Current State of WWE: The Fallout of WWE's Apparent Decision to Replace Cody Rhodes with The Rock

Welcome to the ring wrestling fans. This isn't just any corner of the wrestling
world. It's Casual Wrestling YouTube Channel, the hottest spot for WWE enthusiasts and
casual fans alike. Meet your hosts, the unbeatable tag team of Debate,
Notorious Nerdy D and Milwaukee Mike. They're here to tackle the big questions,
the epic matches, and all the WWE drama you love. Each episode,
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to classic wrestling showdowns, They've got you covered. Whether you're a diehard WWE
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all right, everybody, Welcome to the WWE podcast. Thank you so much
for joining me here on this Monday, February fifth, twenty twenty four.
We're gonna get to Anthony Debarco and myself just a moment as we discussed all
of the insanity with the fans and Cody and Roman and Rock and the Rocky
sucks chance and what could happen and what couldn't happen and how WW screwed this
up and did they purposefully screw it up? And all the things that are
circulating online here. We talked for about forty forty five minutes. I think
you'll enjoy it. So thank you so much for joining us here on the
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and myself to give a big shout out to the patrons. I really appreciate
all of you, and things are continuing to grow, and I think it'll
I think it'll get even crazier come WrestleMania season. As we are in a
wild WrestleMania season right now. I mean, I've never seen anything like this.
Social media certainly wasn't around for a lot of my wrestling fandom. It
only became real prevalent over the last ten to fifteen, ten really ten years,
and so now that everyone has a platform and a voice and a phone,
it can get pretty toxic out there, no doubt about it. But
you know, I've heard that there's death threats for the Rock's daughter. I
mean, if that's true, that's just awful. That's horrific. You know,
we don't need any of that, but it's passionate fans speaking with passionate
fans, and it's going to be interesting to see what ww does here.
So I'm going to shut up and I'm going to get to Anthony myself here
as we discuss all the insanity that is Cody Roads Rock or Cody Roads Rock
Roman, and a whole lot more. So let's get to it, and
thanks so much, everybody. I'll be back tomorrow with the Raw review.
Take care, all right, nobody here. It's the current state of WWE.
We're not gonna waste any time, as Anthony DeMarco joins us tonight,
because we are on we're in the middle of a civil war, but really,
I don't know how much of a civil war it is. When now
we have fans, and we did see the beginning of Raw, at least
from the fans chanting perspective of Rocky sucks. And we've heard reports coming out
that this is actually by design, And there's a hashtag we want Cody going
on right now. And this doesn't appear to just be online. This appears
to be growing and growing in person, and at some point WWE is gonna
have to address this publicly or at least in storyline. I don't know if
ignoring it is a strategy anymore. So we'll have to see and let's bring
on Anthony Man. How you doing during all of this chaos right now with
fans and their war with each other and with WWE over this Cody Rock Roman
situation. It's pretty crazy, honestly, like all all open with this because
there's so much pack here. But did you ever think that they would find
a way to f up Rock versus Roman? There's now? Yeah? Okay,
so let's the answer to that is no, it's almost impossible to screw
this up. Almost But if this is not by design, which as you
and I acknowledged off the air is apparently Meltzer has reported that this is by
design, that they did this with the Rock and that this is supposed to
help get our Cody over even more and this is all on purpose. Assuming
that's not the case, how do you screw this up this bad? They
have had how long to plan it and it's just been a just dumpster fire?
You know? When I was actually in Toronto over the weekend for the
NHL All Star Game, so I didn't watch it live, but when I
saw just the clip the night of without before all the backlash, because the
back lash really Kate like took off. What the morning after or at least
that's when I saw it. And when I saw the clip, what I
said to myself was just like, that was a very strange way to go
about this, and like, again, let's go with the assumption that this
wasn't by design for a second. Let's go with the assumption that this was
just you know, WWE's plan. I get what they were going for about
like Rock Roman I guess I mean Rock trying to like embrace Cody and say
the nice thing and put Cody like them on like the same side. But
like the headshot of Cody Roads over the Rock's face looking like obviously disheveled and
just completely like borderline depressed, and then like him just sauntering up the ramp
as the Rock stares at him walk away. I was just like, who
thought that this was gonna go over well? I just and even as someone
like me that hates Cody Rhoads with every part of my body, I was
even like, man, they did him dirty? Like why is the royal
rumble winner stepping aside so the Rock could parachute in? Like even someone who
hates Cody Roads as much as me, Like I went and rent on after
dark Friday, morning, twelve hours before all this, you know what hit
the fan, and I said that they had to do Rock Roman this year
or else it was do or die, and that nothing should just be sacrificed
at the altar of Cody Roads. But I have to eat my words.
