Best of The WWE Podcast: (2019) What if The Rock Returned & Joined The Bloodline?

<v Speaker 1>Well, it's time to explore wrestling's past and potential future
<v Speaker 1>with your weekly dose of a segment we call what If.
<v Speaker 1>Alan found here on the WORWE podcast.
<v Speaker 2>It's time for what If with Anthony Debarco, and tonight
<v Speaker 2>we're going to discuss something that I don't think anyone
<v Speaker 2>is talking about. No one, to my knowledge, has ever
<v Speaker 2>discussed this possibility, and that is what if the Rock
<v Speaker 2>returned and joined the Bloodline? So Anthony, welcome to the show.
<v Speaker 2>This is going to be an interesting conversation.
<v Speaker 3>It is, and it's something that I've low key thought
<v Speaker 3>about ever since the rumblings of him returning Red Round
<v Speaker 3>Survivor Series came to fruition. And I think everyone is
<v Speaker 3>suspecting and the most likely outcome is Haning coming back,
<v Speaker 3>stepping up to Roman reigns, and building towards a program
<v Speaker 3>at WrestleMania thirty eight. It will be thirty eight this year. Eh,
<v Speaker 3>that's nuts to think.
<v Speaker 2>Isn't that crazy? Yeah?
<v Speaker 4>Yep, yeah, it's just so Yeah.
<v Speaker 3>Anyway, I like twenty was yesterday, but I think that
<v Speaker 3>is the most likely outcome and probably the best outcome,
<v Speaker 3>because I feel like that would be like the crowning
<v Speaker 3>achievement on Roman Reins's resume, although beating brock Lesnar and
<v Speaker 3>John Cena and Edge on one year may.
<v Speaker 4>Already do that.
<v Speaker 3>But you have to think that the Rock is almost
<v Speaker 3>like the final destination on just this incredible run that
<v Speaker 3>Rains is gone. But I've also thought about what if
<v Speaker 3>the Rock came back as a heel and joined the
<v Speaker 3>bloodline and kind of brought back those characteristics that he
<v Speaker 3>had in two thousand and three and as the Hollywood heel,
<v Speaker 3>and I just keep thinking like, man, would it maybe
<v Speaker 3>be even better?
<v Speaker 2>Well, here's the thing. I thought about this. Once we
<v Speaker 2>discussed this topic earlier today and we figured out what
<v Speaker 2>we're going to talk about, I immediately thought to myself, well, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>this would be awesome. Nobody would expect it. But why
<v Speaker 2>can't we have both? Right? Where perhaps the Rock goes
<v Speaker 2>against Roman Reigns, maybe the Rock loses, and then you
<v Speaker 2>think that the Rock is going to go back to
<v Speaker 2>Hollywood and he sticks around and decides to indeed join
<v Speaker 2>the bloodline, so you could get both again. We don't know.
<v Speaker 2>This is all speculation, of course, with the Rock rumors
<v Speaker 2>come back in just a couple of months now at
<v Speaker 2>Survivor series around Survivor series that's going to lead to
<v Speaker 2>a program to Russell Mania. We've all been we've been
<v Speaker 2>talking about this for months and months now, but I mean,
<v Speaker 2>you could have both, and I think that may. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>while I don't think this is likely, I think, like
<v Speaker 2>you said, the more likely scenarios indeed the Rock coming
<v Speaker 2>back and doing just what we said. But yeah, think
<v Speaker 2>about the Rock joining the joining the bloodline. The guy
<v Speaker 2>that you think is going to come back and be
<v Speaker 2>the Savior to finally dethroning Roman Reigns, the guy that
<v Speaker 2>is the White Knight riding in to finally take down
<v Speaker 2>Roman Reigns, and he ends up joining the damn Group.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, people, I don't know if people would know
<v Speaker 2>what to do. Do you think, though, that if this happened,
<v Speaker 2>that people would reject it outright or do you think
<v Speaker 2>that they would go along with it and go, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>I want to see what this is about? Or do
<v Speaker 2>you think it kind of be like an Austin Hill turn, like, ah,
<v Speaker 2>don't I don't want this?
<v Speaker 4>Well, look, I.
<v Speaker 3>Could only speak personally, but this is coming from like
<v Speaker 3>the biggest rock fan there probably is.
<v Speaker 4>Here.
<v Speaker 3>I'm starting to reject his Babyface character, and that's because
<v Speaker 3>it's not the Rock anymore. And I think that's one
<v Speaker 3>of the reasons why I would almost prefer this happens,
<v Speaker 3>because in my mind, when the Rock has come back
<v Speaker 3>the last several times, he wasn't playing the Rock. He
<v Speaker 3>was playing Dwayne Johnson. So in my head, I'm saying, well,
<v Speaker 3>there must be other people feeling this way. And secondly,
<v Speaker 3>if you're not gonna play the babyface rock that we
<v Speaker 3>all know and love, and you're just gonna annoy us,
<v Speaker 3>then just be heal, because that's kind of like what
<v Speaker 3>happened in two thousand and two, two thousand and three
<v Speaker 3>when people knew that he was stepping away to Hollywood.
<v Speaker 3>If there's more people like me who sense that this
<v Speaker 3>isn't the typical rock character we came to know and
<v Speaker 3>love twenty years ago, maybe bring him back as a
<v Speaker 3>heel and playing onto that hate would make more sense.
<v Speaker 4>What do you think?
<v Speaker 2>Hmm? The Rock we all know is really good at
<v Speaker 2>being a heel, and we haven't seen heel rock in
<v Speaker 2>a long time, and I think the Rock is still
<v Speaker 2>easily capable of it. But like you said, are we
<v Speaker 2>really talking about the Rock here as we once knew
<v Speaker 2>and loved him, the one that was, you know, screwing
<v Speaker 2>with the coach and doing if You Smell and working
<v Speaker 2>with Triple H. And No, he is past that now
<v Speaker 2>and he is and he has morphed into Dwayne. He
<v Speaker 2>is just Dwayne Johnson who comes in big reaction deservedly.
<v Speaker 2>So he's a massive, massive star. We know that, but
<v Speaker 2>he is He's Dwayne doing the catch phrases of a
<v Speaker 2>character he no longer is. That's what you're right, That's
<v Speaker 2>exactly what it feels like. It doesn't feel authentic. It
<v Speaker 2>just feels like he is is that the Dwayne person,
<v Speaker 2>that the human being of Dwayne is more important on
<v Speaker 2>TV than the rock is. I know exactly what you're saying,
<v Speaker 2>and I think that I think people would go along
<v Speaker 2>with this if done correctly and planned out over several
<v Speaker 2>several months. I don't think that this could happen all
<v Speaker 2>in one fell swoop. I have my doubts, especially if
<v Speaker 2>they do it immediately upon his return. We saw with
<v Speaker 2>Becky Lynch in the just complete, absolute flabbergasting move they
<v Speaker 2>made at SummerSlam, where people were like what the hell
<v Speaker 2>and like what is this? Why are they turning her
<v Speaker 2>heel right away. I mean The Rock coming in and
<v Speaker 2>immediately doing this would be jarring, and people would be like,
<v Speaker 2>whoa wait a minute, why aren't we getting Roman versus
<v Speaker 2>the Rock? I think people would if we don't get
<v Speaker 2>Roman Rock. I think people would be pissed. I think
<v Speaker 2>there would be some resentment towards the company itself, like, Hey,
<v Speaker 2>we have a perfect matchup here. Why the hell are
<v Speaker 2>we not putting this on a WrestleMania Now. Of course
<v Speaker 2>you and I both agree this is probably not going
<v Speaker 2>to happen, but how would you navigate that That complete
<v Speaker 2>just I think utter hatred and frustration from a fans
<v Speaker 2>perspective of The Rock just joining and not going, hey, like,
<v Speaker 2>we have a WrestleMania match here, what are we doing?
<v Speaker 3>I think the only way you would be able to
<v Speaker 3>navigate through that is giving them that match and going
<v Speaker 3>the route that you suggested, right and just having it
<v Speaker 3>build post Mania. But that's pretty much why I don't
<v Speaker 3>think this will ever happen, because any way you cut it,
<v Speaker 3>for them to bring The Rock back as a heel
<v Speaker 3>and make them join forces with the Bloodline, they would
<v Speaker 3>need him for a much longer amount of time, because obviously,
<v Speaker 3>if you want to do a post WrestleMania that involves
<v Speaker 3>him being around until at least SummerSlam to give it
<v Speaker 3>at at least a somewhat legitimate run. And if you
<v Speaker 3>wanted to even do it instead of a match and
<v Speaker 3>just build it from right away from Survivor Series to Mania,
<v Speaker 3>you would need more appearances from The Rock on TV
<v Speaker 3>to build this character, to explain why he made this decision,
<v Speaker 3>to get actual heat behind him as.
