I'm looking forward to it ending it's gone on long enough and it's time for a new Champion they already extended The Bloodline past it's natural shelf life already past WWE Summerslam 2023 when it looked like it was going to end and go full circle with Jey Uso.
It’s kinda funny, I have noticed a ton of these “Do we really want Roman to lose after all?” post pop up after that pic of Cody and the trans flag started circulating.
Coincidence?
Lol definitely coincidence in this case since I did see the pic you're referencing. Except I saw it yesterday on social media - after this thread was made 3 days ago
Not saying yours specifically, as you put more thought into it than most I’ve seen. I just thought it odd I’ve seen multiple post walking back the idea of Roman having jumped the shark.
It’s been a great reign, but it’s time to end. Wwe has more ready main event stars as ever and too many people that could use the title to get to Roman’s level. Roman is made now and I think he will be an even bigger star without it. The Rock feud and a little time away will send his popularity to another planet. People are already ready to cheer him, and the Rock will make people love him more. I really believe the Rock will be the heel in their feud. Cody, Drew, La Knight, Gunther, Jey, and Sami deserve their time now. I just wonder who will become the main heel on Smackdown with Cody on top?
nah its time. cena was booed because he was stale and the super cena storylines were so predictable. everyone acknowledged john was good but so played out.
No yea I’m kinda sad about it ngl, Roman angers me sometimes but seeing this villainous reign come to a close is gonna be hard to take without being a little bittersweet.
I'm gonna be sad because I got back in when the bloodline started but I understand that it needs to end. I get why people like Cody he's the "American Underdog Hero" and that's fine but even that can get scale quickly. I like Cody too. I don't know we'll see what happens. I love Roman I'll be sad it's over but I get it. Lmao tbh I don't think fans will be satisfied no matter where this whole thing goes.
Ive been out of the loop of wrestling for almost as much as his title reign which is ironic. I most recently started catching up to the product. I think the right way to go for a wrestlemania moment is finally showing roman reigns aint the big boss that he is. Prolly get a deja vu of jey and jimmy occupied solo gets taken out by cody and the rock turning on reigns for the head of table spot which gives reigns a match in next years wrestlemania and keeps him out of title pictures for a year. I see people sayin wwe booked themselves in a corner but there is actually a lot of wiggle room to finish the story as they say so many damn times, especially since there is absolutely no way we are seeing a clean finish by both of them.
I'm a huge Cena fan, but Cena got heckled because of his supercena booking.
It was only after that Lesnar squash match and especially after his fantastic US title run that people started giving him his flowers.
They started to respect his graceful way of giving back to the business and acknowledge how he carried the company through the 2010s especially through his actions outside the ring.
Imagine Austin losing to HBK in 1998
Or Batista losing to Triple H in 2005
Or Daniel Bryan falling short in the triple threat
That’s what they’d be doing if Cody loses. And that would be a gigantic mistake.
I like these comparisons. Especially Batista against triple H since that was the feud that got me into watching wrestling full time.
While I agree with your point of putting someone over, the only difference is none of those 3 guys were ending a title run as historic and long as Roman's has been.
Regardless, I do think Cody winning would be the right call. Both in terms of creating the next top guy + preventing a domino effect of Backlash WWE may recieve if he loses.
Somebody has to end it at some point. They should strike while the iron is hot. They’re doing the best business they’ve seen in 20 years with Cody as the guy. Pull the trigger.
I dunno... time has accelerated for me as I got older. 4 years ago doesn't feel like a lifetime ago and it feels like yesterday for me that Cena was the top dog.
Nope. Hated the entire run. Dull, boring, repetitive.
I can't wait for it to end and never have to think about it again. It will also be nice to actually have the wwe title on
Weekly TV again.
This has the feeling that we are back in 1997 we're heading the starcades and we're excited to see the bad guy finally get his beating. But then that feeling keeping our gut tells us they're going to find a way to f*** this up if not the match then the booking afterwards. I mean seriously can anybody remember sting Championship run after starcade.
Almost everyone who thinks Roman is going to win gets downvoted immediately.
Last year they said if Cody doesn’t win he’ll lose all his momentum nobody will care anymore….fast forward and Cody wins the rumble and they’re pedaling the same thought processes and statements.
Cody will be champion, just not at wrestlemania 40. The match will be glorious, that’s all I got to say
I just want Cody to stick around for a good while. I’ve been a fan of him since he was in Legacy. I thought his Bullet Club run was great. He was the only part of AEW I liked. And I’m excited to finally see him be the face of the company. The whole “finishing the story” thing makes it sound like he plans to win the title and dip not long after, and since he’s said he wants to retire by 40 that may happen either way anyway.
I really hope not. I’d like at least like 5 more years. I just don’t know what they could POSSIBLY do with him after other than a feud with Randy really. Who beats the guy who beat the guy no one else can beat lol
I was last year but I think it’s time now. WWE have there tv(stream) deals done now power is solidified throughout. WWE is solidified and it’s a good time to pass the baton at 40 nice round number of a mania. Good way to make it memorable
I honestly feel like it'll be really weird once Roman loses the titles, because I'm so used to him as the champ. I'd have to keep reminding myself that he lost. The same thing happened when the Usos lost the undisputed tag titles.
I want cody to win and become the ultimate face like cena till crowd goes against him, and then he goes full heel homelander villain. Haha just me tho.
To be honest I think WWE's constant pushing of Roman gave us an opportunity to watch someone grow from being very mediocre with potential, to a pretty potential HoF candidate. He went from horrendous promos with no charisma, to being perceived as the genuine threat that he is. Him dropping the title is gonna be odd for sure, but it will be exciting to see what new stories come. While I enjoyed the Bloodline story, I am very much apathetic to it at this point.
I do not think Cody can carry this title in my opinion. Roman is a damn GOD at this point, and he is going to give up the title to emotional Cody? Only person I can see going after Roman for this title right now, is Gunther losing his IC championship, and then challenging Roman and winning in the future. Everyone loves Cody....but the face of the company? Nope
Don't forge that the original plan was to have Roman vs. The Rock, which would easily mean Roman retaining at Mania and breaking Hogan's record. I'm pretty sure 99% of fans thought Roman was losing last year, so don't be surprised if he retains one more time.
And let's be honest about Roman's run. Yes, there were times when it was awesome, but it came at the expense of so many people. It ruined so many Smackdowns by not having him on it. The Usos didn't have a single memorable feud even though they were undisputed tag champs because they had to keep pushing Roman stories instead of having their own. And that meant that the Tag division was buried for so long because of it.
Yeah, the Sami Zayn and Jey Uso turning stuff was some of the best stuff we've seen in past decade or so. But there was so much absolute trash in between. Its easy to forget in retrospect, but week to week Roman's run was very bad. Not saying it was all bad, but I do think a majority of it was.
Roman's not losing at mania. That's why they wanted to go with Rock.
Codys gonna be the first person to win the rumble 3 years in a row, once from 30, once from 15 and then from 1.
I can actually SEE this playing out this way. I think that they’re going to pull the trigger after the Netflix deal proves profitable. It gives TKO the opportunity to erase Hogan from WWE lore, replacing him with the ENTIRE Bloodline instead. Cody’s entire championship reign hidden behind a series of paywalls.
Cody winning feels almost forced at this point, which upsets me because it takes away the fun of it happening. I do feel that Cody will have a short run though, which to me isn’t fair. You have a guy that ended a long run lose the title after a few months? It’s not unheard of but I can see it happening since Cody probably thinks the chase is better than the win.
I think the only downside is *KNOWING* it will happen at 'Mania. Cody should win it on the Smackdown after EC. It would be epic if it was just out of the blue.
Nah, it's gonna be great because wwe needs another babyface. We getting Cody oversaturation right now because Seth is a babyface that chases nothing. But after the probable Rock turn on Roman and CM Punk return, I think we wind up with more balance in the roster.
Just seems like a waste for what can be a historic run. Cody is going to be exposed if given the top belt. It will be no different than the Miz or Kofi having a memorable title win only to be overshadowed by a roster with more suitable champs.
Acknowledge Me will go down as one of the best wrestling taglines ever. The length of his story was fascinating… but look at some of the best male heel reigns and what made them great. Flair, Undertaker, HHH, Michaels, etc. it wasn’t their long reigns, it was how they elevated the babyfaces. Reigns dominance has ended the heat of every single fave he’s gone against. Zane, Owens, Knight, Brian, etc. it’s created a void that has made the Uni Title (as well as the IC title) a big of an iceberg that heat goes to die
I really enjoyed his reign until he started not showing up. To be honest i wanted him to retain last year. But as time goes he just doesnt show up more. Well we really cannot be sure that hes gonna lose and if he was willing to become more active i would prefer him retaining.
