What people fail to consider here is that saving Roman so that he can be defeated by Cody wouldn’t have even been there had this whole Sami arc didnt keep Roman relevant.
Yes Roman losing after 3.5 years would have been a big thing but people seem to have revisionist history when they say that all 2.5 years of Roman’s reign has been interesting. I remember pretty clearly people including me were bored of him just cheating and Usos just interfering to win with the nail being that match against Balor where rope broke itself.
After that a long fued with Brock kept him quite uninteresting with last year’s Mania being remembered for Austin’s return and Cody’s return.
It was this Sami story arc which made Bloodline interesting again. If they seem to rush it and have the match at EC rather than at Mania, then it would be very anticlimactic as without Sami Bloodline wasn’t going to be as interesting.
Smackdown was another great show.
They need to give up on the Viking Raiders. I know they’re building them for McIntyre and Sheamus but the act is not getting over w the general main roster audience. They’ve tried two or three times. You could feel the oxygen leave the room when they beat the much better Brutes.
The real payoff in this story should be Roman going over Cody at Mania, and Sami winning MITB & cashing in to dethrone Roman.
Eventually you can recreate the KO/Sami NXT spot & feud
This episode was very meh. Granted I was watching it at 1 am in the morning. Literally nothing too memorable besides the Imperium tag match and Reigns/Sami segment saving the ending.
Roman wins at EC via Bloodline interference, Owens comes out to make the save, Cody also joins in, teeing off on Roman.
Cody declares that he won his shot at the title for Wrestlemania... but Roman has two titles.
"I said that Roman wouldn't leave Wrestlemania as Undisputed WWE champion - and if Sami and I *both* challenge you for one of those titles, it practically guarantees you're losing at least one of them."
Something like that. There'd have to be something about whoever faces Roman on night 2 needing to fight on night 1 as well (see WM10 with Bret/Owen + Yoko/Luger and Bret/Yoko) but that could easily be managed: Sami/Owens vs. Jey/Solo, perhaps?
You’re forgetting that Jey is only in The Bloodline because he was tortured by his love for Jimmy and forced into it, forced to acknowledge Roman to save his brother. This has always been Jey’s story and for him to betray Sami undoes all that character development. Sami and Kevin have unfinished business together and will take on the new Uso’s in Jimmy and Solo while Jey finally gets Roman 1 on 1 with no family distractions
Cody’s promo specifically stated that he doesn’t care about being the head of the table or any of it. He is after the championship. So if they split the championship and allow Sami to have one and Rhodes to have the other. The Rhodes story is complete.
But I do agree it will dampen the Rumble victory so much.
However a triple threat may work.
Bret lost against Owen and then won the title. I don't see the similarities?
Roman would need to lose twice to have good endings to each story, but one loss would take the gloss off the other wins.
I get ya, but Roman hasn't been pinned for years. And as soon as he is the mystic is broken. To have him lose twice over two nights would be pretty average.
They've backed themselves into an uncomfortable position by having too many good choices.
For mine Sami could have won the title at Mania OR Jey wins the title there. Which would be my choice as I think he's the character arc that makes the most sense. Save Cody for Summerslam.
Roman's lustre isn't going to be damaged by a single loss (or two). His storyline is the descent into madness and paranoia, Jey's is emerging from Roman/his family's shadow, Sami's is in regaining his self-respect, Cody's is in finally becoming WWE champion, Owens' is (arguably) in becoming a better man.
Cody's is the only one of the challengers that *needs* the title to be complete.
Sami could come out of EC with a loss, but the knowledge that he went bell-to-bell with Roman and only just lost; I'd certainly *rather* that he won, but for his first match as a babyface in over 5 years in front of what's hopefully going to be an incendiary reaction... Losing won't stop him, just as 8 months of nearlies didn't stop him in trying to become NXT champion back in 2014.
Owens has had his shots. He's come close each time, but never been able to topple Roman. He's turned heel, *possibly* lost his mind over Elias/Ezekiel, turned back face again out of sheer outrage over Roman, and fought for the soul of his best friend. His arc is pretty much complete, he just needs to actually stick by Sami for once (or continue to stand against Roman, at least).
Jey's storyline doesn't need the title, but I think he does need to beat Roman at some point. Maybe Backlash? If Roman's taking a break soon, as suspected, then having him lose his titles and then being dethroned as the Tribal Chief would give him the excuse to go away and lick his wounds. Jey could be the next head of the Bloodline, challenging Gunther or Cody or even Sami in the wake of toppling Roman.
I don't mind all of that either. I just feel Roman losing back to back nights will take the shine off whoever beats him second, purely if it's back to back at Mania.
I don’t think the story is ruined or anything but I didn’t love the last segment. All throughout this story they’ve moved with nuance and subtle storytelling. For Sami to have just come out 6 days later after he got savagely beat and want to just go after the championship is a little backwards to me. The whole family let him down. Now after 6 days he’s already changed his whole line of thinking to be going after only the championship?
I’ve still got faith and obviously it got a good response, I just would have done it a little differently.
They beat the shit out of Sami a chair and left him for dead, after months of brainwashing him to do their bidding.
Did you expect Sami and Roman to have six months of subtle backstage discourse, maybe a chess match?
I for one am glad to see Sami Zayn with fire when he has been a cowardly character for almost 3 years.
First of all, I think 10 chair shots and laying face down in the ring could count for one week off of TV. I would have preferred one segment just Roman explaining it from his perspective(What he did) to build the story.
Then maybe then next week Sami could come out and surprise them with an extended promo about how he’s going to take away Romans true family..the title. Or something like that. This beat down and wanting to go after the title to me seems slightly disingenuous to his character. I just thought it happened a little too fast.
Yep, I’ve been saying they’re rushing the Sami storyline. Sad thing was he was removed from the bloodline not to give him a singles push.
But so people wouldn’t boo Cody at WM.
I've been casually watching for a bit, has Solo actually spoken or interacted with Roman? Roman seems to speak at him and stuff or is it just me? Can't recall him throwing the ☝🏻 up either. Like i said could be because i only casually watch it
He does throw up the sign and I'm pretty sure he has spoken briefly in the past, he actually has a bad ass voice but they're clearly building him as an ice cold killer at the moment
Like all of us, I was impatiently waiting a week for today. But I think the last segment felt a little weird to me.
I guess they want to hype EC so need weeks of putting a poster up, but Sami coming straight out, attacking Roman and going 'I'm after your belts' felt really naff to me. They could have done the whole 'I'll give you what you want' bit from Roman, but it falling in line with him saying that everyone always wants something off him. For me, it would have fit the storyline better for me for Sami to have just said 'I didn't want anything from you. The only thing I wanted was acceptance'. He doesn't even have to say anything like 'then you just kept pushing me over and over' to justify it. It matches the 'I have no defence' point.
Roman in his mind thinks that Sami has always been after his titles so should have just forced the issue all by himself like the end of the segment. It fits the paranoid part of the character, whilst keeping Sami looking like he's an honest guy who's just been manipulated over and over. Roman's doing a really great (a bit unsettling) job of playing this scumbag manipulating abuser character.
At this point I expect (hope) that we dont see KO or Jey all month - ones 'injured', Jey is just 'uncontactable'. We go into EC where Jey returns and wipes out Sami for Roman (2023 Montreal Screwjob anyone?). Then a role reversal of Sami getting beat up post main event with KO making the save. .
I hope we don't see some pointless tag title change with Braun/Ricochet, but Solo/Jimmy cheat their way to keeping them until Jey rejoins at EC. Then setting up KO/Sami vs Jey/Jimmy for the Tag Titles at WM.
Not sure what we do about Solo, but surely the build up is the Usos losing the belts, Solo getting taken out so Roman can't rely on his goons to cheat to win vs Cody and loses. Though I've suspected a 1000+ day reign for Roman all this time, just going far enough to pip Sammartino.
TL:DR - Sami immediately rushing out, jumping Roman and saying he wants his titles just proves that everything Roman has said and suspected was true.
The Sami segment did feel off. Almost like Sami proved Roman was right about him just wanting the title.
Don’t know why they’re doing this, almost like they’re trying to cool Sami off. Jay could be a potential star baby face hope they don’t do the obvious turn with him.
Jey is the main character. This has to come full circle to him. I wanna see The Usos lose their titles next week because they're fighting or not in synch or whatever. Maybe Roman even costs them the titles to teach them a lesson or something. More rift for The Bloodline. By Elimination Chamber, Jey is full on fed up with Roman and costs him the titles to Sami. Roman gets em back real quick, but the feud with Jey heats the eff. Jimmy goes after Sami for sending his brother on that path. KO comes back going after Solo cause those 2 in a street fight will be sick. Adam Pearce calls for a new brand split and draft post Mania, calling for the unified championships to be split. Cody gets his silly no story win on night 1. Jey gets his story win that matters night 2. At some point this story finales with Sami vs Jimmy, Solo vs KO, and Roman vs Jey.