<v Speaker 4>Opposed to now.
<v Speaker 3>If you bring him back as the status quo, the
<v Speaker 3>typical babyface, he comes in one every five to six
<v Speaker 3>weeks and he does his you know, Rock's greatest hits
<v Speaker 3>and does if he can smell, and then he walks off,
<v Speaker 3>there would be no need for character development because the
<v Speaker 3>character is already set in stone. It's already gravely in
<v Speaker 3>the mind of fans. But if you even wanted to
<v Speaker 3>build him as a heel in a four to five
<v Speaker 3>month span, you would need him maybe once every two
<v Speaker 3>weeks at minimum to really start driving home this new
<v Speaker 3>type of character.
<v Speaker 4>So I mean, I think the only way.
<v Speaker 3>That they could do it is if they did the
<v Speaker 3>rivalry and the one on one match with Reins and
<v Speaker 3>then turning him a heel. But for all the points
<v Speaker 3>I just outlined, I just don't see it happening.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah no, and I don't either. And I'm not trying
<v Speaker 2>to negate the entire point of this show. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>we're gonna go down that path in a minute. But
<v Speaker 2>I do want to bring up just some logical things
<v Speaker 2>that I'm sure fans are thinking, like, well, why the
<v Speaker 2>hell wouldn't why wouldn't WW give us this match? But
<v Speaker 2>the reason I don't think that they that they probably
<v Speaker 2>won't do this. This what we're a situation we're talking
<v Speaker 2>about with the Rock joining the bloodline is because of
<v Speaker 2>the time commitment it would create for the Rock, which
<v Speaker 2>we know he. I mean, his movie schedule is constantly booked.
<v Speaker 2>He works out like nine days a week. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>the guy is just a machine. We know this. So
<v Speaker 2>I don't think that this will happen simply because of
<v Speaker 2>a time commitment that it would take instead of just
<v Speaker 2>Rock coming in, Like you said, there's no character development,
<v Speaker 2>it's just the Rock as you always know him. There's
<v Speaker 2>nothing really foundational you need to change or shift. If
<v Speaker 2>we do see a change or a shift, that tells
<v Speaker 2>you that they are gonna do something more long term
<v Speaker 2>with the Rock. I highly doubt it. But let's go
<v Speaker 2>down the road. Let's have a little fun here. Let's
<v Speaker 2>just say the Rock and Roman have their match at WrestleMania,
<v Speaker 2>because this is the most likely scenario of this sort
<v Speaker 2>of play out. We have Roman rains beat the Rock,
<v Speaker 2>as most of us assume, but I mean, that's not
<v Speaker 2>even a given. I've heard a lot of good theories
<v Speaker 2>about why the Rocks should win at WrestleMania. But let's
<v Speaker 2>say Roman beats the Rock hook or crook. I don't
<v Speaker 2>care how he does it. He ends up beating the Rock,
<v Speaker 2>the Rocks defeated sitting in the middle of the ring.
<v Speaker 2>Next night on say Raw, I mean, I don't know
<v Speaker 2>if Roman's gonna be drafted ro SmackDown. Let's pretend he's
<v Speaker 2>on Raw. So the Monday night Raw after WrestleMania, Roman
<v Speaker 2>comes out and starts gloating about how there's nobody left
<v Speaker 2>and he truly is the head of his family's table
<v Speaker 2>and he is the alpha male, and the Rocks music hits.
<v Speaker 2>People think that the Rock is going to challenge Roman
<v Speaker 2>reigns once again, and instead we get the Rock turning
<v Speaker 2>heel and joining the Bloodline. I think the only way
<v Speaker 2>to do it would be Postmania the Monday night Raw
<v Speaker 2>after I think that, so I guess take it from there, right,
<v Speaker 2>I mean, let me know what you think about that
<v Speaker 2>and how they would continue to evolve it from there.
<v Speaker 3>I think that he would come in and he would
<v Speaker 3>come to the ring and kind of morph himself into
<v Speaker 3>an MVP type of figure in the Bloodline and really
<v Speaker 3>just go down the road of the two thousand and
<v Speaker 3>three Hollywood heel that we would see, and I think
<v Speaker 3>having him have some tag team matches with Roman reigns,
<v Speaker 3>but more just slide into like a managerial type of
<v Speaker 3>role and maybe have him come out in suits and
<v Speaker 3>the sunglasses kind of like the look of what the
<v Speaker 3>player agent he was in, what was his show ballers
<v Speaker 3>kind of adopt that kind of mentality and not wrestle
<v Speaker 3>as much to really put the spotlight on Roman Rains.
<v Speaker 3>Because here's the thing, if you brought the Rock in
<v Speaker 3>to the Bloodline and he was still an in ring competitor,
<v Speaker 3>even if it was just on pay per views, because
<v Speaker 3>we know he'd never wrestle on Monday Night raws or
<v Speaker 3>on Smackdowns, but even on pay per views maybe aside
<v Speaker 3>from the Big Four. I think it would be so
<v Speaker 3>integral to not have him be in the ring, because
<v Speaker 3>then you would automatically take the spotlight off of Roman Reigns.
<v Speaker 3>And that's no slight against Roman Reigns. But if The
<v Speaker 3>Rock is wrestling and an in ring competitor, fans will
<v Speaker 3>gravitate to him, even if it's just the casual fans,
<v Speaker 3>because as you said earlier, the Rock is just such
<v Speaker 3>a megastar that transcends wrestling. So I think the first
<v Speaker 3>thing that they would have to do and make sure
<v Speaker 3>to stick to is that The Rock would become more
<v Speaker 3>of a mouthpiece instead of an in ring guy.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, definitely. I mean the Rock at this point doesn't
<v Speaker 2>need to do anything regular even semi regular in the ring.
<v Speaker 2>He can carry a promo and we know that we
<v Speaker 2>know that The Rock is capable of telling a story
<v Speaker 2>without being in the ring very well. He's got that
<v Speaker 2>gravitational pull on TV, and you want to make sure,
<v Speaker 2>like you said, to not make to make sure that
<v Speaker 2>you don't pull away from Roman, who is really the
<v Speaker 2>goal here. The goal is to help build Roman, not
<v Speaker 2>build the Rock. So we do have to think about
<v Speaker 2>this in terms of you know, as I said last week,
<v Speaker 2>all roads lead to Roman. But in this case, this
<v Speaker 2>is how this is when it makes sense to do it,
<v Speaker 2>not in a forced way, but in a way that
<v Speaker 2>I think would take his career even to that next
<v Speaker 2>level if it's possible. So the Rock doing that being
<v Speaker 2>the mouthpiece and not being there all the time, but
<v Speaker 2>acknowledging Roman reigns and doing it in a very kind
<v Speaker 2>of resistant way, but saying yeah, you know, you really
<v Speaker 2>are the head of the table. And then you know,
<v Speaker 2>I don't know who Roman's next opponent would be. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I honestly don't know where you go after the Rock.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know outside of Stone Cold coming back from retirement.
<v Speaker 2>I mean I really, I honestly have no idea. There's
<v Speaker 2>to me. There's nobody above the Rock. Do you have
<v Speaker 2>any idea to say this happened? Say the Rock joined
<v Speaker 2>Roman reigns, and it you know, Rock isn't there all
<v Speaker 2>the time. He's more of a mouthpiece. Occasionally he'll come
<v Speaker 2>back and maybe help Roman when needed. But where the
<v Speaker 2>hell would they go if Roman rains beats the Rock,
<v Speaker 2>say the Rock joins the bloodline? Who the f is
<v Speaker 2>going to face Roman Rains past that. I mean, I
<v Speaker 2>don't know.
<v Speaker 3>It's crazy, right, because presumably he will have gone through
<v Speaker 3>at least Finn Balor and Brock Lesner by then, and
<v Speaker 3>then you and John Cena and Edge and just you know,
<v Speaker 3>and Daniel Brian, so you figure that there will even
<v Speaker 3>be another guy between Brock and the Rock in the
<v Speaker 3>Royal Rumble time, and maybe that's Kevin Owens. Again, I
<v Speaker 3>have no idea, to be honest with you, but like
<v Speaker 3>I would have said, biggie, I truly would have said biggie.
<v Speaker 3>But I think they really fast tracked his push. Whether
<v Speaker 3>you think that's wrong or right, I'm somewhere in the middle.
<v Speaker 3>They really kind of pulled the rugout from under that,
<v Speaker 3>so he's.
<v Speaker 4>Off the table.
<v Speaker 3>I guess they could try and do Drew McIntyre again,
<v Speaker 3>but I have a feeling that McIntire's going to be
<v Speaker 3>that buffer between Rock and Rock around the Row Rumbles season.