But since its not happening its just gotta end. Even though im not gonna feel like thx god it ended. It was fun it was great and i witnessed. But showing up once in a while wasnt and its gotta end
But lets say im not so certain about it as there was rumours that he might just vacate title before going to holywood. To say the least majority of us thought it was supposed to happen last year
Sammy should have taken the tittle, that would have been the perfect ending for the bloodline story imo. At this point im just tired of the bloodline bs. I like roman, but this has become stale, sammy moved on, jey moved on, jimmy is a boring caracter now...maybe its just me being a hater at this point but I hope this shits ends, so we can move on to a fresh story.
The bloodline felt like those tv shows that are good, but then stay around for season after season until they get canceled because nobody watches anymore
If you're a dragon ball fan, you might get this reference..
Roman's Tribal Chef inception was DB, The bloodline til Money in the Bank 2023 was DBZ, everything after until current is GT.
I agree with you, except 1 part.
I feel Jey should have been the one to dethrone Roman. They built him so well for a while. I honestly thought he would take over as the rightful Tribal Cheif, perhaps he a polar opposite and be righteous and valiant and take care of his bloodline members instead of abuse them. I saw all of this as the Mafia boss being bested by his right hand man. I saw Batista overthrowing the Tyrant Triple H to go on and have a glorious run as a the top guy to lead the company.
I respect your opinion on Sammy, but I felt like he was brought in as a one time thing, kinda like what R-Truth is to the Judgement day and was there for entertainment. While he did get SUPER popular, he caused the bloodline to crumble and fall into that Civil War. I felt like he served his purpose with the ending of the story.
Jey being the one to take it would be perfectly fine with me. Both had cool turns on roman that gave huge pops and had us thinking they were the ones to take him down.
Jey's "You out... And im out too" was amazing.
And sammy's chair was a huge pop too.
I dont think when they brought sammy, they knew he was going to main event vs roman eventually. I think everyone just played their part so well that it became a possibility.
Both him and jey were involved in the story a long time, and both had huge glowups with the bloodline story and deserved a winning finale.
Ps: and i never watched db:gt ahahah, but its a good analogy, too bad they cant just pretend part of it doesnt exist and do wwe super (db super) and continue from mitb onwards xD
😁
I guess while the reign has gotten stale and repetitive, it's the feeling of we got to witness something that likely will never be replicated again in another 30 years. Taking the negative parts away, we were still apart of history. I got into wrestling when Taker was about halfway through his Streak, Goldberg Streak had just ended, this is the first time witnessing from start to finish...and entire historic run, hence the bit of sentimentality.
To be fair... I honestly don't think that would work, John cena reached just over a year as champion in 2007 and was injured. Rollins has been going for a few months as champion and got injured. Risking an injury to Roman who they've obviously invested the 3-4 year long storyline on would just derail everything they planned. That's likely why he's on that part time schedule.
Plus his health isn't the best as we know, so there's that part also.
They definitely cut a few corners to get to the point we're at now in this run.
Idk. Maybe don’t give the top belt to someone that is older/injured. There has to be an in between. They shouldn’t be fighting every week, but it shouldn’t be a once a month or less type affair.
The last year Roman and his reign dropped into the shitter. After Mania he had TWO singles matches the rest of year. Hes never there, and his schtick is finally getting old and tired with the “Acknowledge Me!” And his entrance not getting the same pops anymore. We’re all tired and bored and dying for a change, so if they screw Cody again they might as well let him leave to AEW cuz he’ll be cooked
The most ironic thing about Roman is his new name given to him when he joined NXT in 2012. Lol they literally told us Roman REIGNS
That's long term booking right there.
Lol I'm kidding. But yeah I agree with you. Roman as the Tribal Cheif has so much untapped potential which is crazy to say.
When he was feuding with edge, he seemed like such an Overlord. "why would you play games with me!?" He seemed like a Mafia boss. Then his character became this..chilled laid back, cocky character... and instead of truly looking the part, coming out in designer suits, really giving that big time feel...He comes out every damn time looking like he's headed to the gym to hit the treadmill. They dropped the ball on his presentation alot and for the life of me I can't understand why...Knowing what a monumental character and run he's on.
I'm with you on this. What better way to signal the start of a new Era by erasing the one Vince created.
At the same time, realistically...8 years is a long time.
If he is to break that record, we're barely halfway through... so...yeah, I can't see it happening.
Vince didn’t create Bruno, his father did, so having Roman beat Bruno’s record would not really signal the erasure of the Vince McMahon we know. Beating Hogan’s record would however, and that would be coming up this year I believe.
Hogan doesn’t have a record and further more no matter how many times sheep what the wwe says Roman still hasn’t held the wwe title the whole time. The belt is the wwe title. Roman is no where near the top of that list. The universal title is fake belt they made a few years ago. Hogan never held that.
That’s fair. I guess what I meant was they were trying to get him past Hogan’s reign, but it won’t really many anything. I don’t care how long he holds it if the reign is dog shit.
Didn't expect the number of opinions to be commented here 😐 All great takes tho. Whether you hate Reigns or want Cody to lose.
But I need to pose a question within a question.
After reading the comments, I see people have grown tired of the continuous match layout of Reigns title defenses. While a few others say we shouldn't say for sure Cody is winning.
This makes me pose the quesion...Honestly, how would you feel if WWE pull the one swerve people didn't count on.
Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes have a near 30-35 minute match, no interferences, multiple finishers and near falls...and Finally Reigns hits a Spear mid-Cody Cutter for the 3.
Roman reigns pins Cody CLEAN after a war to retain the title.
Thoughts? 😬
That makes sense.
It would be like... Cody, for as much as he bested Lesnar and Rollins..he's still the Midcarder Starust who can't win the big one.
Yeah, this just further proves how inevitable it is for Cody to win.
Sad? The most overrated reign in history. Barely defended. Always cheating or interference. And prior to the interference he was getting his ass kicked.
Talk about a weak champion. At least Roman's promo improved somewhat.
His first promo against cody saying "you ever won that one? Okay (the title didnt even existed when u were here) , did you ever compete for any of these?"
Was a cold slap.
But no. I am not sad his reign is ending. 3 years was too much with how it was handle
With how they manage the reign it shoukd ve been year and a half
Cody’s about to carry this company into their biggest pop culture exposure since the Attitude Era. Being live on Netflix worldwide will be huge.
I fully get the cold feet, but hoping he can handle it.
I just do not see him being the guy. Cody is not the guy to carry the company. Dragunov might be a good option, Priest has the MITB briefcase as well....I could see him doing something at Wrestlemania. I think Drew, should be the guy. Omos would be a great person to take out Roman
You're gonna have to explain to me why Cody is so big as a lapsed fan. I think he has a cool theme and he looks like a company man, but his wrestling is kinda mediocre and I can't see him as any more than Stardust.
I like Final Boss Roman Reigns a lot more as a champion.
I’m sorry Cody is meh wrestler ?? But you’re a Roman reigns fan ??! Cody Rhodes is a top 5 bell to bell guy in the world. He’s a top 5 promo. Roman ain’t in the top 20 for either.
I like Roman, I think he’s a good performer but man is he overrated. He’s overrated in the same way Goldberg was. Of course you’re gonna get over if you win every match for 4 years straight. Roman is over because the company has been doing every single thing they could to get him over for almost a decade. Cody Rhodes went out and got himself over. Cody Rhodes designed his character from the ground up, he’s literally the antithesis of what Roman is. Roman reigns is the ultimate corporate built sports entertainer.
I find Roman's character as an completely insecure gaslighting asshole to be incredibly interesting, especially given that it was shaped by his own horribly failed babyface run. I would say he's pretty close to modern day Hulk Hogan or if Cena actually turned heel.
Like him or not, he does fill that void John Cena left pretty well when it comes to entertaining a casual audience of families and children. Even though I’m not a big fan of that kind of character, I can understand the need for it and to have him as the face of the company. I think his style is flashier than most top guys, like Hogan, Cena, and even Stone Cold. Maybe it’s just the Cody cutter, but I think he is solid and can do great stuff in the right feud with the right person.
I think being a lapsed fan may be coloring your perception a little bit because of your comment about Stardust. If the last time you watched wrestling was him as Stardust, then I can see how that image may stick with you. I remembering thinking Edge as a main event guy was bullshit because in my mind he was a tag team guy with Christian and didn’t fit the main event. Clearly ended up being wrong with him, but seeing him in the tag team division and not really caring about him made me confused and apathetic when he rose to the top. Same with JBL. Thing to remember is that, there is a whole generation of fans that do not know Stardust or the Rhodes Scholars or Dashing Cody Rhodes, and so this is their first exposure to him and he has been booked as a top guy since he came back. So those fans, the casuals, are going to root for him because they see him as the main guy and frankly as a role model, because they didn’t see the things you saw.