The way they did it made me, in like not even twenty four hours,
shift my view on how they went about it. But to be honest,
it all goes back to one thing, them refusing and just completely refusing
and sacrifice everything at the altar of Roman. Rains's title reign has put them
in this corner and has now finally backfired on them. And we're gonna see
how big that backfiring is, how long this lasts, because I really don't
know how what the sustainability, what the staying power of this movement is with
fans, do they feel like they've gotten a foothold. And if they feel
like they've gotten a foothold in on WWE, then they're going to continue to
push this bigger and bigger like the Yes movement. But it also is a
dangerous precedent to set by WWE to allow fans to just complain and and you
know whine online that they don't like a certain storyline, and if they hit
the dislike button on a video they upload certain number of times, WWE is
gonna just change what they're doing because the fans don't like it. I mean,
I'm not a big fan of that. It sets a very bad precedent,
kind of a entitled precedent almost from fans, and look, they should
do what we want. But also at the same time, are we really
going to use the number of dislikes on a video as the ultimate determination or
what hashtags trending? I mean hashtags come and go. Trends come and go.
It's gonna be up to the fans that are in support of the Rock
being removed from this match and Cody being put in to continue to be vocal
on television. And what we saw at the beginning of Raw is concerning if
I'm WWE, I'm sitting there going on I hope this is just an online
thing and it doesn't translate to on air. Well, guess what it did,
and it's I think going to continue because when fans see it one week,
guess what the fans in the city the next week are gonna do.
They're going to continue it and continue it, and at some point they're gonna
be forced to do this. And you know what, you're right, as
much as you and I are not in the camp of Cody Rhoads, this
was a just it was a terrible creative decision to have this done. I
also understand why they did it this way though, because they probably thought it
to themselves, Hey, let's not hide from this, let's not run from
this. The fans kind of know what's going on or what could go on.
Let's just put them in the ring together and not hide from it and
just have Cody, you know, just allow the Rock to come in and
take his spot. Essentially, Now, nothing's official too, So that's the
other thing. Nothing is official. We don't know if this is for the
title. We don't know if Cody Roads is getting a shot at the elimination
chamber. Maybe that's when he's cashing in his rumble his rumble ticket. Because
it would make no sense for Cody to say that's the belt I want,
but I don't want it right now. It's like, well, that's the
whole point of the Rumble win. So you can't have Cody say that's the
belt I want and then go after another belt, like why we need more
of an explanation from Cody. It felt like very much like little brother to
the Rock. It felt very much like that relationship, like that a boy,
thanks buddy, thanks for letting me take your spot. It was not
a good feel even if you're a Rock fan. It did not as you
said, it felt like they did him dirty, even if you're in support
of the Rock. Yeah, and I know a lot of people are trash
on the Rock, and you've seen his daughter get that threats now and obviously
people take it way too far, as we always do in today's society.
But if we just look at it from a wrestling standpoint, it was awful.
It was terribly done because what did the Rock do to deserve this?
And I've seen a lot of people like equate it to when he defeated Cmpunk
at Royal Rumble eleven years ago. Now, crazy to think that was eleven
years ago. Then they're saying, well, what did he do to earn
a WWE championship match at the Rumble? Well, at least there you could
have said he beat Johnson in the main event at the prior WrestleMania. This
s parton me so at least there there was some tangible evidence to go off
of and results to warrant that. But he literally just parachuted in and nobody
has been was hot in twenty thirteen like Cody Rhodes is now. And look,
I am not a Cody fan. You're not a Cody fan. I
really hate the character and I don't understand why so many people are behind him.
But the proof is in the pudding. We are in the vast minority
here, and if you can find a way to make someone like me feel
bad for Cody Rhodes, and I'm historically a massive Rock fan, and for
me to even say, you know what, this was bad, This was
terribly done. You must have really screwed the pooch on this. And that's
exactly what they did. They completely messed this up. They fumbled it.
You know, I said for so long and believe you've ecoed the same sentiments
that there was no way to screw up Rock versus Roman, but they found
a way to do it. And it all comes back to the same thing.
It comes back to the fact that they refused, absolutely refused to take
that championship off of him. If that championship was not on Roman Reigns and
Cody Rhodes would have gone up against someone else. I don't think anyone would
care. I don't think it's so much about Roman Reigns and him having to
defeat Roman as it is that he wants that championship, and he does,
and he should be in the main event, and he should be. He
won the Royal Rumble. And yes, you brought up good point last week.
The entire part of finishing the story is about winning the title with the
lineage that his father never did, and that is a good point why the
World Heavyweight title is not in his crosshairs. So I mean, I don't
think it's so much about Roman Reigns. It's about the main event and the
championship. And because you absolutely, under any circumstance refuse to take that belt
off of Roman Reigns, these are the consequences. And it just shows once
again all the ramifications that WWE is dealing with because of them just refusing to
pull the plug on this Roman Reigns title run, that this point is probably
eight months overdue. This is you know, I have to as you were
talking about it and how they almost impossibly screwed this up it's really to me,
it's very interesting that this is Triple H's first real battle with fans because
there's no more Vince to blame. You can't go a Vince in his booking.