<v Speaker 3>So in my head, I'm just like, is it maybe
<v Speaker 3>a guy like Damian Priest. Will Damien Priest, in like
<v Speaker 3>an eight to year's time be ready for a push
<v Speaker 3>like that? Because to your point, I really just don't
<v Speaker 3>know anymore unless they turn a seth rawlins baby face,
<v Speaker 3>but I don't think that would really be right either.
<v Speaker 4>So I don't know.
<v Speaker 3>I felt like big Ee was the slam dunk option,
<v Speaker 3>but ever since he got named or won the championship
<v Speaker 3>last week, I'm in a night raw. Their options are
<v Speaker 3>really few and far between.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean I rented about the whole big Ee
<v Speaker 2>victory and just one small sidebar on that. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I know I haven't really heard your thoughts on it,
<v Speaker 2>but Bigie, to me, while I understand people feel like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>it's overdue, he deserves it, and I understand the tenure
<v Speaker 2>he's been there a long time. Well guess what a
<v Speaker 2>lot of guys and gals have been there a long
<v Speaker 2>time that work hard and dead their life to it,
<v Speaker 2>and we don't know, complain about them not being champion.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, Cesarro maybe one case, but people aren't breaking
<v Speaker 2>down the walls about that. You know. I just have
<v Speaker 2>a problem with the character of Biggie, just as I've
<v Speaker 2>had the problem with Kobe Kingston, even more so with
<v Speaker 2>the characters. So to me, it's not about Biggie as
<v Speaker 2>as in a work ethic, It's not about Biggie being
<v Speaker 2>there long enough or even skipping the line ahead of
<v Speaker 2>too many people. It's just his flat out his character
<v Speaker 2>that I can't stand that I have a problem with.
<v Speaker 2>It was no real build either. It was just kind
<v Speaker 2>of like, hey, I'm cashing in. I'm gonna cash in.
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna cash in any cashes in, So that anyway,
<v Speaker 2>that is a deep dark hole for me that I
<v Speaker 2>have gone down on many shows so far this week.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, I don't know where they go beyond the Rock.
<v Speaker 2>If he loses, if The Rock loses and then semi
<v Speaker 2>joins the bloodline, or even if he just went away.
<v Speaker 2>I think that it has to be somebody in house.
<v Speaker 2>It can't be another legend, because it shouldn't be another
<v Speaker 2>legend now that I'm thinking about it. Number one, there's
<v Speaker 2>no more legends to really pick from. Austin's not coming
<v Speaker 2>out of retirement. I mean, Hulk Cogan of course isn't
<v Speaker 2>coming out of retirement at seventy five years old. I'm
<v Speaker 2>just thinking of the biggest names possible, and they're just
<v Speaker 2>not there. They're not there. So I think you do
<v Speaker 2>have to go with somebody in house. I think Drew McIntyre,
<v Speaker 2>if The Rock is not going to be at WrestleMania.
<v Speaker 2>They go with Drew McIntyre versus Roman Rains at WrestleMania.
<v Speaker 2>That has been talked about as a main event for
<v Speaker 2>WrestleMania for a couple of years now, so that, to
<v Speaker 2>me would be probably the guy to do it would
<v Speaker 2>be Drew McIntyre. He's hiding under the radar right now.
<v Speaker 2>Drew is just kind of spinning his wheels and I
<v Speaker 2>think that's okay. I want Drew to take some time
<v Speaker 2>away from the spotlight and feel like he's not there
<v Speaker 2>on a weekly basis, So that's cool. I'm fine with it,
<v Speaker 2>and it's much needed. So honestly, if you're going to
<v Speaker 2>put a gun in my head, I would say Drew
<v Speaker 2>McIntyre is probably your guy to do it.
<v Speaker 3>If The Rock did come back and agree to do
<v Speaker 3>first the build with Roman Reigns relating to a one
<v Speaker 3>on one match and then later on joining the blood Line,
<v Speaker 3>do you think you would need at least like a
<v Speaker 3>year and a half of him doing somewhat regular appearances.
<v Speaker 3>Would you be able to just go on a touch
<v Speaker 3>and go basis and just take it by ear How
<v Speaker 3>much time do you think it would require if The
<v Speaker 3>Rock were to agree to do the Bloodline storyline.
<v Speaker 2>It would take a lot of time and effort. They
<v Speaker 2>would have to really believe that the Rock joining the
<v Speaker 2>Bloodline is a better option than the Rock coming back
<v Speaker 2>as the Rock slash Dwayne Johnson and doing his his
<v Speaker 2>shtick and doing his catch phrases and doing a Rock
<v Speaker 2>bottom of the people's elbow and maybe winning a match here
<v Speaker 2>and there. They would have to believe that this is
<v Speaker 2>going to be a more profitable, better story to help
<v Speaker 2>build Roman reigns than the probably ninety nine percent chance
<v Speaker 2>of the other option that's going to happen. And I
<v Speaker 2>think that again, we'd have to look at the Rock schedule.
<v Speaker 2>That would He's going to look at the Rock schedule.
<v Speaker 2>Is the Rock willing to commit that amount of time?
<v Speaker 2>I think it would take many months. In the Rock
<v Speaker 2>wouldn't have to be there every week. But even if
<v Speaker 2>he's there famously via satellite during the John Cena program
<v Speaker 2>about a decade ago, now, I mean, he could still
<v Speaker 2>join via satellites and and messages from his phone, be
<v Speaker 2>there maybe once a month or every other month. Even
<v Speaker 2>he could still be attached without actually having to physically
<v Speaker 2>be in the arena. And I think that's probably how
<v Speaker 2>they'd have to do it. But if they were going
<v Speaker 2>to do it, yeah, they'd have to do it semi regularly,
<v Speaker 2>minimum once every two weeks, ideally every week in some
<v Speaker 2>capacity satellite video message FaceTime. I don't care they would
<v Speaker 2>have to because this is something that would be a
<v Speaker 2>This is a seismic shift in how we view the Rock,
<v Speaker 2>who has not been healed in like fifteen years.
<v Speaker 3>And the other thing is is that you bring up
<v Speaker 3>when he was doing his promos via satellite with John Cena.
<v Speaker 4>That is tailor made for a heel.
<v Speaker 3>I just feel like who the Rock has become now
<v Speaker 3>has made his character better suited to be heel because
<v Speaker 3>he could use the oh, you know, I'm too busy
<v Speaker 3>to come to ex town. You guys aren't worth my time.
<v Speaker 3>Or I'll record like a pre recorded interview and send
<v Speaker 3>it to you guys because I have a big Hollywood
<v Speaker 3>meet And I just think that there's so many more
<v Speaker 3>interesting angles you could go down if he's a heel
<v Speaker 3>backing the biggest heel in the company, and you know,
<v Speaker 3>really legitimizing that faction is one of the best ever.
<v Speaker 3>And I think that him joining the Bloodline would almost
<v Speaker 3>be having like Rick Flair being a part of evolution,
<v Speaker 3>just really finally legitimizing this group with like a stamp
<v Speaker 3>of approval of a legend. And the other thing is
<v Speaker 3>is that I feel like then you could have more
<v Speaker 3>options for The Rock to go against a future pay
<v Speaker 3>per views, like now that he's a heel, like imagine
<v Speaker 3>you could branch off and do I don't know, like
<v Speaker 3>the Rock versus Drew McIntyre or the Rock versus Edge
<v Speaker 3>that we had never seen.
<v Speaker 4>Don't you think that.
<v Speaker 3>If he would come back and turn heel and join
<v Speaker 3>the bloodline it could make for some more impact matches
<v Speaker 3>down the line, as opposed to if he was just
<v Speaker 3>staying babyface.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, you have Randy Orton on my net, Rock,
<v Speaker 2>so you have aj styles. I mean, for God's sakes,
<v Speaker 2>you've got a whole lineup of guys that he has
<v Speaker 2>not worked with. And you know, again, while I don't
<v Speaker 2>believe that this is in the in the future for
<v Speaker 2>the Rock, it would open up a whole lot more
<v Speaker 2>options for him to work with, I mean, individuals to
<v Speaker 2>work with, and I think ultimately it would help not
<v Speaker 2>just of course, WW get more viewership, which The Rock
<v Speaker 2>absolutely does he's an needle mover, there's no question, but
<v Speaker 2>it would help build that newer talent. That's what the
<v Speaker 2>Rock's goal should be. In WWE's goal should be. I'm
<v Speaker 2>sure the Rock will win a match or two, as
<v Speaker 2>he should. He's not gonna come in and do a
<v Speaker 2>job to everybody, even as a heel, but he should
<v Speaker 2>come in with the golden mind of hey, let's use
<v Speaker 2>the Rock while we can to help build as much
<v Speaker 2>talent as possible. You're seeing it right now with Edge
<v Speaker 2>in a baby face capacity, but it's still working well.