My thoughts on Jey and the tag match next week.
Assuming Jey can go to Canada, then he shouldn't be seen until EC and I see two ways it could play out.
1) Solo takes his place in the match, and they win, because a franken team of Braun and Ricoshet should not be getting the big win on the Usos, in whatever form.
2) Jey no shows and Pearce declares the match a forfit, and Braun and Ricoshet are awarded the belts.
I think #2 is the better, and maybe even best, option.
1) The smackdown tag belts don't have the prestigous history that will be sullied by this.
2) while B&R aren't a team to beat the Usos, they're a perfect team to have the belts in what would be basically a reset of the division. They're popular faces with a good act that's perfect for heel teams to throw themselves against....such as Imperium beating them at mania....that feels like a pretty good HHH thing to happen. And as just two popular enough faces, crowd will be fine with them having the belts for the now (look, Braun will roar and Ric will flip over something and everyone will cheer).
3) BLOODLINE DRAMA!!! We assume Jey attacks Sami at EC, to set up Usos vs KO/Sami..but having some additional drama between the usos is good since we'll still be getting Jey vs Jimmy at some point, as well as a likely Jey vs Roman, too.
hey i love Sami and i agree he does but a year after losing to Johnny knockville in a crazy gimmick match at WM they are not having him beat roman, this is Codys year and its ending with him.
But it shouldn’t! fuck Cody I can assure you apart from you Elite fanboys here everyone else wants Sami v Roman at mania! Cody can have his crappy 2 month reign later on in the year to please you lot
Anyone else think the start of Roman's promo was a bit of a mistake?
Considering how over Sami is, I'm not sure how smart it is to start your build to your mania main event by saying essentially "I should be talking about Cody right now who earned his shot, but you guys want me to deal with this pest your chanting for instead".
It seems like their main goal is to not push Sami but make sure Cody isn’t booed at WM.
The Sami promo at smack down made no sense in that he didn’t explain that he always wanted to be in the family but Roman pushed him too far.
Instead you have Sami helping prove Romans point that Sami was always after the tribal chief and his title.
He said I never wanted anything from you. I’ve always seen this as Roman creating his own downfall because his paranoia made him doubt Sami and make an actual enemy of him. Sami never wanted his title but after being betrayed like this now he wants to take down Roman
Or it adds to Roman’s belief that Sami is nothing without the bloodline and he’s not interested in wasting time on him? Just makes Sami a bigger underdog face, gives him more fan support
Or maybe belittling Sami in front of a white hot crowd is another layer to his facade of having everything under control when it’s all secretly (or not so secretly) starting to fall apart for The Bloodline? They both work.
I'm not going to say it was an all timer, but Sonya/Charlotte got more than I was expecting and didn't feel like an obligation like a lot of the SD women segments and matches have for months.
It's nice that Charlotte continues to be over (the pop at the end was legit, no pipe in) too despite what some would have you believe.
You're telling me Cody Rhodes belongs in that? You're telling me Cody Rhodes can match THAT?! This is personal now for Roman. Sami broke up his family so now Roman is going to break Sami in front of his family.
I have nothing against Cody. I just don't see how him being inserted in this storyline is anything other being shoehorned in because he's the big returning superstar that was guaranteed he would main event Mania and win the WWE championship.
I think they can make a good storyline intertwine with the "royal family" bloodline stuff
I think Sami should beat Roman night 1 for the universal title and cody night 2 for the WWE and have Sami/Cody end the show with confetti and a Rock appearance/hand shake
That could set up a year long build for Roman v Rock and let cody and sami do their own thing
The royal family bit is hilarious. Dusty was in polka dots and Dustin was a bisexual Goldmember. And then there's Cody.
In WWE canon, they're like joke family of WWE. If anything, Cody should be on the hunt for the title to spite WWE and their treatment of the Rhodes family.
This. Sami is where the story is at. Sami is the match that SHOULD be happening at Mania. Hell, Sami doesn’t even need to win. But he deserves to be in that spot at Mania. There’s no story with Cody, other than he wants to win the title that his father never did. They can do that anytime.
Vince & Triple H might not see Sami as a top guy, but the crowd clearly does. You’re never going to make new stars if you don’t take chances. I’m disappointed that Triple H doesn’t seem to be seeing this either…
The Cody/Roman angle is going to be weak in comparison to this. I really think they’re making a mistake not pulling the trigger on Sami
Yeah it'd almost be better if the WM mainevent is a triple threat. Cody and Roman just feels meh compared to this. That being said the Cody build is new rn?
it feels even more meh cause this result is something most expect. its like they made a promise to cody when bringing him back that he will win the title. At least with the sami storyline, there is still an amount of unpredictability that keeps us engaged
Why they promised Cody a title reign and what not still confuses me personally coz I just don’t get it! He is good in the ring and a good talker but good is not good enough he is not elite level but then again neither are them damn Jackson twins
Sami has proven he deserves to be in the WM main event and Jay should stay a baby face and get a singles run.
Sami deserves a singles run not a tag team and Jay’s storyline should be going against the tribal chief as well.
Yep, hell make it a triple threat and have Sami help Roman retain.
Makes Cody an even bigger baby face and gives him an unstoppable heel team to go against.
What has Cody done to think he’s going to be Roman? He doesn’t come off as face of a company, especially with a sell coming up. It’s all financial benefits a head
Genuinely a pretty good show across the board but the Bloodline stuff is on such a different level to anything else in wrestling right now that it turns all other matches and angles into after thoughts.
Yo for real though.
Fuck WWE.
Nobody cares about Cody "I want the belt cause nepotism" Rhodes.
If WWE has Sami Zayn lose, which will absolutely be burying him and demoting him to jobber status, the only reasonable response is for everyone to stop watchin Raw and Smackdown and watch AEW instead.
Fan entitlement was enough to bully WWE into making Daniel Bryan champion once, it should be enough to bully WWE into making Zayn champion too.
Fuck Cody, fuck Roman, fuck whatever dumb story they have for Jey or Owens or whoever.
The ONLY outcome of this bloodline story that gets anybody over or makes any sense is making Sami world champion. Doing literally ANYTHING else would prove that HHH is just a big a fraud as his father in law and deserves to drive away viewers.
>Nobody cares about Cody
Wrong.
>If WWE has Sami Zayn lose, which will absolutely be burying him and demoting him to jobber status,
So him being tag champs with KO is jobber status? I bet you've complained about the tag scene for a while and how it needs improving, but don't actually want to see the improvement.
>Fan entitlement was enough to bully WWE into making Daniel Bryan champion once,
This isn't a Daniel Bryan situation.
>The ONLY outcome of this bloodline story that gets anybody over or makes any sense is making Sami world champion. Doing literally ANYTHING else would prove that HHH is just a big a fraud as his father in law and deserves to drive away viewers.
If you've actually been watching the bloodline story then no, this isn't the only outcome that makes sense. The bloodline started with Roman and Jey and that would be the perfect way to end it.
Criticism is fine but alot of what you said is just complaining for no reason.
Charlotte Flair can break out of rope pins :0
when Roman sent Jimmy and Solo to find Jey and it went to commericial....Jey was very soon found in the company of Jimmy, doing a Papa John's commercial. did Roman sign on off that? XD
it will be interesting to see next week how the tag team match is handled....if Jey will show up. or if he does, if he causes a loss. is Braun and Ricochet destined to take a belt?
Drew and Sheamus, who almost were called the Banger Bros as a tag team, are still working together fortunately. they shouldn't split that team up anytime soon.
Bray Wyatt is...at large.
Shayna i guess is pretending Charlotte didn't show up and take the title from Ronda.
while the audience mostly saluted Roman when he came out to give his address, they soon switched to cheering for Sami when he attacked Roman.
so now Sami has got himself a championship match with Roman at Elimination Chamber. he's not gonna win it, but things will make Roman into a bigger villain heading into Wrestlemania time.
if Sami ever gets to beat Roman, it has to be after Roman has lost the belts.
at some point Cody and Roman need to beef with each other. Cody should also go on Smackdown sometime, but i dunno if that will happen.
Why are there Raw and Smackdown Womens championships when someone from Smackdown just qualified to challenge for the Raw title… and someone from Raw is challenging for the SD belt at Mania? Unify these damn titles! Two nights of Mania mean this can happen. Winners of both title bouts face off at night 2.
I was slightly annoyed they called her "Valhalla" but very amused that their finisher was called Ragnarok.
Also the entrance is really cool. RAID! RAID!
