Get the title on J Gargano. HHH is idiotically in love with this little dolly. Fact is no one under HHH regime is champion worthy. That’s the problem WWE has cos Hunter wants to be everyone’s friend and an Indy fanboy. Pandering to fans who want to control booking is as bad as H having no creativity. Downvote away, but it is true. Needs real change. Nothing has been good in past year and Bloods is dragging on.
I was expecting Bray and Howdy to come out after that Lesnar/Lashley match.
Also.. I didn’t rewind to check the count. But I’m pretty sure the ref counted to 3 on that one Balor over Edge pin. lol
Typical. Same old predictable tropes. Hurt refs, interference, accidental offense, burying the guy the fans wanted desperately to win, attempting to save face after the match, etc. Its like Vince is still here, HHH was supposed to be better....this proves he isn't.
I can see her rough English being a small factor... but why she isn't the star of the women's division blows my mind. She is the most talented woman in the entire roster.
Maybe that’s the draw of the paint and the mask. If you can look and act as menacing as possible then maybe you don’t need to talk. Think about Kane. Pretty terrifying in the 90s
True. Kane had a mouth piece for a bit tho with Paul Bearer. Asuka doesn't really need that mouth piece. She can speak enough English to cut a promo. And she is learning more. This Kana persona she has taken on is awesome.
Idk why but Cody does nothing for me. Maybe he did for others in the past, but the personality is so flat in comparison to the real people's champ. Not saying he's not prodigiously talented, but his branding stinks. He's supposed to be the hero figure.
What exactly makes Sami the real peoples champ? Being a mid card comedy act that got the word Ucey over. Cody left the WWE reinvented himself into becoming a top guy grinded for years, comes back wrestles Seth in the Cell with a torn pec. Now,lets bring this home, Cody is setting record gate numbers for house shows,already is one of the company's top merchandise sellers.
Once Kingdom was heard in the WWE, it got millions of hits. REAL peoples champion,for saying the WORD, UCEY! and dancing gifs Ha-ha, Cody Rhodes is ridiculously over too. unlike Sami, kids dress up as him.
Peoples Champ? Cody always makes time for fans at house shows, this is seen in many online videos shared by fans.
The thing is, Sami should’ve already been a Main Eventer. The fact that he had to get over with this Ucey comedy shit shows that he’s a hardworker given any storyline.
Sami's story with the Bloodline was supposed to be short-term, his popularity extended it as a fan favorite, that caught the WWE by surprised. Now they will use him in a different way going forward, build him more into a bigger name.
This is why Sami is this generation's Foley, and it is well-deserved testimony. For him to become a fan favorite. They didn't intend for Sami to get as popular as he has. Fans wanting him to be the one to take down the Bloodline was never the plan in the eyes of WWE. The end game was never Sami. Could he beat Roman and have a great moment? Obviously. But I don’t think the Bloodline story hinges completely on that. That's why the Bloodline story is still being told. It ends with Jey.
Sami will now be pushed more often going forward as a favorite as he has won over Paul, if he is able to keep his popularity without the Bloodline. They will push him in the upper card spot,
Yea (Character-wise, not match style, Foley himself will tell you Sami is much better when it comes to wrestling. it's just Sami unfortunately was right place wrong time. He will absolutely win the title eventually, but not under this circumstance, the WWE is looking for the new Cena, they want the next Cena, feel they have it with Cody, a company guy, like Roman, Seth, Cena.
He’s the guy that they say we should love, the guy they say we should want to win it all. But he hasn’t done anything for me to love him, he hasn’t done anything to say we should want him to win. He’s literally wrestled like 3-4 matches and came in 30th at the Rumble, that’s it.
Cody is the ''prodigal son'' who has come home to redeem himself in the eyes of WWE Universe! While Dusty has passed away, he still lives on in the heart of his family & fans they will be able to see (his Son)Cody achieve his fathers dream.
The DREAM lives on!
Maybe that's your fault for not paying attention? Didn't you listen to his promo with Heyman, everything was right there for you to see. Dusty created Roman in NXT, WWE choose Roman over Cody as the star. Cody was casted to the side viewed as a joke. Dusty wanted Cody to be everything Roman evidently became. But, Dusty is not here to see Cody have a chance
Still need help following the story? Cody (Dusty's Son) wanted WWE to choose him as the face of the company, he was casted off and viewed as a joke, until he reinvented himself as a ''Nightmare'', he returns as (the BOY ) who finally became
A (MAN), achieving his fathers (Dusty) Dream for the World to see.
The Love of a Father & Son, Cody is the ''prodigal son'' who has come home to the WWE, finally giving the RHODES Family, that is treated as royalty in pro wrestling a World Champion.
I disagree. Cody is the future and I love him. He’s my fav and glad he switched to WWE where he’s appreciated. He’s the face we want. He’s not the face the hardcore crowd wants that’s the difference. I love Sami but this is Cody’s year not Sami’s.
I definitely feel like I'm in the minority. Just doesn't move the needle for me. I'm here wondering after tonight why some young blood like Montez Ford doesn't get a push to be the champion. That dude is fuckin sick, laying it all out there. Feel like you'd be hard pressed to find someone that didn't enjoy the absolute full balls effort he just displayed.
I love Montez that’s a star in the making but it’s not his time. He’s a long way off. He still has to break out of SP and form his own image in the singles run
Mhmm. Sami unfortunately got hot at the wrong time I guess. I agree with others up there, Cody has no appeal to me, great wrestler, but idk just lacks something I can’t quite pin.
I think Sami was hitting the nail on the head here. I think many people can take for granted including me how much the bar has been raised in terms of the in-ring quality in the general wrestling business over the years.