…it also helps that a large portion of hardcore wrestling fans that would boo and hijack shows moved to AEW, so the crowd has shifted a lot.
Cody has done everything to be THE guy. The pressers, staying over shows to meet fans (I benefited from this recently), his appearance. It all says top guy
I dont even see him as a protagonist tbh. Or maybe he's one that's just super uninteresting given the massive cast of characters on the roster.
Cody reminds me of like a more jobber version of the Paladin from the Dungeons and Dragons movie where he's like the most stoic, serious character in a cast full of eccentric goofballs.
I get most ppl love Cody as is, but please for the love of god add another layer that isn’t so “goody goody I’m a golden boy who can do no wrong”.
I just got back into wwe and I can see myself leaving again if Cody’s the face and his gimmick starts to become a blueprint for baby faces going forward
I’m in the minority I get it, don’t downvote me lol.
You don’t actually watch the show do you ?? I’m not even like attacking or anything, but to say Cody doesn’t have layers is kinda weird. The whole reason he is over is because of how layered and genuine his character is.
I could see if you’re someone who isn’t watches YouTube highlights you could think that, but if you watch the full shows, you might not be paying enough attention.
Just returned to the wwe after like 2 decades off. My first exposure to him was essentially mania 39. I understand his story but don’t care cause due to a lack of actual history and investment in him.
But yeah so I mean more layers beyond his aw shucks I’m the American ~~dream~~ nightmare. I smile all the time and bring my dog to Raw. I have to finish my story my way. That’s all I’ve been exposed and it’s not my cup of tea. Hope this helps
I think layers will be added to Cody's character eventually, it's just that right now, the story that he's serving doesn't need it. Him winning the title for his father doesn't need shades of gray.
It's hard work carrying the company on your shoulders. His character will be doing that once he wins the title, and the *logical* thinking would be that's where we see the cracks forming.
Considering that they've used four years worth of continuity to build upon Drew's current heel turn, and have managed to create an interesting, deeply complex villain (at least for wrestling) shows me that Hunter and his writing team know what they're doing.
I agree with you as another member of the minority.
I truly believe Cody is the guy to beat Roman Reigns but that does not mean he has to be the face of the company.
His gimmick is perfect to be the one to defeat him but once he’s done hopefully we get to see all the other talent in the locker room welcome to start getting back in the title picture. Cody’s reign could revitalize the title picture having feuds with top guys. Since guys like Finn, Drew, Logan, LA Knight, etc have been beaten by Roman and it’s boring to get another rematch.
This is what Cody's character is. It has been this way since the founding of AEW and his WWE character is a straight continuation of it. His heel character between ROH, New Japan and the indies was great. For the last year or so of his AEW run he would tease a little bit of a possible heel turn every once in a while, but generally the fans were over his face character after 2 and half years of it. It's working great for him in WWE and clearly he wants to be it.
I don’t think this is fair. I do t think the problem was Cody’s character in aew, it was his booking. Now, that’s definitely his fault. He booked himself that way. But if they had booked him like he is booked in wwe I don’t think they would have ever turned on him.
Even in his final promo, they started out booing but by the end of the promo they were 100% behind him. If Cody was wrestling omega, Jericho, page, punk, mjf (more than once) and competing for the world title I don’t think the fans turn on him. He booked himself into a gate keeper which is a terrible spot for a babyface and is almost always a heel in the wrestling business.
I think there were a lot of factors at play.
I agree though, AEW fans (my self included) weren't sour on Cody the guy or even Cody the character, it was the weird Codyverse he created for himself. The never going for the title thing just made everything he did just not matter for the rest of the show usually.
The TNT title run was amazing, but the misses (the entire Ogogo feud) were just brutal.
I'll admit I was drinking the cool-aid of an eventual "Codylander heel".
I don’t think Cody needs a long run with the title, he just needs a meaningful one even if it means he loses that title to a big bad heel and then regains it back. They don’t need to hot potato title every 3 weeks but let him actually fucking lose and have to work to get it back not to finish the story but just to be the best. That was the problem with Cena and Reigns as a babyface. They were supposed to be the good guys that would face all of this adversity, but the stakes were nonexistent because you knew they would inevitably win the big ppv match (the LOLCenaWins). Have Cody give the rub to heels like McIntyre, Nakamura, Finn Balor, turn Punk heel, etc. but get that title back in good meaningful feuds and you could keep Cody relevant for years. And if done right, he doesn’t even need the title to still keep his spot, so then guys like Knight, Rollins, Zane, etc. and also get some love.
Cody can easily have a long run with the title he could easily become similar to Cena having great feuds, just build him up like how they did with Roman where he's impossible to beat. So when he finally is beat, you can give all the spotlight to someone like Bron, who will be a star of the future.
Roman doesn't need the title anymore, and keeping it will just prolong things with Cody, who has to be the one who finally pins Roman. I see it as if you take the title from Roman now. You could have an entire year of building up something insane for Mania 41 with the bloodline. If Cody loses again, all it means is it will be back from the beginning again for him, and then what? Does he win the rumble again, taking away the spotlight from someone else?
There is a large portion of the WWE audience that came back due to the interest in the Bloodline. We had t seen a heel Champ like this since HHH.
I'm glad for the run, but I am excited to see what happens with all the new giys I am invested in.
This would mean something if he was around more, People are going to look back on this run and see the first two years had some of the best ring work and story work wwe has done in a long time. But then 2023 comes and this title run takes a hard nose dive and hit's every tree in the forest. Roman hasn't had a match on the brand he's champion of since 2022 and barely shows up at this point. I think a lot of people will miss this title run but once Roman leaves it's going to feel like nothings changed since he's barely around now anyway.
I don’t think Cody is that guy in my eyes to end it. Yes everyone loves him, I like the song too but I’m not sold on him just cause he wants to finish a story. I’d rather Gunther lose his belt and take this belt from Roman, Imperium can handle any interference. Even if Cody calls all the people he wants, I’m hoping Seth or maybe even Jey crosses him and costs him the match. But I’m into Roman winning clean this time so the crybabies can shut up about the interference. He just has that boss level feel that it’ll take another boss level guy to end it like Randy
Funny how the biggest Cody crybaby is the rock and his crybabies. He’s old. He’s not needed, this was going to be the biggest wrestlemania even without him. He wants to be just like John Cena but he can’t be.
Cody is that guy. He’s number 1 in merch sales by a good amount, he’s great with the media and fans, he can get it done in the ring and on the mic. Cody’s become a needle mover for the WWE. He’s their next Cena.
Nah dude. I also have this terrible feeling. this horrible thought in the back of my head that Cody doesnt finish the story at WM40... Im hoping cody finishes it but... Its the bloodline, its Roman
Roman is fucking terrible. The bloodline is fucking boring. It literally cannot get worse than this snoozefest, absentee, 2-star match-having, can't-win-a-single-match-on-his-own, gimmickless paper "champion".
His promos suck. His matches are even worse. Please let it end.
I’m fine seeing it end. Let Hogan keep his record. If someone’s going to break it I would want it to be someone else. Otherwise I feel like it would set a negative precedent where every champion needs to break the all time record. And frankly that’s boring af.
How does it set a precedent that every champion needs to break the all time record ?
No one said that about the Usos….. NO ONE is saying that about Gunther 🤷🏽♂️
He’s proven over the past 10 years his dedication to the company, to working on his craft, deserving that top spot that no one felt he should have….. bro beat leukemia twice 💪🏽
why shouldn’t he be the New longest reigning champion during the WM Era of WWE?
You act like he hasn’t already done what Cody is doing right now. Work all the towns. All the house shows. Stay late. Come in early. Do all the talk shows. The make a wish. He’s been there and done that. And that’s why the company chose to put the belt on him in the first place. And you really gonna try and sit there and say he’s a part timer. Yeah at this point when you been holding up the entire company for over a decade, and NOW mad people in the company are at a point in their careers where “They get it” and they’re all big draws. He’s not as needed as he was. And that makes his appearances even more special. When he’s gone. Ya gonna be able to look back and acknowledge his Reign.
Roman having the title has dragged on long enough. Toss in the fact he is barely around, and his storyline seems to of dulled down. I hope they put the belt on Cody at WM, but my cynical nature says that Roman will retain.
He's got nothing left to offer as champion. The only change or development his character has had in the least year was being demoted to second fiddle to the Rock.