What do you see as the payoff for the Wyatt/Howdy/Alexa program?
I say that Alexa beats Bianca at Mania and then gets drafted to Smackdown. Shortly thereafter, she aligns herself with Uncle Howdy and Bray Wyatt to complete the faction.
Of course, Rhea will beat Charlotte on Night 2 as well. She and Alexa will exchange titles one week later.
Alexa can still win her way into it with whatever match they have up on Monday.
If that doesn’t happen, then I guess Dark Alexa will make her return for a rematch against Bianca at EC.
I think I made the right decision to go to Vengeance Day instead of Smackdown. The ending segment was incredible and it’d have been fun to see in person. But overall, that and the first match were the only truly amazing parts. Like it was good, don’t get me wrong. But only four matches and that women’s EC match was basically nothing.
Jey and Sami w/ KO vs Jimmy and Solo? I know that’s questionable but I would truly hate to see Jey just fall back in line somehow after all that’s going on right now
oh yah i was thinking that could happen to salvage the Bloodline team with Jey
really i originally thought we'd be seeing an Elimination Chamber match with Sami, Jey, and Kevin vs. Roman, Jimmy and Solo
Kevin would have to forgive Jey for enjoying beating on him
I’d think Solo gets the rub since he’s still very new and is being booked as an Umaga/Batista combo. KO can afford to lose yet still look dominant by doing something crazy and unexpected. Flaming Table Spot would be insane
The fact that Sami has KofiMania levels of hype right now has me so afraid Trips is gonna waste this moment. I want Cody to just challenge for a single title and Sami for the other, I know it'll technically "lessen" one of the two but I don't think we can let Sami'a moment just go away.
Just make it a triple threat and have one of the baby faces turn heel and help Roman retain.
You create a star baby face and give him an unstoppable heel group to go against.
I have no problem with Cody getting the belts eventually, but it's really a weird problem to throw him randomly into the middle of this feud.
I'm assuming Sami will be losing to Bloodline shenanigans at Elimination Chamber but Jey comes in for the save at the end. Maybe clearing the ring during a post match beatdown.
Maybe Sami and Jey help keep the bloodline away while Cody fights Roman at Mania? Sami Jey vs Solo Jimmy? Sami not beating Roman but rather helping someone else beat Roman in his place is kind of a soft conclusion to a hot storyline though.
Except, Sami/Roman isn't a wrestling story..it's a family story...a life story...even if Sami challenged for the titles tonight..that's just to hurt Roman.
But the think about family problems..life still happens...you still got to go to work.. just because Roman has family problems, doesn't mean Cody isn't there as a work problem, because Cody doesnt' care about the family stuff Roman has..just HIS family stuff.
THAT'S part of the story.. Roman is being split several ways...that's why all of this is compelling, because the world isn't stopping just because Roman/Sami are beefing...there's still work to be done.
Sami doesn't need a belt to win the story, he needs to beat Roman. Cody doesn't need Roman to win his personal story, he needs the belt. They just have to figure out a way for Cody to get the belts and for Sami to get Roman in the most satisfying way possible for both.
okay thats cope, everyone knows cody is beating roman, if they didnt want cody beating roman sami would be in the mania main event instead of at elimination chamber
I promise I’m not trying to be a Cody hater, I like the guy and I enjoyed HIAC as much as anyone. But these promos and packages are getting excessive, no? Like it feels like every show has one and the tone is just so indulgent.
Agreed. He will go heel sooner or later… or just be Cena 2.0 and remain a “babyface” while getting booed everywhere he goes. I believe fans are cheering him right now because of the comeback story and the fact that he defected from the competition. That’s gonna sour over time.
I have a feeling it’s going to have the same affect it did in aew especially with Sami being white hot. Even if Cody wins the titles you’ll see him getting stale pretty soon and he wants to be a John cena type baby face
I wouldn’t say it’s that bad but it’s just getting shoved really hard. And the crowd seems to love it so I’ll accept I’m not in the majority here. It’s just… it’s so over the top.
This sounds like coping mechanisms AEW fans had when he kept hinting a Heel turn.
Cody is a simple character, and his stories aren't that complicated. He will win the belts.
I’m trying to trust the process since the Bloodline story has been so good. But I just struggle to see how Cody winning the title would feel all that satisfying. Dude comes back, gets handed the 30th spot (they even called it out on Raw, and it’s a weird spot to put your conquering, returning hero in), and just waltzes in to get the title during a hot angle with the only significant story being “wrestling doesn’t have just one royal family.” Idk, people keep saying it’s a king-making moment but I see it as a really shitty end to a dominant championship run and the best wrestling story perhaps ever if it happens the way I see it.
But again, I’m not a writer and they’ve done great so far. So I believe they’ll make whatever happens feel good.
Yeah Cody wasn’t even there for Roman’s reign of terror. Imagine if someone you never heard of came out in the 3rd Act of your favorite movie and saved the day.
Totally agree that it’s starting to have this ‘I’m the chosen one’ tone. The Sami factor has just amp’d that up.
And none of this is a bad thing. Having guys with real talent start to usurp each other in the fans’ eyes is always interesting to me. Great problem to have.
So you could a) ignore it and go the route you planned or b) shake it up in a way that still makes sense and draws money. And maybe make a few more starts out of it than originally planned. How exactly? Not sure. But if it’s good, I’ll tune in.
Why would Jey turn on Jimmy and Solo? Because the crowd likes Sami?
Jey didn't trust Sami. Sami earned his trust. Sami betrayed his trust and attacked his family, just like he origianly thought Sami would do.
WE see Sami as a face and Roman as a Heel...Jey has no reason to at this moment.
Jey is turning on Roman. Sami and Jey have been the two people most abused by Roman. Jimmy and Solo have mostly been background characters because they've just been quiet followers.
Obviously this angle probably results in the eventual complete dissolution of the Bloodline, but it starts with Jimmy and Solo maintaining their loyalty to Roman and doing his bidding, even if it's turning aginst their brother because that's Roman's personality. He'll demand a show of loyalty from them.
And they go along with it - at first - because they're not as fed up with Roman because they haven't been the targets of his abuse because it's always been pointed at Jey or Sami. But without them to be his outlet, Roman will get to them, too - and it'll start by forcing them to go against their brother.
Some of the best moments though of the past few months have been Jey accepting Sami and in some way it’s a payoff years in the making after Jey was forced into joining the Bloodline. Why go back on it now ?
This would be the actual money angle, for sure. "Title reunification" because of the bloodline split. No reason for Usos vs KO/Sami when you take into account Jey's personal story. If you wanna keep KO involved have him manage Jey/Sami as a counter to Heyman or Roman interfering for Jimmy/Solo
Owens only needs the tag titles to complete his Grand Slam. That's reason enough to have him be directly involved. Having him be content to spend 'Mania season on the sidelines as a "manager" would be flagrantly out of character.
That's fair. I think it's a markedly worse story to tell though. Roman's 4 underlings having a 2v2 seems an excellent way to visualize the faction crumbling, and this was Jey's long-term story before it was even Sami's.
I was kind of hoping Sami wouldn’t challenge for the titles with like a “I don’t care about the titles I just want you 1 on 1 Roman”
Then Sami could win in Montreal and it gives that impression of “omg Roman lost, Cody could be actually pin him at WM and become champ!”
People need to remember, blood comes first. Is Jey falling in line with the bloodline again to face KO and Sami ideal? Probably not. But it makes sense. Jey has grown to love Sami but Jimmy is his ACTUAL brother, the bloodline is his ACTUAL family and so he must do what's best for family.
Maybe...but at THIS POINT in the story, Sami betrayed them...not the other way around. Sami attacked Roman...chose KO over Roman...after Jey vouched for him...the story at this point is Sami betrayed the trust Jey gave him...and just maybe, he was always trying to scam them, just like Paul said.
It’s just odd to have a storyline go on for a year as the main focus of WWE and sideline it for one that’s only a month. The only way I can think it makes sense is if Roman will beat Cody and they want him at 1000 days
I can’t believe there’s anyone on the planet that doesn’t think WWE doesn’t want to take Roman to 1000 days (1025 to beat Pedro Morales’s record, I’d imagine). And Sami beating Roman to end the 1000 day reign….or the 1000 day REIGNS, as the countless t-shirts they’re gonna sell will say….is a FAR bigger thing for Sami to do then just beating him for the titles. Taking a title.. that’s a Cody thing. Ending Reigns’ reign…THAT’S a Sami thing. (And then KO turns on him, because that’s a KO thing, which leads to them feuding until they fight for the title at WM40, which is the OTHER thing Sami and KO have dreamed of doing, after winning the tag belts together.)
