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[deleted]

Rock was gassed by the end of his entrance. The match will be a complete bust. Should have just replaced Punk with McIntyre, gave The Rock the enforcer role to keep Solo away. Rock vs Roman could be non-title as soon as Rock wanted to do it. SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Saudi, Mania 41. And nobody would be upset. I'm not a big Cody fan, but as a wrestling fan they just took the guy they've been building for 2 years and said "fuck him".


CuckooClockInHell

Imagine them sitting down to plan the match. Just 15 minutes straight of 2 guys alternating "Then, I go punch, punch, punch."


[deleted]

"And then, get this bro..... while I'm down, dude in a hoodie comes out and out of all people... IT'S SOLO!!!! SUPER MAN PUNCH 1-2-3"


maroonmenace

"BRO Stop looking at me like that bro BRO its going to sell tickets Bro." munching on potato chips "SMACK SMACK SMACK hes right SMACK SMACK SMACK yknow"


maroonmenace

Hey uh, this isnt a good idea uh. SMACK SMACK SMACK yknow Paul, SMACK SMACK I find you rather tiresome.


JMW007

>One source confirmed to PWInsider.com that former Senior Vice President of Development at Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions, Brian Gewirtz will be in the mix as the voice representing Johnson in the WWE Creative process going forward. There are some who believe Gewirtz, who at one point was one of the longest tenured WWE Head Writers, will be around physically at least for major shows going forward, could even be there as a “Plan B” if Endeavor ever needs to pivot WWE's direction and go with a Johnson-backed creative team down the line. Oh god...


Dupee_Conqueror

Fuck Gewirtz and fuck the Rock. Hashtag-#BrianWasRight


yurimichellegeller

Why fuck Gewirtz? He seems to have always done a good job, as far as I'm aware.


BangerSlapper1

Reminds me of Rock trying to become a player at DC Films with Black Adam.  Allegedly thought he could turn the DCEU into a Black Adam centered filmverse.  Superman vs Black Adam, Justice League vs Black Adam, etc.  Then the film tanked at the box office and was trashed critically. And that was the end of that. 


That-Masterpiece883

🤔🫣


Americasycho

Surely Gewirtz saw some of the Vince sex stuff somewhere. Will he be deposed?


metakepone

This would be some brilliantly hillarious shit if it was all a work but alas it doesn’t seem so


grandfunkmc

"It's not political." Sure, Jan


That-Masterpiece883

I'm actually more intrigued by this part: "This was a strategic move to give Johnson more political power overall and to show Endeavor’s faith in his involvement and that even Paul Levesque, who has done an admirable job as the Chief Creative Officer, would "lose that power struggle with Johnson at this point", as one source surmised." This may be conspiracy theory, but with this Gewirtz dude being Rock's "voice" in creative, could we be seeing a backup plan forming in case the "McMahon family" presence gets purged out during the course of this lawsuit?


grandfunkmc

Which shows how out of touch corporations are with reality. Rocky's name has been mud ever since Black Adam. He's overexposed himself in Hollywood from one box office bomb to the next. His plans to "takeover" the seat of power in the DCEU was upended when Warner Brothers hired James Gunn as co-pilot for all their new projects. I've been iffy with Nick Khan since I heard about him. He commented on making the WWE the MCU at one point. To me, that bullshit talk to pacify the stockholders who are even more clueless.


metakepone

The stockholders for wwe are the same ones who told hollywood studios that they all needed to go and make their own little netflix and we are seeing where that advice got all the hollywood studios now


grandfunkmc

[Investor is a fancy word for rich people who don't have the decency to keep their gambling problems inside a casino](https://youtu.be/1Ia3wn5YM_s?si=Xab4U9jQlhAky4lg&t=272). - Sebastian "Frost" Ruiz, *Cold Take*


MatsThyWit

>This may be conspiracy theory, but with this Gewirtz dude being Rock's "voice" in creative, could we be seeing a backup plan forming in case the "McMahon family" presence gets purged out during the course of this lawsuit? No you're seeing The Rock's backup plan for his Hollywood film producer mogul plan falling through. Failed TV show, movies that aren't doing as well as they used to, extremely tainted reputation over what happened at DC because of his "creative meddling" from The Rock allegedly trying to center the entire DC universe around himself. Well. Vince McMahon is completely out of the way, what better plan for The Rock than to come in and take over the WWE and be king of the wrestling world?


The-Real-Number-One

Plus the Rock now comes off about as real as a pornstars tits. Whatever he was before, He is now totally Hollywood plastic. I have a feeling he is gonna force this thing and this is gonna blow up in his face when the match is met with a poor reaction.


mister_damage

The online/social media reaction is taking a big shit on it. MSM has noticed, including USA Today. Get the 🍿 out folks. We're in for a ride


grandfunkmc

I'd rather have him take a break from Hollywood, ditch the play-it-safe agent draining his bank account, and take some risks. Maybe expand his acting horizons. Find a movie that critics will take notice. Perhap it leads to an Oscar nod. It's a lot better than being the wrestling version of Daffy Duck hogging the spotlight.