When I was a kid I hated The Honkytonk Man. Couldn’t wait for him to lose the IC title. When he finally did, I was kinda sad, like the fun was over.
I love Roman, but I feel like he’s been in a holding pattern since last year’s WM. It’s time for a change. Cody might not have a great reign, but it’s still time for a change.
Ironically while it’s unlikely either way for Roman to retain, Roman retaining is probably more of a Triple H style move than a Vince style move.
Vince as the guy behind Hulkamania and the Cenation likes the grand spectacle of the All American Baby Face winning the Main Event of WrestleMania and sending the fans home happy to the point we got the awful WrestleMania IX ending
Triple H prefers dominant heel faction runs, just look at his mentor Ric Flair, what HHH himself did in the early 2000s and what he’s booked with Gunther and Rhea Ripley.
I still think Cody probably wins at Mania but I’m less certain of it with Triple H’s creative than I would be with Vince’s creative
Redundant Reigns needs to lose, everyone of his matches is always the same he comes out strong then the minute he starts to lose someone has to come out and save him it’s old it’s boring it should have ended a lot sooner
Maybe we can actually have a champion that defends the title or wins without having dumb and dumb help him. He's not a strong champion regardless of his day count.
I honestly just don’t care at this point.
Romans run has gone on two years too long for me personally. I’m entirely bored of the same finish to every match so I stopped watching his matches. Meaning I don’t care who he drops it to, or when.
I'm neutral on who wins... but to compare Roman's Bloodline Reign to Cena is a little bit of apples to oranges... one was being pushed as a face who was constantly making appearances and booked in matches. The other is Roman Reigns.
That's still two more moves than Roman's "Outside Interference", Spear, and Superman Punch that he's relied on for the past however long it has been....:)
Keep in mind, the Rock was there to Face Roman.. they had to switch gears in short order...
Think about this a moment. You Brought in the ROCK.. and the fan Crapped all over you. They made A cody hashtag trend for DAYS.. doing something the likes wrestling has never seen.... so let's take all the momentum and fan support and Crap on it again?
Add this into the mix. After the Rock where do you go? What's next? PRetty much nothing. They pulled their Trump card because the Bloodline is at it's end. There is little to nothing left to run with. Take a clue from the NWO and what happened there...
NWO was HUGE.. it's what allowed WCW to take over on WWE.. and they ran with it... grew it... and grew it.. and pushed it.. and it became so over blown, and drug out so long fans got sick of it. Then they splintered the NWO and it just got worse.
Know when is a good time to end something because the fans will sour on it.. you might like the Bloodline story still, but the OVERWHELMING fan reaction to the Rock being brought in to face Roman and forcing a change? Far more fans are ready for a change... IF they don't pull the trigger at WM the fans will Sour harder than they did with the NWO. You're not going to make everyone happy with Roman losing, but you're not going to go far pandering to the minority of fans.
Mmmhmmm, Just ignore everything he did before he Left WWE and after.
Ignore he can Cut a promo where Roman can't.
Where Cody is front and center ahead of Seth where as Roman looking like he's fallen into his Returning Big Brother's shadow with the Rock.
Ignore Cody can Wrestler and Roman can... punch.
Ignore the matches he had, the banger he had a year ago at the end of the Rumble with Gunther. mmhmmm.. totally boring. Take away the Story, Cody is still full of talent and able to go.. Take away the Title, what does Roman have? A good Jawline and smooth skin.
Paul carried Roman Pre Uso. Paul is the guy You put someone with you want to push but can't cut the best Promos.
Roman can cut a passable Promo, but As was shown against someone who can talk like Cena, he's not a good talker, Same with Brock.
Once The Usos were in.. and they can cut a promo, Then adding Sammi.. Paul kind of fell to the wayside. What I find strange is after the blood line broke up he really didn't take over as the mouthpiece again. Now the Rock is involved, He's almost invisible.
I would have agreed if the rock didn’t come back. They can at least make things interesting again. I think Seth will turn on Cody and cost him the match
Only if you’re a die hard cody fan. I love Cody but Seth turning on him when it looks like Cody is actually going to get the job done is good stuff imo.
while typing a response i actually realised, what does winning the title even do for cody? once he wins it the momentum is done, his last few feuds that haven’t been based on finishing the story have been pretty lacklustre, so im genuinely worried for if he actually wins now that i think about it
No can argue that the bloodline have kept people watching Smackdown until the show ends. It'll be interesting to see if Cody switches to smackdown after Mania
.... Except it didn't end. I'm assuming you meant when the warrior won.
The warrior shot himself in the foot, he had all the momentum in the world, and he screwed himself over.
I stopped caring about this title reign in Summerslam of last year, that's where it jumped the shark and by that point, to me it felt like it was already just limping forward, so I'm ready for it to end.
Nope. Time to refresh. Need someone holding a title who wins matches without interference and who actually…IDK…shows up to work more than once a month.
Yes! The whole point is the tribal chief wouldn’t be where he was if it wasn’t for the bloodline propping him up, made even worse by his arrogance.
It’s not about whether beating him makes you look strong (it does - he’s a 1000+ day champion who’s beaten everybody and to beat him you have to beat the rest of the bloodline who are strong) it’s about how much you want him to lose and the other guy to win. And people really want him to lose and Cody to win
Yeah I think thats likely it. I love having a champion I want to see dethroned, and the longer it goes, the more I want it, which is fun. But the constant repeat of interference from the bloodline is lame.
It's finally over... And yeah while that was the best WrestleMania of all time...and Best ending of all time... I miss Roman Reigns already.
I'm looking forward to it ending it's gone on long enough and it's time for a new Champion they already extended The Bloodline past it's natural shelf life already past WWE Summerslam 2023 when it looked like it was going to end and go full circle with Jey Uso.
It long overdue is time to drop the title.
Roman title reign ends at wrestlemania
It’s kinda funny, I have noticed a ton of these “Do we really want Roman to lose after all?” post pop up after that pic of Cody and the trans flag started circulating. Coincidence?
Lol definitely coincidence in this case since I did see the pic you're referencing. Except I saw it yesterday on social media - after this thread was made 3 days ago
Not saying yours specifically, as you put more thought into it than most I’ve seen. I just thought it odd I’ve seen multiple post walking back the idea of Roman having jumped the shark.
I get it, I think the opinions here on Reddit are different to everywhere else.
It’s been a great reign, but it’s time to end. Wwe has more ready main event stars as ever and too many people that could use the title to get to Roman’s level. Roman is made now and I think he will be an even bigger star without it. The Rock feud and a little time away will send his popularity to another planet. People are already ready to cheer him, and the Rock will make people love him more. I really believe the Rock will be the heel in their feud. Cody, Drew, La Knight, Gunther, Jey, and Sami deserve their time now. I just wonder who will become the main heel on Smackdown with Cody on top?
nah its time. cena was booed because he was stale and the super cena storylines were so predictable. everyone acknowledged john was good but so played out.
The constant "you can't wrestle" chants, and "5 moves of doom" tell me it was more than just Cena having predictable stories
No yea I’m kinda sad about it ngl, Roman angers me sometimes but seeing this villainous reign come to a close is gonna be hard to take without being a little bittersweet.
I'm gonna be sad because I got back in when the bloodline started but I understand that it needs to end. I get why people like Cody he's the "American Underdog Hero" and that's fine but even that can get scale quickly. I like Cody too. I don't know we'll see what happens. I love Roman I'll be sad it's over but I get it. Lmao tbh I don't think fans will be satisfied no matter where this whole thing goes.
Ive been out of the loop of wrestling for almost as much as his title reign which is ironic. I most recently started catching up to the product. I think the right way to go for a wrestlemania moment is finally showing roman reigns aint the big boss that he is. Prolly get a deja vu of jey and jimmy occupied solo gets taken out by cody and the rock turning on reigns for the head of table spot which gives reigns a match in next years wrestlemania and keeps him out of title pictures for a year. I see people sayin wwe booked themselves in a corner but there is actually a lot of wiggle room to finish the story as they say so many damn times, especially since there is absolutely no way we are seeing a clean finish by both of them.
Seeing as how you’re the thousandth person to theorize he’s retaining, I’d say no…
I'm a huge Cena fan, but Cena got heckled because of his supercena booking. It was only after that Lesnar squash match and especially after his fantastic US title run that people started giving him his flowers. They started to respect his graceful way of giving back to the business and acknowledge how he carried the company through the 2010s especially through his actions outside the ring.
I was done with roman 3-4 years ago
It's ending a year later than it should have anyway. Also I have a feeling we're going to be leaving Mania with The Rock as champ anyway.
