The Wrestling Thread: AEW Dynasty

[Johnny Ryall]

Yeah I don't think I'm as impressed as you guys are - I kind of rolled my eyes at that promo on Pat's talk show. Maybe I'm being worked but it's like come on Dwayne do you not have anything more witty to say than sticking things up asses (homophobic or am I a snowflake?) and going on about candy asses.

Like I'm not expecting him to stop asking if we can smell what he's cooking but refresh the patter a bit man.

[captain red dog]

Yeah I don't think I'm as impressed as you guys are - I kind of rolled my eyes at that promo on Pat's talk show. Maybe I'm being worked but it's like come on Dwayne do you not have anything more witty to say than sticking things up asses (homophobic or am I a snowflake?) and going on about candy asses.

Like I'm not expecting him to stop asking if we can smell what he's cooking but refresh the patter a bit man.

I have to admit, maybe I'm a boomer, but I never saw "shove it up your candy ass" as remotely homophobic! He usually said it in relation to shining up his boot and sticking it up someones ass, as in an ass kicking!

That's not to say Rock didn't do homophobic stuff back in the day, but it was clearly a character he played in a certain era and didn't represent his real opinions. Although that's probably not a good example given the current Vince abuse scandal which is scarily close to Mr Mcmahon as a character.

I've heard some rumblings that HHH could be on shaky ground depending on what he knew and when, and that Rock may have been added to the board to potentially lead the company if the scandal spreads. But then I've also heard convincing rumours that it was Stephanie who reported the entire scandal to begin with. The unidentified source has not yet been revealed, and Steph and Khan voted against Vince returning in 2021.

I say "I've heard" but admit it's twitter and reddit chatter, but it seems convincing given the entire bizarre Vince disgrace.

[Johnny Ryall]

I meant talking about putting McNuggets up your own ass. But yeah that too.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Yeah I don't think I'm as impressed as you guys are - I kind of rolled my eyes at that promo on Pat's talk show. Maybe I'm being worked but it's like come on Dwayne do you not have anything more witty to say than sticking things up asses (homophobic or am I a snowflake?) and going on about candy asses.

Like I'm not expecting him to stop asking if we can smell what he's cooking but refresh the patter a bit man.

I have to admit, maybe I'm a boomer, but I never saw "shove it up your candy ass" as remotely homophobic! He usually said it in relation to shining up his boot and sticking it up someones ass, as in an ass kicking!

That's not to say Rock didn't do homophobic stuff back in the day, but it was clearly a character he played in a certain era and didn't represent his real opinions. Although that's probably not a good example given the current Vince abuse scandal which is scarily close to Mr Mcmahon as a character.

I've heard some rumblings that HHH could be on shaky ground depending on what he knew and when, and that Rock may have been added to the board to potentially lead the company if the scandal spreads. But then I've also heard convincing rumours that it was Stephanie who reported the entire scandal to begin with. The unidentified source has not yet been revealed, and Steph and Khan voted against Vince returning in 2021.

I say "I've heard" but admit it's twitter and reddit chatter, but it seems convincing given the entire bizarre Vince disgrace.

Yeah there's clearly an awful lot going on behind the scenes.

Also I don't see how the rock telling people to shove stuff up their arse is homophobic. Come on Johnny you don't have to be gay to put a chicken nugget up your arse

[Cuttooth]

I do think we should start to admit that the vast majority of the Attitude era was absolute dogshit, cringe Rock promos included.

[Johnny Ryall]

I dunno I started off unsure but yeah I stand my ground on that opinion. Take the full promo and reword it - Cody fan would rather insert objects up bum than have sex with own wife. I'm not saying The Rock's a member of the Westboro Baptist Church but I am saying it's incredibly lazy and devoid of any wit. I wonder if he still has Brian Gewirtz as his personal writer.

Also my opinion still is that they missed the boat not having Sami take that title off him.

