Tbf, this thread started back in 2018 when Raw was the A show for WWE.
WWE Raw
- Thread starter BrunoMars420
- Start date
I just meant there should be two threads but I forgot to include "in" in my sentence. Did Smackdown become the A show? That's weird, usually not a great night for TV ratings.
Since they started airing on Fox, WWE has more or less treated it as equal or greater, especially since Roman Reigns became champ in this recent heel run.
Guess that moves Cody vs Reigns to SummerSlam. Curious what this does to Elimination Chamber. Doubting Cody is happy about this. But with all of the Vince stuff. The WWE needed to go large. Also interesting to see the changes in presentation without Kevin Dunn. Showing Rhea without her makeup and Damage Ctrl looking at the tech crews setting up the SD venue from earlier in the day is a tone shift.
Im so pissed about this lmao. Any other main event, sure, replace with the rock vs reigns. But not Cody lmao. Idc if it was supposed to be Punk/Reigns or Seth/Reigns, sure, throw in Rocky, but this was the story they’d been telling since Cody went back.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-meh........
Honestly they have been waiting for at least 5 years now to do Rock vs Reigns, and this will be their best (and maybe only) chance to get it at WrestleMania.
Waiting a year to build up to it would've been unnecessary and just as risky as it is to pass on Cody again and make him wait....except the Rock is much older and busier than Cody.
This is ripping the bandaid off and getting the match over with.
Then they can "finish the story" either at Summerslam or WM41.
If they really wanted to get crazy, though, here me out..........
Cody vs Rollins on Night 1, Damien Priest cashes in and wins the World title, we'll get back to that later.
Rock vs Reigns Night 2, it's an all out brawl with Bloodline members, past members involved with the Rock, and it looks like Roman finally gains the upper hand and is about to win when it's Cody for the save. He screws over Roman and assists the Rock, and the Rock beats Roman ending the streak. Cody vicariously takes the title off Roman as he said he wanted to take "everything" from him.
CM Punk returns from injury in time for Money In The Bank, and wins the briefcase outlasting 6 other contenders.
Roman and Cody enter a cold war in the time between WM40 and Summerslam, which is where the blowoff match for their feud will come. Cody defeats Roman and finishes the Bloodline angle for good.
Meanwhile, CM Punk has some unfinished business of his own and decides to be the "honorable challenger" (in his own unique way) and wants to cash in his MITB contract against the Rock at Summerslam. The Rock accepts and we get Rock vs Punk in the main event at Summerslam, where CM Punk wins the Universal title.
But what about the World Heavyweight Championship, you ask?...........
Damien Priest gets his reign through the spring and summer months, being the workhorse title defender at the B level PPVs all the way up to Survivor Series.
Cody eventually earns the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight title and then defeats Damien Priest to win the title.
CM Punk defends his title against Drew McIntyre at next year's Royal Rumble, while Cody defeats Finn Balor to finish off the Judgment Day.
The end right?...............
But then Gunther, who finally lost the Intercontinental title to L.A. Knight in a Fatal 4 Way match months prior, without getting pinned, WINS THE ROYAL RUMBLE.
The following Monday on Raw, Gunther has already made his decision on who he wants to face and calls out both CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. The Ring General goes over both champions' attributes, their strengths...their weaknesses....and says he could challenge Punk.........or he could challenge Cody.............................or he could challenge both.
Punk and Cody accept, and then are jumped by Imperium from behind with the faction standing tall to end Raw.
That allows for some build up with matches and confrontations leading up to WM41, but there's still the matter of the Elimination Chamber to settle.
Re-enter Roman Reigns.
Reigns wants his title back and doesn't care what he has to do to get it. So entering the Chamber is his only way in. Reigns endures a ton of backlash in the Chamber from wrestlers wanting to settle old scores, but ultimately the Tribal Chief outlasts Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn and Ludwig Kaiser who was planted there as a means to help even the odds at Mania for Gunther/Imperium.
But with Reigns winning, a Fatal 4 Way is set for the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship.
Punk finally gets to main event WM, but has to outlast 3 other stars in Cody, Reigns and Gunther.