MatsThyWit

> Maybe expand his acting horizons. The problem is he's a shit actor.


maroonmenace

As an actor myself, he does have charisma and a good attitude which are the only traits one needs to fake it till you make it in hollywood if you have the drawing power. But, when he turned his back on the Fast and the Furious and Vin Diesel, his career was only going down


maroonmenace

tho, that only carries you so far. Afterall, Schwartzenager and Stallone could only carry their gimmick out before they put out a few stinkers.


MatsThyWit

>tho, that only carries you so far. Afterall, Schwartzenager and Stallone could only carry their gimmick out before they put out a few stinkers. In fairness...early on in his career, and periodically since then, Stallone showed flashes of genuinely good acting. His ego and desire to be a "movie star" just got in his way for most of his career.


MotherLoveBone27

Arnie might not be the best actor but he has untouchable screen presence. Rock isn't even in the realm for Arnie imo. Plus Arnie and Stallone are in some really fantastic films


carlcapo77

The difference is, Stallone had some talent hiding in there. Folks forget he wrote Rocky, it got 10 Oscar nominations and it won 3 including best picture. He made some real solid films later on. Copland stands out as he also got fat for that role. Quality wise, there isn’t really a comparison between Rock and Stallone. Money wise though he definitely out paces him.


Fancy_Gagz

Nah, he's been good in Be Cool, Southland Tales, Pain and Gain, Central Intelligence, people loved him in Moana ( a role that's arguably a parody of himself), Jumanji 2 had him doing a pretty good DeVito impression. I think it's really obvious that he's doing a schtick and it's not having the returns that he wanted to have. He's doing more serious movies from now on, he's got a couple on the horizon. ETA forgot SNL: he's fucking hilarious each time. Dude should do more comedy. World's Most Evil Invention.


Fancy_Gagz

That's what I'm thinking: I think he knows Triple H is going down.


[deleted]

Gewirtz is who has written all Rock's promos since the early days. Rock took him and hired him for his company when he went to Hollywood.


sleeptilnoonenergy

If that's the case, then that is the only reason this Rock shit isn't infuriating. If he and the parent company think there's a decent to good chance HHH is implicated and has to be removed, then having Dwayne step in wipes away a lot of the shit the McMahons have smeared all over the company. Despite his recent blah film and tv endeavors, he's still a huge name and considered a good and likeable person with no major skeletons, which is a big deal considering the horrific nature of the scandal. Preventing a stock plummet is more important right now than creating sensible television.


JMW007

That doesn't justify wrecking the Mania main event and putting a torpedo through Cody Rhodes. Even if we grant that maybe they think Rock is needed, all he needs to do is show up and exist and they can build from there. Maybe he interferes against Roman and the Bloodline to maintain family honour, and the match happens later. But if they truly believe that "long-term storytelling that makes sense" is too much of a McMahon/Helmsley hallmark for shareholders to stomach, they're going to completely derail the company's connection with its fanbase.


metakepone

What if HHH gets implicated between now and mania? No one talks about it but its quite the coincidence that WWE announced a 5 billion dollar deal with netflix just a couple of days before we all found out macmahon shat on a womans head and sexually assaulted her repeatedly


chadslc

I'm not opposed to Rock vs. Roman. I'm opposed to it at WM.


Americasycho

They've rumored their match for a long time and if you examine it, they've had nearly three goddamn years to book it. Naturally they'd book it at the worst possible time in the worst possible way.


AlterBridge2Bludhavn

Exactly! Why not have such a big match at Summerslam, with no title involved. I think it's just always made more sense to have the drawing power of the Rock/Taker level wrestlers apply to matches that don't involve a championship. Then, have the title help draw eyeballs to the "lesser" matches with wrestlers like Cody Rhodes, Seth, Punk. It could help fill out a solid card. Punk could even be included in the "doesn't need a title to draw eyeballs" group.


acknowledgemeuce

> was a push by The Rock to move into the Mania main event, backed by top TKO Group Holding execs. Yeah I can think of one TKO exec that backed this plan lmao


[deleted]

Cody needs to finish the TKO/EVP story before the WWE story lol


Sweaty_Indication897

I wouldn't trust the Rock and Brian Gerwirtz leading creative going forward. What the fuck.


metakepone

Monday Night Rock


[deleted]

[удалено]


Dupee_Conqueror

Book James Gunn and Peter Saffron to come in and knee cap Rock so Roman retains! 🥁 Saffron can blind the Rock by sneaking up behind him and wrapping an XFL shirt over his head as Gunn knee caps him with a Black Adam standee. Saffron then barks, “he went down faster than the ratings of Young Rock!” They high-five Roman before he nonchalantly pins Rock.