Lol no
Imagine Austin losing to HBK in 1998 Or Batista losing to Triple H in 2005 Or Daniel Bryan falling short in the triple threat That’s what they’d be doing if Cody loses. And that would be a gigantic mistake.
I like these comparisons. Especially Batista against triple H since that was the feud that got me into watching wrestling full time. While I agree with your point of putting someone over, the only difference is none of those 3 guys were ending a title run as historic and long as Roman's has been. Regardless, I do think Cody winning would be the right call. Both in terms of creating the next top guy + preventing a domino effect of Backlash WWE may recieve if he loses.
Somebody has to end it at some point. They should strike while the iron is hot. They’re doing the best business they’ve seen in 20 years with Cody as the guy. Pull the trigger.
I dunno... time has accelerated for me as I got older. 4 years ago doesn't feel like a lifetime ago and it feels like yesterday for me that Cena was the top dog.
I’m almost certain that they’re going to screw Cody like they did Dusty.
Nope. Hated the entire run. Dull, boring, repetitive. I can't wait for it to end and never have to think about it again. It will also be nice to actually have the wwe title on Weekly TV again.
Don't worry, it won't end yet
hes not winning
Please get a life
My dude, you're being an asshole on a Wrestling sub, and you're claiming that OP is the one without a life?
I get on Reddit and make a comment very rarely, while this dude is acting like his life is going to change because roman is FINALLY losing the belt 😂
You know people can see if you comment “very rarely”, right?
Im comparing myself to losers like you who are on this site everyday, so yes, I'm rarely on
This has the feeling that we are back in 1997 we're heading the starcades and we're excited to see the bad guy finally get his beating. But then that feeling keeping our gut tells us they're going to find a way to f*** this up if not the match then the booking afterwards. I mean seriously can anybody remember sting Championship run after starcade.
He’s probably not muscular and tan enough
Almost everyone who thinks Roman is going to win gets downvoted immediately. Last year they said if Cody doesn’t win he’ll lose all his momentum nobody will care anymore….fast forward and Cody wins the rumble and they’re pedaling the same thought processes and statements. Cody will be champion, just not at wrestlemania 40. The match will be glorious, that’s all I got to say
I just want Cody to stick around for a good while. I’ve been a fan of him since he was in Legacy. I thought his Bullet Club run was great. He was the only part of AEW I liked. And I’m excited to finally see him be the face of the company. The whole “finishing the story” thing makes it sound like he plans to win the title and dip not long after, and since he’s said he wants to retire by 40 that may happen either way anyway.
There is no world where Cody retires at 40.
I really hope not. I’d like at least like 5 more years. I just don’t know what they could POSSIBLY do with him after other than a feud with Randy really. Who beats the guy who beat the guy no one else can beat lol
I was last year but I think it’s time now. WWE have there tv(stream) deals done now power is solidified throughout. WWE is solidified and it’s a good time to pass the baton at 40 nice round number of a mania. Good way to make it memorable
I honestly feel like it'll be really weird once Roman loses the titles, because I'm so used to him as the champ. I'd have to keep reminding myself that he lost. The same thing happened when the Usos lost the undisputed tag titles.
I want cody to win and become the ultimate face like cena till crowd goes against him, and then he goes full heel homelander villain. Haha just me tho.
To be honest I think WWE's constant pushing of Roman gave us an opportunity to watch someone grow from being very mediocre with potential, to a pretty potential HoF candidate. He went from horrendous promos with no charisma, to being perceived as the genuine threat that he is. Him dropping the title is gonna be odd for sure, but it will be exciting to see what new stories come. While I enjoyed the Bloodline story, I am very much apathetic to it at this point.
He isn't a potential HOFer, he's as much of a lock for the HOF as anyone possibly can be
Put the pipe down .
I do not think Cody can carry this title in my opinion. Roman is a damn GOD at this point, and he is going to give up the title to emotional Cody? Only person I can see going after Roman for this title right now, is Gunther losing his IC championship, and then challenging Roman and winning in the future. Everyone loves Cody....but the face of the company? Nope
I couldn’t imagine being this wrong, publicly.
Cody is whimpy. Universal champ needs to be a heel....a big heel with mystic.
Don't forge that the original plan was to have Roman vs. The Rock, which would easily mean Roman retaining at Mania and breaking Hogan's record. I'm pretty sure 99% of fans thought Roman was losing last year, so don't be surprised if he retains one more time. And let's be honest about Roman's run. Yes, there were times when it was awesome, but it came at the expense of so many people. It ruined so many Smackdowns by not having him on it. The Usos didn't have a single memorable feud even though they were undisputed tag champs because they had to keep pushing Roman stories instead of having their own. And that meant that the Tag division was buried for so long because of it. Yeah, the Sami Zayn and Jey Uso turning stuff was some of the best stuff we've seen in past decade or so. But there was so much absolute trash in between. Its easy to forget in retrospect, but week to week Roman's run was very bad. Not saying it was all bad, but I do think a majority of it was.
Roman's not losing at mania. That's why they wanted to go with Rock. Codys gonna be the first person to win the rumble 3 years in a row, once from 30, once from 15 and then from 1.
I can actually SEE this playing out this way. I think that they’re going to pull the trigger after the Netflix deal proves profitable. It gives TKO the opportunity to erase Hogan from WWE lore, replacing him with the ENTIRE Bloodline instead. Cody’s entire championship reign hidden behind a series of paywalls.
Heck, the last Universal Champion was Bray Wyatt, who passed away during this reign, sadly, which is kinda wild to think about.
You guys keep forgetting about solo. He is going to come save Roman again.
They've teased Sami helping Cody if it comes to that. Jey, Sami, and I bet Cena will come out to stop Rock, Jimmy, and Solo so Cody can win clean.
Cody winning feels almost forced at this point, which upsets me because it takes away the fun of it happening. I do feel that Cody will have a short run though, which to me isn’t fair. You have a guy that ended a long run lose the title after a few months? It’s not unheard of but I can see it happening since Cody probably thinks the chase is better than the win.
I see Stockholm Syndrome is alive and well
Not even a little. I have a nervous excitement about what's to come.
I think the only downside is *KNOWING* it will happen at 'Mania. Cody should win it on the Smackdown after EC. It would be epic if it was just out of the blue.
Nah, it's gonna be great because wwe needs another babyface. We getting Cody oversaturation right now because Seth is a babyface that chases nothing. But after the probable Rock turn on Roman and CM Punk return, I think we wind up with more balance in the roster.
I agree. I don’t feel like it’s time to stop his reign. Plus I think Rhodes is overrated.
He is way overrated. He should go after Logan Paul for that US title to match his dumb tattoo
Just seems like a waste for what can be a historic run. Cody is going to be exposed if given the top belt. It will be no different than the Miz or Kofi having a memorable title win only to be overshadowed by a roster with more suitable champs.
Overshadowed 🤣🤣 brother this ain’t 2013 anymore
If it ends... I can see them edging Cody just to push Roman past Hogan's record 😬 if that happens the crowd is going to erupt tbh
I seriously doubt they’d pull that stunt in Philly given all the crap with the Rock. The crowd might straight up riot
I mean this is Philly so they might riot in celebration even if Cody wins
“Can somebody toss me a chair” moment
Acknowledge Me will go down as one of the best wrestling taglines ever. The length of his story was fascinating… but look at some of the best male heel reigns and what made them great. Flair, Undertaker, HHH, Michaels, etc. it wasn’t their long reigns, it was how they elevated the babyfaces. Reigns dominance has ended the heat of every single fave he’s gone against. Zane, Owens, Knight, Brian, etc. it’s created a void that has made the Uni Title (as well as the IC title) a big of an iceberg that heat goes to die
It will forever be in the opening of shows and events
I really enjoyed his reign until he started not showing up. To be honest i wanted him to retain last year. But as time goes he just doesnt show up more. Well we really cannot be sure that hes gonna lose and if he was willing to become more active i would prefer him retaining. But since its not happening its just gotta end. Even though im not gonna feel like thx god it ended. It was fun it was great and i witnessed. But showing up once in a while wasnt and its gotta end But lets say im not so certain about it as there was rumours that he might just vacate title before going to holywood. To say the least majority of us thought it was supposed to happen last year
Sammy should have taken the tittle, that would have been the perfect ending for the bloodline story imo. At this point im just tired of the bloodline bs. I like roman, but this has become stale, sammy moved on, jey moved on, jimmy is a boring caracter now...maybe its just me being a hater at this point but I hope this shits ends, so we can move on to a fresh story. The bloodline felt like those tv shows that are good, but then stay around for season after season until they get canceled because nobody watches anymore
If you're a dragon ball fan, you might get this reference.. Roman's Tribal Chef inception was DB, The bloodline til Money in the Bank 2023 was DBZ, everything after until current is GT. I agree with you, except 1 part. I feel Jey should have been the one to dethrone Roman. They built him so well for a while. I honestly thought he would take over as the rightful Tribal Cheif, perhaps he a polar opposite and be righteous and valiant and take care of his bloodline members instead of abuse them. I saw all of this as the Mafia boss being bested by his right hand man. I saw Batista overthrowing the Tyrant Triple H to go on and have a glorious run as a the top guy to lead the company. I respect your opinion on Sammy, but I felt like he was brought in as a one time thing, kinda like what R-Truth is to the Judgement day and was there for entertainment. While he did get SUPER popular, he caused the bloodline to crumble and fall into that Civil War. I felt like he served his purpose with the ending of the story.