That's gone, that excuse is gone. This is Triple H's regime now,
and this is going to be a very interesting test for him. Where
you know, we generally have been very very complimentary, throwing roses at the
feet of Triple H for the most part regarding his creative and over the last
year or so, it's been pretty good. And once Vince's gone, he's
gone, and now you can't blame the old man anymore, so that's out
the window. On top of that, you know, the Rock must be
sitting here going like, bro, what the hell, what the f like,
you know, like, how first of all, the Rock was involved
in creative with this, so he's partly to blame. I mean, you
know, the Rock has some saying this it's not all Triple H. But
also they almost be saying to themselves, what the hell they wanted this match?
This is a mega match, this is a dream match. They wanted
it, They've been asking for it, We've been teasing it. I mean,
it's been essentially built underneath the surface for nine years since that rumble and
Philly in twenty fifteen, and now we give it to them and they're saying
no. I mean, I hope nobody in WWE is shallow to just understand
that there's more underneath the surface than just the fans being fickle. And then
once you give them what they want, they don't want it. No,
They've really been building to a Cody redemption story for a long time. So
I understand the frustration from Cody fans. I totally get it, even though
I don't like it. It doesn't mean I don't understand it. I understand
completely that they have essentially pushed Cody to the side for a guy that is
a not even a you couldn't even describe him as a part time or he's
a sum timer maybe. I mean, so this I just I really am
interested to see how Triple H with no vins to blame anymore, you can't
point it at him, How does he deal with this? Does he cave?
Does he stay the course? What do they do? I really don't
know what they do other than just pivot and just pivot and completely go for
the Roman versus Cody match, But then what do you do with the Rock?
That's the entire thing here is like you've seen people throw out like,
oh, why don't you do a triple threat? Well then that completely defeats
the purpose of Rock versus Roman. So but I know what I would personally
do would be take the belt off of Rowan rings, But I'm gonna I'm
just done with that. I just assume that he's never gonna lose the championship
again because of how hard and how much they've dug in on this. So
the only other thing I could think of is a triple threat. But then
that's stupid because then why is the Rock even there. He's not even back
for the championship. He's back for the head of the table, which is
why the title being involved is as stupid as ever. And then what if
you completely pivot to Rock versus Cody, then Roman versus Cody, then what
the Rock just disappears as if nothing happened. Then what he can never show
his face in WWE again because of how impassing this is. I really do
not understand like what they go with here, because all the options are just
completely terrible. Welcome to the ring wrestling fans. This isn't just any corner
of the wrestling world. It's Casual Wrestling YouTube Channel, the hottest spot for
WWE enthusiasts and casual fans alike. Meet your hosts, the unbeatable tag team
of Debate, Notorious Nerdy D and Milwaukee Mike. They're here to tackle the
big questions, the epic matches, and all the WWE drama you love.
Each episode, Nerdi D and Mike dive into the ring of Debate, bringing
you a unique punch pack show styled after ESPN's PTI. From the latest pay
per view breakdowns to classic wrestling showdowns, They've got you covered. Whether you're
a diehard WWE fan or just love the thrill of a good wrestling story.
The Casual Wrestling YouTube channel is your go to source for entertaining, insightful,
and sometimes heated wrestling talk. The Casual Wrestling YouTube channel where every fan gets
a front row seat. They've in one week. In one segment, it
seems like they have completely torched the entire anticipation of this matchup and again.
But the funny thing is that we all need to take four steps back and
realize too there's been nothing on paper, there's been nothing officially announced it.
Yes, symbolically, the Rock took Cody's spot. We haven't heard why the
hell Cody really did it? He gave kind of a smirk. Also at
the end of it they seem to be teaming up as well. You could
read into that as you will. Where and again, this is how I
would do it too. Is to me, Cody's after the belt. Rock
is after the pride and the family and the head of the table, kind
of the intangible part of the thing. And that's how it always should have
been. Is just about that, so I think, And this is how
I would do it is have Cody beat Roman and elimination chamber titles. Over
All that's left that Roman has is his pride and his family and claiming himself
as the head of the table. Now the Rock is going to take him
and strip him of that at WrestleMania. I think you would to me kill
two birds with one stone. You would have Cody in front of fifty thousand
people in Perth, Australia beat Roman reigns. You get Cody going in now
to WrestleMania as champion. You have Rock facing Roman, non title, so
the people that were hating on the Rock will cool off and there's nothing left
that you have to worry about. Roman's already been beaten by Cody. You
walk into WrestleMania, Rock can beat or not beat Roman. It doesn't really
matter at that point. It's really about just the fact we're getting this match
that I'm appreciative of. So that's how I would do it. But a
triple threat, to me would piss both sides off. That is, I
know that that some people are proposing that triple threat. I understand that you
think, well, put them both in, that'll make both sides happy.
No, that'll piss both sides off because they're not getting the match they want
and they feel that the other person that's in there is an extra that doesn't
deserve to be there, and it's distracting from the person that they want to
be one on one. So I think a triple threat is a bad idea.
