Roman Reigns needs grand finale as WWE’s Rock-Cody Rhodes story takes bloody twist

The Post’s Joseph Staszewski explores the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his column “Post Match Angle.”.

The Rock and Cody Rhodes gave “Monday Night Raw” one of the best endings in a long time. It’s a gritty, nostalgic piece that even the Chicago rain helped with.

It was a perfect one-show story arc, with Locke whispering something to Rose after Locke makes a surprise appearance at the beginning of the episode.

Rose only reveals that Rock made a promise he couldn’t keep, and then the legend went on to keep it in bloody fashion. Rock still hadn’t reacted to Rose’s slap, but it was what he had to do.

That, and the much more gentle segment we received from Rose and Roman Reigns on SmackDown, made me think about some of the WWE main event feuds leading up to WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia in two weeks. I couldn’t help but make some observations.

1. We’re at the point where Cody Rhodes vs. The Rock gets a better build than Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns.

We’ll see what happens next week, but WWE is in many ways committed to fully fleshing out the second act of the Rhodes and Reigns story, based on the fact that Rhodes needs to end the story. is. The Rock is doing everything in his power to protect his cousin’s belt, but there are questions about whether Reigns can trust “The Great One” and whether he can trust Rose and Seth Rollins.

There seems to be a lack of passion between Rhodes and Reigns, with the tribal leader treating the two-time Royal Rumble winner as a nuisance and not on his level, but American Nightmare doesn’t seem to mind that. is.

Locke is mocking Rhodes’ mother and dog, and Roman is outside calling him No. 2 and mocking his favoritism toward strangers. Raines’ best work may be “The Pat McAfee Show,” but the creative constraints of his part-time schedule show that he needs some major finishing touches next week to change that sentiment.

2. Cody Rhodes needs more help.

Bloodline has four members, and the challenger is only backed up by Rollins and Jey Uso, so the numbers game doesn’t add up. Locke as the “final boss” is on par with Super Shredder and Thanos, so defeating him would require a greater advantage in the numbers game or comparable ability. So what does that mean for Rhodes?

That could mean the remaining babyfaces who have been wronged by Bloodline come to the rescue against Reigns. There may be betrayal. The Rose family’s mother, sister and wife, or even Dustin Rose in an unlikely dream scenario, help bring Dusty’s story to a close. The final option is for a star as big as The Rock to neutralize him the moment he passes the torch as a babyface. That, in my opinion, means Triple H, John Cena, or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

3. WWE’s overproduced, overly polished era is over.

Even early on in the show, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, and Rollins were allowed to riff on each other. In this corner, Punk was seen saying Vince McMahon’s name to McIntyre as if he were Lord Voldemort or Beetlejuice. As for Rock and Cody, there were a lot of speech bubbles, and Rock even dropped an F-bomb.

Blood itself was a line WWE avoided crossing under McMahon. The way Rock was filming while holding the camera also had a more gritty feel. With McMahon and Kevin Dunn no longer at the helm, WWE continues to push the envelope. With Raw moving to Netflix next year, the company will further distance itself from truly PG programming.

4. Cody Rhodes needs more personnel to face Roman Reigns

I wish Rose had said some of the things he did in the opening promo of RAW to Reigns’ face on SmackDown instead of on camera. Rose explained that he is going above and beyond for the fans since Reigns is not there, and that’s why he has to pretend to be the champion. He told Reigns, “I hate your guts,” and called a potential match between Reigns and Rock a “wankfest.” Friday might have been better.

New AEW pay-per-view destination

AEW is expanding the locations where fans can watch pay-per-views in North America, including the United States. All three of AEW’s upcoming premium live events – Dynasty, Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door – will be streamed live on Triller TV (formerly FITE). Bleacher Report and the Post have learned this. AEW previously used the company to stream pay-per-views only internationally. Dynasty is already available for purchase.

This move is not surprising, as it is likely a response to recurring streaming issues with the Bleacher Report app. I encountered this problem directly. Many customers complained about not being able to watch the start of Revolution earlier this month, prompting AEW Chairman Tony Khan to issue a statement and prompting Triller to reverse course.

“For those who have problems with their order” @BleacherReportwe understand that BR’s app has fixed the issue on most platforms + we are now allowed to offer Revolution just to allow everyone to watch the PPV @FiteTV Even in America! ” Khan said at the time.

Triller, which also streams MLW, TNA, GCW and more, will be AEW’s alternate destination for at least the next three pay-per-views.

small steps forward

The AEW women’s division had a good night Wednesday. Willow Nightingale appeared to be about to attack Mercedes Monet, who was doing a live promo at the show’s opening once again, with her chair in anticipation of her possible heel turn, but she had previously been an average It added a necessary wrinkle to what was once a segment. This led to an unusual WWE-esque backstage follow-up that showed Mone’s growing animosity toward Nightingale.

Thunder Rosa then pinned AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm in a tag team match, putting her at odds with partner Deonna Purrazzo, potentially putting the former champion in line for a title shot she has never lost. There is. Nightingale, Chris Statlander, Julia Hart, and Sky Blue then engaged in a brutally entertaining street fight in Rampage’s main event. It felt like there was a little more care and attention to things throughout the night.

ten count

The interactions between CM Punk, McIntyre, and Rollins were great and refreshingly unscripted. But WWE could have stopped teasing Punk’s WrestleMania role all the time and just let him do commentary. Rollins should have avoided the crowd voting for a referee, and Punk should never have shown that his skill counts. Some air has disappeared from the revelation of Punk’s true fate.

We’re impressed with Roxanne Perez’s heel transformation. In recent weeks, we’ve seen her gradually transform from a super babyface to a full-on heel, but she goes all out with her presentation with energy, rhythm, and facials.

It looks like Becky Lynch might have stiffed Dominik Mysterio with a punch, and Rhea Ripley’s hotness after raising her daughter was exactly what we needed to see. WWE is certainly creating a storyline where Mysterio and J.D. McDonagh are currently failing. I’ll be interested to see how that affects the outcome of Judgment Day at WrestleMania.

Chris Jericho did a good job of trying to defeat Hook in his own way. Hook is a babyface now, so I don’t know how effective that will be. The FTW Champion dominated the Legend in a way that a heel Brock Lesnar would toy with his opponent. It was hard to feel good watching it. However, it was a great ending as Hook used a rollup to get his first pinfall victory.

Enjoy the pace of Bayley and Bianca Belair’s WWE storyline, which grows a little each week. Naomi tells EST about Damage CTRL’s control intentions and attack on Bayley, leaving only Belair to help Naomi. Next week, all three will finally stand side by side, giving Belair and Naomi a shot at the women’s tag team titles.

Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams won the main event of Stand and Deliver. I still wish a condition of last man standing or loser leaving NXT was added. This should be Hayes’ hotshot before the main roster, and Williams should have another shot at the NXT Championship.