Night 1 closes with a women's title match between Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair.
Night 2 sees the dubbed 'Bout of the Century' and it is an absolute war. Of course, the heel factions get involved and force Cody and Punk to work together. Reigns gains the upper hand momentarily, but Cody focuses his attention on him and lays him out of the ring, taking himself out in the process, leaving Punk alone with a weakened Gunther. Punk tries to seize the opportunity, but outta nowhere a hooded figure makes the save for Gunther. The Ring General takes advantage and it is GUNTHER that wins the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship. The hooded figure is revealed to be Ilja Dragonov, who has had a history with Gunther in NXT, and he is now the newest member of Imperium, and the dominant faction stands tall to close WrestleMania 41.
The End. You're welcome.
Honestly they have been waiting for at least 5 years now to do Rock vs Reigns, and this will be their best (and maybe only) chance to get it at WrestleMania.
Waiting a year to build up to it would've been unnecessary and just as risky as it is to pass on Cody again and make him wait....except the Rock is much older and busier than Cody.
This is ripping the bandaid off and getting the match over with.
Then they can "finish the story" either at Summerslam or WM41.
If they really wanted to get crazy, though, here me out..........
Cody vs Rollins on Night 1, Damien Priest cashes in and wins the World title, we'll get back to that later.
Rock vs Reigns Night 2, it's an all out brawl with Bloodline members, past members involved with the Rock, and it looks like Roman finally gains the upper hand and is about to win when it's Cody for the save. He screws over Roman and assists the Rock, and the Rock beats Roman ending the streak. Cody vicariously takes the title off Roman as he said he wanted to take "everything" from him.
CM Punk returns from injury in time for Money In The Bank, and wins the briefcase outlasting 6 other contenders.
Roman and Cody enter a cold war in the time between WM40 and Summerslam, which is where the blowoff match for their feud will come. Cody defeats Roman and finishes the Bloodline angle for good.
Meanwhile, CM Punk has some unfinished business of his own and decides to be the "honorable challenger" (in his own unique way) and wants to cash in his MITB contract against the Rock at Summerslam. The Rock accepts and we get Rock vs Punk in the main event at Summerslam, where CM Punk wins the Universal title.
But what about the World Heavyweight Championship, you ask?...........
Damien Priest gets his reign through the spring and summer months, being the workhorse title defender at the B level PPVs all the way up to Survivor Series.
Cody eventually earns the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight title and then defeats Damien Priest to win the title.
CM Punk defends his title against Drew McIntyre at next year's Royal Rumble, while Cody defeats Finn Balor to finish off the Judgment Day.
The end right?...............
But then Gunther, who finally lost the Intercontinental title to L.A. Knight in a Fatal 4 Way match months prior, without getting pinned, WINS THE ROYAL RUMBLE.
The following Monday on Raw, Gunther has already made his decision on who he wants to face and calls out both CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. The Ring General goes over both champions' attributes, their strengths...their weaknesses....and says he could challenge Punk.........or he could challenge Cody.............................or he could challenge both.
Punk and Cody accept, and then are jumped by Imperium from behind with the faction standing tall to end Raw.
That allows for some build up with matches and confrontations leading up to WM41, but there's still the matter of the Elimination Chamber to settle.
Re-enter Roman Reigns.
Reigns wants his title back and doesn't care what he has to do to get it. So entering the Chamber is his only way in. Reigns endures a ton of backlash in the Chamber from wrestlers wanting to settle old scores, but ultimately the Tribal Chief outlasts Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn and Ludwig Kaiser who was planted there as a means to help even the odds at Mania for Gunther/Imperium.
But with Reigns winning, a Fatal 4 Way is set for the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship.
Punk finally gets to main event WM, but has to outlast 3 other stars in Cody, Reigns and Gunther.
Night 1 closes with a women's title match between Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair.