<v Speaker 2>And Seth Rollins right now is doing career work. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I think Seth Rollins an Edge like it's a absolute
<v Speaker 2>highlight that I can't wait to see their third match,
<v Speaker 2>whatever that may be. So that should be the Rocks
<v Speaker 2>roll very limited in terms of in ring, but the
<v Speaker 2>goal would be to work with several different talent, perhaps
<v Speaker 2>over a year. I mean, they would have to dedicate
<v Speaker 2>at least a year to this project.
<v Speaker 3>I got to ask you something that's still Rock related,
<v Speaker 3>but not exactly with this topic, and it'll it'll just
<v Speaker 3>be a quick question because I didn't want to veer
<v Speaker 3>off as usual, but I was watching the WWE's tribute
<v Speaker 3>to that nine to eleven episode of SmackDown where they
<v Speaker 3>did it the tribute to you know, just you know,
<v Speaker 3>paying homage to everyone who lost their lives.
<v Speaker 4>And I remember The Rock.
<v Speaker 3>Standing at the front of the line with Vince McMahon,
<v Speaker 3>and I think back to wrestling at that time in Rock,
<v Speaker 3>you know, being the guy to put Brock over at
<v Speaker 3>SummerSlam and The Rock going one on one with HAULK.
<v Speaker 4>Hogan at Wrestling eighteen.
<v Speaker 3>Do you think for that brief period from mid two
<v Speaker 3>thousand and one to Austin's lockout, the Rock kind of
<v Speaker 3>became the face of the company over Stone Cold Steve Austin.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, definitely. I mean, I think that was Vince's goal.
<v Speaker 2>He knew that he had at least one big start.
<v Speaker 2>And I remember famously The Rock saying speaking to Stone
<v Speaker 2>Cold after he quote unquote took his ball and went home,
<v Speaker 2>that if you don't want to be here, then you
<v Speaker 2>get the f out also and pun intended to when
<v Speaker 2>they took the f out of WWF and became WWE.
<v Speaker 2>So the Rock told Stone Cold to take your ball
<v Speaker 2>and go home. I mean, so, I think, yes, that
<v Speaker 2>was at that very moment. I don't know what raw
<v Speaker 2>that was or when it happened. I'm assuming in famously
<v Speaker 2>in two thousand and two when Austin walked out in Atlanta,
<v Speaker 2>Georgia with Rock Lesner versus Austin and the qualifier, it
<v Speaker 2>had been the mon night raw after somewhere close. So yeah,
<v Speaker 2>that was the message being sent there. And I think
<v Speaker 2>that wwe had to lean on the Rock. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>who else were they gonna lean on. Brock Lesser was
<v Speaker 2>rising star, no doubt, but he wasn't at that level yet,
<v Speaker 2>so the Rock was a shoeing. He was the guy
<v Speaker 2>that the company was putting all their weight on, which
<v Speaker 2>I mean he had one foot out of the door too,
<v Speaker 2>looking into Hollywood as we all know. But yes, definitely
<v Speaker 2>the Rock was the the really the next guy in line.
<v Speaker 4>I guess as we.
<v Speaker 3>Close it out here and we shift it back more
<v Speaker 3>towards the Rock, and if you were to join the bloodline,
<v Speaker 3>I think this is almost a program. He owes the fans,
<v Speaker 3>and maybe I'm talking more specifically like hardcore fans like myself,
<v Speaker 3>but I think we've seen for far too long now
<v Speaker 3>since he originally returned in twenty eleven, so over a
<v Speaker 3>decade removed of just the same thing. You come back,
<v Speaker 3>you do your greatest hits, you feud and or cut
<v Speaker 3>a promo with wrestler X, and then you go on
<v Speaker 3>your way. And I feel like, yeah, a Rock return
<v Speaker 3>would be cool here, but I think we need to
<v Speaker 3>see one more creative Rock, not just the stereotypical stick
<v Speaker 3>that we've been accustomed to for the last ten years.
<v Speaker 4>Do you not think that.
<v Speaker 3>It would put an even bigger stamp on the Rocks
<v Speaker 3>character if he came back, added a new wrinkle to
<v Speaker 3>his character, got back some of that comedic relief that
<v Speaker 3>he was oh so good at as the Hollywood heel
<v Speaker 3>in two thousand and three and really captivated fans just
<v Speaker 3>one more time in an original way.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, and it's funny you mentioned the comedic part of
<v Speaker 2>the Rock as a heel, because I am there were
<v Speaker 2>some really really funny times and I will YouTube it
<v Speaker 2>once in a while. And the Rock can be funny
<v Speaker 2>as a heel, which sounds like an oxymoron, right, Like,
<v Speaker 2>we don't want heels to be cool. They shouldn't be funny.
<v Speaker 2>You should just flat out hate them. But the Rock,
<v Speaker 2>in his effort to be a heel and get the
<v Speaker 2>crowd against him can inadvertently be hilarious. And what I
<v Speaker 2>mean by that is one example I'm thinking of. I
<v Speaker 2>think they might have been in Toronto, I think, and
<v Speaker 2>he was either he was making fun of the fans,
<v Speaker 2>but because he had mentioned their town and he was
<v Speaker 2>just saying we you know, the Rock said my town,
<v Speaker 2>and then like he was mocking the fans for cheering
<v Speaker 2>just because he mentioned their city, and it was hilarious.
<v Speaker 2>I think it was Toronto. It might not be, but
<v Speaker 2>I know he also did something with the Canada, the
<v Speaker 2>old Canada. He did something with Toronto maple leaves. I think.
<v Speaker 2>So he can be hilarious but not intentionally. So yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I would love to see that part of the Rock
<v Speaker 2>in a babyface role. He has had some of the
<v Speaker 2>most iconic hilarious promos of all time. I remember right
<v Speaker 2>before Armor Getting two thousand when he imitated every single
<v Speaker 2>one of his opponents, from the Undertaker to Stone Cold
<v Speaker 2>to Triple H. I mean, it was hilarious and I
<v Speaker 2>remember that very well, and so yeah, definitely, yeah.
<v Speaker 4>I just I think the Rocks till us so much
<v Speaker 4>more to give.
<v Speaker 3>And don't get it wrong, the nostalgic act where he
<v Speaker 3>comes back and does the Rocks greatest hits will never
<v Speaker 3>get old in some capacity. I will always, you know,
<v Speaker 3>have time for the classic Rock act. But at the
<v Speaker 3>same time, you know how talented of a guy he is,
<v Speaker 3>you know how charismatic of a guy he is. How
<v Speaker 3>would it be if he just, for one last time
<v Speaker 3>let the chains off a bit? And I just think
<v Speaker 3>how it would help Roman Reigns, Like can't you see
<v Speaker 3>the Rock being in a MVP type of role to
<v Speaker 3>Bobby Lashley, but obviously on such a more gigantic scale,
<v Speaker 3>because you know, it's the Rock and not MVP. And
<v Speaker 3>I just feel as though, like even like I put
<v Speaker 3>pull a lot of parallels between Rick Flair and Triple
<v Speaker 3>H and Evolution, Like Triple H only really got cemented
<v Speaker 3>as an overwhelming elite level talent once he got to Evolution,
<v Speaker 3>at least in my opinion, and he was affiliated with
<v Speaker 3>one of the best of all time. Uh, don't you
<v Speaker 3>think that it would do a lot for Roman Reigns.
<v Speaker 3>And this isn't him me even saying that Roman Marins
<v Speaker 3>isn't already at that level, But do you not feel
<v Speaker 3>like you would just further cement him as just a
<v Speaker 3>top level superstar in the history of the company with
<v Speaker 3>a guy like the Rock by side in a faction.