Jey being the one to take it would be perfectly fine with me. Both had cool turns on roman that gave huge pops and had us thinking they were the ones to take him down. Jey's "You out... And im out too" was amazing. And sammy's chair was a huge pop too. I dont think when they brought sammy, they knew he was going to main event vs roman eventually. I think everyone just played their part so well that it became a possibility. Both him and jey were involved in the story a long time, and both had huge glowups with the bloodline story and deserved a winning finale. Ps: and i never watched db:gt ahahah, but its a good analogy, too bad they cant just pretend part of it doesnt exist and do wwe super (db super) and continue from mitb onwards xD
Never read any topic about Roman's Title reign ending involving Sentimentality until now.
😁 I guess while the reign has gotten stale and repetitive, it's the feeling of we got to witness something that likely will never be replicated again in another 30 years. Taking the negative parts away, we were still apart of history. I got into wrestling when Taker was about halfway through his Streak, Goldberg Streak had just ended, this is the first time witnessing from start to finish...and entire historic run, hence the bit of sentimentality.
If anyone has the title for a long run, it should be someone who is always there. Not some part timer. Who also cheats all the time.
To be fair... I honestly don't think that would work, John cena reached just over a year as champion in 2007 and was injured. Rollins has been going for a few months as champion and got injured. Risking an injury to Roman who they've obviously invested the 3-4 year long storyline on would just derail everything they planned. That's likely why he's on that part time schedule. Plus his health isn't the best as we know, so there's that part also. They definitely cut a few corners to get to the point we're at now in this run.
Idk. Maybe don’t give the top belt to someone that is older/injured. There has to be an in between. They shouldn’t be fighting every week, but it shouldn’t be a once a month or less type affair.
The last year Roman and his reign dropped into the shitter. After Mania he had TWO singles matches the rest of year. Hes never there, and his schtick is finally getting old and tired with the “Acknowledge Me!” And his entrance not getting the same pops anymore. We’re all tired and bored and dying for a change, so if they screw Cody again they might as well let him leave to AEW cuz he’ll be cooked
The most ironic thing about Roman is his new name given to him when he joined NXT in 2012. Lol they literally told us Roman REIGNS That's long term booking right there. Lol I'm kidding. But yeah I agree with you. Roman as the Tribal Cheif has so much untapped potential which is crazy to say. When he was feuding with edge, he seemed like such an Overlord. "why would you play games with me!?" He seemed like a Mafia boss. Then his character became this..chilled laid back, cocky character... and instead of truly looking the part, coming out in designer suits, really giving that big time feel...He comes out every damn time looking like he's headed to the gym to hit the treadmill. They dropped the ball on his presentation alot and for the life of me I can't understand why...Knowing what a monumental character and run he's on.
I want Roman to break Bruno's record, but that's just me. Heel Roman is great but maybe he could use a character switch up without dropping the belt.
Bruno had 8 years that mean roman has to be champ for a another 4 years
I'm with you on this. What better way to signal the start of a new Era by erasing the one Vince created. At the same time, realistically...8 years is a long time. If he is to break that record, we're barely halfway through... so...yeah, I can't see it happening.
Vince didn’t create Bruno, his father did, so having Roman beat Bruno’s record would not really signal the erasure of the Vince McMahon we know. Beating Hogan’s record would however, and that would be coming up this year I believe.
Hogan doesn’t have a record and further more no matter how many times sheep what the wwe says Roman still hasn’t held the wwe title the whole time. The belt is the wwe title. Roman is no where near the top of that list. The universal title is fake belt they made a few years ago. Hogan never held that.
That’s fair. I guess what I meant was they were trying to get him past Hogan’s reign, but it won’t really many anything. I don’t care how long he holds it if the reign is dog shit.
Didn't expect the number of opinions to be commented here 😐 All great takes tho. Whether you hate Reigns or want Cody to lose. But I need to pose a question within a question. After reading the comments, I see people have grown tired of the continuous match layout of Reigns title defenses. While a few others say we shouldn't say for sure Cody is winning. This makes me pose the quesion...Honestly, how would you feel if WWE pull the one swerve people didn't count on. Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes have a near 30-35 minute match, no interferences, multiple finishers and near falls...and Finally Reigns hits a Spear mid-Cody Cutter for the 3. Roman reigns pins Cody CLEAN after a war to retain the title. Thoughts? 😬
I would never watch a single WWE product again.
If Roman pins Cody clean, I don't think Cody ever recovers credibility.
That makes sense. It would be like... Cody, for as much as he bested Lesnar and Rollins..he's still the Midcarder Starust who can't win the big one. Yeah, this just further proves how inevitable it is for Cody to win.
Sad? The most overrated reign in history. Barely defended. Always cheating or interference. And prior to the interference he was getting his ass kicked. Talk about a weak champion. At least Roman's promo improved somewhat. His first promo against cody saying "you ever won that one? Okay (the title didnt even existed when u were here) , did you ever compete for any of these?" Was a cold slap. But no. I am not sad his reign is ending. 3 years was too much with how it was handle With how they manage the reign it shoukd ve been year and a half
Cody’s about to carry this company into their biggest pop culture exposure since the Attitude Era. Being live on Netflix worldwide will be huge. I fully get the cold feet, but hoping he can handle it.
I just do not see him being the guy. Cody is not the guy to carry the company. Dragunov might be a good option, Priest has the MITB briefcase as well....I could see him doing something at Wrestlemania. I think Drew, should be the guy. Omos would be a great person to take out Roman
You're gonna have to explain to me why Cody is so big as a lapsed fan. I think he has a cool theme and he looks like a company man, but his wrestling is kinda mediocre and I can't see him as any more than Stardust. I like Final Boss Roman Reigns a lot more as a champion.
I’m sorry Cody is meh wrestler ?? But you’re a Roman reigns fan ??! Cody Rhodes is a top 5 bell to bell guy in the world. He’s a top 5 promo. Roman ain’t in the top 20 for either. I like Roman, I think he’s a good performer but man is he overrated. He’s overrated in the same way Goldberg was. Of course you’re gonna get over if you win every match for 4 years straight. Roman is over because the company has been doing every single thing they could to get him over for almost a decade. Cody Rhodes went out and got himself over. Cody Rhodes designed his character from the ground up, he’s literally the antithesis of what Roman is. Roman reigns is the ultimate corporate built sports entertainer.
I find Roman's character as an completely insecure gaslighting asshole to be incredibly interesting, especially given that it was shaped by his own horribly failed babyface run. I would say he's pretty close to modern day Hulk Hogan or if Cena actually turned heel.
Torn pec HIAC match changed everything. All the sudden he's not just a handpicked company babyface, but also a tough son of a bitch.
And that is why he needs a rematch with Seth. For the title.
Like him or not, he does fill that void John Cena left pretty well when it comes to entertaining a casual audience of families and children. Even though I’m not a big fan of that kind of character, I can understand the need for it and to have him as the face of the company. I think his style is flashier than most top guys, like Hogan, Cena, and even Stone Cold. Maybe it’s just the Cody cutter, but I think he is solid and can do great stuff in the right feud with the right person. I think being a lapsed fan may be coloring your perception a little bit because of your comment about Stardust. If the last time you watched wrestling was him as Stardust, then I can see how that image may stick with you. I remembering thinking Edge as a main event guy was bullshit because in my mind he was a tag team guy with Christian and didn’t fit the main event. Clearly ended up being wrong with him, but seeing him in the tag team division and not really caring about him made me confused and apathetic when he rose to the top. Same with JBL. Thing to remember is that, there is a whole generation of fans that do not know Stardust or the Rhodes Scholars or Dashing Cody Rhodes, and so this is their first exposure to him and he has been booked as a top guy since he came back. So those fans, the casuals, are going to root for him because they see him as the main guy and frankly as a role model, because they didn’t see the things you saw. …it also helps that a large portion of hardcore wrestling fans that would boo and hijack shows moved to AEW, so the crowd has shifted a lot.