Night 2 sees the dubbed 'Bout of the Century' and it is an absolute war. Of course, the heel factions get involved and force Cody and Punk to work together. Reigns gains the upper hand momentarily, but Cody focuses his attention on him and lays him out of the ring, taking himself out in the process, leaving Punk alone with a weakened Gunther. Punk tries to seize the opportunity, but outta nowhere a hooded figure makes the save for Gunther. The Ring General takes advantage and it is GUNTHER that wins the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship. The hooded figure is revealed to be Ilja Dragonov, who has had a history with Gunther in NXT, and he is now the newest member of Imperium, and the dominant faction stands tall to close WrestleMania 41.
The End. You're welcome.
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Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-meh........
Honestly they have been waiting for at least 5 years now to do Rock vs Reigns, and this will be their best (and maybe only) chance to get it at WrestleMania.
Waiting a year to build up to it would've been unnecessary and just as risky as it is to pass on Cody again and make him wait....except the Rock is much older and busier than Cody.
This is ripping the bandaid off and getting the match over with.
Then they can "finish the story" either at Summerslam or WM41.
If they really wanted to get crazy, though, here me out..........
Cody vs Rollins on Night 1, Damien Priest cashes in and wins the World title, we'll get back to that later.
Rock vs Reigns Night 2, it's an all out brawl with Bloodline members, past members involved with the Rock, and it looks like Roman finally gains the upper hand and is about to win when it's Cody for the save. He screws over Roman and assists the Rock, and the Rock beats Roman ending the streak. Cody vicariously takes the title off Roman as he said he wanted to take "everything" from him.
CM Punk returns from injury in time for Money In The Bank, and wins the briefcase outlasting 6 other contenders.
Roman and Cody enter a cold war in the time between WM40 and Summerslam, which is where the blowoff match for their feud will come. Cody defeats Roman and finishes the Bloodline angle for good.
Meanwhile, CM Punk has some unfinished business of his own and decides to be the "honorable challenger" (in his own unique way) and wants to cash in his MITB contract against the Rock at Summerslam. The Rock accepts and we get Rock vs Punk in the main event at Summerslam, where CM Punk wins the Universal title.
But what about the World Heavyweight Championship, you ask?...........
Damien Priest gets his reign through the spring and summer months, being the workhorse title defender at the B level PPVs all the way up to Survivor Series.
Cody eventually earns the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight title and then defeats Damien Priest to win the title.
CM Punk defends his title against Drew McIntyre at next year's Royal Rumble, while Cody defeats Finn Balor to finish off the Judgment Day.
The end right?...............
But then Gunther, who finally lost the Intercontinental title to L.A. Knight in a Fatal 4 Way match months prior, without getting pinned, WINS THE ROYAL RUMBLE.
The following Monday on Raw, Gunther has already made his decision on who he wants to face and calls out both CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. The Ring General goes over both champions' attributes, their strengths...their weaknesses....and says he could challenge Punk.........or he could challenge Cody.............................or he could challenge both.
Punk and Cody accept, and then are jumped by Imperium from behind with the faction standing tall to end Raw.
That allows for some build up with matches and confrontations leading up to WM41, but there's still the matter of the Elimination Chamber to settle.
Re-enter Roman Reigns.
Reigns wants his title back and doesn't care what he has to do to get it. So entering the Chamber is his only way in. Reigns endures a ton of backlash in the Chamber from wrestlers wanting to settle old scores, but ultimately the Tribal Chief outlasts Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn and Ludwig Kaiser who was planted there as a means to help even the odds at Mania for Gunther/Imperium.
But with Reigns winning, a Fatal 4 Way is set for the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship.
Punk finally gets to main event WM, but has to outlast 3 other stars in Cody, Reigns and Gunther.
Night 1 closes with a women's title match between Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair.
Night 2 sees the dubbed 'Bout of the Century' and it is an absolute war. Of course, the heel factions get involved and force Cody and Punk to work together. Reigns gains the upper hand momentarily, but Cody focuses his attention on him and lays him out of the ring, taking himself out in the process, leaving Punk alone with a weakened Gunther. Punk tries to seize the opportunity, but outta nowhere a hooded figure makes the save for Gunther. The Ring General takes advantage and it is GUNTHER that wins the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship. The hooded figure is revealed to be Ilja Dragonov, who has had a history with Gunther in NXT, and he is now the newest member of Imperium, and the dominant faction stands tall to close WrestleMania 41.