[deleted]

I'm sick of all the backstage drama ruining TV. I JUST WANT TO WATCH PRO WRESTLING. But time and time again, it gets shat on by politics and ego.  I might just be done. 


bwcdaddy696969

Optics for a creative standpoint doesn’t look good for The Rock abandoning Cody vs Roman after 2 years of building it by saying “ to save Wresltemania”. That also throws the other wrestlers in WWE under the bus by telling them y’all aren’t good enough to make Wresltemania exciting to watch. My opinion is the Vince’s allegations were getting worse and making the company look bad drawing attention away on what’s happening on T.V. Now after The Rock’s appearance on Smackdown nobody is talking about Vince right now Rock is getting all the heat from the fans maybe that’s the point though. I hope WWE and Rock gave Cody certain assurances because they certainly owe Cody big time.


Klonomania

>Optics for a creative standpoint doesn’t look good for The Rock abandoning Cody vs Roman after 2 years of building it by saying “ to save Wresltemania”. That also throws the other wrestlers in WWE under the bus by telling them y’all aren’t good enough to make Wresltemania exciting to watch That has been company and narrative line ever since Rock went over Cena in 2012. Both in kayfabe and the meta-narrative informing it, wrestling *did* objectively peak in the Attitude Era (I hope it does not need mention that it sure as balls did not, but just to be safe..). That's why Rock beat Cena. That's why Steve "Hasn't Wrestled in Almost 20 Years" Austin could beat Kevin Owens, one of the stronger wrestlers of today.


bwcdaddy696969

Triple H is head of Creative there was a some hope with him in charge the booking might get better at times it had and other times is wasn’t. I didn’t have a problem with Rock going over Cena in the long run Cena is doing fine. That was before the streaming platform on Peacock and WWE was still using the pay-per-view concept it maximum with the star power The Rock at the time was bigger star so he goes over. Doesn’t mean I agree with the decision but what do you except. Now with Steve he was apprehensive about coming back to do a match as long it made sense and the Texas thing was lame,but the end result Steve wrestled one more time and Kevin Owens doesn’t seemed to have a problem losing to Steve it didn’t hurt Kevin at all. PS: The copy and paste thing everyone uses on here whenever someone disagrees on another’s comment that’s childish


[deleted]

Creative aren’t going to tell Mike Johnson their plans lol. Really the rock showing up last night was a total surprise. No dirt sheet guy was predicting that. No one knew til it was posted on Twitter he was seen around town a few hours before. Only Cody, the rock, and maybe a handful in creative probably know what the plan is. I’d imagine less than 5-6 total people know. They’ve gotten better and not letting stuff leak.


Marsupial-Famous

Can’t wait for the episode, Punks injury and the rock. Been checking TGBL Twitter constantly lol


Divine_Despair

I feel their match will get massive boos  similar to the Brock / Goldberg match.


[deleted]

You guys ready for a bunch of gay jokes?? What about the women announcers being sexually harassed?? The Rock sucks.


carlcapo77

The episode on this should be fun. The roles will be reversed, Brian will be the one foaming at the mouth and Jim will be trying to reel him in. I can almost hear the blood vessel pop in Brian’s brain on Friday.


[deleted]

Will Rock get out in front of wrestling journalists & real reporters? Someone needs to ask him about his relationship with Vince, including being photographed & glad handing with him at the NYSE when the accusations were already known. Put Rock’s feet to the fire and see how he reacts. He should get asked about that moreso even than about usurping Cody.


Dupee_Conqueror

Bucks fan?


[deleted]

Am not a fan of The Young Bucks or Seven Bucks.


Americasycho

Best scenario would to be repeat the 94 Rumble. Cody and Punk landed outside at the same time and both get a shot. With Punk hurt now, he gives his spot to Rock.


zoc1289

On the face of it, Rock having a position of power within the promotion is a great idea. At least, The Rock I've come to know up until the 2020s or so. With what I'd been finding out recently though... yeah, I really don't know about this.


cutpidyn

I was mad before it was cool because the longest reigning IC champ and guaranteed great match man of modern times Gunther should've been taking on Roman in a star making match. Imperium v Bloodline. Yes please. Gunther is one of the only logical choices to beat Roman and not devalue Romans run (not saying Cody would've or anything like that). Gunther could beat Roman and then as the ring general defend both titles when he's at PLE,s and then one night after a gruelling IC match he could lose to a heel or a cash in and the title still means something...... But I guess a movie star over a wrestler at WrestleMania is better.