<v Speaker 2>I will say this, if they decide to bring the
<v Speaker 2>Rock back, can convince him to do this just as
<v Speaker 2>we or similarly to what we just said about the
<v Speaker 2>Rock coming back, maybe facing Roman losing a wrestlemanian and
<v Speaker 2>then joining for a year and trying to get Roman
<v Speaker 2>over more as a heel. That will send a such
<v Speaker 2>a message to fans that they are not just all
<v Speaker 2>in they I mean they are They're going in on
<v Speaker 2>a superstar like they've never gone in before to bring
<v Speaker 2>back one of the greatest of all time to be
<v Speaker 2>second fiddle. And I don't mean that disrespectfully. I don't
<v Speaker 2>mean it that they demean the Rock, but really on
<v Speaker 2>kind of a two man power trip with backup. I
<v Speaker 2>mean unless Brock and Roman do that, which I think
<v Speaker 2>actually is a little more likely that Brock and Roman
<v Speaker 2>eventually do joined forces because Brock's actually there now and
<v Speaker 2>it'd be fun as hell to watch. But I think
<v Speaker 2>that you would have a message sent from from w
<v Speaker 2>WE like we are two thousand percent in on this
<v Speaker 2>guy being the biggest star of all time to bring
<v Speaker 2>back one of the biggest stars of all time to
<v Speaker 2>have a multi month into maybe a multi year plan
<v Speaker 2>of building this guy as the biggest star ever. I
<v Speaker 2>mean it would be it would be like, I can't
<v Speaker 2>even people don't understand like how much this would really
<v Speaker 2>just say to fans that this is the guy that
<v Speaker 2>we are gonna put our hat on and lean on
<v Speaker 2>for the next five to ten years. I mean, they're
<v Speaker 2>already doing that now and Roman has put on its
<v Speaker 2>back on his back for the last year and change now,
<v Speaker 2>But it would I don't think people understand the monumental
<v Speaker 2>really consequence of this.
<v Speaker 3>Well, a quick rumor coming down the pike here, and
<v Speaker 3>who knows if there's any legitimacy to do this, But
<v Speaker 3>I'm seeing on the sports aer right now that Wressel
<v Speaker 3>Votes is reporting that if this week what Raw generates
<v Speaker 3>a lot of higher ratings, it may result to WW
<v Speaker 3>opening up the box to showcase more main stars on
<v Speaker 3>both brands. So well, I mean, are we going to
<v Speaker 3>see another wildcard rule coming in?
<v Speaker 2>I you know, I've already ranted about this on Twitter,
<v Speaker 2>and I know the Draft is two weeks away, and
<v Speaker 2>I know that they have very rarely, if ever stuck
<v Speaker 2>to I meant you and I have talked about this,
<v Speaker 2>stuck to the damn rules of the draft, which I
<v Speaker 2>think would behoove them instead of just willy nilly not
<v Speaker 2>following your own rules. Wildcard Quarterly Invitational showing up in
<v Speaker 2>the explanation, I mean that they have constantly just bastardized
<v Speaker 2>their their rules, and I really hate it when they
<v Speaker 2>do that with no explanation, as if we're just supposed
<v Speaker 2>to accept it. That's the worst part. And Roman Reigns
<v Speaker 2>on this week's Raw. To your point and the poll
<v Speaker 2>that you're looking at, I think is while I'm fine
<v Speaker 2>with Romans showing up on WROW, if there's an explanation,
<v Speaker 2>I also understand the purpose of it. Of it's kind
<v Speaker 2>of a litmus test to see how much Roman Reigns
<v Speaker 2>moves the needle on the ratings. I think they're going
<v Speaker 2>to very very closely look at the ratings from Monette
<v Speaker 2>Raw and compare them to the last several weeks to
<v Speaker 2>see if indeed people do want to see this and
<v Speaker 2>the numbers don't lie. And I think this is absolutely
<v Speaker 2>a test to see what happens there, and I'm fine
<v Speaker 2>with it. If there's an explanation for it, like any
<v Speaker 2>champion can float between brands as they wish. Okay, fine,
<v Speaker 2>just tell me that, but don't tell me that there's
<v Speaker 2>a hard split and then have people willing nearly show
<v Speaker 2>up that I don't like.
<v Speaker 3>If they want to do that rule that champions can
<v Speaker 3>float between between brands, I wouldn't be opposed to it,
<v Speaker 3>But then you got to get rid of I guess,
<v Speaker 3>the Universal Championship, right, Like you're not going to get
<v Speaker 3>rid of the WWE Championship. You're gonna have to get
<v Speaker 3>rid of one of the women's championships. You're gonna have
<v Speaker 3>to get rid of one of the tag team championships, like, and.
<v Speaker 4>You know that's the thing.
<v Speaker 3>I'm not even against it, but you can't have two
<v Speaker 3>world champions, two women's champions, two tag team champions if
<v Speaker 3>everyone's floating between shows. Like Look, I've been rewatching some
<v Speaker 3>episodes of SmackDown from late two thousand and two early
<v Speaker 3>two thousand and three, and they were so strict with
<v Speaker 3>the brand rule and the brand split that it made
<v Speaker 3>sense that you had one world champion on each so
<v Speaker 3>and each felt equally as legitimate. Ditto for the tag
<v Speaker 3>team titles.
<v Speaker 2>But that's because it was such a big.
<v Speaker 3>Deal between of not crossing over to brands, Like do
<v Speaker 3>you remember when Goldberg got arrested for attacking brock Lesnar
<v Speaker 3>at No Way Out two thousand and four, and how
<v Speaker 3>big of a deal it felt like. I remember him
<v Speaker 3>walking in through the tunnel with security around him because
<v Speaker 3>he wasn't supposed to be there. He got the front
<v Speaker 3>road ticket from Austin. So if you want to go
<v Speaker 3>down that road, I think it's actually better. I love
<v Speaker 3>it when there's a hard brand split and it doesn't
<v Speaker 3>even bother me that there are two world champions, because
<v Speaker 3>it feels that special, But as soon as you make
<v Speaker 3>them cross pass, one of them feels inferior. And I
<v Speaker 3>watch the opening ten minutes of Raw and Biggie and
<v Speaker 3>Roman Reigns did a stare down, both holding their championships.
<v Speaker 3>I'm just like, yo, you guys may think this is,
<v Speaker 3>you know, Austin looking at the Rock, each holding a
<v Speaker 3>world title, but it's so clearly that Biggie is the
<v Speaker 3>secondary champion. Or then even take a guy like Bobby Lashley.
<v Speaker 3>Don't get me wrong, Like I love Bobby Lashley as champion,
<v Speaker 3>but you put him face to face with Roman Reigns.
<v Speaker 3>You know that Roman Reigns is gonna feel like the
<v Speaker 3>actual world champion. You know. Heck, when people compare WWE
<v Speaker 3>to AW, they always compare Roman Reigns to Kenny Omegaz,
<v Speaker 3>never Bobby Lashley. So I mean, when you make a
<v Speaker 3>hard split and there's no crossover, I'm all on board
<v Speaker 3>with it. But as soon as there's a bit of
<v Speaker 3>you know, muddying of the waters, it just all feels dilute.
<v Speaker 2>Well, I didn't see the opening segment of Raw, but
<v Speaker 2>that doesn't surprise me, which is fine because it's the
<v Speaker 2>same thing that happened on SmackDown. They just WinCE and
<v Speaker 2>repeat on that one. And I just I don't know.
<v Speaker 2>I don't understand how big Ee is on Monday Night Raw.
<v Speaker 2>It doesn't make sense, no order, I understand how Roman
<v Speaker 2>Reigns is on Monday Net Raw. We're just supposed to
<v Speaker 2>accept it as it's okay. They're both here, they're both stars.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, Biggie does not feel like a real champion.
<v Speaker 2>I'm sorry he doesn't. I just I do not believe
<v Speaker 2>it from a character perspective. I think also, his finisher
<v Speaker 2>is just god awful. I mean, it's it's just a
<v Speaker 2>belly flop. It's awful, you know, it's just so many things.
<v Speaker 2>But nonetheless to your point, yeah, no, like this Roman
<v Speaker 2>reigns or as far as the brand split goes, I
<v Speaker 2>think that this if they're gonna do this, like you said, fine,
<v Speaker 2>do a hard split. But the problem is we've seen
<v Speaker 2>them time again, tell us it's a hard split, and
<v Speaker 2>then just just go well, not really, We're gonna implement
<v Speaker 2>these just just discretionary rules at our will and will
<v Speaker 2>enforce them as the storylined dictates, not all the time,
<v Speaker 2>but when we need to, will enforce them. Otherwise we're
<v Speaker 2>just gonna have people show up with no explanation, not
<v Speaker 2>talk about it and hope the fans don't care. And
<v Speaker 2>we've see it, we see it all the time, and
<v Speaker 2>there's only two damn weeks, and they can't wait two
<v Speaker 2>weeks to just decide, okay, hey we're going to start fresh.
<v Speaker 2>They can't wait two weeks to do that whatever, So
<v Speaker 2>I think they're less championships always means more. I would
<v Speaker 2>cut all championships in half, get rid of the tag
<v Speaker 2>team championships, one of them again, Women's championship, get rid
<v Speaker 2>of one of them only one world champion. Even if
<v Speaker 2>they were going to do a brand split, you could
<v Speaker 2>still minimize the championships and have the toes those mean more.
