rock winning the Rumble would be horrific because what does that do
for any of the talent. I mean even I'd be sympathetic to Cody Rhodes
on that one. You can't have Rock win the Rumble. You can't have
Rock just appear at elimination chamber and then disappear. That makes no sense.
People have actually proposed that. You know, you can't have like, for
example, as much as I like a just I was a candidate, just
I was winning the belt before, you know, certain things that are just
ridiculous. But I think that that is it could be that simple. It
really could be that simple. I'm all for non title. I think that
WWE would recognize that if we're doing Rock Roman, fans are going to look
at that and say, well, Rock typically goes back to Hollywood the night
after WrestleMania, so there's not a chance in hell Rock's winning this match.
I mean, WWWE has to know that. So you can't have Roman as
champion. You can't make one of the biggest and last fantasy matches that's possible
in twenty twenty four, the most predictable outcome of all time. So they
have to have Roman drop the belt. I may be throughout this show here
I may have talked myself into believing Roman Reigins is dropping the belt at the
Royal Rumble here because it's low hanging fruit that should be obvious. You know
how you always say predictable isn't a bad thing if it makes sense? Well,
we're right there. That's literally what this is. Everyone wants to see
it, and like we've said, there is no more perfect ending to Roman
reigns. Should he be dropping one of the most historic championship runs in a
fatal four way at the Rumble? Probably not? Probably not. But at
the same time, do we remember who Bruno Sammerteama lost the championship too?
Do we remember who Bob Becklan lost the championship too? Do we remember who
Haul Cogan lost the championship to? To even see him punk? When we
talk about his run from the summer of twenty eleven to Rumble twenty thirteen,
it was the rock, but not many people talk about that, And when
they do, it's only sometimes to say that it should have gone on longer
with Punk, like nobody will really give a dam in five years from now
that he lost the title to Randy Orton in a fatal four way match,
especially if they go the route that we're talking about, because it's the right
thing to do, and you would set yourself up for one of the biggest
wrestle me is ever with three major main events, like each one of those
main events could arguably have main evented each of the last like ten WrestleManias.
I know. I mean, that's the kind of roster in storylines they have
going on right now. I mean, WW is in one of the best
positions I've seen them in in a decade. They are more, yeah,
maybe more. I mean I reckoned it back all the way to the Ruthless
Aggression era. I mean, that's how far back I'm going here. Before
they had a roster this stacked with a fantas. Can I give you one
example. Yeah, the last time I remember them having a roster this stacked
going into WrestleMania was probably like going into wrestling at twenty three, where you
had brought you had John Cena versus Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker versus Bobby Lashley,
and then Oomaga versus you know, it was an Undertaker versus Batista,
and Bobby Lashley versus Umaga, which was obviously highlighted by McMahon versus Trump,
Like that's the last and you had like Edge and Randy Orton in a and
Jeff Hardy and like a money in the Bank ladder match, Like that's probably
the last time that they had so many star level players at their disposal.
I would I don't know. I mean, I'm thinking, oh, well,
what about Wrestle MAINGA twenty five? I remember Wrestle MAINGA twenty five with
I mean, honestly, that may have been the best WrestleMania match of all
time I've seen with Undertaker and Sean Michaels in Houston. But that was really
the only thing you remember, Like, tell me another match from WrestleMania.
It's twenty five that you remember? John? Wait, didn't they have wasn't
Triple h versus Randy Orton in a no holds a Bard match? And then
the triple threat match for the World Heavyweight title of Edge, John Cena and
Big Show? But who the hell remembers of those two matches? Well?
That's yeah, I mean, you're you're the exception here, but exactly,
I mean, but most people can't. I mean, so I'm looking back
this roster right now is in a position that they are. I don't know.
Part of this has to be attributed to Vince a little bit because he
was he'll still here when some of this talent came up, but obviously Triple
H has been driving the machine since that time. I think this is a
this is a transition time for WWE. It's one that they are in a
very good position to negotiate contracts with networks and everything else, and they are
about making money. Whether you know they're a feel good company, you put
your smile on your face and all that gushy crap, But at the end
of the day, they're there for money, just like all the talent are.
And that means they're going to put the biggest match or matches forward at
WrestleMania possible, which tells me, guys, you cannot have Roman Reigns and
Cody Roads one on one anyway at WrestleMania. You you just you can't do
it unless you're going to have Rocks somehow involved in that. It just doesn't
make sense that if nobody could tell me that Rock Roman is a lesser of
a match than Cody Roads and Roman Reigns, it just it's it doesn't make
any logical sense. The biggest star in the world. He gained two hundred
and fifty thousand viewers the Rock did just by showing up. Cody Roads doesn't
pull those numbers un raw, it doesn't happen. I mean, just looking
at one metric tells you all you need to know about the star power comparison
of Rock and Cody. So I mean, hey, I think the solution
we played out here makes total sense to me with those three massive matches and
main events that should play out at WrestleMania forty and I guess I'll end it
there. If you have any wrap up thoughts, I guess just my wrap
up thoughts would be that WWE has something to do, something really has a
chance rather to do something very special, and it's right at their fingertips.