[Return_of_the_STAR]

I dunno I started off unsure but yeah I stand my ground on that opinion. Take the full promo and reword it - Cody fan would rather insert objects up bum than have sex with own wife. I'm not saying The Rock's a member of the Westboro Baptist Church but I am saying it's incredibly lazy and devoid of any wit. I wonder if he still has Brian Gewirtz as his personal writer.

Also my opinion still is that they missed the boat not having Sami take that title off him.

I can see how you may feel it's childish, low brow humour, not funny. But I can't see how it's homophobic.

[KK]

After what has felt like weeks of nothing happening, flat programming, AEW needed an episode like last night. Very hot crowd too. Definitely worth watching Dynamite on ITV4/X tomorrow. Hopefully the company keeps the momentum going.

For those who haven’t watched it the last month, they’ve now fully adopted the WWE production values with the LEDs, the announce table has been permanently moved to ringside, and the Collision set is being used across all shows. All rather me-to, but what can you do. Guess they or the network feels it brings them in line with not just WWE, but entertainment programming in general.

[KK]

They had to the mute the audio on Pat McAfee saying WWF.

Feels like a Kick Off show to a PPV more than a press conference.

[Johnny Ryall]

That was some good course correcting. I don't know what's gonna happen next and that's great. Even leaning into HHH and Rocky's kayfabe 25 year rivalries.

As an aside if he wasn't in the news it was quite clear Vince was gone tonight. So many times they said phrases like "cutting promos", "pro wrestling", "going into business for themselves". That and all the swearing they tried and at times failed to censor plus on screen acknowledgement of Dwayne being on the board they are clearly trying to lean into the shoot side of this which is great! More of that please.

[KK]

After all that, still don’t have a definitive answer for ‘Mania.

The Rock and Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes now seems like a possibility for Elimination Chamber (though Seth as far as we know is still very much injured and not advertised for Australia); not mentioned, but an Elimination Chamber match to decide Seth Rollins ‘Mania opponent will probably now be announced I’d imagine.

Cody Rhodes said he wants to face Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns said he wants to face The Rock.

The Rock, now really heeling it up, aligned with Roman Reigns over their family bond and then slapped Cody Rhodes. Rhodes, aligned alongside Seth Rollins, then got into a heated confrontation with Reigns and The Rock, resulting in Triple H and the two general managers pulling them apart.

Backstage, The Rock walked past Triple H who was being interviewed and told him to sort the situation out. He then said something else directed at Triple H but because he was swearing (of which there was a ton of at this thing) they muted the audio. Looking at a phone video upload from another angle, The Rock said ‘I’ll knock his strawberry floating teeth down his throat’. So that’s quite a tonal shift for WWE…

That The Rock is ‘on the board’ along with Nick Khan was mentioned at various points, with Seth screaming at Rock he ‘doesn’t give a gooseberry fool if he’s on the board’. Big E on the panel wondered if The Rock/Reigns and Rhodes/Reigns will take place across both nights.

It seems they’re possibly setting up for a power struggle storyline between The Rock and Triple H, which gives them an out should they ever actually have to get rid of him in reality because of the McMahon situation.

A lot of questions coming out of this thing to be answered on their programming, though Triple H has now confirmed on X Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes:

twitter.com/tripleh/status/1755764574756671984

They could either do the back-to-back night thing, or change it to a Triple Threat. Or The Rock/Reigns match isn’t happening at all, at least not for WrestleMania 40.

Whether they’ve actually figured out and bother to now explain why Cody said on SmackDown he wasn’t going to face Roman Reigns and now is, is another matter…

[captain red dog]

Absolutely masterful Vegas promo show. Punk amazing in the commentary box, playing into everything from 22 and 23! Rock was utterly awesome, so was Cody and Roman. Bit crap for Seth, he looks like the third wheel, but what a build. Even with the Rock/HHH backstage bit, if only HHH could still go!