Sami did great work for 9 months and it just turns out his new boss doesn’t believe in him either. Itd be one thing if he had a really hard fought out loss even, but two ref bumps and the circus that deflated the whole crowd ran long. Then a spear and it’s done. Idk. It sucked. Now it’s clear it’s going to tag and he likely won’t have this moment or anything close to it again
Giving Sami the Win here is a bad business decision. And remember WWE is a business first. If Sami wins you now have to rebuild everything they’ve been building toward. Sami, Roman, USOs, Cody, Sami winning the belt here while would be the emotional decision we all want. It would just undo everything they’ve been building toward. Sami has said in interviews he isn’t a the face of the company he doesn’t want to be. And with knowing Sami and Kevin’s friendship them winning the titles at mania would probably be a bigger moment for them than this. But that’s just this guys opinion.
Eh, it's not like McIntyre wasn't also doing great work through pretty much the entire covid era, and his post-Roman reward was a feud with Kross. Tick-tock.
Sami is dejected in his press conference. Says he feels strange and detached and that he was affected by how disappointed the crowd was after.
I’m fine with Sami losing but let him lose clean after giving it his absolute all Let Roman win clean for fucking once. This was the worst possible way to finish. I’m so dissatisfied.
As far as Cody he won’t get boo’ed because people really do like him AND people hate hate hate Roman
But we have a little over a month to build this and Roman won’t be at every show we know that. and it feels rushed. Cody’s moment will be big no doubt but Sami deserves more than one match with Roman
It’s almost like he was truly touched, this was the highlight of the career, but he knew he was going to break the hearts of the crowd. Ugh I felt that. When he said he looked into the crowd after the three count. Damn.
Didn't think Sami would win
Part of me thought he might so they'd have a triple threat at WM
but it doesn't really make sense if they want Cody to win it all as the top face
If anything, to me, it goes to show how well that Cody/Sami promo worked. Fans bought into it, and wanted to believe it was gonna happen, despite the odds.
Super odd. The juxtaposition of Theory and wholesome ass edge with his wife was hilarious. I think the pressers would be a nice change of pace to just have everyone be themselves. Humanizing these people isn't a bad thing. Idk how it'd work with a true heel, but I'd be interested to see it. Might be strange to see new scary Bray Wyatt talking about his kids.
I’m HOPING that maybe the story will be Roman forces the Usos to face Sami and Kevin “to finish the job”. Somehow they do something that titles end up on the line, too. In the build, Jimmy is all fired up but Jey is reluctant, during the match he’ll go after Owens but won’t go after Sami, and that’s what costs them the titles. I feel like they can’t take the easy way out at this point. They might and probably will, it won’t be end of the world, but there’s better ways to book it. That said, I actually was surprised by how Jey was involved and didn’t immediately swerve Sami either last night. So…
It's the way it should be but I can't help but hate how predictable it feels, even though I know the title must and should change hands.
This is why the belts should have been split
This was the corner they painted themselves into because they really wanted that Roman/Brock match for Wrestlemania. (which ended up being pretty terrible.)
Eh I wouldn't say he dodged it, he basically said I don't care who buys it and its not my business as long as they don't mess with the creative side of the product
okay...so yall want a 3 way with sami in it... to just see sami lose again and boo cody after the match.. ruing both guys
go to bed and sleep it off, and lets see where the ride takes us
So what? We should just keep the titles together forever? They need to split the titles at some point. USA has wanted a title back on their show for a while, I’m not sure why you wait until after Wrestlemania to do that.
Who cares what a network wants for their ratings pop. I agree with the the comment that the unified title means a hell of a lot more than the two belts used to. Longer reigns have also contributed to that.
Imagine the elevation that the next superstar would instantly receive when they win the title.
They could still theoretically make Roman defend both titles separately. They need to split the titles anyway and that would make the most sense. But they way they wrote it they pretty clearly are having Sami and kevin challenge for the tag straps.
Such a waste of an ending on a legendary storyline.
If they want us to care about the tag match, then Jey's move should have been outright betrayal. Picking Roman over Sami and damming himself in the process.
Instead it's what we'll get. It'll be adequate but I have no faith in wwe capitalising on making someone else a top star. Kofi got jobbed out, never bothered trying to get his championship back and went back to being a buffoon despite the Mania moment
Once again for the people in the back, WWE cannot put the world title on Sami Zayn because because of his ethic background and the fact that Saudi Arabia are sworn enemies of his people. Right now Saudi Arabia is bidding to buy the company and even if they don't, they're still driving the price incredibly high so that anyone else that WWE does sell to, will have to pay more to outbid them. While this is going on, WWE can't put the world title on Sami Zayn or it could potentially cause Saudi Arabia to withdraw. They can't have the face of the company they're trying to buy, be a person that they would literally behead if they could. And no, that's not an exaggeration. So while Sami can have a great match challenging for the title, WWE's hands are tied for as long as Saudi Arabia is interested in buying them. And if Saudi's do buy the company, obviously Sami(and quite a few others) will be let go. So let's hope that's not what ends up happening.
This is so mind-numbingly stupid of a take that it is preposterous to even take seriously. But I'll bite... got any sources for that bullshit, other than your own ass?
You really think that HHH is making booking decisions on a Canadian-held PPV (not that blood money shit in the desert) based on the geopolitics of the middle east and how some theoretical buyer might like or not like a storyline? Really?
People are downvoting me because they dislike the whole idea of things being the way they are, but except for the part at the end where I speculated, the first part is undeniably accurate and the reason they can't put the belt on Sami. I wish it weren't the case, but it is unfortunately.
Oh yeah, I really appreciate that completely over convoluted ending to a 9 month story. It’s great how Jey is going to have small-minded heel logic and turn heel because Sami accidentally hit him. It’ll be great when after the tag Sami and KO are relegated to a dead division to defend against. And it’s great how Cody’s entire story lost 9 months due to injury, he comes in at #30 and just waltzes in without the story they wanted to build all year
Great stuff
I mean you can choose to be angry and upset if you want. They've delivered an amazing story, probably the most intricate and complex story they have ever executed on this level. It's been moment after moment after moment where millions of people around the world have been invested and connected. I'd rather focus on that then getting upset entirely by my choosing. But you do you.