But here's the funny thing too. With WWE's creative, the way they
seem they're going, Roman could walk out of us and probably will walk out
of this as champion no matter what situation they put him in. It's very
possible that Roman just no matter what situation, triple threat, Cody, Roman,
Roman Rock, whatever, he still could walk out of WrestleMania Fortius champion
and all of this argument, all this arguing among fans could be for completely
nothing, because Roman is just gonna walk out of WrestleMania forty as champion.
Has anyone ever considered that? You know what? It's funny. I saw
a meme today of like Roman Reigns smiling, looking at the camera, rubbing
his hands together, and it was captioned Roman watching all of us over who's
gonna who He's gonna defeat at WrestleMania, And it's so true because again,
that is the whole problem. Like everyone wants to blame the Rock here,
but let's be honest. People have been begging for this match for years,
and you and I included were dragging the Rocks name through the mud because we
were saying, how dare he tease it this, and that everyone was dog
piling on him, like this guy, he teased it. Now he's not
gonna do it. The clock is ticking, and now that he's doing it,
we're all we're all dog piling on him. But the problem is is
that it's not Roman. It's not Rock's fault, it's not Triple H's fault.
Well, I guess it's kind of Triple H's fault. Everyone has some
blood on their hands. But the main issue here is whoever is refusing to
pull the plug on Roman's title reign. That's the issue. If we all
talked about that wwe had the opportunity to have their cake and eat it too,
if you had Roman drop the belt at Royal Rumble or whenever to the
most popular one was Randy Orton because there's a built in story with Randy and
Cody and fishing the story in legacy going back fifteen to sixteen years ago.
I don't think anyone would have cared. I don't think they care that it
had to be Roman versus Cody. I think they cared that it had to
be Cody for that title in the main event, and you know what,
he won the Royal Rumble. He should be in the main event for the
title he wants. It makes no sense creatively, even if I hate him
and it leaves such a bad taste in my mouth that that's their end game.
I can't be subjective on this. I have to look at this in
an impartial way and impartially even though I hate Cody and Rock has historically been
my favorite character in the history of WWE. It's garbage the way they went
about it. And now you've backed yourself into a corner where I don't even
know what you do at this point, Like it feels like a few weeks
ago, it felt like they had the best WrestleMania at the tips of their
fingers, and now all of a sudden, it's like, no matter what
they do, they're gonna look dumb and think about not just that that they've
botched this again. So far, there's eight weeks left of television two.
That's twenty four hours of raw, just raw that they have to get through.
So there's a lot of time to do damage control, no pun intended,
there really is there, and so there is time to fix this.
But as things stand at this moment, they've botched this, which means fans,
Cody's fans are pissed. Rock fans are pissed that Cody fans are pissed
Rock should for saying, oh, I should face Roman. There's even talk
of Rock winning the title, that Rock's pushing for it. That's a whole
other conversation, but then you have the injuries to see them punk He's out.
So the whole the idea of obviously Seth and Ceampunk is gone. Brock
Lesner and Gunther is gone. You know, like you have Charlotte on the
women's side gone. I mean, like you think about where WrestleMania was just
like a month ago on our minds to where it is now, and it
is a totally effed up card. Now the roster is super deep. I'm
not that concerned it's going to be a flop, but it is not the
WrestleMania that we just saw. I mean in our minds realistically just a month
ago. It's absolutely insane. And you know when you add to this that
imagine that Rock and Roman face each other for the title. If WWE is
that bold to just move forward with that, I really believe that it's going
to be a Rock Hogan WrestleMania eighteen dynamic where the fans literally just turn on
the Rock. I think it's very possible that they do. Do you think
that's a possibility if they decide screw this, We're not gonna fold to the
fans will or hashtags. We're moving forward. It's gonna be Rock Roman for
the title. Do you think that WWE is prepared for it possible or do
you think it's even possible that it's going to be a Hogan Rock Dynamic from
Toronto in you know how many years ago. But Roman Rock, I feel
like they would just hijack the men event completely. It would probably be more
akin to Roman Triple H from Resume thirty two. I think it would be
something along the lines of that or Roman Brock from Resume thirty four. The
concerning part here is is that the Rock has now and like he's on the
board of directors of TKO. That's the concerning thing, which is crazy because
you thought that that would have been a good thing. And if he's pushing
for this and just foohorning himself into WWE at the top of it. Now
you hear that he's bringing in Brian Gewertz or go whatever however you pronounce his
name Gowartz the Warts to oversee his side of creative So like, how much
pull does Triple H have here? Like it's very bizarre that in the in
the immediate aftermath of Triple of Triple hc in the Gang Full Control and Vince
McMahon can being completely removed out now, like you have the Rock in there,
and is the Rock going into business for himself, which which is crazy?
Right like you? Like I saw I think it was Mike Johnson.