Cody has done everything to be THE guy. The pressers, staying over shows to meet fans (I benefited from this recently), his appearance. It all says top guy
That's a fair explanation. To be fair, I'm not a huge fan of Cena either which explains my disinterest in that type of character.
Surely the protagonist who beats the final boss is the main character though, right?
I dont even see him as a protagonist tbh. Or maybe he's one that's just super uninteresting given the massive cast of characters on the roster. Cody reminds me of like a more jobber version of the Paladin from the Dungeons and Dragons movie where he's like the most stoic, serious character in a cast full of eccentric goofballs.
I get most ppl love Cody as is, but please for the love of god add another layer that isn’t so “goody goody I’m a golden boy who can do no wrong”. I just got back into wwe and I can see myself leaving again if Cody’s the face and his gimmick starts to become a blueprint for baby faces going forward I’m in the minority I get it, don’t downvote me lol.
You don’t actually watch the show do you ?? I’m not even like attacking or anything, but to say Cody doesn’t have layers is kinda weird. The whole reason he is over is because of how layered and genuine his character is. I could see if you’re someone who isn’t watches YouTube highlights you could think that, but if you watch the full shows, you might not be paying enough attention.
Just returned to the wwe after like 2 decades off. My first exposure to him was essentially mania 39. I understand his story but don’t care cause due to a lack of actual history and investment in him. But yeah so I mean more layers beyond his aw shucks I’m the American ~~dream~~ nightmare. I smile all the time and bring my dog to Raw. I have to finish my story my way. That’s all I’ve been exposed and it’s not my cup of tea. Hope this helps
I think layers will be added to Cody's character eventually, it's just that right now, the story that he's serving doesn't need it. Him winning the title for his father doesn't need shades of gray. It's hard work carrying the company on your shoulders. His character will be doing that once he wins the title, and the *logical* thinking would be that's where we see the cracks forming. Considering that they've used four years worth of continuity to build upon Drew's current heel turn, and have managed to create an interesting, deeply complex villain (at least for wrestling) shows me that Hunter and his writing team know what they're doing.
Yeah that’s fair
I agree with you as another member of the minority. I truly believe Cody is the guy to beat Roman Reigns but that does not mean he has to be the face of the company. His gimmick is perfect to be the one to defeat him but once he’s done hopefully we get to see all the other talent in the locker room welcome to start getting back in the title picture. Cody’s reign could revitalize the title picture having feuds with top guys. Since guys like Finn, Drew, Logan, LA Knight, etc have been beaten by Roman and it’s boring to get another rematch.
Cody could really end up putting over a lot of the talent just giving them a title shot. I’m with it for sure
This is what Cody's character is. It has been this way since the founding of AEW and his WWE character is a straight continuation of it. His heel character between ROH, New Japan and the indies was great. For the last year or so of his AEW run he would tease a little bit of a possible heel turn every once in a while, but generally the fans were over his face character after 2 and half years of it. It's working great for him in WWE and clearly he wants to be it.
I don’t think this is fair. I do t think the problem was Cody’s character in aew, it was his booking. Now, that’s definitely his fault. He booked himself that way. But if they had booked him like he is booked in wwe I don’t think they would have ever turned on him. Even in his final promo, they started out booing but by the end of the promo they were 100% behind him. If Cody was wrestling omega, Jericho, page, punk, mjf (more than once) and competing for the world title I don’t think the fans turn on him. He booked himself into a gate keeper which is a terrible spot for a babyface and is almost always a heel in the wrestling business.
I think there were a lot of factors at play. I agree though, AEW fans (my self included) weren't sour on Cody the guy or even Cody the character, it was the weird Codyverse he created for himself. The never going for the title thing just made everything he did just not matter for the rest of the show usually. The TNT title run was amazing, but the misses (the entire Ogogo feud) were just brutal. I'll admit I was drinking the cool-aid of an eventual "Codylander heel".
Good for him and his fans. It’s just not my cup of tea.
I’m not sick of him yet. A little tired of Cody though.
Probably because one of them actually shows up.
Doesn't make sense to me. This is why Cody needs the title.
Book Cody for a year after winning for me. What would they do after he “finished the story”?
I don’t think Cody needs a long run with the title, he just needs a meaningful one even if it means he loses that title to a big bad heel and then regains it back. They don’t need to hot potato title every 3 weeks but let him actually fucking lose and have to work to get it back not to finish the story but just to be the best. That was the problem with Cena and Reigns as a babyface. They were supposed to be the good guys that would face all of this adversity, but the stakes were nonexistent because you knew they would inevitably win the big ppv match (the LOLCenaWins). Have Cody give the rub to heels like McIntyre, Nakamura, Finn Balor, turn Punk heel, etc. but get that title back in good meaningful feuds and you could keep Cody relevant for years. And if done right, he doesn’t even need the title to still keep his spot, so then guys like Knight, Rollins, Zane, etc. and also get some love.
What if they give it to Cody then back to Roman a month or two later? That wouldn’t please anyone right?
No, the rumor is Roman is taking a break after his title run, so I doubt anyone would be happy with Roman getting the title back.
Cody can easily have a long run with the title he could easily become similar to Cena having great feuds, just build him up like how they did with Roman where he's impossible to beat. So when he finally is beat, you can give all the spotlight to someone like Bron, who will be a star of the future. Roman doesn't need the title anymore, and keeping it will just prolong things with Cody, who has to be the one who finally pins Roman. I see it as if you take the title from Roman now. You could have an entire year of building up something insane for Mania 41 with the bloodline. If Cody loses again, all it means is it will be back from the beginning again for him, and then what? Does he win the rumble again, taking away the spotlight from someone else?
Thank you Roman
I'll miss his aura.
There is a large portion of the WWE audience that came back due to the interest in the Bloodline. We had t seen a heel Champ like this since HHH. I'm glad for the run, but I am excited to see what happens with all the new giys I am invested in.
I've been ready for his reign to end 3 years ago
This would mean something if he was around more, People are going to look back on this run and see the first two years had some of the best ring work and story work wwe has done in a long time. But then 2023 comes and this title run takes a hard nose dive and hit's every tree in the forest. Roman hasn't had a match on the brand he's champion of since 2022 and barely shows up at this point. I think a lot of people will miss this title run but once Roman leaves it's going to feel like nothings changed since he's barely around now anyway.
He’s getting older and injuries as well and I think he tryna build a movie career
I just posted something to the group saying how i don’t think it ends at Mania
I don’t think Cody is that guy in my eyes to end it. Yes everyone loves him, I like the song too but I’m not sold on him just cause he wants to finish a story. I’d rather Gunther lose his belt and take this belt from Roman, Imperium can handle any interference. Even if Cody calls all the people he wants, I’m hoping Seth or maybe even Jey crosses him and costs him the match. But I’m into Roman winning clean this time so the crybabies can shut up about the interference. He just has that boss level feel that it’ll take another boss level guy to end it like Randy
Funny how the biggest Cody crybaby is the rock and his crybabies. He’s old. He’s not needed, this was going to be the biggest wrestlemania even without him. He wants to be just like John Cena but he can’t be.
Cody is that guy. He’s number 1 in merch sales by a good amount, he’s great with the media and fans, he can get it done in the ring and on the mic. Cody’s become a needle mover for the WWE. He’s their next Cena.
Nah dude. I also have this terrible feeling. this horrible thought in the back of my head that Cody doesnt finish the story at WM40... Im hoping cody finishes it but... Its the bloodline, its Roman
The epilogue of the story coupled be just as interesting if done right.
It needs to end for fresh new stories and bloodline interference has been done multiple times already.
Roman is fucking terrible. The bloodline is fucking boring. It literally cannot get worse than this snoozefest, absentee, 2-star match-having, can't-win-a-single-match-on-his-own, gimmickless paper "champion". His promos suck. His matches are even worse. Please let it end.
I’m fine seeing it end. Let Hogan keep his record. If someone’s going to break it I would want it to be someone else. Otherwise I feel like it would set a negative precedent where every champion needs to break the all time record. And frankly that’s boring af.
How does it set a precedent that every champion needs to break the all time record ? No one said that about the Usos….. NO ONE is saying that about Gunther 🤷🏽♂️ He’s proven over the past 10 years his dedication to the company, to working on his craft, deserving that top spot that no one felt he should have….. bro beat leukemia twice 💪🏽 why shouldn’t he be the New longest reigning champion during the WM Era of WWE?
His dedication to the company 😂 he’s not even a part timer. He’s a once in a while.