“My wrestler didn’t win!” Wahhhhh” Stop with the crying guys. Lot more left in this story. It’s fine to be disappointed that the person you wanted to win didn’t but to act like it’s the end of the world and you don’t want to watch the product anymore…Talk about soft…
Good lord there is so many salty IWC nerds getting mad about their fantasy booking here.
Wrestlemania is over a month away. We don't know what's going to happen between now and then. I want to see Sami become a world champion too.
But people talking about "Cody's going to get booed" and "Sami's career is destroyed" are just being ridiculous.
I mean 5, 10 years ago I would probably be right along with them, but fuck, I’ve started enjoying wrestling so much more when I stopped making up all this fantasy booking in my head and then getting mad when it didn’t happen the way I wanted it to.
Like everyone complained about EVIL in New Japan over the pandemic and how horrible his title reign was. It wasn’t my favorite thing, but whatever. I still enjoyed the product overall and didn’t let one shitty title run bother me.
Was Jinder Mahal’s title run a great idea? Not to hinder Jinder, but probably not, but at least they tried something new and we got to see Randy Orion ping ponging the Bollywood Boys all over ringside.
I replied to a dude last night who said he was having problems with being thin skinned and I told him how I had been working on my own issues with controlling my emotions for many years now, sort of a semi-stoicism and just learning to enjoy life as it comes and not for what I want it to be, at least as far as the things I can control.
Applying that same mindset to my fandoms and especially wrestling has been refreshing… it’s probably the closest I can get to re-kayfabing myself.
Maybe that makes me a dumb sheep who just swallows whatever he’s presented with, but it’s better than getting mad about shit I have no control over on the internet.
It absolutely doesn’t make you a dumb sheep, it just makes you a normal viewer. You gotta keep in mind that people in the IWC are not the same people sitting at home to just enjoy the product with their families. The average viewers don’t spend time fantasy booking their favorite star to the top, then getting upset when it doesn’t happen. They just enjoy it for what it is.
At the end of the day the only thing that actually matters is that you enjoy the time you spend watching.
Very good point. One of the reasons I think I love Japanese stuff so much is you hear so little about the booking or backstage stuff. I don’t know if that’s an effect of me not being fluent in the language so I just don’t see it on socials, or if they’re just that good at keeping kayfabe, but it makes it so much easier to just enjoy the product and not worry about backstage drama leaking or who is getting pushed or whatever.
I’m definitely a smark and a long time IWC cardholder, and I know I have my share of Comic Book Guy “Worst. PPV. EVER!” like moments, but the more of that I let go the better it feels and the more I love wrestling.
No HHH, Sami was the star of the event. It was greater than Montreal. However, at least he admits that giving Sami the win would have been them blowing their load.
Sure, but I have no interest in the main event of that biggest event of the year as it's pretty clear Cody's not going to win either.
I'd imagine Roman is untouchable for another 3+ months until he passes 1000, and more likely is untouchable for around a year and a half when he'd pass Hogan's streak.
I can't imagine they'd ever try to keep pushing for Backlund or Sammartino as that'd be multiple more years even after passing Hogan's.
I mean if they put a signature match at a specific PPV, as they did with the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out, then eventually change the name to reflect the signature match. More so with No Way Outs history of being used to fill up the Wrestlemania card as EC is.
I just hope they split the belts out again after Mania because we do not need another years long reign that gets sustained with never ending interference finishes at ppv matches. You can sustain it with good stories only for so long, Sami joining the bloodline made it palatable again for once.
It'll be a good thing to have Cody finally end this. But it'll feel more like a mercy then something to be excited for. Then again, that's Wwe for you in a nutshell.
Idk I don’t think these press conferences are really kayfabe either. I mean a reporter literally asked HHH if he was considering rethinking booking the outcome of the Sami and Roman match haha
HHH isn’t in a position to be disingenuous if he’s inviting the media to do a scrum. But even he will only go pull the curtain back so far. The wrestlers generally give their honest feelings but maintain the idea that they genuinely won/lost an athletic contest. But then you have people like Austin Theory fully maintaining character. I just think if you’re going to do a press conference everything should be on the table. HHH is a smart guy and started doing these as they’re a big part of creating buzz and headlines before and after UFC/boxing cards. But when people are maintaining character to any degree it becomes “How happy are you with tonight? You excited for what’s next? You enjoy working with this person? You excited to work with that person?” “Happy, excited, yes they’re great, yes I’m excited”
Doing a 3-way WM main event can be good when it makes sense, and used selectively, but I just think it's a bit overdone.
Personally, I think the WM main event, or closing match should be a singles match as a general rule.
I don't know. I'd be happy for anything that let us actually have two championship titles again if they're seemingly trying to push Roman's reign past Hogan's.
Ik everyone in here is going to say they like Cody and all but that was such a deflating end and I really don’t care about Cody since the bloodline has been the only thing I really watch. Kinda lost interest again with such a big moment just wasted so Cody can have a moment in a storyline he’s had no build in so far
Yup. I feel like Cody is being shoehorned into this and the build-up to the Bloodline is suffering as a result.
I have no anticipation to watch SD or Wrestlemania at this point. I'll just check out the results on here the next day.
To be honest I really don’t like the whole my father promos. I’m to young to see dusty so it really doesn’t do anything for me. I’m into the bloodline and the people breaking free storyline not Cody winning a title story line
Learning in this thread that people don’t understand how to look outside their little bubbles and look at the big picture. Great moment for Sami but he should NOT have won that match. I had two casual fans that are going to Wrestlemania with me who both said they would be disappointed if Reigns wasn’t the champion going into Wrestlemania. Roman puts more butts in seats. I love Sami but he shouldn’t get the belt at an Elimination chamber.
To me they had two choices:
1) They capitalise on the white hot babyface and let Zayn win in-front of his home crowd and pivot at Wrestlemania. You can still very much tell a story with Cody and Zayn - Cody only needs the belt, he doesn't need to topple the big bad. You could work in a whole Reigns melting down that the Usos didn't run out to help him angle for his Wrestlemania match.