<v Speaker 2>Then the problem, though becomes, I know what someone's gonna say, Well,
<v Speaker 2>then that could leave one brand with no championships. That's
<v Speaker 2>called that's the balancing act. Though. You gotta have like
<v Speaker 2>try to split it as best you can with the
<v Speaker 2>story lines so that you have roughly half of those
<v Speaker 2>championships on any brand at any given time. So that's
<v Speaker 2>what I would do. I don't like more championships to me,
<v Speaker 2>they always mean less. They're not going to do this,
<v Speaker 2>but that's how I would do it.
<v Speaker 3>But what about in the Ruthless Aggression era where each
<v Speaker 3>brand had five championships, but it was an actual hard
<v Speaker 3>split to the point that each brand had their own
<v Speaker 3>exclusive pay per views, The concept that I really liked.
<v Speaker 4>Did it still bother you? Then?
<v Speaker 2>The more championships, well, I think that the brands having
<v Speaker 2>your own pay per views, they they found out fairly
<v Speaker 2>quickly that the ratings and their buy rates at that
<v Speaker 2>time were not as good because you have a lot
<v Speaker 2>of talent on say Raw or SmackDown that the fans
<v Speaker 2>were like, oh, well, it's kind of it feels it
<v Speaker 2>feels half important, right because it's only half the roster.
<v Speaker 2>It doesn't feel like it's something I have to tune
<v Speaker 2>into and invest my money in. Now this is a
<v Speaker 2>different era. People aren't buying pay per views as much,
<v Speaker 2>although you still can't. I don't know who is, but
<v Speaker 2>you can. And I think that having brand specific championships
<v Speaker 2>is fine, but to me, it's one or the other.
<v Speaker 2>You can't be half pregnant. You need to pick a
<v Speaker 2>road in a lane and stick to it. You gotta
<v Speaker 2>pick either a brand split with championships that that can't float,
<v Speaker 2>or a brand split with champions that can float. If
<v Speaker 2>they don't want to eliminate championships, fine, And if we're
<v Speaker 2>gonna stick with a brand split, fine. I don't think
<v Speaker 2>they're gonna merge the rosters, and I don't want them
<v Speaker 2>to because there's too much talent that need the spotlight,
<v Speaker 2>and you would, really, I think you'd sacrifice that. We
<v Speaker 2>even talked about that probably a month or two ago,
<v Speaker 2>about you know, kid getting rid of the brand split.
<v Speaker 2>I don't think that's a good idea. So with those
<v Speaker 2>two options, you gotta pick one. You can't say you're
<v Speaker 2>gonna do one and then talk out on the other
<v Speaker 2>side of your mouth and you doing the other thing
<v Speaker 2>and the other thing.
<v Speaker 3>Like, could you imagine them having to abolish the Universal
<v Speaker 3>Championship again, because if they, you know, like that's what
<v Speaker 3>they would have to do, right.
<v Speaker 2>Or merge them right, Like do you have a merger match?
<v Speaker 2>Like I think was it John Cton and Randy Orton
<v Speaker 2>had one? I think, uh yeah, I mean like you
<v Speaker 2>have to merge them into the universe WWE Championship. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what you would do. And again, Roman
<v Speaker 2>Reigns has done such a great job with the Universal
<v Speaker 2>Championship and has added arguably more value than the WWE
<v Speaker 2>Championship over the last year. Maybe that's not even arguable
<v Speaker 2>that the Universal Championship a championship that came out of
<v Speaker 2>thin air because of the brand split. It was just
<v Speaker 2>created out of dust, and it feels more important than
<v Speaker 2>a championship that has one hundred times the lineage around
<v Speaker 2>the shoulder of Big Ee. That's a credit to Creative,
<v Speaker 2>that's a credit to ww themselves. It's a credit to
<v Speaker 2>Roman Reigns and Paul Hayman and everyone involved that you
<v Speaker 2>can create a championship out of thin air and it
<v Speaker 2>feels more important than one with a massive amount of lineage.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And I mean, like you said, that would be
<v Speaker 3>Roman Reigns is doing. And you'd have to think that
<v Speaker 3>if The Rock eventually did join the bloodline, he would
<v Speaker 3>only add to that. But you just have to hope,
<v Speaker 3>right that he will decide to give more time than
<v Speaker 3>just the classic you know, three four month long run
<v Speaker 3>of The Rock's greatest hits. Maybe we'll get some more
<v Speaker 3>depth this time around, but we can only hope.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, no, exactly, And I guess let me ask you
<v Speaker 2>last question, So what is your what is your real thought?
<v Speaker 2>Not if not this, not what if? But rather what
<v Speaker 2>do you really think if you're gonna be put on
<v Speaker 2>the spot? How do they deal with the Rocks? Hey,
<v Speaker 2>he does come in around Survivor series. Do you think
<v Speaker 2>it's just gonna be the standard Survivor series to Mania
<v Speaker 2>Rock loses?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah?
<v Speaker 3>I think so, because at the end of the day,
<v Speaker 3>I feel like The Rock is gonna give them a
<v Speaker 3>handful of dates ten if they're lucky, and if that's
<v Speaker 3>the case, they don't really have the time to build
<v Speaker 3>anything more complex. Than what we're ultimately thinking. The Rock's
<v Speaker 3>gonna come back. He's gonna congratulate Roman at the front
<v Speaker 3>at the beginning of it, and then it's gonna turn
<v Speaker 3>to a bit of criticism. Roman's gonna blast him from
<v Speaker 3>the back, and then we're just gonna slowly.
<v Speaker 4>Build until WrestleMania.
<v Speaker 3>You know, Like I said, if they had more time,
<v Speaker 3>maybe they would take more of a curbed approach and
<v Speaker 3>more you know, prolonged to run at it. But I
<v Speaker 3>just think that with the amount of time the Rocks
<v Speaker 3>and be able to give them, it's just not going
<v Speaker 3>to give them a whole lot of options to do
<v Speaker 3>anything more than the straightforward, predictable outcome that I think
<v Speaker 3>we're all expecting. Now, if The Rock somehow says, hey,
<v Speaker 3>I got six months or I can give you, you know,
<v Speaker 3>an appearance bi weekly, I think this all changes. But
<v Speaker 3>I'm just my best guess here is that they're going
<v Speaker 3>to only get a strict amount of dates and it's
<v Speaker 3>not going to give them too much room for playing.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I hate to be boring about this, but the
<v Speaker 2>thing is being boring and predictable. We all still want
<v Speaker 2>to see it. I know that, you know, we're creating
<v Speaker 2>a scenario that sounds like, oh, well, it's just going
<v Speaker 2>to be this and this, but we all still will
<v Speaker 2>be on the edge of our seats with this. We
<v Speaker 2>all want to see the Roco face to face with
<v Speaker 2>Roman and then see the promos between the two and
<v Speaker 2>then ultimately build for five six months to WrestleMania thirty
<v Speaker 2>eight in Dallas. That is still even if it's predictable,
<v Speaker 2>is fine. Didictability is not always the worst thing in
<v Speaker 2>the world. If it's the right thing to do, and
<v Speaker 2>if they're going to play the safe route and Rock
<v Speaker 2>has limited dates, then sure, let's just take this ride
<v Speaker 2>and have some fun promos and have some great you know,
<v Speaker 2>headshots and pictures that are going to be swirling around
<v Speaker 2>social media like wildfire, and have ww get spiked in
<v Speaker 2>ratings for a while and they'll be the talk of
<v Speaker 2>the town with the Rock return. But that is most likely, say,
<v Speaker 2>I'd give it like a ninety percent chance, you know,
<v Speaker 2>maybe higher that that is probably going to be the outcome.
<v Speaker 2>As fun as our conversation is about the Rock, you know,
<v Speaker 2>losing and then turning heel and joining the blood line,
<v Speaker 2>which is a very very small chance. I do think
<v Speaker 2>like you this is going to ultimately be just the
<v Speaker 2>kind of standard, predictable storyline, which is not a bad thing.
<v Speaker 3>If the Rock hypothetically gave them kind of like an
<v Speaker 3>eighteen month long window, like he gives them a lot
<v Speaker 3>more time than they could have ever expected. Do you
<v Speaker 3>think it changes a lot of things?
<v Speaker 2>Oh? God, yeah, I think that they're doing the most
<v Speaker 2>they can with a small amount of time that presumably
<v Speaker 2>he's giving w W. Like you said, probably ten dates
<v Speaker 2>from November to April. Is that sounds right to me?
<v Speaker 2>Maybe even overdone. I mean, we saw how little he
<v Speaker 2>was there on Raw between John Cena and Rock and
<v Speaker 2>their program, he was barely there. It was very frustrating
<v Speaker 2>as a Rock fan. And I think that if indeed
<v Speaker 2>he somehow has an open schedule, which it doesn't seem likely,
<v Speaker 2>but if he did, this whole thing changes on a dime.