One way I think they should involve Cody into this storyline seamlessly is have Sami lose by bs at EC. Then he wants to really get back at Roman and have an emotional angle with Jey to completely sever the Bloodline to set up Roman losing. So Sami wants to take Cody's place at WM, someone can just contrive a reason to not be triple threat. And so Cody And Sami get a match before WM for number one contender, which could be a classic gushing with emotion as both men have a lot of stakes. Theres your main event maybe have Jey interfere in the match so Cody wins in a big pop. After Mania, come full circle with Roman vs Jey. The Bloodline finally done.
But hey idk...
I think people are making too much out of Jey being the key to all of this with the bloodline story. Yes, he was the first to join Roman but that’s simply because Jimmy was injured when it began. I don’t think the endgame was ever to turn Jey into some top tier star. Not knocking how great he has been since joining tho
I mean none of this was really planned so we can only go by what played out on our tv screens. They weren’t projecting this to be a 3 year story it just happened. The Sami stuff if I can remember correctly was literally supposed to be one episode.
Fact of the matter is he was main event Jey Uso and Roman has beat him into submission. As a matter of fact, all throughout the entire story Roman has played the most mine games with him. From the main event Jey Uso stuff to making him believe that Sami might be more in with the family than him. All of that was manipulative bs that nobody else has to endure.
In kayfabe, why would you want to gamble away your WM spot that you earned from winning the Rumble on a #1 contender match? Even if Cody is 99.9% sure he would win, there's still that 0.1% chance he *wouldn't* main event WM.
What to do? 2 massive baby faces. Sami needs to be in the main event.
Make it a triple threat. Have Cody or Sami help Roman retain.
You create a massive baby face and a unstoppable heel team. Regardless Sami needs to be in the main event.
A triple threat is such lazy booking. It kills momentum for whoever wins because their are two people the crowd wants to win. It can work with two heels in a triple threat, but not two faces. Especially two people as over as Sami and Cody are right now.
1. Sami wins at EC. But the fine print in the contract showed he only won one title and the championship os disputed again.
2. Wrestlemania is where they will crown an undisputed champ again. With Sami, Cody, Roman (and maybe even Jey) in the mix.
$$$$$$$
I respectfully don't think this main event situation is near the problem many of us do. Cody is not the stylistic story finish for me either, but it's going to work out fine business-wise.
This story is as over as Jeter in Yankee Stadium, the fans are reacting to the story and NOT just one performer (huge boos for Reigns' acknowledgments, "we want Jay," Zayn nearly as over as Daniel Bryan was). Ratings are strong, web traffic is strong. Reigns is going to walk out of Montreal with the most heat since Hitler. That's going to transfer vengeance cheers to Cody, who regardless of if you think he should be the man for this job or not (I personally don't) is already hot with the crowd, internet, and merch.
Fans hijacking entire shows even when Shawn Michaels and Cena are out there b/c the show isn't listening to audience feedback while ratings plummet when fans "give up": gigantic problem
Building an ominous, silent Sting for a year at record-setting business, only to blow the crescendo and have his first spoken words be "Mamacita" or some goofy Spanish shit and not having a follow-up for him for years: huge problem
Having to dub over "Goldberg sucks" through arenas at the apex of his run to the point 40-year-old Kevin Nash becomes hotter than him: that's a problem
The shortsighted way The Streak was handled: that's a problem
I don't care about business I want a good product.
Game of Thrones' final season did huge numbers, won awards, and made a lot of money.
The product still fucking sucked.
Would you have been okay with Bryan Danielson beat Omega before Hangman could compete against his nemesis?
It wouldn't make storyline sense, but would be best for business to give a Main Event attraction like Danielson the belt just after he'd come to AEW.
It would be awful if we saw Cody come back, be gifted a #30 spot in a Royal Rumble, and inject himself awkwardly into a blood feud between two men that have emotional ties to each other wouldn't it?
Sami wins at EC to force Roman to rematch at WM???? That parts iffy but WM needs to be a triple threat. Have all the Bloodline stuff boil over and they take each other out and Cody sneaks in for the W. Win win win for everyone
I feel like it takes away from it since everyone is certain hes dropping it at WM, but imagine the shock if it doesnt happen there and he drops it to sami in montreal, and its obviously not a swerve for swerves sake
Just thought it’d be a cool angle to see Roman being unable to comprehend being pushed out of the main event that he’s scrambling to get back in but you’re right, True true! So scratch that first part. Just have some classic shenanigans and Tom foolery go down at EC so it makes Sami look like he deserves another shot.
Can we all agree that this much spirited debate on how the story should go is amazing? People actually give a shit and have rooting interests. There is literally a solid case to be made for Sami, Cody or Reigns to be the champ coming out of Mania. And all 3 cases are plausible.
Haven’t been this interested in how it’ll go in over a decade.
I was talking to a friend about it earlier. While some seem to be annoyed about the debate,I find it refreshing fans are so emotionally invested in *several* characters.
It could easily just be one over babyface while everyone else gets booed because only one is truly over. The fact we have Cody, Sami and even Jey receiving big reactions is such a positive direction.
I want thriving talents all over the card; from midcard to the main event scene. Its so dope.
What people fail to consider here is that saving Roman so that he can be defeated by Cody wouldn’t have even been there had this whole Sami arc didnt keep Roman relevant. Yes Roman losing after 3.5 years would have been a big thing but people seem to have revisionist history when they say that all 2.5 years of Roman’s reign has been interesting. I remember pretty clearly people including me were bored of him just cheating and Usos just interfering to win with the nail being that match against Balor where rope broke itself. After that a long fued with Brock kept him quite uninteresting with last year’s Mania being remembered for Austin’s return and Cody’s return. It was this Sami story arc which made Bloodline interesting again. If they seem to rush it and have the match at EC rather than at Mania, then it would be very anticlimactic as without Sami Bloodline wasn’t going to be as interesting.
The Brock feud would’ve been really good with Brock’s change of character if it wasn’t the 50th time I’d seen them fight in the past like five years.
Smackdown was another great show. They need to give up on the Viking Raiders. I know they’re building them for McIntyre and Sheamus but the act is not getting over w the general main roster audience. They’ve tried two or three times. You could feel the oxygen leave the room when they beat the much better Brutes.
Im gonna miss Sami dancing frantically to Roman's theme song while the rest of Bloodline walk with stone cold expressions.
The real payoff in this story should be Roman going over Cody at Mania, and Sami winning MITB & cashing in to dethrone Roman. Eventually you can recreate the KO/Sami NXT spot & feud
I think you're right. Cody isn't winning the undisputed title., Maybe one or the other but not both so your prediction could reasonably happen
Where's the Nos? - Dom Why is Dominic not have all the golds right now??
This episode was very meh. Granted I was watching it at 1 am in the morning. Literally nothing too memorable besides the Imperium tag match and Reigns/Sami segment saving the ending.
> nothing too memorable besides the Imperium tag match and Reigns/Sami segment saving the ending. that's every Smackdown
Really? Natalya?
Elimination Chamber is in Canada. It looks like she has turned face too. She will get a Canadian pop before she jabronis out in elimination chamber.
I figured something was up last night when the Viking Raiders won.
How can wwe conclude the story without rushing it to end at EC, I see at EC Sami loses, Roman then beats the tar out of him and then Cody’s music hits
Roman wins at EC via Bloodline interference, Owens comes out to make the save, Cody also joins in, teeing off on Roman. Cody declares that he won his shot at the title for Wrestlemania... but Roman has two titles. "I said that Roman wouldn't leave Wrestlemania as Undisputed WWE champion - and if Sami and I *both* challenge you for one of those titles, it practically guarantees you're losing at least one of them." Something like that. There'd have to be something about whoever faces Roman on night 2 needing to fight on night 1 as well (see WM10 with Bret/Owen + Yoko/Luger and Bret/Yoko) but that could easily be managed: Sami/Owens vs. Jey/Solo, perhaps?
Or Jey stays off air until the brutal beat down at EC and then he steps in to stop it
Jey isn’t allowed to leave the US.
Isn’t that Jimmy?
I just wish Cody had stayed in AEW tbh he’s just getting in the way of one of the greatest storylines ever imo!
I’m fairly certain the day will come when Roman asks Solo to take out one of his own brothers. And I’m very interested to see how Solo responds.
You’re forgetting that Jey is only in The Bloodline because he was tortured by his love for Jimmy and forced into it, forced to acknowledge Roman to save his brother. This has always been Jey’s story and for him to betray Sami undoes all that character development. Sami and Kevin have unfinished business together and will take on the new Uso’s in Jimmy and Solo while Jey finally gets Roman 1 on 1 with no family distractions
[удалено]
if it was Wrestlemania maybe but not at EC
Where is AJ Styles?