The End. You're welcome.
Someone has spent WAAAAYYY too much time thinking about this.Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-meh........
Honestly they have been waiting for at least 5 years now to do Rock vs Reigns, and this will be their best (and maybe only) chance to get it at WrestleMania.
Waiting a year to build up to it would've been unnecessary and just as risky as it is to pass on Cody again and make him wait....except the Rock is much older and busier than Cody.
This is ripping the bandaid off and getting the match over with.
Then they can "finish the story" either at Summerslam or WM41.
If they really wanted to get crazy, though, here me out..........
Cody vs Rollins on Night 1, Damien Priest cashes in and wins the World title, we'll get back to that later.
Rock vs Reigns Night 2, it's an all out brawl with Bloodline members, past members involved with the Rock, and it looks like Roman finally gains the upper hand and is about to win when it's Cody for the save. He screws over Roman and assists the Rock, and the Rock beats Roman ending the streak. Cody vicariously takes the title off Roman as he said he wanted to take "everything" from him.
CM Punk returns from injury in time for Money In The Bank, and wins the briefcase outlasting 6 other contenders.
Roman and Cody enter a cold war in the time between WM40 and Summerslam, which is where the blowoff match for their feud will come. Cody defeats Roman and finishes the Bloodline angle for good.
Meanwhile, CM Punk has some unfinished business of his own and decides to be the "honorable challenger" (in his own unique way) and wants to cash in his MITB contract against the Rock at Summerslam. The Rock accepts and we get Rock vs Punk in the main event at Summerslam, where CM Punk wins the Universal title.
But what about the World Heavyweight Championship, you ask?...........
Damien Priest gets his reign through the spring and summer months, being the workhorse title defender at the B level PPVs all the way up to Survivor Series.
Cody eventually earns the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight title and then defeats Damien Priest to win the title.
CM Punk defends his title against Drew McIntyre at next year's Royal Rumble, while Cody defeats Finn Balor to finish off the Judgment Day.
The end right?...............
But then Gunther, who finally lost the Intercontinental title to L.A. Knight in a Fatal 4 Way match months prior, without getting pinned, WINS THE ROYAL RUMBLE.
The following Monday on Raw, Gunther has already made his decision on who he wants to face and calls out both CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. The Ring General goes over both champions' attributes, their strengths...their weaknesses....and says he could challenge Punk.........or he could challenge Cody.............................or he could challenge both.
Punk and Cody accept, and then are jumped by Imperium from behind with the faction standing tall to end Raw.
That allows for some build up with matches and confrontations leading up to WM41, but there's still the matter of the Elimination Chamber to settle.
Re-enter Roman Reigns.
Reigns wants his title back and doesn't care what he has to do to get it. So entering the Chamber is his only way in. Reigns endures a ton of backlash in the Chamber from wrestlers wanting to settle old scores, but ultimately the Tribal Chief outlasts Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn and Ludwig Kaiser who was planted there as a means to help even the odds at Mania for Gunther/Imperium.
But with Reigns winning, a Fatal 4 Way is set for the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship.
Punk finally gets to main event WM, but has to outlast 3 other stars in Cody, Reigns and Gunther.
Night 1 closes with a women's title match between Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair.
Night 2 sees the dubbed 'Bout of the Century' and it is an absolute war. Of course, the heel factions get involved and force Cody and Punk to work together. Reigns gains the upper hand momentarily, but Cody focuses his attention on him and lays him out of the ring, taking himself out in the process, leaving Punk alone with a weakened Gunther. Punk tries to seize the opportunity, but outta nowhere a hooded figure makes the save for Gunther. The Ring General takes advantage and it is GUNTHER that wins the Unified WWE Heavyweight Championship. The hooded figure is revealed to be Ilja Dragonov, who has had a history with Gunther in NXT, and he is now the newest member of Imperium, and the dominant faction stands tall to close WrestleMania 41.