<v Speaker 2>What I think would happen. Then the Rock wins. I
<v Speaker 2>think the Rock wins at WrestleMania, and the Rock goes
<v Speaker 2>on a several month rain as Universal Champion on SmackDown.
<v Speaker 2>Fox would be wetting their pants over that, and I
<v Speaker 2>mean they would lose it. And then you have a
<v Speaker 2>Rock consistently on SmackDown for several months defending his championship
<v Speaker 2>and still limited. I think it should be still limited
<v Speaker 2>to only wrestling on pay per views, and yeah, that
<v Speaker 2>could be a fun deal because then, yeah, that I
<v Speaker 2>think the Rock would be the one to dethron roman reigns.
<v Speaker 2>What do you think?
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, honestly, now that you say it, let's say he
<v Speaker 3>gave them until WrestleMania thirty nine, like an almost eighteenth
<v Speaker 3>eighteenth month long run. You could have him win the championship,
<v Speaker 3>prolong the build and then maybe drop it around SummerSlam
<v Speaker 3>and then make him join the blood Line, so then
<v Speaker 3>you get a six month run as him as a
<v Speaker 3>baby face or even longer than that, and then a
<v Speaker 3>final run of him with the Bloodline that could build
<v Speaker 3>to a match let's say against Drew McIntyre broccol Oh
<v Speaker 3>my god, I imagine versus.
<v Speaker 2>I've been talking about that for like six years. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I know. I'd actually rather see Rock Brock than Rock Roman. Honestly,
<v Speaker 2>if I was to choose as great as a storyline
<v Speaker 2>that would be, I still would want to see Rock
<v Speaker 2>Brock because it has been what since two thousand and two,
<v Speaker 2>It's been nearly twenty years. I mean, I would love
<v Speaker 2>to see that. I think it's more of a headline.
<v Speaker 3>While we're on the topic here, could we quickly just
<v Speaker 3>squash the whole narrative that Brock is like an unliked worker.
<v Speaker 4>I love the guy. I don't know about you.
<v Speaker 2>He's a wet worker, like a bad worker. Oh oh,
<v Speaker 2>I don't know where this is coming from. I honestly
<v Speaker 2>don't know. People are saying, oh, he's so one dimensional,
<v Speaker 2>he's like Goldberg. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no,
<v Speaker 2>he is not Goldberg. Have you seen his matches? Like,
<v Speaker 2>have you watched anything that he does. He's a lot safer,
<v Speaker 2>he's a lot more athletic, he has a better gas tank.
<v Speaker 2>I think he is just flat out more athletic. In
<v Speaker 2>the ring, the guy is an absolute monster. He knows
<v Speaker 2>actually how to wrestle, like amateur wrestling that he can
<v Speaker 2>put into there. I don't know where the hell people
<v Speaker 2>are coming up with that narrative. I've heard it too.
<v Speaker 3>I've said this a lot recently, aside from Austin Rock
<v Speaker 3>and Hogan, I don't think that there's ever been a
<v Speaker 3>bigger draw in WWE than Brock Lessner or I guess
<v Speaker 3>maybe Johnson as well.
<v Speaker 2>I think, well, yeah, the thing is, I think I
<v Speaker 2>think brock burned hotter than John, but John burned longer,
<v Speaker 2>and I think that's probably you know, if you're looking
<v Speaker 2>at the totality of the money drawn by John, it's
<v Speaker 2>obviously more than brock Lesner. But brock Lesner, I think
<v Speaker 2>is a bigger name than John Cena, even as much
<v Speaker 2>as John has done in Hollywood, and you know, give
<v Speaker 2>him kudos, and he's definitely making a name for himself
<v Speaker 2>quickly following the path of the rock that he blazed
<v Speaker 2>for him. I think certainly that brock Lesner is still
<v Speaker 2>a bigger household name, even as a guy sitting on
<v Speaker 2>his farm in you know, to wherever the hell he
<v Speaker 2>is in Canada, right like brock Less, unbelievably not doing
<v Speaker 2>anything for eighteen months, is still a bigger name than
<v Speaker 2>ninety five percent of the guys on the roster.
<v Speaker 3>I think it's because he's a legitimate Like you saw
<v Speaker 3>what he did in UFC, you saw what he did
<v Speaker 3>in amateur wrestling, You saw him, you know, at least
<v Speaker 3>get a lengthy look with the Minnesota Vikings. I think
<v Speaker 3>people just know that he is a legitimate badass, and
<v Speaker 3>I remember when he came back in twenty twelve, it
<v Speaker 3>got a lot of eyes on the WWE product because
<v Speaker 3>he was just coming off of his mega run with
<v Speaker 3>the UFC.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, no, I do remember that, Like, yeah, that's exactly right.
<v Speaker 2>I know that Goldberg had a brief stint in football.
<v Speaker 2>I understand that. I know that Goldberg is he's gotten
<v Speaker 2>his jiu jitsu or whatever the hell he does. I
<v Speaker 2>don't know. I mean, he's incredible shape for his age,
<v Speaker 2>But brock Lesner has all the credentials of an actual
<v Speaker 2>athlete and two time NCAA champion. Could have been if
<v Speaker 2>he pursued it, could have been an Olympic gold gold
<v Speaker 2>medalists just in the right right, you know, following in
<v Speaker 2>the suit of Kurt Angle. He just didn't pursue it,
<v Speaker 2>you know, he did. He was the last guy cut
<v Speaker 2>from the Vikings practice squad before the season started in
<v Speaker 2>two thousand and five, so or two thousand and four.
<v Speaker 2>So I think that, yeah, people look at that obviously
<v Speaker 2>did with UFC what he did in the as Pat
<v Speaker 2>mcafe says, the broctagon because they can't say octagon for
<v Speaker 2>whatever reason, They've just decided that's saying UFC or whatever is,
<v Speaker 2>you know, cross promotion. I don't know, but that is
<v Speaker 2>something that people. I don't know where this has coming from,
<v Speaker 2>and it's to me, it's just lazy analysis. It's just
<v Speaker 2>what are you talking about? Like, show me a brock
<v Speaker 2>less match that sucks?
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, No, I love brock Lesner And I know we
<v Speaker 3>kind of went off track here, but I just wanted
<v Speaker 3>to get that in what was on my mind.
<v Speaker 2>No, this is I hear you, and that's what happens here.
<v Speaker 2>And the people are like, wait, a minute's supposed to
<v Speaker 2>be about the Rock joining the blood Line. But I mean,
<v Speaker 2>this is just I have no excuses for this. It's
<v Speaker 2>just and I love it because it's it's fun to
<v Speaker 2>talk about things that are actually somewhat possible in an
<v Speaker 2>environment with crowds back. This is what you can talk
<v Speaker 2>about and fantasize about for things that are not completely
<v Speaker 2>off the radar Rock Brock Rock maybe going for an
<v Speaker 2>extended run, maybe being the one of he thrown Roman reigns,
<v Speaker 2>maybe he joins the bloodline, or maybe it's just the
<v Speaker 2>quote unquote boring road of him losing to Roman and
<v Speaker 2>going back to Hollywood. It could be all three of
<v Speaker 2>those or one of those three, And it's fun to
<v Speaker 2>talk about the possibilities, especially with brock Lesner kind of
<v Speaker 2>floating around and what he's going to do over the
<v Speaker 2>next you know. Cparently, eighteen months was his contract, so
<v Speaker 2>brock Lenser is going to be there for quite some
<v Speaker 2>time too.
<v Speaker 4>Which is good to see.
<v Speaker 3>And I'm really looking forward to what else they did
<v Speaker 3>with Brock. You have to think Bobby Lashley's on the horizon,
<v Speaker 3>maybe a rematch with Drew MacIntyre.
<v Speaker 4>But and especially now that they changed his character.
<v Speaker 3>You know, as much as I've liked Brock over the years,
<v Speaker 3>like there was something a little stale about his character,
<v Speaker 3>I just didn't mind it because I truly felt that
<v Speaker 3>that's who he was. Like, in my opinion, Brocklesner is
<v Speaker 3>the most authentic character in the history of the company.
<v Speaker 3>So that's why it didn't bother me too much, because
<v Speaker 3>I literally would say to myself, like, Okay, he's just
<v Speaker 3>playing Brocklesner the human. But the fact that he has
<v Speaker 3>changed his look, he's obviously changed his character. I would
<v Speaker 3>assume he's kind of a babyface now, you know, coming
<v Speaker 3>off like he's just you know, finished, like rallying up
<v Speaker 3>a herd of goats on a farm or whatever. I
<v Speaker 3>think it really has given his character a breath of
<v Speaker 3>fresh air.