Broke his ankle.
He will probably miss WM?
Yeah dude unfortunately.
The Judgment Day segments are so fun, legit my favorite faction right now in wrestling.
Finn's comedic timing is insane.
Just have Sami vs Roman at WM night 1 and Cody vs Roman night 2 or vice versa. Those are the 2 biggest matches so do them both nights.
And then what? Sami beats Roman night 1? Then Cody's story becomes rubbish. Someone already beat Roman. Or Sami loses and everyone shits on it?
Cody’s promo specifically stated that he doesn’t care about being the head of the table or any of it. He is after the championship. So if they split the championship and allow Sami to have one and Rhodes to have the other. The Rhodes story is complete. But I do agree it will dampen the Rumble victory so much. However a triple threat may work.
A triple threat would be perfect
Didn’t do Bret Hart any harm at WM10.
Bret lost against Owen and then won the title. I don't see the similarities? Roman would need to lose twice to have good endings to each story, but one loss would take the gloss off the other wins.
Cody’s story is winning the title his dad never won. It’s not about dethroning Roman. It’s ok if Roman already lost a match beforehand.
I get ya, but Roman hasn't been pinned for years. And as soon as he is the mystic is broken. To have him lose twice over two nights would be pretty average. They've backed themselves into an uncomfortable position by having too many good choices. For mine Sami could have won the title at Mania OR Jey wins the title there. Which would be my choice as I think he's the character arc that makes the most sense. Save Cody for Summerslam.
Roman's lustre isn't going to be damaged by a single loss (or two). His storyline is the descent into madness and paranoia, Jey's is emerging from Roman/his family's shadow, Sami's is in regaining his self-respect, Cody's is in finally becoming WWE champion, Owens' is (arguably) in becoming a better man. Cody's is the only one of the challengers that *needs* the title to be complete. Sami could come out of EC with a loss, but the knowledge that he went bell-to-bell with Roman and only just lost; I'd certainly *rather* that he won, but for his first match as a babyface in over 5 years in front of what's hopefully going to be an incendiary reaction... Losing won't stop him, just as 8 months of nearlies didn't stop him in trying to become NXT champion back in 2014. Owens has had his shots. He's come close each time, but never been able to topple Roman. He's turned heel, *possibly* lost his mind over Elias/Ezekiel, turned back face again out of sheer outrage over Roman, and fought for the soul of his best friend. His arc is pretty much complete, he just needs to actually stick by Sami for once (or continue to stand against Roman, at least). Jey's storyline doesn't need the title, but I think he does need to beat Roman at some point. Maybe Backlash? If Roman's taking a break soon, as suspected, then having him lose his titles and then being dethroned as the Tribal Chief would give him the excuse to go away and lick his wounds. Jey could be the next head of the Bloodline, challenging Gunther or Cody or even Sami in the wake of toppling Roman.
I don't mind all of that either. I just feel Roman losing back to back nights will take the shine off whoever beats him second, purely if it's back to back at Mania.
Exactly
I don’t think the story is ruined or anything but I didn’t love the last segment. All throughout this story they’ve moved with nuance and subtle storytelling. For Sami to have just come out 6 days later after he got savagely beat and want to just go after the championship is a little backwards to me. The whole family let him down. Now after 6 days he’s already changed his whole line of thinking to be going after only the championship? I’ve still got faith and obviously it got a good response, I just would have done it a little differently.
You kind of have to rush it when there is only a 3-week gap between PLEs
They beat the shit out of Sami a chair and left him for dead, after months of brainwashing him to do their bidding. Did you expect Sami and Roman to have six months of subtle backstage discourse, maybe a chess match? I for one am glad to see Sami Zayn with fire when he has been a cowardly character for almost 3 years.
First of all, I think 10 chair shots and laying face down in the ring could count for one week off of TV. I would have preferred one segment just Roman explaining it from his perspective(What he did) to build the story. Then maybe then next week Sami could come out and surprise them with an extended promo about how he’s going to take away Romans true family..the title. Or something like that. This beat down and wanting to go after the title to me seems slightly disingenuous to his character. I just thought it happened a little too fast.
Sami is the one who wanted to be in the Bloodline though?
at this point i feel theyre rushing it as they know they have a good story with sami but at they also need time to build a reigns vs rhodes story
Yep, I’ve been saying they’re rushing the Sami storyline. Sad thing was he was removed from the bloodline not to give him a singles push. But so people wouldn’t boo Cody at WM.
I've been casually watching for a bit, has Solo actually spoken or interacted with Roman? Roman seems to speak at him and stuff or is it just me? Can't recall him throwing the ☝🏻 up either. Like i said could be because i only casually watch it
He does throw up the sign and I'm pretty sure he has spoken briefly in the past, he actually has a bad ass voice but they're clearly building him as an ice cold killer at the moment
Lmao now that I think about it ever since Solo officially became the enforcer I don’t think he’s talked to any of the bloodline
He told Jey to stay back and asked Sami to come with him once
That was before he became the enforcer, he still had the North American championship that night
Like all of us, I was impatiently waiting a week for today. But I think the last segment felt a little weird to me. I guess they want to hype EC so need weeks of putting a poster up, but Sami coming straight out, attacking Roman and going 'I'm after your belts' felt really naff to me. They could have done the whole 'I'll give you what you want' bit from Roman, but it falling in line with him saying that everyone always wants something off him. For me, it would have fit the storyline better for me for Sami to have just said 'I didn't want anything from you. The only thing I wanted was acceptance'. He doesn't even have to say anything like 'then you just kept pushing me over and over' to justify it. It matches the 'I have no defence' point. Roman in his mind thinks that Sami has always been after his titles so should have just forced the issue all by himself like the end of the segment. It fits the paranoid part of the character, whilst keeping Sami looking like he's an honest guy who's just been manipulated over and over. Roman's doing a really great (a bit unsettling) job of playing this scumbag manipulating abuser character. At this point I expect (hope) that we dont see KO or Jey all month - ones 'injured', Jey is just 'uncontactable'. We go into EC where Jey returns and wipes out Sami for Roman (2023 Montreal Screwjob anyone?). Then a role reversal of Sami getting beat up post main event with KO making the save. . I hope we don't see some pointless tag title change with Braun/Ricochet, but Solo/Jimmy cheat their way to keeping them until Jey rejoins at EC. Then setting up KO/Sami vs Jey/Jimmy for the Tag Titles at WM. Not sure what we do about Solo, but surely the build up is the Usos losing the belts, Solo getting taken out so Roman can't rely on his goons to cheat to win vs Cody and loses. Though I've suspected a 1000+ day reign for Roman all this time, just going far enough to pip Sammartino. TL:DR - Sami immediately rushing out, jumping Roman and saying he wants his titles just proves that everything Roman has said and suspected was true.
The Sami segment did feel off. Almost like Sami proved Roman was right about him just wanting the title. Don’t know why they’re doing this, almost like they’re trying to cool Sami off. Jay could be a potential star baby face hope they don’t do the obvious turn with him.
Sami is out for blood so he’s going after the one thing Roman values. It’s not that complicated.
Jey is the main character. This has to come full circle to him. I wanna see The Usos lose their titles next week because they're fighting or not in synch or whatever. Maybe Roman even costs them the titles to teach them a lesson or something. More rift for The Bloodline. By Elimination Chamber, Jey is full on fed up with Roman and costs him the titles to Sami. Roman gets em back real quick, but the feud with Jey heats the eff. Jimmy goes after Sami for sending his brother on that path. KO comes back going after Solo cause those 2 in a street fight will be sick. Adam Pearce calls for a new brand split and draft post Mania, calling for the unified championships to be split. Cody gets his silly no story win on night 1. Jey gets his story win that matters night 2. At some point this story finales with Sami vs Jimmy, Solo vs KO, and Roman vs Jey.
My thoughts on Jey and the tag match next week. Assuming Jey can go to Canada, then he shouldn't be seen until EC and I see two ways it could play out. 1) Solo takes his place in the match, and they win, because a franken team of Braun and Ricoshet should not be getting the big win on the Usos, in whatever form. 2) Jey no shows and Pearce declares the match a forfit, and Braun and Ricoshet are awarded the belts. I think #2 is the better, and maybe even best, option. 1) The smackdown tag belts don't have the prestigous history that will be sullied by this. 2) while B&R aren't a team to beat the Usos, they're a perfect team to have the belts in what would be basically a reset of the division. They're popular faces with a good act that's perfect for heel teams to throw themselves against....such as Imperium beating them at mania....that feels like a pretty good HHH thing to happen. And as just two popular enough faces, crowd will be fine with them having the belts for the now (look, Braun will roar and Ric will flip over something and everyone will cheer). 3) BLOODLINE DRAMA!!! We assume Jey attacks Sami at EC, to set up Usos vs KO/Sami..but having some additional drama between the usos is good since we'll still be getting Jey vs Jimmy at some point, as well as a likely Jey vs Roman, too.