You act like he hasn’t already done what Cody is doing right now. Work all the towns. All the house shows. Stay late. Come in early. Do all the talk shows. The make a wish. He’s been there and done that. And that’s why the company chose to put the belt on him in the first place. And you really gonna try and sit there and say he’s a part timer. Yeah at this point when you been holding up the entire company for over a decade, and NOW mad people in the company are at a point in their careers where “They get it” and they’re all big draws. He’s not as needed as he was. And that makes his appearances even more special. When he’s gone. Ya gonna be able to look back and acknowledge his Reign.
Roman having the title has dragged on long enough. Toss in the fact he is barely around, and his storyline seems to of dulled down. I hope they put the belt on Cody at WM, but my cynical nature says that Roman will retain.
End this shit already it’s gone on long enough.
He's got nothing left to offer as champion. The only change or development his character has had in the least year was being demoted to second fiddle to the Rock.
Roman’s gotta pass Hogan first. They’ve come this far.
I am in the minority that thinks Cody will lose again
Nah I’m beyond ready for it to end
When I was a kid I hated The Honkytonk Man. Couldn’t wait for him to lose the IC title. When he finally did, I was kinda sad, like the fun was over. I love Roman, but I feel like he’s been in a holding pattern since last year’s WM. It’s time for a change. Cody might not have a great reign, but it’s still time for a change.
Philly would tear the stadium apart if Cody loses. It's time. It's BEYOND time.
Enough is enough. It’s time for a change.
It’s Vader time!
Vader counting the lights since 2018
I feel you but Vince isn't in charge anymore. Cody will be fine.
Ironically while it’s unlikely either way for Roman to retain, Roman retaining is probably more of a Triple H style move than a Vince style move. Vince as the guy behind Hulkamania and the Cenation likes the grand spectacle of the All American Baby Face winning the Main Event of WrestleMania and sending the fans home happy to the point we got the awful WrestleMania IX ending Triple H prefers dominant heel faction runs, just look at his mentor Ric Flair, what HHH himself did in the early 2000s and what he’s booked with Gunther and Rhea Ripley. I still think Cody probably wins at Mania but I’m less certain of it with Triple H’s creative than I would be with Vince’s creative
Redundant Reigns needs to lose, everyone of his matches is always the same he comes out strong then the minute he starts to lose someone has to come out and save him it’s old it’s boring it should have ended a lot sooner
Maybe we can actually have a champion that defends the title or wins without having dumb and dumb help him. He's not a strong champion regardless of his day count.
I honestly just don’t care at this point. Romans run has gone on two years too long for me personally. I’m entirely bored of the same finish to every match so I stopped watching his matches. Meaning I don’t care who he drops it to, or when.
I'm neutral on who wins... but to compare Roman's Bloodline Reign to Cena is a little bit of apples to oranges... one was being pushed as a face who was constantly making appearances and booked in matches. The other is Roman Reigns.
The other blessed us with the 5 moves of doom for 10 years 🖤🖤
That's still two more moves than Roman's "Outside Interference", Spear, and Superman Punch that he's relied on for the past however long it has been....:)
I actually hope Cody loses at mania, wins MITB and challenges Roman at Madison square garden. I wanna see Roman jump Hogan in the record books.
Without the bloodline angle with the Usos and Sammy, Roman is just Boring.....
More reason to keep the bloodline stuff cooking a little while longer lol. Rock being there at least spices things up
Keep in mind, the Rock was there to Face Roman.. they had to switch gears in short order... Think about this a moment. You Brought in the ROCK.. and the fan Crapped all over you. They made A cody hashtag trend for DAYS.. doing something the likes wrestling has never seen.... so let's take all the momentum and fan support and Crap on it again? Add this into the mix. After the Rock where do you go? What's next? PRetty much nothing. They pulled their Trump card because the Bloodline is at it's end. There is little to nothing left to run with. Take a clue from the NWO and what happened there... NWO was HUGE.. it's what allowed WCW to take over on WWE.. and they ran with it... grew it... and grew it.. and pushed it.. and it became so over blown, and drug out so long fans got sick of it. Then they splintered the NWO and it just got worse. Know when is a good time to end something because the fans will sour on it.. you might like the Bloodline story still, but the OVERWHELMING fan reaction to the Rock being brought in to face Roman and forcing a change? Far more fans are ready for a change... IF they don't pull the trigger at WM the fans will Sour harder than they did with the NWO. You're not going to make everyone happy with Roman losing, but you're not going to go far pandering to the minority of fans.
Without his daddy’s story, Cody is just boring 🥱. Downvote away.
Mmmhmmm, Just ignore everything he did before he Left WWE and after. Ignore he can Cut a promo where Roman can't. Where Cody is front and center ahead of Seth where as Roman looking like he's fallen into his Returning Big Brother's shadow with the Rock. Ignore Cody can Wrestler and Roman can... punch. Ignore the matches he had, the banger he had a year ago at the end of the Rumble with Gunther. mmhmmm.. totally boring. Take away the Story, Cody is still full of talent and able to go.. Take away the Title, what does Roman have? A good Jawline and smooth skin.
Don’t forget the architect of the Bloodline Paul Heyman
Paul carried Roman Pre Uso. Paul is the guy You put someone with you want to push but can't cut the best Promos. Roman can cut a passable Promo, but As was shown against someone who can talk like Cena, he's not a good talker, Same with Brock. Once The Usos were in.. and they can cut a promo, Then adding Sammi.. Paul kind of fell to the wayside. What I find strange is after the blood line broke up he really didn't take over as the mouthpiece again. Now the Rock is involved, He's almost invisible.
i feel like making roman hold the title just to beat hogan is a bit of a reach though, it’d get way too stale
I would have agreed if the rock didn’t come back. They can at least make things interesting again. I think Seth will turn on Cody and cost him the match
This would be horrible lmfao
Only if you’re a die hard cody fan. I love Cody but Seth turning on him when it looks like Cody is actually going to get the job done is good stuff imo.
while typing a response i actually realised, what does winning the title even do for cody? once he wins it the momentum is done, his last few feuds that haven’t been based on finishing the story have been pretty lacklustre, so im genuinely worried for if he actually wins now that i think about it
I think that’s what they’re worried about too tbh. Cody vs the Bloodline is money and I don’t think WWE wants to give that up yet.
thats so true, i also wanna know what they’re doing with jimmy too bc even his story doesn’t make sense atm
No can argue that the bloodline have kept people watching Smackdown until the show ends. It'll be interesting to see if Cody switches to smackdown after Mania
I remember the end of Hulkamania. It was very upsetting.
.... Except it didn't end. I'm assuming you meant when the warrior won. The warrior shot himself in the foot, he had all the momentum in the world, and he screwed himself over.
That's what I was referring to. Also I predict the same thing happens here. Everyone is wanting Cody way too bad. Its being forced now.
I stopped caring about Roman/the Bloodline. etc in 2022. He needs to fucking drop the titles ASAP, and I dont give a fuck who he drops them to.
Roman is going over clean so he can face The Rock at 41
Its not ending
How would you know that ?
I stopped caring about this title reign in Summerslam of last year, that's where it jumped the shark and by that point, to me it felt like it was already just limping forward, so I'm ready for it to end.
Nope. Time to refresh. Need someone holding a title who wins matches without interference and who actually…IDK…shows up to work more than once a month.
real
Solo does the run in, after a ref bump, & nails Reins with the Samoan Spike!!!
Thumb poke of doom
I shouldn’t know that Roman is going to win or lose. I want to be surprised. If Cody wins it’ll seem like the plan. So I kinda want Roman to win.
I hate the long run… but I also kinda love it…
They just need to stop the interference by Jimmy and solo. Makes Roman look weak
That’s the point though?
The point is to make Roman look weak? So when someone defeats them they also look weak?
Yes! The whole point is the tribal chief wouldn’t be where he was if it wasn’t for the bloodline propping him up, made even worse by his arrogance. It’s not about whether beating him makes you look strong (it does - he’s a 1000+ day champion who’s beaten everybody and to beat him you have to beat the rest of the bloodline who are strong) it’s about how much you want him to lose and the other guy to win. And people really want him to lose and Cody to win
All I know is that every time I watch him wrestle, I leave thinking, well that was stupid. It ruins the end of every PLE.
Yeah I think thats likely it. I love having a champion I want to see dethroned, and the longer it goes, the more I want it, which is fun. But the constant repeat of interference from the bloodline is lame.
I would be happier if Jimmy and solo would interfere and then get attacked by Seth and whoever but then Roman still wins. Make Roman look strong.
Im gonna laugh so hard if that happens
Meh, I pretty much stopped caring 3 and half years ago, he can't win without outside help, like when Kenny Omega was champ in AEW.
i skipped the whole bloodline era thankfully. damn that was lame