Is that the guy from p W Torch p W Inside. I think he's
I thought he was PW Insider. Oh yeah, he is PW Insider.
You're right, the Torch is its own thing. Sorry, I get the
mixed up sometime and I think he was quote insane. Today's something along the
lines of like how some people in the company feel like The Rock was losing
steam in Hollywood, so now he's just attaching himself to the rocket ship that
was WWE and how they were selling out all these like venues and WrestleMania without
him, and now he's just putting himself in the mix. Like it's very
weird. And I don't want to like demonize the Rock here, but I
think the fans have already kind of turned on him. But like, do
you think that any of this could be because of the Rock just being so
selfish and going into business for himself? You know there is if the Rock
to get some truth serum, I think there is a selfish element to it.
There has to be. He's a human being that has a legacy that
is likely never to be matched. He's one of the greatest of all time,
and I think there's something for him to prove to himself that he can
still go if he wants to. I think there is a selfish element to
it. I mean, there just is. I don't know how big it
is, but it's there. But I also think that really WWE and I
keep making this argument and people keep not understanding that this is a bigger match
and will create more eyeballs, which is more AD revenue, and that's a
primary source of income for WWE than Cody Roman will. But at the same
time, WWE is getting so much press from TMZ and like major news outlets
now covering this backlash that I don't even know if it matters anymore who's facing
Roman, that the fans are all just looking at this, who are on
the outside, the fringes of wrestling fans, or even people that aren't wrestling
fans that are now looking at this, going what the hell is going on?
I'm hearing this yelling and screaming on social media and it's on my news
now it's on my local news, it's on the national news on some of
these sports segments, like what the hell is going on? This is creating
so much buzz that con I think secretly, as much as it's frustrating for
creative, they're looking at this. Ww's looking at this going hey this.
Fans may be pissed, but they're doing a whole lot of free advertising for
us on social media right now, and they are creating a whole lot of
news that we didn't know that we were gonna get. And it may not
be the best news that fans are angry at WWE, but it's also taking
the attention off of Vince and the whole real life scandal going on. No
one's talking about that anymore, so it's also kind of a great byproduct for
them. Let's look at this now, under the assumption that this is actually
by design, what like what would be like if you could try and just
for a second put yourself in their shoes, assuming that this was by design,
what would the outcome be if that's the case. So, if this
is my design, I think now I'm not trying to act like my idea
is the best. It's I don't think it is just because it's my idea,
but it would fit what your question is in that if it's by design,
then you'd want Cody to still beat Roman reigns because they essentially told you
that's what's gonna happen with Cody telling Roman on SmackDown, that's the belt I
want and I'm going to take everything from you, which means more than just
the belt, and then the Rock and Cody shake hands and Rock like you
know, sing sweet nothings in his ear or whatever he was telling him,
and then Cody goes off and kind of looks like he's, you know,
a lost puppy, which, by the way, I mean apparently as a
dog he's bringing to the events. Now, what a tool? I mean,
I'm sorry, what a tool? I mean, he's just a tool.
But I mean, I'm pissing off like half the listeners right now,
but I mean it is what it is. We're we are really looking at
this very objectively, I think. But you know, I think that my
idea fits the answer of if this is by design, they we know the
fans again, all assuming which I don't think it is, the fans are
gonna get angry. The fans are gonna get pissed off at Rock for just
a short while, and then it comes around that hey, Cody is cashing
in his rumble win at Elimination Chamber. Now, how they make that work.
It's kind of subverting the rules of the rumble, I understand, but
they could make it work where he says, I want it now, I
don't want to wait till WrestleMania. I want it in Perth, Australia,
in front of fifty thousand people at the in the stadium and then working that
pay per view. Well, that's the thing. But they could make it
happen. I mean, they could put enough zeros on a check to make
him show up. I mean, the fact that he's not previously scheduled doesn't
mean he can't be. So I think that's a possibility. And maybe the
chamber match, well we will I don't even want to talk about. That's
the world title. Maybe we can end with that. So I think that's
what they could do, is have Cody win at Elimination Chamber. Cody's now
champion Rock and Romans still on no belt on the line, Cody walks into
WrestleMania's CHAMPI and so I think that's how you do it and everyone's happy that.
I mean, I know it's not at WrestleMania, but you still get
the end game you want. Cody finishes his story, Rocket Roman's no title
and means the fans can't get pissed. So so like, because here's the
thing, if like, assuming that their plan is still for Cody to main
event WrestleMania for the WWE Championship, not the World Championship, but WWE one,
what would you do with the Rock? Like if this was all a
ploy to get him over like Daniel Bryan and get all this like nuclear like
a push behind him and it was undeniable, Like, then what do you
do with the Rock? Like? Is that does that mean like we just
never get Rock Roman? Like there is an element to it. It's just
like, look, we can get Cody Roman again, but we'll never be
able to get Rock Roman again. And I'm not defending the way that WWE
went about it, but like there is an element to that that I don't
know if people were realizing here that like we're risking get like vetoing a match
that will never ever get again, and yeah, go ahead, no I
I that's the next point exactly. I was gonna bring up that people that
are on the Cody side in f Rock, this is bs. He's coming
in for business for himself. He's on the board of directors. Obviously he's
just gonna insert himself in there. I understand all of that argument, and
there may be some truth to that, but I don't care if I don't
even care if that's one hundred percent of the truth. He's going into business
for himself, and he did it totally for himself. I don't care.