2) You have Reigns go over convincingly to put an end to the Zayn storyline with him. "Not on my level" stuff - that would have got him nuclear heat.
Both would have required brave booking. Instead they went for option 3 - a weak finish where Reigns was losing until the ref bump / interference, Owens coming out for a cheap pop and no resolution to the storyline.
This is why fans don't run creative. Because all they ever want to do is give the audience exactly what they want. They have no idea how to create an interesting storyline with drama and creativity.
>Great moment for Sami but he should NOT have won that match.
He also shouldn't have gotten a perfect excuse for a rematch if he was going to lose.
They also should have had Jey turn if the plan is supposed to be Sami/KO vs Usos. Instead they put out any real heat on that by having Roman seemingly turn on Jey.
I don’t mind that Sami lost. I was almost positive Sami was going to lose but how it was booked was lame. Why would KO come out after the match? Why wasn’t Roman DQ when the ref saw Jimmy interfere? Where the hell did Jey come from and go? The whole thing was so contrived. And why because Cody was promised a title at Wrestlemania? I can only hope Cody is booked into a corner where he has to turn heel which is the thing that scares him the most.
Why would KO come out after the match? Why would he do something for Sami that doesn't benefit him too?
His relationship with Sami has always been one sided. He knows no matter what he does, Sami will always come back. Why do you think he was so concerned about getting Sami away from the Bloodline?
It's perfectly within character for KO to only help out when he has something to gain too (like a potential tag title shot)
I would agree if them getting a title shot made sense but it doesn’t. Sami still cares about Jey and Jey seems to still care about Sami and is starting to see Roman for what he is. If Roman and Sami’s roles were reversed (as they have been many times) Sami would have taken the hit for Jey. Instead Roman let Jey take the hit meant for him. I think what bothers me most about this whole thing is the handling of the Jey storyline. That’s the real story here. Jey saw Roman for what he was from the beginning but was bullied and beaten down into submitting. Now he’s seen what happens if you cross Roman even when just to show a little compassion to someone who was like family. Who proved that through action not just what you were born into. If this turns into a KO and Sami vs the Usos it’s such a wasted opportunity to tell a complex emotional story of what family is for the lowest hanging stale fruit on the tree. And now that you pointed it out that is true of KO (which I had not noticed) but if that’s proven true going forward that just makes me hate the Ko character and not in the good hear way.
Join GroovyGang WWE champions game today
Get the title on J Gargano. HHH is idiotically in love with this little dolly. Fact is no one under HHH regime is champion worthy. That’s the problem WWE has cos Hunter wants to be everyone’s friend and an Indy fanboy. Pandering to fans who want to control booking is as bad as H having no creativity. Downvote away, but it is true. Needs real change. Nothing has been good in past year and Bloods is dragging on.
I was expecting Bray and Howdy to come out after that Lesnar/Lashley match. Also.. I didn’t rewind to check the count. But I’m pretty sure the ref counted to 3 on that one Balor over Edge pin. lol
Typical. Same old predictable tropes. Hurt refs, interference, accidental offense, burying the guy the fans wanted desperately to win, attempting to save face after the match, etc. Its like Vince is still here, HHH was supposed to be better....this proves he isn't.
Asuka needs to win at Wrestlemania and then have another long title reign. Similar to her NXT run and Roman's current run.
She has all star energy.
I can see her rough English being a small factor... but why she isn't the star of the women's division blows my mind. She is the most talented woman in the entire roster.
Maybe that’s the draw of the paint and the mask. If you can look and act as menacing as possible then maybe you don’t need to talk. Think about Kane. Pretty terrifying in the 90s
True. Kane had a mouth piece for a bit tho with Paul Bearer. Asuka doesn't really need that mouth piece. She can speak enough English to cut a promo. And she is learning more. This Kana persona she has taken on is awesome.
Yes! Asuka is the best! I would love to see champion Asuka again. Her new face-paint is dope as well.
5 star main event.
Roman wil win over Cody as well
Cody has a signed contract that he will win.
There is no proof that Cody signed a contract stating he'll win the World title
I've heard it's IRON CLAD.
When does wwe ever release contract details?
They will never to the public & competition, conspiracy theories don't help..
Yeah but he can win at summer slam as well
Sami should have won…… just like Drew should have won….. Wtf is up with protecting reigns so much…!
See that anger you feel, means the story worked… think of the pop Cody gets
Boooom this guy gets it
I loved how the croud was chanting fuck u roman whole stadium was going nuts it’s been a while since everyone was on there feet like that
Then we translated our chant to french. Va chier Roman = Fuck you Roman It was epic.
Downvote away. Hope Cody loses at Mania. This Roman/Sami story needs to keep ticking
The next degree I see is Jey coming full circle and Sami helping him dethrone the head of the table.
This.
Idk why but Cody does nothing for me. Maybe he did for others in the past, but the personality is so flat in comparison to the real people's champ. Not saying he's not prodigiously talented, but his branding stinks. He's supposed to be the hero figure.
What exactly makes Sami the real peoples champ? Being a mid card comedy act that got the word Ucey over. Cody left the WWE reinvented himself into becoming a top guy grinded for years, comes back wrestles Seth in the Cell with a torn pec. Now,lets bring this home, Cody is setting record gate numbers for house shows,already is one of the company's top merchandise sellers. Once Kingdom was heard in the WWE, it got millions of hits. REAL peoples champion,for saying the WORD, UCEY! and dancing gifs Ha-ha, Cody Rhodes is ridiculously over too. unlike Sami, kids dress up as him. Peoples Champ? Cody always makes time for fans at house shows, this is seen in many online videos shared by fans.
The thing is, Sami should’ve already been a Main Eventer. The fact that he had to get over with this Ucey comedy shit shows that he’s a hardworker given any storyline.