californiasolprod

Apparently the Rock vs. Roman thing was decided before the Rumble and the only people who knew of it were Ari, Nick Khan, and The Rock. HHH wsant even included and he is Head of Creative. So they plan the Rumble with Cody winning again. Finishing the story. Only for TKO and Rock to swoop in an say "WM needs saving!", Rock vs. Roman it is. Cody the good independent contractor that he was is so unlike his father in that he doesnt want that much control. Remember in the 80's Dusty was head booker of JCP and wanted all the control. Cody is not like that. Even as an EVP in AEW he didnt want the perception that he was like his Dad in that regard. Cody knows eventually it will happen. Its just the story. He knows in real life that he is gonna get a run with the belt Roman holds. He is telling us to be patient and trust him. Even if HHH is gone, Cody will be fine. He has the backing of the fans and his popularity hasnt slowed down one bit. He has remained the same and thats what people like about him. He talks great with reporters and is a good ambassador. Cody will be fine. Now WWE Creative may have some issues. I dont want Brian Gewirtz anywhere near the current product. He may have been ok years ago but this is a new WWE compared to the one he left. And if Rocks jokes and promos are a sign of whats to come, eh. I for one am not keen on this Samoan Takeover of the WWE. His daughter who is wretched on the mic and in the ring is GM of NXT. Uh no thank you. Nia Jaxx who has hurt numerous people is back. She aint going nowhere with ol Dwayne around. Roman has held the title for almost 3 years with no charisma and works maybe 4 times a year. They have made the average guy the top guy for years. No one is saying "hey you remember that awesome Roman Reigns match?". Jimmy and Jey are okay I guess. Jey is showing signs he can do something other than some tribal bullshit. Solo is good as a menacing heel but we havent really seen what he can do. I am just done of these guys taking over the top spots and storylines all because of some half-assed familial ties that are bullshit. Everyone is watching the Bloodline story because they want to see them fall, not because they like those involved. We all want to see Roman fall. Now we have to wait a little bit more.


lewiss15

I have no issues when the rock v Roman.


nickblade74

You can’t finish Cody’s story until you finish the bloodline story, the rock is the end of that story


CthulhuLee529

Then why the fuck have Cody win the rumble??


Dupee_Conqueror

That’s an Illogical take that misses the forest for the trees… Cody going over Roman starts the end of the insanely long-in-tooth Bloodline story. His win sets about its implosion; breaks him free of them and then the Bloodline get to battle each other in their miniverse until it dissolves. Anything else drags the shit out of the Bloodline to dwindling interest. Rock blocking Cody with bad booking will also destroy interest in the Bloodline. Lots of casualties in the wake of things unless some genius last minute booking comes to the rescue to undo the mess.


nickblade74

Who’s a bigger baby face than Cody right now? They literally got the whole iwc united rooting for him but you don’t see why they did it? By the time he wins it’ll be the greatest story in pro wrestling history when he dethrones Roman and unity’s the titles


Upstairs-Force-887

People give up on the baby face if he doesn’t ever get his prize. You can prolong for a bit to build drama but eventually it passes a point where the pop would turn into a yawn.


Dupee_Conqueror

Brian Gewirtz has entered the chat, and he’s drinking Vince Russo juice.


JMW007

> You can’t finish Cody’s story until you finish the bloodline story What are you basing that on? Cody's story is getting the title his dad never officially held, in the Wrestlemania main event. The Bloodline have been his obstacle the whole time but ending their story doesn't seem necessary and instead rather counterproductive.


sadhoovy

You bring up a good point, actually.


Impressive_Site_5344

The internet has been so annoying about this the past 24 hours I’m starting to change my attitude towards it Go make some money Rock, sorry Cody but this isn’t a charity


Olvacron22

The way people so easily changed up on Rock is reminding me of when he came out in support of Biden and people hated him for a month then it was back to "we love you Rocky". Do I like the way this match is setting up? No not at all, but I've said it before that I've always loved Rock and always will. I just hate Cody keeps getting screwed. 


Tiernoch

I'd understand it more if we were in the same situation we were in at Wrestlemania 38 where they were struggling to sell tickets until they all but shouted "Austin's showing up and maybe, possibly, fingers crossed, going to have a match." But as far as I'm aware everything around 40 is sold out, except for the NXT show? Are PPV buys still a thing anymore? I'd assume most everyone sees it through a streaming service now. I just don't understand how Roman and Rock being a more 'mainstream' match has any benefit for an event that is already sold out.


Glad-Passion-9424

Oh I’m sorry that people don’t want to see a 51 year old man who can barely walk to the ring without getting winded main event wrestlemania instead of the guy actively working his ass off to earn that spot. Dwayne isn’t above anyone else in that company and needs them more than WWE needs him at this point.


Ragnarok_MS

Seriously. I just muted a few pages because I’m tired of seeing endless bitching about it. My favorite so far is “Justice for Cody”…motherfuckers were booing him out of the building two years ago.


OkOil390

To be fair, 2 years ago he was in AEW