> such as Imperium beating them at mania Imperium feels kinda week tbh, Gunther is main event calibre but I am not sold on Ludwig and Giovani
Fair….HHH likes them though.. Also Vikings…heel Hurt Business…hell Gallus….. whoever they want to establish as a dominant heel tag team.
lt's Jimmy who can't go to Canada lol. Man, that really needs sticked at this point.
they are not ending a historic reign by stipping the usos of the belts....the match will happen at mania and it will be sami and ko vs the usos
Sami deserves a main event singles push not to be placed in a tag team.
He does, but the reality is what it is. He's not the main player we want and think of him is
hey i love Sami and i agree he does but a year after losing to Johnny knockville in a crazy gimmick match at WM they are not having him beat roman, this is Codys year and its ending with him.
But it shouldn’t! fuck Cody I can assure you apart from you Elite fanboys here everyone else wants Sami v Roman at mania! Cody can have his crappy 2 month reign later on in the year to please you lot
Anyone else think the start of Roman's promo was a bit of a mistake? Considering how over Sami is, I'm not sure how smart it is to start your build to your mania main event by saying essentially "I should be talking about Cody right now who earned his shot, but you guys want me to deal with this pest your chanting for instead".
It seems like their main goal is to not push Sami but make sure Cody isn’t booed at WM. The Sami promo at smack down made no sense in that he didn’t explain that he always wanted to be in the family but Roman pushed him too far. Instead you have Sami helping prove Romans point that Sami was always after the tribal chief and his title.
He said I never wanted anything from you. I’ve always seen this as Roman creating his own downfall because his paranoia made him doubt Sami and make an actual enemy of him. Sami never wanted his title but after being betrayed like this now he wants to take down Roman
Or it adds to Roman’s belief that Sami is nothing without the bloodline and he’s not interested in wasting time on him? Just makes Sami a bigger underdog face, gives him more fan support
Or maybe belittling Sami in front of a white hot crowd is another layer to his facade of having everything under control when it’s all secretly (or not so secretly) starting to fall apart for The Bloodline? They both work.
I think our two ideas are the same plan WWE had just fleshed out
I'm not going to say it was an all timer, but Sonya/Charlotte got more than I was expecting and didn't feel like an obligation like a lot of the SD women segments and matches have for months. It's nice that Charlotte continues to be over (the pop at the end was legit, no pipe in) too despite what some would have you believe.
A Flair got a pop in Carolina? No way/s
Roman and Sami have hit gold together if done right can be a legendary feud it's best they split titles and make the story smackdown exclusive
I always saw Sami as a mid carder but the bloodline and roman reigns story has converted him into a superstar that story is well done
I see him as a Mic Foley. He can and does win the big one a few times, but it’s always a slog bc he’s outfoxed by more ruthless villains.
You're telling me Cody Rhodes belongs in that? You're telling me Cody Rhodes can match THAT?! This is personal now for Roman. Sami broke up his family so now Roman is going to break Sami in front of his family. I have nothing against Cody. I just don't see how him being inserted in this storyline is anything other being shoehorned in because he's the big returning superstar that was guaranteed he would main event Mania and win the WWE championship.
The story has to end sometime. It’s better if it’s peak.
I agree. I'm invested in Sami's story while I can't figure out why I should care about Cody winning the belt. Because his Dad never held it? So?
Totally agree. I like Cody and all but to miss out on this Sami stuff would be a huge blunder. Cody can win the belt whenever, Sami needs it now.
I think they can make a good storyline intertwine with the "royal family" bloodline stuff I think Sami should beat Roman night 1 for the universal title and cody night 2 for the WWE and have Sami/Cody end the show with confetti and a Rock appearance/hand shake That could set up a year long build for Roman v Rock and let cody and sami do their own thing
The royal family bit is hilarious. Dusty was in polka dots and Dustin was a bisexual Goldmember. And then there's Cody. In WWE canon, they're like joke family of WWE. If anything, Cody should be on the hunt for the title to spite WWE and their treatment of the Rhodes family.
This. Sami is where the story is at. Sami is the match that SHOULD be happening at Mania. Hell, Sami doesn’t even need to win. But he deserves to be in that spot at Mania. There’s no story with Cody, other than he wants to win the title that his father never did. They can do that anytime. Vince & Triple H might not see Sami as a top guy, but the crowd clearly does. You’re never going to make new stars if you don’t take chances. I’m disappointed that Triple H doesn’t seem to be seeing this either… The Cody/Roman angle is going to be weak in comparison to this. I really think they’re making a mistake not pulling the trigger on Sami
Yeah it'd almost be better if the WM mainevent is a triple threat. Cody and Roman just feels meh compared to this. That being said the Cody build is new rn?
it feels even more meh cause this result is something most expect. its like they made a promise to cody when bringing him back that he will win the title. At least with the sami storyline, there is still an amount of unpredictability that keeps us engaged
Why they promised Cody a title reign and what not still confuses me personally coz I just don’t get it! He is good in the ring and a good talker but good is not good enough he is not elite level but then again neither are them damn Jackson twins
Jey helping Roman to retain the titles at Montreal is going to be crazyy.
I’m not sure how you’d get there but Jey as the referee would be super interesting.
Sami has proven he deserves to be in the WM main event and Jay should stay a baby face and get a singles run. Sami deserves a singles run not a tag team and Jay’s storyline should be going against the tribal chief as well.
i hope roman stays champion through wrestlemania too. imagining all the mad people on the internet fills me up with joy.
I honestly think having Cody lose and work his way back through adversity to the title at SummerSlam would be a better story IMO.
Yep, hell make it a triple threat and have Sami help Roman retain. Makes Cody an even bigger baby face and gives him an unstoppable heel team to go against.
Yep, I have long held that view too, it would add another layer to Cody's quest by showing how hard it is to really get to the mountain top.
What has Cody done to think he’s going to be Roman? He doesn’t come off as face of a company, especially with a sell coming up. It’s all financial benefits a head
Bloodline is gold. This story is just so magic
Genuinely a pretty good show across the board but the Bloodline stuff is on such a different level to anything else in wrestling right now that it turns all other matches and angles into after thoughts.
Yo for real though. Fuck WWE. Nobody cares about Cody "I want the belt cause nepotism" Rhodes. If WWE has Sami Zayn lose, which will absolutely be burying him and demoting him to jobber status, the only reasonable response is for everyone to stop watchin Raw and Smackdown and watch AEW instead. Fan entitlement was enough to bully WWE into making Daniel Bryan champion once, it should be enough to bully WWE into making Zayn champion too. Fuck Cody, fuck Roman, fuck whatever dumb story they have for Jey or Owens or whoever. The ONLY outcome of this bloodline story that gets anybody over or makes any sense is making Sami world champion. Doing literally ANYTHING else would prove that HHH is just a big a fraud as his father in law and deserves to drive away viewers.
I agree with your third and last paragraph the rest however is rubbish you sound like them damn Jackson twins
>Nobody cares about Cody Wrong. >If WWE has Sami Zayn lose, which will absolutely be burying him and demoting him to jobber status, So him being tag champs with KO is jobber status? I bet you've complained about the tag scene for a while and how it needs improving, but don't actually want to see the improvement. >Fan entitlement was enough to bully WWE into making Daniel Bryan champion once, This isn't a Daniel Bryan situation. >The ONLY outcome of this bloodline story that gets anybody over or makes any sense is making Sami world champion. Doing literally ANYTHING else would prove that HHH is just a big a fraud as his father in law and deserves to drive away viewers. If you've actually been watching the bloodline story then no, this isn't the only outcome that makes sense. The bloodline started with Roman and Jey and that would be the perfect way to end it. Criticism is fine but alot of what you said is just complaining for no reason.
I don’t think most that want Sami vs Roman disagree that Jey vs Roman would also be a valid choice it just seems much less likely
are you okay?
See people, this is what happens when companies play around with AI software.
This can’t be real.
Charlotte Flair can break out of rope pins :0 when Roman sent Jimmy and Solo to find Jey and it went to commericial....Jey was very soon found in the company of Jimmy, doing a Papa John's commercial. did Roman sign on off that? XD it will be interesting to see next week how the tag team match is handled....if Jey will show up. or if he does, if he causes a loss. is Braun and Ricochet destined to take a belt? Drew and Sheamus, who almost were called the Banger Bros as a tag team, are still working together fortunately. they shouldn't split that team up anytime soon. Bray Wyatt is...at large. Shayna i guess is pretending Charlotte didn't show up and take the title from Ronda. while the audience mostly saluted Roman when he came out to give his address, they soon switched to cheering for Sami when he attacked Roman. so now Sami has got himself a championship match with Roman at Elimination Chamber. he's not gonna win it, but things will make Roman into a bigger villain heading into Wrestlemania time. if Sami ever gets to beat Roman, it has to be after Roman has lost the belts. at some point Cody and Roman need to beef with each other. Cody should also go on Smackdown sometime, but i dunno if that will happen.