I mean because the result is the same, that we get the match that
we've been asking for for some of us for nearly ten years. And the
biggest point is they can do Rock and Code or I'm sorry, Cody and
Roman over the next several years or just after WRESTLEMANI, you can get to
Cody and Roman at any time. They're both in their primes, they're both
active in the company, they're both healthy, they're both again relatively young.
But like the Rock and Roman, this is the only this is I don't
want to say it's the last shot, but it kind of is. As
you have said in your show as well, with the after Dark, this
is kind of it the Rock is in a good physical condition, his movie
schedule is cleared. He's not in at least this in this year. He's
not into politics, at least running for office, although that may change in
the next few years. You know, Roman reigns is a heel. You
want Rock as a babyface, Roman as a heel. So like everything's lined
up, and it's also WrestleMania forty. There's that extra little umph that comes
with those nice round numbers of WrestleMania, you know, original WrestleMania, WRESTLEMANA
ten, twenty thirty, and now forty. There's that extra specialness that comes
with those numbers of WrestleManias. So this is it. This is it,
and it's in Philly. So a lot of history there with Rock, Rock
and Roman that started the whole thing. So this, yeah, this is
either now or never. And I think the fans that are supporting Cody are
going to look back and say, hey, damn, you know, like,
I know we got the endgame here with Cody as champion, but son
of it. You know, I wish I got Rock and Roman. That
would have been awesome. I think they're not seeing the forest through the trees
and they're being very shortsighted here of like realizing this is kind of the only
opportunity this is not going to come around again. Oh, it's it's such.
I cannot believe. I cannot believe that they found a way to screw
it up. They did it, But they did it. They somehow.
But does this not all just come back to something you've been saying for four
or five years that all roads must lead to Roman reigns? Like are we
still yeah this? And we were saying last week and I'll eat my words.
I was saying last week that it was becoming all roads lead to Cody
Rhodes. But like this is this entire problem could have been corrected if you
just took the belt off of Roman. If you took the belt off of
Roman, I don't think people would have said a word. And you could
have done anyone like Cody versus Drew, Cody versus Punk, Cody versus uh
Ran Yorton. All you had to do was take the belt off of Roman
rains and have Cody challenge that person for it in the main event of WrestleMania.
I don't think anyone would have had a problem with it. Or don't
shove him down our throats and make him the first back to back winner in
twenty five years, like the fact that they did that, and then there's
reports that they made this decision two days after the Rocks appearance on Monday night
Rob New Year's Revolution, Like, there's just so many weird aspects to how
this went down. I don't even know it's the case, because there's some
things that are just like, no, there's no way that they intentionally planned
this. They went with something that they thought would put every would appease all
sides, Cody and Rock on the same side. They hug it out,
they brow down big brother, little Brother, that dynamic blows up in their
face, and now they're trying to do damage control, no pun intended.
But then when you hear all these other things about when the decision was made
and then pushing Cody to win back to back rumbles and how much that and
how much that meant the significance of it, then it kind of makes sense
that this was all part of the plan. But again, like, I
understand that we should blur the lines between k fabe and reality, but at
the same time, it shouldn't be this complicated, Like I'm all for like
like like, look beyond what you see, there's more beneath the surface type
of stuff. But this is too complicated. You've had people turn on the
Rock. It's just it's so weird the way that it's gone down. That
is the biggest point against the argument that all they meant to do this.
And number one, I think that they'd like to push that narrative so they
don't look stupid. Is well, we want to do this right, Like,
yeah, that's what That's what anyone that's in a public facing organization would
say. So it looks like they're still in control, I mean, and
to try to save face. I strongly believe this was not supposed to be
the plan that the fans turn on the Rock. I mean, there's just
no way, especially if the Rocks signed off on it. You think the
Rocks signed off on a plan that was was was that included the fans turning
on him before he faced Roman. There's not a chin chants. There is
no chance that the Rock came back and said, you know what, I
want to get booed. I want fans to turn on me before we get
to Roman reigns and myself like, no, there is no chance in hell
that they envisioned that, or the Rock envision that, or would have signed
up for that. I very much disagree with the idea that it's it was
in the cards. This whole end game is well, it's gonna end up
being fans are gonna support Cody more, and that actually is true, but
it did not include the Rock being a collateral damage a legend at this point
for all of this to go down, it's not what they meant to do.