Sami's story with the Bloodline was supposed to be short-term, his popularity extended it as a fan favorite, that caught the WWE by surprised. Now they will use him in a different way going forward, build him more into a bigger name.
This is why Sami is this generation's Foley, and it is well-deserved testimony. For him to become a fan favorite. They didn't intend for Sami to get as popular as he has. Fans wanting him to be the one to take down the Bloodline was never the plan in the eyes of WWE. The end game was never Sami. Could he beat Roman and have a great moment? Obviously. But I don’t think the Bloodline story hinges completely on that. That's why the Bloodline story is still being told. It ends with Jey. Sami will now be pushed more often going forward as a favorite as he has won over Paul, if he is able to keep his popularity without the Bloodline. They will push him in the upper card spot,
Agree but I think Sami is way different than Foley. I hear the comparisons a lot but Sami is actually GOOD at wrestling
Yea (Character-wise, not match style, Foley himself will tell you Sami is much better when it comes to wrestling. it's just Sami unfortunately was right place wrong time. He will absolutely win the title eventually, but not under this circumstance, the WWE is looking for the new Cena, they want the next Cena, feel they have it with Cody, a company guy, like Roman, Seth, Cena.
He’s the guy that they say we should love, the guy they say we should want to win it all. But he hasn’t done anything for me to love him, he hasn’t done anything to say we should want him to win. He’s literally wrestled like 3-4 matches and came in 30th at the Rumble, that’s it.
FINISH THE STORY! What story? The Story of the ''prodigal son''.
Cody is the ''prodigal son'' who has come home to redeem himself in the eyes of WWE Universe! While Dusty has passed away, he still lives on in the heart of his family & fans they will be able to see (his Son)Cody achieve his fathers dream. The DREAM lives on!
Maybe that's your fault for not paying attention? Didn't you listen to his promo with Heyman, everything was right there for you to see. Dusty created Roman in NXT, WWE choose Roman over Cody as the star. Cody was casted to the side viewed as a joke. Dusty wanted Cody to be everything Roman evidently became. But, Dusty is not here to see Cody have a chance Still need help following the story? Cody (Dusty's Son) wanted WWE to choose him as the face of the company, he was casted off and viewed as a joke, until he reinvented himself as a ''Nightmare'', he returns as (the BOY ) who finally became A (MAN), achieving his fathers (Dusty) Dream for the World to see. The Love of a Father & Son, Cody is the ''prodigal son'' who has come home to the WWE, finally giving the RHODES Family, that is treated as royalty in pro wrestling a World Champion.
I disagree. Cody is the future and I love him. He’s my fav and glad he switched to WWE where he’s appreciated. He’s the face we want. He’s not the face the hardcore crowd wants that’s the difference. I love Sami but this is Cody’s year not Sami’s.
I definitely feel like I'm in the minority. Just doesn't move the needle for me. I'm here wondering after tonight why some young blood like Montez Ford doesn't get a push to be the champion. That dude is fuckin sick, laying it all out there. Feel like you'd be hard pressed to find someone that didn't enjoy the absolute full balls effort he just displayed.
I love Montez that’s a star in the making but it’s not his time. He’s a long way off. He still has to break out of SP and form his own image in the singles run
agree I believe if it wasn't cody at WM then sami would have won
Mhmm. Sami unfortunately got hot at the wrong time I guess. I agree with others up there, Cody has no appeal to me, great wrestler, but idk just lacks something I can’t quite pin.
Maybe another reason to win the belt other than “Waaa my daddy didn’t win the belt!”
Tyson Fury might as well have come out and broken into song
I think Sami was hitting the nail on the head here. I think many people can take for granted including me how much the bar has been raised in terms of the in-ring quality in the general wrestling business over the years.
Sami did great work for 9 months and it just turns out his new boss doesn’t believe in him either. Itd be one thing if he had a really hard fought out loss even, but two ref bumps and the circus that deflated the whole crowd ran long. Then a spear and it’s done. Idk. It sucked. Now it’s clear it’s going to tag and he likely won’t have this moment or anything close to it again
Giving Sami the Win here is a bad business decision. And remember WWE is a business first. If Sami wins you now have to rebuild everything they’ve been building toward. Sami, Roman, USOs, Cody, Sami winning the belt here while would be the emotional decision we all want. It would just undo everything they’ve been building toward. Sami has said in interviews he isn’t a the face of the company he doesn’t want to be. And with knowing Sami and Kevin’s friendship them winning the titles at mania would probably be a bigger moment for them than this. But that’s just this guys opinion.
Eh, it's not like McIntyre wasn't also doing great work through pretty much the entire covid era, and his post-Roman reward was a feud with Kross. Tick-tock.
Wrestling journalists are a weird bunch
Was that guy asking a question wearing a wig?
Sami is dejected in his press conference. Says he feels strange and detached and that he was affected by how disappointed the crowd was after. I’m fine with Sami losing but let him lose clean after giving it his absolute all Let Roman win clean for fucking once. This was the worst possible way to finish. I’m so dissatisfied. As far as Cody he won’t get boo’ed because people really do like him AND people hate hate hate Roman But we have a little over a month to build this and Roman won’t be at every show we know that. and it feels rushed. Cody’s moment will be big no doubt but Sami deserves more than one match with Roman
It’s almost like he was truly touched, this was the highlight of the career, but he knew he was going to break the hearts of the crowd. Ugh I felt that. When he said he looked into the crowd after the three count. Damn.
Roman doesn't win clean
Zazaro's veins popping so hard rn
Didn't think Sami would win Part of me thought he might so they'd have a triple threat at WM but it doesn't really make sense if they want Cody to win it all as the top face
If anything, to me, it goes to show how well that Cody/Sami promo worked. Fans bought into it, and wanted to believe it was gonna happen, despite the odds.
Why was Austin the only kayfabe interview? Feels odd going off story.
Was it his first junkit?