It's a low hanging fruit at this point. It's just up to whether or
not they have the balls to do it. And by the balls, I
mean like just finally rip the band aid off, because at this point,
since Summerslime, it's felt like a band aid with Roman reigns, like everyone's
just kind of waiting for it to end, and it sucks that it's gotten
to this point. It really really sucks that it's gotten to this point.
But you did the thousand days. You've stretched it as long as you could.
But now you literally have maybe not the perfect match for it to end,
but the perfect story and the perfect setup company wise on a macro scale
for it to end like it doesn't just have to be the exact ending with
Roman Reigns in the match. You have to look at where the company is.
I would admit that up until this past summer, there was reason,
there was a legitimate reason for WWE to hang on to Roman Reigns as the
champion, especially without a World Championship on Monday Night Raw and without the legit
main event guy to replace him. But now Seth Rollins has really legitimized that
world title on Monday Night Raw. You have a returning Cmpunk. You have
a Randy Orton who feels completely reborn. You have Cody Rhodes, who the
Fens are still inexplicably behind, but I have to acknowledge that they are still
behind him. You have a returning Rock. You still have La Knight who's
getting good reactions. You have Drew mcin who, in my opinion, is
the most intriguing character on both brands. You are in such a good spot
that you don't need Roman Reigns anymore to be champion. Not to say you
don't need them in general, you just don't need him to dominate and and
it or and keep the main event seen hostage and on major pay per views.
Yes, Seth Rawlins is an amazing drug. With the world title,
the Undisputed Championship is still the main title, and you just don't need Roman
Reigns to keep that title hostage anymore. Yeah, well said. I mean,
I don't know what more to add to that other than to say Drew
does intrigue the hell out of me right now, because and I'll end it
with this. With Drew McIntyre losing last week to Seth, I think that
his character is going to go into a very dark place. You know,
as he continues to lose title match after title match, eventually he's gonna snap.
I know, he was kind of a quasi heel. He was kind
of like the guy that was you know, he would bring up family,
you felt like you should still cheer for him, but then he would do
something kind of sly in the match. I think this could really send his
character into the depths of darkness and just you know, completely change him into
this a different human being. And I think that's what this was for Drew
last week was I was disappointed he lost, but I think it's gonna now
where he was kind of teetering on the edge, it's gonna push him full
off. I mean, he's going right off the cliff, I think,
and I hope so well. And that's one of the reasons why I keep
beating the drum to get the title off of Seth because in a way,
Seth versus Punk doesn't need the world title either, like it's to a much
lesser extent than Roman, but Seth versus Punk could be a very legitimate grudge
match as well. And then you could create another main event style match of
Drew versus l A. Knight, And obviously that would kind of be like
the like the redheaded step child of the four main events, but that could
have the potential to really blow the doors off the place. Like if you
open let's say Night two or something or Night one with the World Heavyweight Championship
match and set the tone for WrestleMania with La Knight versus Drew McIntyre going half
an hour. I think that would have the potential to really set the stage
for punk versus Rolins and rock versus Roman, you know what I mean.
I really think that they would have a ton of potential to really kick things
off. And we haven't even talked about Gunther and Lesnar like exactly, like
this is insane. I mean, so this what would Kevin Owens be doing,
your Logan Paul be doing, like you know, like there's just the
Judgment Day. What would Judgment Day be doing. They've been arguably the most
intriguing thing on either show for the last six months. Like they are in
such a good spot that you don't have to sacrifice everything at the altar of
Roman rains right, And that's what they've done for a long time. And
it again, I understand it. They they've sucked all the value out of
it. They did what they should have done, although I think too long,
and it's it's been great. You can create a documentary that they've already
been filming for it. You can create T shirts, you can create video
DVDs if they still make them. You know, you can do a lot
with this, and I understand that. And they've done it, but it's
just time for it to end, and I my optimism is a little higher
as I talk myself into it that he'll lose it at the rubbles. So
all right, well, I guess we'll end it there, you know,
as we always do. This has come to an end and we will chat
in a week. But do you have any anything else that you want to
share. I know that you have your latest show that you just did that
wrapped up the New Year's Revolution review on the after Dark show. Guys,
that's exclusive to patrons and Apple podcast subscribers, so check that out. But
I'll just hand it to you, hand the mic to you, and if
you have anything else before we close out, well just go and listen to
it. Obviously came out a day late than usual because of New Year's Evolution.
I thought it was really important to take in the results of that into
consideration. But obviously, depending on what happens on Monday night Row tonight,
I saw that there was a confrontation between Drew and Punk, although I don't
know the context or what was said, but yeah, be sure to check
that out this coming Friday. Awesome, very good. This has been a
lot of fun and guys, this is gonna get better as we get into
Wrestlemandy season where things are just getting going. So all right, well,
thanks so much, buddy. We will be chatting in a week looking forward
to man. Thanks for listening to the WWE podcast. Don't forget to subscribe
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