Awesome job, and it basically proved Dave Meltzer has zero contacts in WWE as his reporting has been completely wrong on this whole ordeal.

[Prototype]

it basically proved Dave Meltzer has zero contacts in WWE

Come on now, i'm all for a bit of Meltzer comedy, but this is patently false

[Cuttooth]

Well they've certainly salvaged that mess.

Whether they’ve actually figured out and bother to now explain why Cody said on SmackDown he wasn’t going to face Roman Reigns and now is, is another matter…

The official explanation will be "hey don't worry about it" and to be fair that's probably the easiest way to just fully enjoy this.

[Ploiper]

Can see it playing out with reigns being all confident and feeling safe thinking the rock is now in his corner, then come mania the rock beats down solo and jimmy, reigns gets left all alone and Cody wins. Then setting up rock vs reigns for next years mania

[Return_of_the_STAR]

Wow that press conference was pure cinema. Amazing stuff. Well done all round. Everyone played their part.

WWE knew what they were doing, let them get on with it.

We have no idea, and never will know what wwe's original intentions were, whether they've changed course, whether they've pivoted. There is so much misinformation out there, people claiming to know what's going down, what the plan is, what the plan was. Who's upset, who's not. Meltzer and all the others give a different update every day, sometimes multiple times a day claiming to have a big scoop. No one got it right.

Also surely Cody is the villain now as he double crossed The Rock by telling him he could have the match then changing his mind

[KK]

I think the WWE is booking a lot of this on the fly based on circumstance and fan reaction, myself. And it's making for more unpredictable television. There's more cliff hangers and various twists and turns than they've ever intentionally structured on their programming in about 20 years. You don't know what's going to happen next, SmackDown tonight is now the third show from them this week where the viewer is left wanting answers to various questions.

Can see it playing out with reigns being all confident and feeling safe thinking the rock is now in his corner, then come mania the rock beats down solo and jimmy, reigns gets left all alone and Cody wins. Then setting up rock vs reigns for next years mania

Depending on how many Rock appearances are lined up for 2024, they could also slow burn it throughout the year based on Reigns losing at WrestleMania. There were rumours at one point that Reigns was going to turn into a fan favourite before he retires.

I don't want them to Vince Russo it and end up with complete car crash television, as entertaining as that is in a completely different way (TNA), but I'll take this programming over boring. Maybe this will end up being known as the reality TV based era for WWE. Over 2 million people have now watched the Live coverage on YouTube, with another 1.9m just for the confrontation. No denying 'fan engagement' is through the roof.

[GrinWithoutaKat]

No idea what the original plan was. My gut says it was Rock vs Reigns but then I can’t make sense of Cody winning the rumble in that scenario.

I found this thing less impressive than most it seems. They telegraphed way too hard what was going to happen by leaning into the online backlash from the very start. No way they’d have been so okay with giving that so much attention unless they were going to turn it in to an angle. They could have at least let the intrigue play out a little longer.

[ITSMILNER]

Wonder if WWE could work a deal with AEW to allow Dustin Rhodes to turn up at Wrestlemania to be in Cody’s corner?

[Jam-Master Jay]

I don't even like Cody very much but I'm glad they seem to have pivoted to having him finish the chase at Mania this year. I mention I don't like Cody because he and WWE creative under Triple H actually won a lapsed fan like me over with the long term booking this past couple of years.

Be it the Bloodlines, Damage Control or Judgement Day, these factions have made for some excellent drama and elevated many midcard talent to main event status. They just need to make sure Priest and Balor don't end up looking like massive idiots with the MiTB and possible betrayal shenanigans.

Rock and Reigns seems to have been a dream match for a lot of fans and it was clear that not many people wanted it rushed this year at the expense of Cody. It will do mega money if fans get on board for a year of build with The Rock ditching that stale babyface persona that panders to the crowd and maybe losing a few kg of muscle mass so he doesn't get gassed.