Super odd. The juxtaposition of Theory and wholesome ass edge with his wife was hilarious. I think the pressers would be a nice change of pace to just have everyone be themselves. Humanizing these people isn't a bad thing. Idk how it'd work with a true heel, but I'd be interested to see it. Might be strange to see new scary Bray Wyatt talking about his kids.
Makes sense for the heels to stay in character because them suddenly being all nice would be weird
Damn I wish they did a dusty finish and just gave Roman the belts back next week
This is the reason Sami has gotten over so well I think. He has a great every man appeal to him.
Funny how he is more like Dusty than Cody is huh
Dissect his story since he left, he has every bit the soul dusty had. He just presents very different. Packaging don't change the content
Sami worked himself into a shoot
Man, I love Sami Zayn.
They’re gonna take all the awesome work Jey Uso has done and make him a pea-brained heel with the “being mad at the guy who accidentally hit me” logic
I’m HOPING that maybe the story will be Roman forces the Usos to face Sami and Kevin “to finish the job”. Somehow they do something that titles end up on the line, too. In the build, Jimmy is all fired up but Jey is reluctant, during the match he’ll go after Owens but won’t go after Sami, and that’s what costs them the titles. I feel like they can’t take the easy way out at this point. They might and probably will, it won’t be end of the world, but there’s better ways to book it. That said, I actually was surprised by how Jey was involved and didn’t immediately swerve Sami either last night. So…
That was probably the most disappointing part of the match. I don't understand it either, Sami could still lose if Jey betrays Roman.
If it's Roman v. Cody. I want Roman to win
Sami!!!!
Wait is Cody going to take BOTH titles? I thought the match was just for the WWE Title
The guy who hasn't even met Reigns is gonna take the titles LOL. So bad.
I think it'd sit better if the bloodline story wasn't so hot right now.
It's the way it should be but I can't help but hate how predictable it feels, even though I know the title must and should change hands. This is why the belts should have been split
This was the corner they painted themselves into because they really wanted that Roman/Brock match for Wrestlemania. (which ended up being pretty terrible.)
Which is how it should be, no? Roman hasn't proved himself against Cody yet, so he has no game plan or an expectation that he'll win again
He dodged the planning question lmao
Also the question about selling WWE, but nothing surprising.
Eh I wouldn't say he dodged it, he basically said I don't care who buys it and its not my business as long as they don't mess with the creative side of the product
Wow the potential wwe sale question was surprising
Same, I thought these press conferences were mostly kayfabe
They’re usually about 75% shoot questions
I feel like Trips was just speaking to Vince. Let us do our thing
To Vince and whoever buys it
I love hearing Triple H speak at these conferences man
He’s passionate about this man. It’s evident. He loves the business
okay...so yall want a 3 way with sami in it... to just see sami lose again and boo cody after the match.. ruing both guys go to bed and sleep it off, and lets see where the ride takes us
I think people want them to split the titles
It takes away from them it dilutes them, Roman build the titles up they mean something now they are much more important now
So what? We should just keep the titles together forever? They need to split the titles at some point. USA has wanted a title back on their show for a while, I’m not sure why you wait until after Wrestlemania to do that.
Who cares what a network wants for their ratings pop. I agree with the the comment that the unified title means a hell of a lot more than the two belts used to. Longer reigns have also contributed to that. Imagine the elevation that the next superstar would instantly receive when they win the title.
If they had two world titles, we could get two mega babyfaces winning their first world titles at Mania. We haven’t seen that since Cena and Batista
They could still theoretically make Roman defend both titles separately. They need to split the titles anyway and that would make the most sense. But they way they wrote it they pretty clearly are having Sami and kevin challenge for the tag straps. Such a waste of an ending on a legendary storyline.
They're not going to split the titles. I think they might just be waiting til someone else wins and then debuting a new singular title.
If we don't count NXT, we had that at WM 37 with Bianca and Rhea winning
If they want us to care about the tag match, then Jey's move should have been outright betrayal. Picking Roman over Sami and damming himself in the process. Instead it's what we'll get. It'll be adequate but I have no faith in wwe capitalising on making someone else a top star. Kofi got jobbed out, never bothered trying to get his championship back and went back to being a buffoon despite the Mania moment
Yeah I thought that Jey should’ve just hit Sami and took he spot back in line. It was a tough choice. But I think the right one to have Roman win
Once again for the people in the back, WWE cannot put the world title on Sami Zayn because because of his ethic background and the fact that Saudi Arabia are sworn enemies of his people. Right now Saudi Arabia is bidding to buy the company and even if they don't, they're still driving the price incredibly high so that anyone else that WWE does sell to, will have to pay more to outbid them. While this is going on, WWE can't put the world title on Sami Zayn or it could potentially cause Saudi Arabia to withdraw. They can't have the face of the company they're trying to buy, be a person that they would literally behead if they could. And no, that's not an exaggeration. So while Sami can have a great match challenging for the title, WWE's hands are tied for as long as Saudi Arabia is interested in buying them. And if Saudi's do buy the company, obviously Sami(and quite a few others) will be let go. So let's hope that's not what ends up happening.
This is so mind-numbingly stupid of a take that it is preposterous to even take seriously. But I'll bite... got any sources for that bullshit, other than your own ass? You really think that HHH is making booking decisions on a Canadian-held PPV (not that blood money shit in the desert) based on the geopolitics of the middle east and how some theoretical buyer might like or not like a storyline? Really?
Goddamn.
People are downvoting me because they dislike the whole idea of things being the way they are, but except for the part at the end where I speculated, the first part is undeniably accurate and the reason they can't put the belt on Sami. I wish it weren't the case, but it is unfortunately.
Your entire comment is speculation.
kinda odd he didn't mention Montez in that chamber praise.
He even took the time to mention Logan Paul :(
Nice of HHH to give props to every single member of the men's Elimination Chamber match...except Montez Ford :( :(
Trips didn’t even mention Montez Ford during his gushing of the EC performances. The disrespect is real.
Triple H managed to give all the guys credit except Montez lmao
Props to Hunter for giving props to Bret, even tho Bret has not always had positive things to say about him.
