For those of you who were around for the original recipe Wrestling Wrap Up on IGN (2007-2017), you may recall how much I DO. NOT. CARE. about being right. I’m not in the predictions game. I’m not in the “I called it!” arena. And that goes double for ‘Mania Season when things can go higgledy-piggledy super quick. Last week I was like “There’s no way The Rock’s facing Roman this year, it’s too fast” and then SmackDown aired and - yo - things went piggledy-higgledy.
So then, regarding “the thing I write being almost instantly negated because of how much wrestling there is,” this column’s a bit early this week because of the whole WrestleMania Kickoff Event on Thursday. It may just be media malarky where nothing happens. Just Rock and Roman touching noses, staring into each other’s eyes, intimately encroaching into the smooching zone. Grim looks on their face, like someone just revealed the twist of Argylle to them.
OR this press conference could do the thing where the press all sit on their hands while WWE puts on theater and big storyline things happen. Where we could get a big change to the lineup in order to counter the escalating blowback. Which is like when you eat at… look, insert your own Taco Bell joke here. Do it. DO IT. Oh, you’re so cliche.
Be it serious allegations of sex trafficking or the unpredictable injury of a top star (was it unpredictable though?), the Road to WrestleMania can be a thumbtack milkshake. What it all boils down to, when all is said and done, at the end of the day, when the dust settles, in a nutshell, when push comes to shove, is giving the people what they want. Naturally, that’s not always easy to do. And now we’ve come to an important crossroads. Two weeks ago WWE was sitting pretty with a new Netflix deal and Dwayne Johnson joining the TKO board. Just a few days later, it all became Mephisto’s d***hole and now WrestleMania is something that, apparently, needs “saving.”
Let’s take a look at how we got here. Got to #WeWantCody trending for days. Got to The Rock quite possibly walking into a ‘Mania 34 Beach-Ball-a-Thon. What was once so simple became needlessly over-corrected and we’re still at the center of the storm.
With Punk vs. Rollins called off, someone, somewhere in WWE pushed the panic button. Despite Cody winning the Rumble – with a repeat win, mind you! – so he could face Roman Reigns again (he even challenged him at the Rumble itself, pointing up to the skybox), The Rock inserted himself into the mix. Word has it Rock lobbied for this match to happen now (as opposed to next year). As of last Wednesday, when I was writing the Wrap, that plan was still for Cody to fight Roman. Within two days it all shifted. And, as the old adage goes, pickles are great until you’re in one.
SmackDown’s big segment, to its credit, wasn’t terrible. Roman said cool things. Cody sold the s*** out of The Rock taking his spot as being some sort of ultimate revenge. The Rock pulled Cody in for a Hail Hydra hug and whispered endearing, supportive things in his ear. But then, as Cody walked out, you could see him strain to not look defeated. And I think what’s gotten even more people on Cody’s side, despite him not complaining or trying to advocate for himself, is that we know he understands the business more than anyone. That he knew it was his place to step aside, humbly, and give his spot to the star who’d garner major headlines. And that humility has actually, in a way, helped build his legend even more and made more people want to fight for him to get his match back.
The Rock? Look, I love The Rock. The fans at SmackDown loved The Rock. The mainstream media loves The Rock. And this is a few shades different than some of the previous Roman Reigns debacles. But… BUT… The Rock could also sense things were askew.
2015 taught The Rock a harsh lesson. That his iconic status as the People’s Champ, and box office champ, wasn’t enough to overcome bad booking. He’s gotten booed before, supporting a much different Roman Reigns. There’s a good chance we’ll just head into WrestleMania with Rock vs Roman and it plays out as the historic, crowd-pleasing match it’s supposed to be. But it’s not a 100% given.
It’s like… 80%. There’s a 17% chance that the ‘Mania crowd, being who they are, from all corners of the globe, will turn it into another Rock/Hogan. Which was one of the best ‘Mania matches of all time, admittedly, but one that literally got turned upside-down and recreated in the ring based on crowd response. Rock and Roman are more than capable of rolling with those punches, but does Rock want to be the villain for this match? For any of this build? He understands the business, no doubt, but he’s also a mega-brand now. And fervor for all things Dwayne has dwindled over the past few years. Look, insert your own Black Adam joke here. Do it. DO IT.
So… what’s going to happen? Who can say? But there ARE options. As of Raw this past Monday, Cody still has not committed to a match with Seth. Like, it’s official, but not official-official because Cody got interrupted by Drew before he could say the words. So taking Seth out of the equation for a moment, making his match a whole different deal (he could face Drew, or Sami, or both), let’s just state the obvious that…
Best Case Scenario
…Roman could fight both Rock and Cody in a Triple Threat! That would be cool. I’d take that. I mean, now that everything’s higgledy’d up, this is the best minor tweak. And sure, it lacks the streamlined gravitas of a one-on-one match, a Rock vs. Roman, but if WWE can overcomplicate tf out of Becky vs. Ronda they can do that here too.
What probably won’t happen is The Rock saying either “You know what? I was wrong. This is your match. Rock out,” or “You know what? I was wrong. You should be a part of this match too.”
Rock should not be pleased with this. Like, not super pissed but maybe mighty miffed. Displeased, but with respect. Enough friction so that he and Cody could come to blows during the match for a big moment. The story should take us to this Triple Threat, not The Rock acquiescing.
WWE knows ALL about the fans' love for Cody, the chants he got on Raw, and the chants Rock will probably hear the next time he’s on TV. They’re even trying to own the narrative here, control the story, by handing out “We Want Cody” signs to fans on Raw. They’re trying to make it part of the story so that it feels “uncool” to rebel. It won’t work. We’re not that smart.
There are even reports that The Rock himself was behind the Cody signs and that he really wants to help shoot Cody to the moon. Which means he’s playing some sort of Wizard’s Chess here. RON, NO!!!
Schmedium Case Scenario
The Rock will get taken out by the Bloodline and it will all revert back to being Cody vs Roman. Then Rock helps Cody win. There’s practically zero chance of this happening unless Rocky gets legit injured before April. The Rock fights at WrestleMania now or he doesn’t get his bounty of doubloons (there’s some massive stock payout in it for him).
Why did I even include this? Sometimes the fingers type what the fingers type, ya know? Why didn’t I edit this out afterwards? Wow, y’all are asking some excellent questions this week.
Triple Fart Minus
The WCS here is if it just stays Rock vs. Roman, and then Cody challenges the winner at SummerSlam and gets both belts (or all three, technically). It would be a huge moment for Cody, though one that also defeats the purpose of creating the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the first place.
One of the reasons this could happen, that things could just stay as they are despite the clear storm warnings of fans hijacking WrestleMania and the two months of TV leading to it, is that The Rock means mass coverage. It’s clean. It’s hip. It’s now. It’s WOW! And WWE wants - nay! - needs coverage about this, and not Vince.
Another reason it may just stay all Plain Jane is that some of y’all are monsters. Even with storyline logic behind you, and a genuine passion for Cody at your fingertips, you’re still going to make death threats to Rock’s daughter, Ava Raine, about this bulls***? So much so that she deleted her Twitter account. What an unhinged world we live in. We’re all just trying to do our best here on Earth dot org and some of you need to be taken back to formula. All of this almost makes me actually want Rock vs. Roman, just because you’re so unhinged, irresponsible, and don’t know what words mean.
So what would y'all like to see happen at WrestleMania, actually? Should The Rock face Roman Reigns, as is, with no substitutions? Or should knobs get adjusted so that a certain individual's story gets finished?