Why are there Raw and Smackdown Womens championships when someone from Smackdown just qualified to challenge for the Raw title… and someone from Raw is challenging for the SD belt at Mania? Unify these damn titles! Two nights of Mania mean this can happen. Winners of both title bouts face off at night 2.
Well Roman is the Raw champ as well
I bet Roman loses by DQ
"Valhalla" looks like she's wearing novelty oven gloves
I was slightly annoyed they called her "Valhalla" but very amused that their finisher was called Ragnarok. Also the entrance is really cool. RAID! RAID!
VALHALLA IS ***SHEER***
Watching Sami deliver an absolutely massive Spear to Roman made me jump out of my chair.
What do you see as the payoff for the Wyatt/Howdy/Alexa program? I say that Alexa beats Bianca at Mania and then gets drafted to Smackdown. Shortly thereafter, she aligns herself with Uncle Howdy and Bray Wyatt to complete the faction. Of course, Rhea will beat Charlotte on Night 2 as well. She and Alexa will exchange titles one week later.
Alexa isn't in the Chamber match nor is she even in contention for a spot. Bianca is facing Asuka at Mania.
Alexa can still win her way into it with whatever match they have up on Monday. If that doesn’t happen, then I guess Dark Alexa will make her return for a rematch against Bianca at EC.
I think I made the right decision to go to Vengeance Day instead of Smackdown. The ending segment was incredible and it’d have been fun to see in person. But overall, that and the first match were the only truly amazing parts. Like it was good, don’t get me wrong. But only four matches and that women’s EC match was basically nothing.
For those who don't want Sami and KO v The Uso's, what feud are you putting Owens into for Mania?
I still want to somehow get to Sami vs Roman on one of the nights and KO will be in Samis corner. KO can support Sami but Sami should fight on his own
Jey and Sami w/ KO vs Jimmy and Solo? I know that’s questionable but I would truly hate to see Jey just fall back in line somehow after all that’s going on right now
oh yah i was thinking that could happen to salvage the Bloodline team with Jey really i originally thought we'd be seeing an Elimination Chamber match with Sami, Jey, and Kevin vs. Roman, Jimmy and Solo Kevin would have to forgive Jey for enjoying beating on him
KO vs Sikoa in some sort of street fight possibly
That would be fun and I can't pick who I'd want to win that one. I'm a big KO fan but Solo has looked so legit since debuting on the main roster.
I’d think Solo gets the rub since he’s still very new and is being booked as an Umaga/Batista combo. KO can afford to lose yet still look dominant by doing something crazy and unexpected. Flaming Table Spot would be insane
The fact that Sami has KofiMania levels of hype right now has me so afraid Trips is gonna waste this moment. I want Cody to just challenge for a single title and Sami for the other, I know it'll technically "lessen" one of the two but I don't think we can let Sami'a moment just go away.
Just make it a triple threat and have one of the baby faces turn heel and help Roman retain. You create a star baby face and give him an unstoppable heel group to go against.
Cody beats Roman clean, Roman sustains an injury. Sami beats Roman with in-ring hijinx with Roman being hurt before hand makes sense to me.
I have no problem with Cody getting the belts eventually, but it's really a weird problem to throw him randomly into the middle of this feud. I'm assuming Sami will be losing to Bloodline shenanigans at Elimination Chamber but Jey comes in for the save at the end. Maybe clearing the ring during a post match beatdown. Maybe Sami and Jey help keep the bloodline away while Cody fights Roman at Mania? Sami Jey vs Solo Jimmy? Sami not beating Roman but rather helping someone else beat Roman in his place is kind of a soft conclusion to a hot storyline though.
Except, Sami/Roman isn't a wrestling story..it's a family story...a life story...even if Sami challenged for the titles tonight..that's just to hurt Roman. But the think about family problems..life still happens...you still got to go to work.. just because Roman has family problems, doesn't mean Cody isn't there as a work problem, because Cody doesnt' care about the family stuff Roman has..just HIS family stuff. THAT'S part of the story.. Roman is being split several ways...that's why all of this is compelling, because the world isn't stopping just because Roman/Sami are beefing...there's still work to be done.
Sami doesn't need a belt to win the story, he needs to beat Roman. Cody doesn't need Roman to win his personal story, he needs the belt. They just have to figure out a way for Cody to get the belts and for Sami to get Roman in the most satisfying way possible for both.
cody wins night 1 sami beats roman night 2?
Roman is not losing to Cody. Not at WrestleMania maybe at backlash or something
okay thats cope, everyone knows cody is beating roman, if they didnt want cody beating roman sami would be in the mania main event instead of at elimination chamber
Roman is not losing to anyone. Cody is not the Face of wwe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBB_iK7jKg4
I promise I’m not trying to be a Cody hater, I like the guy and I enjoyed HIAC as much as anyone. But these promos and packages are getting excessive, no? Like it feels like every show has one and the tone is just so indulgent.
Agreed. He will go heel sooner or later… or just be Cena 2.0 and remain a “babyface” while getting booed everywhere he goes. I believe fans are cheering him right now because of the comeback story and the fact that he defected from the competition. That’s gonna sour over time.
This sounds like the Cody from AEW. Is he giving off Homelander vibes yet?
I have a feeling it’s going to have the same affect it did in aew especially with Sami being white hot. Even if Cody wins the titles you’ll see him getting stale pretty soon and he wants to be a John cena type baby face
I wouldn’t say it’s that bad but it’s just getting shoved really hard. And the crowd seems to love it so I’ll accept I’m not in the majority here. It’s just… it’s so over the top.
It has to be setting him up a shocking loss right? It’s waaaaay too easy for Cody. What happened to the tease and the chase?
This sounds like coping mechanisms AEW fans had when he kept hinting a Heel turn. Cody is a simple character, and his stories aren't that complicated. He will win the belts.
I’m trying to trust the process since the Bloodline story has been so good. But I just struggle to see how Cody winning the title would feel all that satisfying. Dude comes back, gets handed the 30th spot (they even called it out on Raw, and it’s a weird spot to put your conquering, returning hero in), and just waltzes in to get the title during a hot angle with the only significant story being “wrestling doesn’t have just one royal family.” Idk, people keep saying it’s a king-making moment but I see it as a really shitty end to a dominant championship run and the best wrestling story perhaps ever if it happens the way I see it. But again, I’m not a writer and they’ve done great so far. So I believe they’ll make whatever happens feel good.
Yeah Cody wasn’t even there for Roman’s reign of terror. Imagine if someone you never heard of came out in the 3rd Act of your favorite movie and saved the day.
Totally agree that it’s starting to have this ‘I’m the chosen one’ tone. The Sami factor has just amp’d that up. And none of this is a bad thing. Having guys with real talent start to usurp each other in the fans’ eyes is always interesting to me. Great problem to have. So you could a) ignore it and go the route you planned or b) shake it up in a way that still makes sense and draws money. And maybe make a few more starts out of it than originally planned. How exactly? Not sure. But if it’s good, I’ll tune in.
The heat on reigns when he beats sami in montreal will be nuclear
Jey is probably going to screw Sami in Montreal. That will setup Usos vs Sami-KO at WM.
I've been wanting to see Sami and Jey vs Jimmy and Solo for the tag titles.
Why would Jey turn on Jimmy and Solo? Because the crowd likes Sami? Jey didn't trust Sami. Sami earned his trust. Sami betrayed his trust and attacked his family, just like he origianly thought Sami would do. WE see Sami as a face and Roman as a Heel...Jey has no reason to at this moment.
Jey is turning on Roman. Sami and Jey have been the two people most abused by Roman. Jimmy and Solo have mostly been background characters because they've just been quiet followers. Obviously this angle probably results in the eventual complete dissolution of the Bloodline, but it starts with Jimmy and Solo maintaining their loyalty to Roman and doing his bidding, even if it's turning aginst their brother because that's Roman's personality. He'll demand a show of loyalty from them. And they go along with it - at first - because they're not as fed up with Roman because they haven't been the targets of his abuse because it's always been pointed at Jey or Sami. But without them to be his outlet, Roman will get to them, too - and it'll start by forcing them to go against their brother.
Some of the best moments though of the past few months have been Jey accepting Sami and in some way it’s a payoff years in the making after Jey was forced into joining the Bloodline. Why go back on it now ?