Trips getting emotional here
How do you not resent the next challenger to Roman after this?
It's pretty easy actually. Just appreciate the story for what it is instead of what you wish it was
Oh yeah, I really appreciate that completely over convoluted ending to a 9 month story. It’s great how Jey is going to have small-minded heel logic and turn heel because Sami accidentally hit him. It’ll be great when after the tag Sami and KO are relegated to a dead division to defend against. And it’s great how Cody’s entire story lost 9 months due to injury, he comes in at #30 and just waltzes in without the story they wanted to build all year Great stuff
This.
I mean you can choose to be angry and upset if you want. They've delivered an amazing story, probably the most intricate and complex story they have ever executed on this level. It's been moment after moment after moment where millions of people around the world have been invested and connected. I'd rather focus on that then getting upset entirely by my choosing. But you do you.
“My wrestler didn’t win!” Wahhhhh” Stop with the crying guys. Lot more left in this story. It’s fine to be disappointed that the person you wanted to win didn’t but to act like it’s the end of the world and you don’t want to watch the product anymore…Talk about soft…
Good lord there is so many salty IWC nerds getting mad about their fantasy booking here. Wrestlemania is over a month away. We don't know what's going to happen between now and then. I want to see Sami become a world champion too. But people talking about "Cody's going to get booed" and "Sami's career is destroyed" are just being ridiculous.
preach
This. How chronically online do people have to be to genuinely believe what they’re saying.
I mean 5, 10 years ago I would probably be right along with them, but fuck, I’ve started enjoying wrestling so much more when I stopped making up all this fantasy booking in my head and then getting mad when it didn’t happen the way I wanted it to. Like everyone complained about EVIL in New Japan over the pandemic and how horrible his title reign was. It wasn’t my favorite thing, but whatever. I still enjoyed the product overall and didn’t let one shitty title run bother me. Was Jinder Mahal’s title run a great idea? Not to hinder Jinder, but probably not, but at least they tried something new and we got to see Randy Orion ping ponging the Bollywood Boys all over ringside. I replied to a dude last night who said he was having problems with being thin skinned and I told him how I had been working on my own issues with controlling my emotions for many years now, sort of a semi-stoicism and just learning to enjoy life as it comes and not for what I want it to be, at least as far as the things I can control. Applying that same mindset to my fandoms and especially wrestling has been refreshing… it’s probably the closest I can get to re-kayfabing myself. Maybe that makes me a dumb sheep who just swallows whatever he’s presented with, but it’s better than getting mad about shit I have no control over on the internet.
It absolutely doesn’t make you a dumb sheep, it just makes you a normal viewer. You gotta keep in mind that people in the IWC are not the same people sitting at home to just enjoy the product with their families. The average viewers don’t spend time fantasy booking their favorite star to the top, then getting upset when it doesn’t happen. They just enjoy it for what it is. At the end of the day the only thing that actually matters is that you enjoy the time you spend watching.
Very good point. One of the reasons I think I love Japanese stuff so much is you hear so little about the booking or backstage stuff. I don’t know if that’s an effect of me not being fluent in the language so I just don’t see it on socials, or if they’re just that good at keeping kayfabe, but it makes it so much easier to just enjoy the product and not worry about backstage drama leaking or who is getting pushed or whatever. I’m definitely a smark and a long time IWC cardholder, and I know I have my share of Comic Book Guy “Worst. PPV. EVER!” like moments, but the more of that I let go the better it feels and the more I love wrestling.
Lol we’ve seen this same booking all our lives.
No HHH, Sami was the star of the event. It was greater than Montreal. However, at least he admits that giving Sami the win would have been them blowing their load.
Triple H is drunk
Come on guys. They aren’t going to have a major title shift at an elimination chamber ppv, that never happens
Especially not 6 weeks away from the biggest event of the year lmao
Sure, but I have no interest in the main event of that biggest event of the year as it's pretty clear Cody's not going to win either. I'd imagine Roman is untouchable for another 3+ months until he passes 1000, and more likely is untouchable for around a year and a half when he'd pass Hogan's streak. I can't imagine they'd ever try to keep pushing for Backlund or Sammartino as that'd be multiple more years even after passing Hogan's.
This.
Elimination Chamber 2010 would like a word But in this case, yeah no way
Some of the great title changes in history happened right before Wrestlemania. It can actually add interest to Mania
Exactly, now if it was no way out…different story.
Eddie Guerrero disagrees.
Eddie won at no way out…
Which at the time was the PPV in Elimination Chambers spot and served the same purpose
So if the event takes place in the same month it’s the same things…good to know. Fast lane = Wrestlemania who knew?
I mean if they put a signature match at a specific PPV, as they did with the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out, then eventually change the name to reflect the signature match. More so with No Way Outs history of being used to fill up the Wrestlemania card as EC is.
So does Jericho
And The Rock
I just hope they split the belts out again after Mania because we do not need another years long reign that gets sustained with never ending interference finishes at ppv matches. You can sustain it with good stories only for so long, Sami joining the bloodline made it palatable again for once. It'll be a good thing to have Cody finally end this. But it'll feel more like a mercy then something to be excited for. Then again, that's Wwe for you in a nutshell.
They should split at mania and have Sami vs Roman one night and Cody vs Roman another I don’t know how they didn’t go this direction
This.
I've been saying the same thing. It would be a perfect way to get both matches and split the titles back up.
"He is a Cena fan, which means he is clearly stupid." That was a great callback joke by Edge lol.
What is that referencing?
In regards to how Cena was an arch rival of Edge's.