The End. You're welcome.
With the Rock pushing his way into the Mania Main Event. Can not see HHH lasting long as head of creative. Nick Khan Rocks boy is already CEO. I’m thinking TKO/Endeavor will want a complete break from anything McMahon related. My guess post mania Trips resigns . HBK also finds something else to do as well.
Lol actually I made that up as I wrote it.........
Right? Elevate the stars. You can't just have Cody win the RR, point at Reigns, talk about finishing the story and then say "actually.... Reigns will face the Rock."
Very disappointing.
If this is an attempt to manufacture a Daniel Bryan WM30 type response for Cody, it's going to backfire miserably because they won't do it in a way that makes the fans feel like THEY accomplished it, it'll be telegraphed and booed down.
The reaction wasn’t anywhere near as strong as the YES movement. It all appears to be a hedge to me. Rock vs Reigns is the plan. But still leave a possibility at Elimination Chamber to change things. If something gets hot.
Drew right now is the hot act. He’s spitting fire on the mic. Drew stole Punk‘s mojo.
Happy for Drew too btw. He carried wrestling during the pandemic era for a long time.
So where does this leave Seth. Definitely looked to be setting up Rollins Vs Reigns eventually. Seth vs Rock might work. Seth is the type of guy Rock needs to work with. Someone else that can run around and take the big bumps. Or possible tag match of Seth/Cody vs Reigns/Rock.
I have to hand it to WWE creative team, this work is going to be freaking awesome. In the matter of one week, the Rock has heel turned from The People's Champ getting a massive response last Friday, staring down Roman in the middle of the ring, to getting mercilessly booed as the heel, Rocky Sucks! chants that we have not heard in over 25 years when he went by Rocky Maivia, and now being aligned with Roman. We all think this is heading one way, but I don't think we have a clue what is actually going to happen and how this is going to turn out.
Seth is still involved. He's going to have a response to Roman calling him the B team/JV title. I wish he would have stepped up an immediate and forceful reaction during the presser last night but understand why he did not, because that presser was intended to put the focus squarely on Cody, Roman, and Rock. Him getting more involved more than he was would have stolen some of the spotlight. Rest assured, he's going to have something to say.
Smackdown is looking to be must watch TV tonight to see the fallout from that presser.
Seth is still involved. He's going to have a response to Roman calling him the B team/JV title. I wish he would have stepped up an immediate and forceful reaction during the presser last night but understand why he did not, because that presser was intended to put the focus squarely on Cody, Roman, and Rock. Him getting more involved more than he was would have stolen some of the spotlight. Rest assured, he's going to have something to say.
Smackdown is looking to be must watch TV tonight to see the fallout from that presser.
It does so much for the roster and potential feud with Roman for him to get the Rock imo. Drew does deserve better. But for his character it’s another snub and allows him to lean more into heel Drew. We’ve seen enough of Drew vs Seth lately.
Drew has had multiple shots at Seth and lost. I've seen enough of Drew and Seth as well. Time for him to move on. If they want to put a belt on him, have him beef with Gunther. That would be an excellent feud.
Don’t think Drew needs a belt honestly. His Mic work right now is so strong none is needed for a feud with him to mean something.
So I missed the WM kickoff event. Now that I'm caught up, we're just supposed to ignore last week's Smackdown when Cody handed the main event to Rock - "I'm coming for you Roman, just not at WM." Feels like this is a direct response to the fan reaction, for better or worse.
Really digging what they are doing with the Bloodline feud . See if they stretch Rock vs Roman out until next Mania or SummerSlam. Also interested to see what direction they are going with Gunther. He‘s too good on the mic and in the ring remain a heel.
I think they were testing out Gunther as a face when they matched him with Dom (the person with the most heat in the company).
When he had the 600 day celebration. The promo was all earned not arrogance. Then whenever he has a challenger such as Jey he compliments them and their accomplishments. Building them up. That isn’t coming across as a heel.I think they were testing out Gunther as a face when they matched him with Dom (the person with the most heat in the company).
I think Imperium vs Judgment Day is pushing Gunther that way.
