The evening after WrestleMania, Cody Rhodes, after successful The WWE Championship and at last ending his story, was confronted on Monday Night time Uncooked by The Rock. The 2 males exchanged some testy phrases, and the implication to the viewers was very clear. In some unspecified time in the future, after filming one other film or two in Hollywood, The Rock would return and try to take the belt Cody simply gained. It was a implausible little section that acquired followers hyped a couple of match between the 2, however eight months later, I’m beginning to fear it’s inflicting an issue.
There’s simply no ahead momentum. When The Rock first left in April, there wasn’t a transparent timeline for his return. Some followers speculated we might see the legend again for SummerSlam in August, however then he acquired injured over the Summer time whereas filming his new A24 film The Smashing Machine. That triggered the anticipation to change to November’s Survivor Sequence, particularly after The Rock made a shock look at Unhealthy Blood, the place he stared Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns down and did a throat slashing gesture. However now Survivor Sequence has come and gone too with out The Rock, and the most recent rumors are particularly troubling.
Hypothesis is presently working wild that WWE is transferring ahead with inventive plans as if The Rock won’t be working WrestleMania 41. He is denied them, however nonetheless, they persist aggressively. Even worse, there have been some current tales claiming The Rock’s look at Unhealthy Blood wasn’t really a part of a deliberate storyline. As an alternative, it was allegedly only a solution to hold him and his character current within the minds of followers. That half doesn’t essentially hassle me, however the implication definitely does. If there aren’t presently any inventive plans for The Rock that his look would tease to, then it seemingly means he’s not going to be returning anytime quickly.
Now, The Rock can do no matter he needs to do. He’s one of many largest actors in the whole world, and he’s implausible at skilled wrestling. There have been just a few preliminary hiccups when he got here again in January due to the way it affected ongoing storylines, however as soon as that acquired sorted and he acquired rolling, he gave us an all-time run. So, if he needs to return again six months from now or eighteen months from now, I’m into it.
The issue is Cody Rhodes wants a long-term plan. I’m not Triple H, nor am I in WWE’s writing room, however that section after WrestleMania, through which The Rock requested to actually maintain Cody’s WWE Championship, appeared like a fairly clear sign that they had been going to wrestle for the belt in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later. However now it’s eight months later, we don’t appear to be any nearer to that match, and if there’s not a right away plan to present us that match, I don’t actually assume Cody ought to maintain the title for that for much longer.
I’m not saying the gang doesn’t love Cody or that he’s not an amazing ambassador for WWE. He’s. I’m so completely happy to see him getting an prolonged second within the solar. He deserves it. However he’s now held The WWE Championship for greater than 250 days, and his present feud with Kevin Owens is the primary really compelling one he’s had. He’s had some good matches (with AJ Types most prominently) and performed some attention-grabbing issues with The Bloodline, however this most up-to-date match with KO is the primary time followers have even thought of the chance he might lose.
And that’s an issue. Cody Rhodes isn’t Hulk Hogan, neither is he Roman Reigns. He’s extra of a Bret Hart sort determine, and Bret Hart’s longest ever run with the large title was 248 days. If you would like different comparisons, Shawn Michaels’ was 231 days. Kurt Angles’ was 126 days. You may go down the checklist, however aside from a handful of generational crossover mega-stars, even the good WWE Champions have maxed out at round a yr for his or her title runs. Now, lots of them have later gained the title again, however that’s the whole level. WWE has thrown adversity of their solution to hold their characters recent and attention-grabbing.
Cody hasn’t had any of that. I suppose you would argue him becoming a member of forces with Roman Reigns was some character improvement, however to be sincere, it simply kind of felt like he was being shoehorned into Roman’s story. Now WWE has used the fallout of him serving to Roman to nice storyline benefit, and as such, we’re presently getting one thing actually attention-grabbing with Owens. However there’s nonetheless this lingering feeling amongst many followers that nobody is mostly a risk to win The WWE Championship till The Rock comes again. But when he’s not going to be again at or earlier than WrestleMania 41, I believe WWE wants to maneuver in one other course. I believe they should take into account letting Kevin Owens win the Championship, a minimum of for a short time. It might be the quickest solution to make Rhodes’ storyline really feel like must-see TV once more.
I used to be having a dialog this morning with a few of my coworkers about who’s going to essential occasion WrestleMania. Is CM Punk lastly going to get his shot in any case these years? What about John Cena? May he return and wrestle somebody like Gunther for a Championship? Would that be sufficient? May Rhea Ripley sneak in there? All of us agreed no matter Roman Reigns does is nearly definitely going to be one of many Fundamental Occasions, however Cody Rhodes, regardless of being The WWE Champion, felt like an enormous query mark. Many followers assume he’ll wind up taking up Randy Orton, however does that truly really feel WrestleMania Fundamental Occasion worthy to you? Would all of us nonetheless be assuming he’ll win and anticipate The Rock?
Cody Rhodes is arguably WWE’s hottest babyface champion since John Cena. He additionally looks as if an amazing man, and followers are nonetheless cheering him longly and loudly. He deserves all the pieces he’s gotten, but when The Rock isn’t going to be again for an additional 9 months or a yr, I don’t assume it’s a good suggestion to maintain the Championship on Cody. This present program with Kevin Owens has been a wakeup name about how unexciting the remainder of his run has been. So, if it’s not going to be The Rock that provides somewhat pleasure and adversity to his storyline, then WWE wants to begin planning to search out that with another person. Or, for my part, they need to give the title to Kevin Owens, a minimum of for a month or two. He’s by no means gained the large belt earlier than, and he’s been implausible on this present program.
The Rock is nice. He ought to be welcomed again and put right into a essential occasion program the subsequent time he has just a few months to spare, but when these months aren’t going to be main into this WrestleMania, then Cody Rhodes shouldn’t wait on him any longer. He must lose to somebody in some unspecified time in the future soon-ish. If performed accurately, an enormous loss and some months of chasing would solely make him extra widespread, and it could definitely make his narrative arc much more compelling.