This would be the actual money angle, for sure. "Title reunification" because of the bloodline split. No reason for Usos vs KO/Sami when you take into account Jey's personal story. If you wanna keep KO involved have him manage Jey/Sami as a counter to Heyman or Roman interfering for Jimmy/Solo
Owens only needs the tag titles to complete his Grand Slam. That's reason enough to have him be directly involved. Having him be content to spend 'Mania season on the sidelines as a "manager" would be flagrantly out of character.
That's fair. I think it's a markedly worse story to tell though. Roman's 4 underlings having a 2v2 seems an excellent way to visualize the faction crumbling, and this was Jey's long-term story before it was even Sami's.
It will be memorable for sure
I was kind of hoping Sami wouldn’t challenge for the titles with like a “I don’t care about the titles I just want you 1 on 1 Roman” Then Sami could win in Montreal and it gives that impression of “omg Roman lost, Cody could be actually pin him at WM and become champ!”
He wants to take the thing Roman values most. So it makes sense.
Roman Reigns is the best wrestler in the world right now and you can't convince me otherwise
jay white better
He’s been the best for a couple years now.
Man I really looked forward to Roman Reigns during 2020-2022. It’s gonna be a damn shame to see the end of the bloodline.
People need to remember, blood comes first. Is Jey falling in line with the bloodline again to face KO and Sami ideal? Probably not. But it makes sense. Jey has grown to love Sami but Jimmy is his ACTUAL brother, the bloodline is his ACTUAL family and so he must do what's best for family.
Isn’t that the point if the story? Blood might not always come first.
Maybe...but at THIS POINT in the story, Sami betrayed them...not the other way around. Sami attacked Roman...chose KO over Roman...after Jey vouched for him...the story at this point is Sami betrayed the trust Jey gave him...and just maybe, he was always trying to scam them, just like Paul said.
It’s just odd to have a storyline go on for a year as the main focus of WWE and sideline it for one that’s only a month. The only way I can think it makes sense is if Roman will beat Cody and they want him at 1000 days
I can’t believe there’s anyone on the planet that doesn’t think WWE doesn’t want to take Roman to 1000 days (1025 to beat Pedro Morales’s record, I’d imagine). And Sami beating Roman to end the 1000 day reign….or the 1000 day REIGNS, as the countless t-shirts they’re gonna sell will say….is a FAR bigger thing for Sami to do then just beating him for the titles. Taking a title.. that’s a Cody thing. Ending Reigns’ reign…THAT’S a Sami thing. (And then KO turns on him, because that’s a KO thing, which leads to them feuding until they fight for the title at WM40, which is the OTHER thing Sami and KO have dreamed of doing, after winning the tag belts together.)
Solo is also his baby brother
One way I think they should involve Cody into this storyline seamlessly is have Sami lose by bs at EC. Then he wants to really get back at Roman and have an emotional angle with Jey to completely sever the Bloodline to set up Roman losing. So Sami wants to take Cody's place at WM, someone can just contrive a reason to not be triple threat. And so Cody And Sami get a match before WM for number one contender, which could be a classic gushing with emotion as both men have a lot of stakes. Theres your main event maybe have Jey interfere in the match so Cody wins in a big pop. After Mania, come full circle with Roman vs Jey. The Bloodline finally done. But hey idk...
I think people are making too much out of Jey being the key to all of this with the bloodline story. Yes, he was the first to join Roman but that’s simply because Jimmy was injured when it began. I don’t think the endgame was ever to turn Jey into some top tier star. Not knocking how great he has been since joining tho
I mean none of this was really planned so we can only go by what played out on our tv screens. They weren’t projecting this to be a 3 year story it just happened. The Sami stuff if I can remember correctly was literally supposed to be one episode. Fact of the matter is he was main event Jey Uso and Roman has beat him into submission. As a matter of fact, all throughout the entire story Roman has played the most mine games with him. From the main event Jey Uso stuff to making him believe that Sami might be more in with the family than him. All of that was manipulative bs that nobody else has to endure.
In kayfabe, why would you want to gamble away your WM spot that you earned from winning the Rumble on a #1 contender match? Even if Cody is 99.9% sure he would win, there's still that 0.1% chance he *wouldn't* main event WM.
Because Cody is the ultimate good guy right now and is willing to risk it all to prove he’s a viable contender to Roman
Lets say Cody agrees to a match vs Sami for the spot at WM, we know he will win and what do you think is gonna happen when he pins Sami?
seriously, great idea.
Cole: "Jey left a message that simply said "I'm out"." Barrett: "Out? Out of what, toilet paper?" That was 💯 a reference to the Hulkster brother.
What to do? 2 massive baby faces. Sami needs to be in the main event. Make it a triple threat. Have Cody or Sami help Roman retain. You create a massive baby face and a unstoppable heel team. Regardless Sami needs to be in the main event.
A triple threat is such lazy booking. It kills momentum for whoever wins because their are two people the crowd wants to win. It can work with two heels in a triple threat, but not two faces. Especially two people as over as Sami and Cody are right now.
DB and Edge were super over 2 years ago and that worked pretty well I think it can be done, especially if Cody losing turns him heel
1. Sami wins at EC. But the fine print in the contract showed he only won one title and the championship os disputed again. 2. Wrestlemania is where they will crown an undisputed champ again. With Sami, Cody, Roman (and maybe even Jey) in the mix. $$$$$$$
I respectfully don't think this main event situation is near the problem many of us do. Cody is not the stylistic story finish for me either, but it's going to work out fine business-wise. This story is as over as Jeter in Yankee Stadium, the fans are reacting to the story and NOT just one performer (huge boos for Reigns' acknowledgments, "we want Jay," Zayn nearly as over as Daniel Bryan was). Ratings are strong, web traffic is strong. Reigns is going to walk out of Montreal with the most heat since Hitler. That's going to transfer vengeance cheers to Cody, who regardless of if you think he should be the man for this job or not (I personally don't) is already hot with the crowd, internet, and merch. Fans hijacking entire shows even when Shawn Michaels and Cena are out there b/c the show isn't listening to audience feedback while ratings plummet when fans "give up": gigantic problem Building an ominous, silent Sting for a year at record-setting business, only to blow the crescendo and have his first spoken words be "Mamacita" or some goofy Spanish shit and not having a follow-up for him for years: huge problem Having to dub over "Goldberg sucks" through arenas at the apex of his run to the point 40-year-old Kevin Nash becomes hotter than him: that's a problem The shortsighted way The Streak was handled: that's a problem
I don't care about business I want a good product. Game of Thrones' final season did huge numbers, won awards, and made a lot of money. The product still fucking sucked. Would you have been okay with Bryan Danielson beat Omega before Hangman could compete against his nemesis? It wouldn't make storyline sense, but would be best for business to give a Main Event attraction like Danielson the belt just after he'd come to AEW. It would be awful if we saw Cody come back, be gifted a #30 spot in a Royal Rumble, and inject himself awkwardly into a blood feud between two men that have emotional ties to each other wouldn't it?
> it's going to work out fine business-wise to be honest I could not care less about business
Sami wins at EC to force Roman to rematch at WM???? That parts iffy but WM needs to be a triple threat. Have all the Bloodline stuff boil over and they take each other out and Cody sneaks in for the W. Win win win for everyone
At this point in Roman’s title career, I feel like the rub of taking it off him NEEDS to happen at the grandest stage of them all
I feel like it takes away from it since everyone is certain hes dropping it at WM, but imagine the shock if it doesnt happen there and he drops it to sami in montreal, and its obviously not a swerve for swerves sake
Just thought it’d be a cool angle to see Roman being unable to comprehend being pushed out of the main event that he’s scrambling to get back in but you’re right, True true! So scratch that first part. Just have some classic shenanigans and Tom foolery go down at EC so it makes Sami look like he deserves another shot.
Can we all agree that this much spirited debate on how the story should go is amazing? People actually give a shit and have rooting interests. There is literally a solid case to be made for Sami, Cody or Reigns to be the champ coming out of Mania. And all 3 cases are plausible. Haven’t been this interested in how it’ll go in over a decade.
Jey Universal champ, Cody WWE champ.
I was talking to a friend about it earlier. While some seem to be annoyed about the debate,I find it refreshing fans are so emotionally invested in *several* characters. It could easily just be one over babyface while everyone else gets booed because only one is truly over. The fact we have Cody, Sami and even Jey receiving big reactions is such a positive direction. I want thriving talents all over the card; from midcard to the main event scene. Its so dope.
I agree there. People being so into it isn’t a bad thing at all
Heck or can even be zero over baby faces. Some of the cena and reigns events of the past had that issue.