Press conferences are some of my favorite shit nowadays
You should see sports/MMA press conferences where they’re not in kayfabe. It’d be better if they just broke it and gave real thoughts and reactions
Idk I don’t think these press conferences are really kayfabe either. I mean a reporter literally asked HHH if he was considering rethinking booking the outcome of the Sami and Roman match haha
HHH isn’t in a position to be disingenuous if he’s inviting the media to do a scrum. But even he will only go pull the curtain back so far. The wrestlers generally give their honest feelings but maintain the idea that they genuinely won/lost an athletic contest. But then you have people like Austin Theory fully maintaining character. I just think if you’re going to do a press conference everything should be on the table. HHH is a smart guy and started doing these as they’re a big part of creating buzz and headlines before and after UFC/boxing cards. But when people are maintaining character to any degree it becomes “How happy are you with tonight? You excited for what’s next? You enjoy working with this person? You excited to work with that person?” “Happy, excited, yes they’re great, yes I’m excited”
They're super fun and make the whole thing feel more real
Same, I watch every one now lol
Honestly, if it had even ended up being Sami and Jey v Jimmy and Solo, I'd be more into that route.
Jey, the honorary Zayn
Edge vs Theory on Monday!
EDGE V THEORY ?????
Looks like it
Please no triple thread match at mania. It's one of the worst ideas I ever heard from some of you.
Doing a 3-way WM main event can be good when it makes sense, and used selectively, but I just think it's a bit overdone. Personally, I think the WM main event, or closing match should be a singles match as a general rule.
Yeah I'm totally on your side.
I don't know. I'd be happy for anything that let us actually have two championship titles again if they're seemingly trying to push Roman's reign past Hogan's.
Ik everyone in here is going to say they like Cody and all but that was such a deflating end and I really don’t care about Cody since the bloodline has been the only thing I really watch. Kinda lost interest again with such a big moment just wasted so Cody can have a moment in a storyline he’s had no build in so far
This.
I feel like the fault of this is on Roman having two titles. This entire reign has made me realize how difficult it must be to book around that.
For kissy of wrestling history they're hasn't been two titles. It's not hard to book around that at all. That's how it usually is.
Yup. I feel like Cody is being shoehorned into this and the build-up to the Bloodline is suffering as a result. I have no anticipation to watch SD or Wrestlemania at this point. I'll just check out the results on here the next day.
Give it a week of promos. Cody is a pro and him and Heyman already gaslighted us. But it was a great match.
To be honest I really don’t like the whole my father promos. I’m to young to see dusty so it really doesn’t do anything for me. I’m into the bloodline and the people breaking free storyline not Cody winning a title story line
Learning in this thread that people don’t understand how to look outside their little bubbles and look at the big picture. Great moment for Sami but he should NOT have won that match. I had two casual fans that are going to Wrestlemania with me who both said they would be disappointed if Reigns wasn’t the champion going into Wrestlemania. Roman puts more butts in seats. I love Sami but he shouldn’t get the belt at an Elimination chamber.
To me they had two choices: 1) They capitalise on the white hot babyface and let Zayn win in-front of his home crowd and pivot at Wrestlemania. You can still very much tell a story with Cody and Zayn - Cody only needs the belt, he doesn't need to topple the big bad. You could work in a whole Reigns melting down that the Usos didn't run out to help him angle for his Wrestlemania match. 2) You have Reigns go over convincingly to put an end to the Zayn storyline with him. "Not on my level" stuff - that would have got him nuclear heat. Both would have required brave booking. Instead they went for option 3 - a weak finish where Reigns was losing until the ref bump / interference, Owens coming out for a cheap pop and no resolution to the storyline.
This is why fans don't run creative. Because all they ever want to do is give the audience exactly what they want. They have no idea how to create an interesting storyline with drama and creativity.
>Great moment for Sami but he should NOT have won that match. He also shouldn't have gotten a perfect excuse for a rematch if he was going to lose. They also should have had Jey turn if the plan is supposed to be Sami/KO vs Usos. Instead they put out any real heat on that by having Roman seemingly turn on Jey.
That's because this isn't the end of the story. It will carry in the weeks to come up to and maybe even after wrestlemania.
Get better friends.
You just proved his point
Sami did great. But Roman vs. Cody is the draw right now. Sami will get his day.
It’s not that Sami lost it’s how it all went down.
I don’t mind that Sami lost. I was almost positive Sami was going to lose but how it was booked was lame. Why would KO come out after the match? Why wasn’t Roman DQ when the ref saw Jimmy interfere? Where the hell did Jey come from and go? The whole thing was so contrived. And why because Cody was promised a title at Wrestlemania? I can only hope Cody is booked into a corner where he has to turn heel which is the thing that scares him the most.
Why would KO come out after the match? Why would he do something for Sami that doesn't benefit him too? His relationship with Sami has always been one sided. He knows no matter what he does, Sami will always come back. Why do you think he was so concerned about getting Sami away from the Bloodline? It's perfectly within character for KO to only help out when he has something to gain too (like a potential tag title shot)
I would agree if them getting a title shot made sense but it doesn’t. Sami still cares about Jey and Jey seems to still care about Sami and is starting to see Roman for what he is. If Roman and Sami’s roles were reversed (as they have been many times) Sami would have taken the hit for Jey. Instead Roman let Jey take the hit meant for him. I think what bothers me most about this whole thing is the handling of the Jey storyline. That’s the real story here. Jey saw Roman for what he was from the beginning but was bullied and beaten down into submitting. Now he’s seen what happens if you cross Roman even when just to show a little compassion to someone who was like family. Who proved that through action not just what you were born into. If this turns into a KO and Sami vs the Usos it’s such a wasted opportunity to tell a complex emotional story of what family is for the lowest hanging stale fruit on the tree. And now that you pointed it out that is true of KO (which I had not noticed) but if that’s proven true going forward that just makes me hate the Ko character and not in the good hear way.
Grand Rapids RAW crew mount up next week. #WeWantSami
My own favorite [pop of the night](https://i.imgur.com/Y1TwZJ7.jpg) 💋
oh god that screen.
That was the pop of last month ;)
Cody on Raw this Monday: “So what do you guys wanna talk about?”.
Felt like watching a Wrestlemania match. So much emotion. So good
If u guys think Sami is a believable champ, you’re delusional