<v Speaker 4>What do you think?
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, and now that he his babyface and people
<v Speaker 2>also say, and I've admittedly said this too, I'm not
<v Speaker 2>gonna pretend I didn't that Brock is not good on promos,
<v Speaker 2>and he's not good in the traditional sense of what
<v Speaker 2>we think of a good wrestling promo being. But as
<v Speaker 2>I kind of thought about it, I'm I don't know
<v Speaker 2>if Brock's bad on it or he's just really good
<v Speaker 2>at the way he delivers his promos, because he's good
<v Speaker 2>on the microphone to the extent that he is just
<v Speaker 2>as you said, authentic. He just says what he feels
<v Speaker 2>and doesn't come off sometimes polished or smooth or acute
<v Speaker 2>tagline at the end like a typical wrestling promo would.
<v Speaker 2>But maybe that's what makes Brock really good. He's just
<v Speaker 2>so full of energy and so intense all the time
<v Speaker 2>that it's fun to hear Brock Lesner speak on his
<v Speaker 2>own without the help of Paul Hayman. Right now.
<v Speaker 3>So yeah, yeah, well that's exactly it. And to your point,
<v Speaker 3>I think you said it perfectly. He's not a stereotypical
<v Speaker 3>good promo, but it's because you really think that that's him.
<v Speaker 3>And I think that's his best quality is that he
<v Speaker 3>feels like he's just being himself.
<v Speaker 4>And even though he maybe comes.
<v Speaker 3>Off of a bland or his voice doesn't really match
<v Speaker 3>his body, but when you hear him speak, at least
<v Speaker 3>in my opinion, it really just feels like it's he
<v Speaker 3>himself speaking And that makes me like want to I
<v Speaker 3>don't know, know, I don't know, just be invested in
<v Speaker 3>his character.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Brock doesn't feel It almost feels like Brock doesn't
<v Speaker 2>want to be there anyway, which I know he actually
<v Speaker 2>probably doesn't. And that's it's weird to think that I
<v Speaker 2>appreciate that it's because of the authenticism of his character.
<v Speaker 2>That's what it all boils down to. That people gravitate to,
<v Speaker 2>even if it's not a like a an admirable trait,
<v Speaker 2>that you're getting paid millions of dollars to be somewhere
<v Speaker 2>that you don't want to be, and I know he doesn't.
<v Speaker 2>He wants nothing to do with this. He'd rather be
<v Speaker 2>sitting on his farm and milking his cows. And you
<v Speaker 2>said hurting goats and just sitting at a barn or
<v Speaker 2>working out like that just is apparently what Brock just
<v Speaker 2>wants to do. And you know his attitude because he's
<v Speaker 2>so authentic that he wants he just doesn't want to
<v Speaker 2>fing be here and he's simply here for the money.
<v Speaker 2>And that's that makes it hilarious to me, because he
<v Speaker 2>can come in and be better than anyone on the
<v Speaker 2>roster by just being himself and not even really trying.
<v Speaker 2>That's what is so damn good about Brock. And Brock
<v Speaker 2>is so good in the ring that you know that
<v Speaker 2>speaks for itself too. So yeah, I know this this
<v Speaker 2>wasn't supposed to be about brock Lessner, but it somehow
<v Speaker 2>did morph into it. And imagine the paycheck that brock
<v Speaker 2>Lester is getting. A guy that hates people, legitimately hates
<v Speaker 2>crowds in terms of not maybe in the arena, but
<v Speaker 2>hates traveling, just doesn't want to see or talk to
<v Speaker 2>hear it, like from anybody to go to Saudi Arabia
<v Speaker 2>in October and face Roman reigns. Just imagine that paycheck
<v Speaker 2>that brock Lester is getting. How many zeros are on
<v Speaker 2>that one.
<v Speaker 3>But that's what makes it awesome because you know he
<v Speaker 3>doesn't want to be there, Like I always had a
<v Speaker 3>joke that he probably just showed up in his jet
<v Speaker 3>five minute minutes before the match, did his match, and
<v Speaker 3>then as he was walking through Gorilla, he was already
<v Speaker 3>given the keys to like his rental car. And that
<v Speaker 3>makes it really cool in my opinion, because he's a
<v Speaker 3>guy that's just so good at what he does. He
<v Speaker 3>just gets whatever he wants by the company, and we
<v Speaker 3>could all hate him for that, but at least in
<v Speaker 3>my mind, he's easily one of the characters I lived
<v Speaker 3>the most vicariously through.
<v Speaker 2>Oh God, and I love Pat McAfee's description of him.
<v Speaker 2>How if Aliens came down to Earth and we had
<v Speaker 2>to choose one human to fight him, it would be
<v Speaker 2>brock Lesner. I mean, it's so true, like Brock would
<v Speaker 2>be that guy. There's even a clip of brock Lesner.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what WrestleMania was from. I know that
<v Speaker 2>it was one that brock Lesler retained the championship, and
<v Speaker 2>it was a clip of him going backstage and the
<v Speaker 2>crowd was not with this match, honest, I don't know
<v Speaker 2>if it was with Roman. It probably was with Roman Reigns. Roman, Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>and he went backstage through the championship at Vincent Gorilla
<v Speaker 2>and said here a hole, and then Or said something.
<v Speaker 2>He say, curse at Vince McMahon who's sitting there with
<v Speaker 2>his headset on, and then Vince like said something back
<v Speaker 2>to him. Just the audacity. It's so it doesn't get
<v Speaker 2>any more defiant then a guy that's paying you millions
<v Speaker 2>to be there, you come backstage throw your championship in
<v Speaker 2>disrespect to the boss. I mean, this is unscripted stuff.
<v Speaker 2>So I mean, I don't do you know what clip
<v Speaker 2>I'm talking about. It's like a six second ten second
<v Speaker 2>clip of this what.
<v Speaker 3>No, I know exactly what you're talking about. It was
<v Speaker 3>following his match against against Roman Reigns. The resume at
<v Speaker 3>thirty four, and I think it's because the crowd turned
<v Speaker 3>on it. And if I'm to understand correctly, it's because
<v Speaker 3>Vince switched the match to Brock going over at the
<v Speaker 3>eleventh hour because of the sense that the crowd would
<v Speaker 3>freak out if Roman retained.
<v Speaker 4>And then I.
<v Speaker 3>Remember like Roman was bloodied mounted to come back, and
<v Speaker 3>then kind of out of nowhere, Brock hit him with
<v Speaker 3>the F five retained the championship. It was a very
<v Speaker 3>rejected main event, if memory serves me correctly, and Brock
<v Speaker 3>felt that and clearly wasn't appreciative of how they booked
<v Speaker 3>the match.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, okay, there you go. There's the explanation, and that's
<v Speaker 2>exactly what Brock did. And I love that attitude from
<v Speaker 2>Brock that even backstage he's like the same guy he's
<v Speaker 2>out in the rings. It's hilarious. I find Brock just
<v Speaker 2>really funny at times, and just because he's just who
<v Speaker 2>he is and he's not trying to play a wrestler.
<v Speaker 2>He doesn't just he does. He's not a character, he's
<v Speaker 2>just Brock Lesner and it's amazing how that just works
<v Speaker 2>with him. So all right, well let's let's close this
<v Speaker 2>out here. I mean, we're now in just I don't
<v Speaker 2>know where the hell we are in terms of topics now,
<v Speaker 2>it's just it's great. But all right, Anthony, before you go,
<v Speaker 2>just let everyone, of course, where they can find you
<v Speaker 2>on social media.
<v Speaker 3>You can find me at ad to mark of twenty
<v Speaker 3>five on Twitter and the same handle on Instagram.
<v Speaker 4>If you guys want to see pictures of my uppy face.
<v Speaker 2>Very good, Yeah, no, I hear you and go follow guys.
<v Speaker 2>You of course can check out Anthony and his rivalries
<v Speaker 2>every single week on Fridays right here on the ww podcast.
<v Speaker 2>So Anthony, so much fun. Way off topic, but we did,
<v Speaker 2>We did at least cover what we were supposed to.
<v Speaker 2>We just added more. How about that? We we we
<v Speaker 2>we gave everyone more than they expected. That's how I'll
<v Speaker 2>look at it.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, we'll look at it as a little bonus part
<v Speaker 3>of our episode, as that's the best explanation we could
<v Speaker 3>give when we go off the rail.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you guys got bonus content, so you're the benefactors
<v Speaker 2>of this. It's not that we screwed up. You guys
<v Speaker 2>got more content than you expected, and it's bonus. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>that's how we'll that's how we'll sell it. So all right, well,
<v Speaker 2>thanks so much man, and we'll be chatting next week.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, man, looking forward to it.
<v Speaker 2>All right, see you later.