And now they're trying to go back and correct it. And I'm very
curious what they're going to do. If the fans continue to yell and scream
at these events and hijack the events, They're gonna have no choice but to
do something. Address it publicly. Cody comes out and addresses it, maybe
the rock. I actually wouldn't put the Rock in front of a live crowd
right now. That sounds insane. But I would not put the Rock in
front of a live WWE crowd right now because I think the fans would actually
boo him. I think that they would send a message to WWE and use
the Rock as a vehicle to do that, and that sounds insane. What
if you turned the rock heel made him like corporate slash Hollywood rock, make
him almost go by Dwayne Johnson and have him aligned with Roman reigns, and
then you kick the can down the road with a Roman versus rock. But
Roman's the baby face and Rock is the heel. Like I mean, Brian
Dewltz is on record saying that he thinks the best rock was Hollywood rock,
and now, like, would that maybe not be the best case of both
worlds, Like have the rock bring back the heel music and have him come
out in a suit and just have him go by Dwayne Johnson, like just
like a hybrid of corporate rock from ninety nine and Hollywood rock from three Like
I mean, given the current context, like maybe that's the best course to
go down that sound that you know. My initial reaction to that was no,
they gotta keep regular babyface rock. But now that they've f things up,
the fans I think would be more than willing to embrace the rock coming
out and saying, you know, coming out and being Hollywood rock, being
just a entitled d bag from Hollywood that comes in and says, you know
who I am, you know my resume. It doesn't matter if you know,
like you could easily have the rock troll the fans, have him completely
turn the fans completely turn on him because they're already angry at what they perceive
that he did and the position he's in at TKO, all of it.
I mean, he's now in like he's part of the management of the organization,
he's the part of the chair of board of directors, rather so like
he's already villainized because of the position he's in and the assumption that he's using
his to just take Roman reins down, steal Cody's spot, and then potentially
win the belt. Oh man, I mean, it's it's I don't know
if they'll do it, but it's not the worst thing in the world.
If they want to go that way, I would only be a little bit
concerned that they would. Again, you'd be setting the precedent for fans that
just you know, be little whiny babies for a few weeks and will change
everything, you know what I mean, Like, it can be a dangerous
precedent to set with fans that you have that power that quickly that will just
bend at your whim. If you cry and whine for a few weeks,
you know. So that's why I said it's staying power is going to be
the key with this or WWE sitting there saying let's just weather the storm.
They'll forget about it if we just continue on and see what happens. So
that's not the worst thing in the world. I would laugh my ass off.
Well, I mean you have to kind of like you have to go
with where the wind is blowing right sometimes, and I don't know unless you
find the The only other solution for me is if you find a way to
get the belt off of Roman between now and WrestleMania. But then even that,
I don't know if that's gonna satisfy everyone, because then the fans at
this point have basically made up their minds that it has to be Cody versus
Roman, like not even the w W Championship anymore. Now, it has
to be Roman. So I mean, I don't even know if you could
do with that, Like I don't know which direction they go, Like they
must have something up their sleeve if they're gonna come out of this and appease
everyone. Because look, even if you do believe that Cody should be in
the main event, like you and I just kind of broke down, like
you still risk for going Rock versus Roman forever. Like now that the Rock
has done the face to face with Roman, you can't kick the can down
the road. You could have kicked the can down the road to next year
WrestleMania or at a Star Audio vent or Summerslim, but it wouldn't have felt
the same. The time was right now, which is why you and I
were advocating for Randy Orton or whoever to take the belt off of Roman at
the Road Rumble. But now the Rock and Raymond have finally gone face to
face. It's finally happening. But the way they did it just completely screwed
it's I just can't believe that they found a way to screw it up.
That's true. Like I, for the last four years, all I've said
is he just has to walk out and everyone will be behind it. Everyone
will be behind it, and no words will need to be told. And
to be fair, half of that was true. No words would need to
be told when Rock and Roman came face to face. But they found a
way to screw it up and everyone's against it. I can't believe that's come
to this. That's kind of the theme of the motto of the night,
like, yeah, I can't believe they screwed this up is that's a perfect
tagline to what they've done here. And again, they could still repair it.
It's not the eleventh hour. We're not a week before WrestleMania. They've
got a lot of time to fix things and make it right and think about
it. But it is almost impossible to do to screw it up. I
mean, they've got like one hundred options, ninety nine of them will work,
and they chose the one that's going to turn the crowd on the whole
thing and start a civil war with fans on social media and have fans now
hijacking the show and saying Rocky sucks. I mean, could you? I
just they've had so much time to think about this. The Rocks had so
much time to think about it. They were supposed to do it last year
and the year before, and things got botched both years. And they can't
come up with after literally years of discussing this, not every day, but
it's been on the table every year for the last few years, and they
come up with this, and then they wonder why the fans have turned.
I'm sure there are some in WWE that are saying these I mean, come
on, we give it to them, and now they're angry we give it
to them. And again, you know, anybody that's saying that just doesn't
understand wrestling or just basic human emotion of why fans are angry at this because
literally they've been building around Cody's redemption story, especially after what happened last year
with him getting screwed. A million other people that did but he got screwed
and now he's out for redemption. And I think that's one of the main
reasons they kept the belt on Roman was so that Cody could take it from
Roman the following year. And now they're in a position where they have brought
out the Rock to symbolically replace Cody, and Cody is suddenly like, yeah,
I want my redemption, that's the belt I want, but not this
year, and everyone's like, well, what are you talking about? Like
what why? Because the Rock comes in. So that's where Cody needs to
do more explaining why did you do this? Why did you give up the
one thing you said that you actually wanted and then walked away from it.
It doesn't make any sense. So there's a lot of damage control they need
to do, and there's a lot of explaining they need to do with Cody
and you know, with The Rock again, I keep them the hell off
TV till everything's cooled off. I can't believe we've been having this verisation.
It's crazy that they've actually figured a way to do this. But I mean,
like before, I guess as we wrap it up here, do you
think it just comes down as simple as this is what you get for refusing
to or this is what you get for sacrificing everything at the altar of Roman
Reigns. Yes, and the fact that they have yes this is now I
think they're really starting to if they just dig beneath the service a little bit.
Like as you mentioned, this is a massive consequence one of them.
They're finally seeing it of keeping the belts on Roman. This is one of
the biggest consequences now is you've put yourself in this position. You've watched the
biggest storyline of the year arguably or the biggest storyline in the last five years
really with The Rock and Roman Reigns, a match that people have been talking
about for almost ten years. You've watched it. And the biggest reason,
as you mentioned is because they refuse to take the belt off Roman and if
the belt wasn't involved, which I and you and others have said for years,
if you do this match, don't put the belt on the line.
It's a bad idea from the start. And now they've put it on the
line, so supposedly nothing's official again. But if it's on the line,
you guys are screwed. That match is going to be hijacked and booed,
possibly booed out of the building. And that's that's almost incomprehensible for me to
say, given all the build for this, that the fans will turn on
this match at WrestleMania if the belts on the line. So it's really it's
almost it's almost like divine intervention or something that the odds of this being botched
is nearly zero. And like you said, they found a way to do
it. It's almost like they're trying to but I don't think they are.
So before we go, though, I do have to ask one thing,
and I'm not trying to get into a deep conversation, but since you're here
World Heavyweight Championship, what do they do on that side? Well, I
mean assuming that Cody doesn't go for that title. Yeah, assuming Cody doesn't,
I think you probably do a triple threat with Drew mcintyren samu Zain that
I imagine that's where they go with it. I mean, I guess you
could do gun Through gun Through a while. Would be interesting one on one
with Seth, but then you would have to get the Intercontinental Championship off of
him. I mean, so I would say it'd be one of those two,
either a triple threat with Drew and Sammy or one on one with Gunther.
I mean, what other direction would you really take it in? Yeah,
there's really no other options. I mean, unless you start bringing people
over from SmackDown, there's really not a whole lot you can do. That's
kind of it. I would agree with you on that. But yeah,
we'll save the World Heavyweight Championship for maybe next week or you know, beyond
that, as the Chambers coming up and the World Heavyweight Championship may or may
not be on the line. I don't. I don't know if it will
of Seth's health is, you know, on the line there, or he's
not ready to compete. I mean, you could even do the Intercontinental Championship.
If Gunther is able to go overseas inside the chamber. Well, the
US title last year inside the chamber, so it's not not unprecedented. Yeah,
so there's lots of ways that can go. This is just as we
get more answers. I mean, things are becoming foggier and foggier, which
is really impossible. And yeah, this is I can't wait to see the
rest of raw see if they address it at all, and they haven't.
But yeah, so any any closing thoughts on the whole thing. I'm just
very interested to see how they come about this, like how they could go
about this, and how they come out of this, rather like because it's
fascinating to me what they're gonna do here, because they have found themselves in
quite a predicament. They've tied themselves in knots, and I want to see
them, see them get out. If they come out smalling like roses,
I will be the first to applaud, and I hope they do. I'm
not rooting for WWE to fail here. I'm really not, other than the
fact that's kind of like a I don't feel bad for the consequence of roman
holding developed for so long. That's what kind of what you get, Like
you said, other than that, I really am rooting for things to work
out. I really am. So yeah, we'll see, but thanks so
much for joining us tonight. And yeah, hey, what of that Raw
is going on as we speak everybody, So again, please, if you've
watched Raw, we don't incorporate outside of the beginning of Raw. We didn't
really watch anything else outside of that. But check out Anthony's show. Every
single Friday Saturday. We have a after dark show that's an adult version of
the show that's available on Apple Podcasts and Patreon, So check it out.
And thanks so much for joining us tonight, and we'll take a deep breath
and hopefully things get a little clearer next week. Yeah, man, it's
going to be an interesting week in WWE. So looking forward to talking next
Monday. Alrighty, have a good night, you two. Take care.
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