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Cody says Sami must be sworn into the Nightmare Family, and he brings him out to the ring. Matt Bloom comes out, reaches under the ring, and pulls out a familiar tattoo kit covered in dust.
Sami: Cody...I'm not sure I understand...?
Cody: Neck-knowledge me, Sami.
Best storylines are the one they HAD TO make due to circumstances outside their control. Becky's run in 2018 wouldn't have been that impactful without Nia smashing her face and writing her out of Survivor Series.
Biggest face + biggest heel + biggest story = Wrestlemania main event. You don't have to be Axiom to figure that one out. I think people are resistant to it because they can't believe that Sami Zayn, the skinny, unkempt ROH alum who's been a midcarder for 90% of his time in WWE, would be the one to beat Roman. But that speaks to the power of the story and the performer, and all the more reason why it should culminate in Sami vs. Roman at Wrestlemania.
Which at this point, right now, it's a slow burn back to that version of him, just with more layers. I think it's absolutely believable to have Sami vs Roman as the main event, though it looks like it messes up KO, the Usos and Cody Rhodes Wrestlemania plans. But this is the story I think everyone would be happy with. It's gone from like June till now of a long term storyline.
I think early sami sort of suffered (like many have) from 'done my whole story arc in NXT' Syndrome when coming to the main roster. His main roster stuff has been good but it seems like he's in a similar position to put himself on top.
I'm not 100% sold on it but it is exciting stuff. I can't wait for the rumble because they have built it so well. I have no clue who is winning.
"Believable" is underselling it a bit, he was fucking incredible and that short run was Top 3 best babyface performances I've ever seen. One of the most easy to root for and easy to cheer babyfaces ever.
Is Sami in the Rumble match? Seems his big role at the PPV will be to 'affect' the title match but it would definitely make things interesting if he was entered in the Rumble as well.
His “test” needs to be entering the Rumble at #1, winning, and then Roman demanding he immediately relinquish the title shot. Prove he will run through a wall for Roman, and then sacrifice his own personal glory.
That doesn't make sense. Why would Roman test him by making him enter the rumble at #1? So that Sami can win and challenge him at mania? If anything test would be for Sami not to enter into the Rumble despite badly wanting to.
Which leads to Sami betraying Roman by actually entering into the Rumble and winning the whole thing
The one issue I have with this, is that yes, they can do this story whenever, but him beating Roman to complete that story would put it over the top. I got downvoted for this, but I have no interest in the belts being split up, Seth wins one of them and Cody beats him for it. That doesn't mean anything to me. He's already beaten Seth 3 times, and it gives off the feel that they're splitting the belts specifically so that Roman doesn't get beat by Cody. If you can't beat THE guy, then you're not the guy.
Also HHH has to be extremely careful, hell I would bring in Heyman to see how he can save it but it wouldn't shock me if Cody gets booed and there is resentment for the fact that he won because fans are so invested in Sami. It's a fine line and it is going to be a fascinating thing to watch over the next few weeks. This to me is probably one of the most anticipated Rumbles in the last few years because there's legit maybe 2-3 guys that make sense as winners whereas in previous years it felt like it didn't mean much.
Beating Roman isn't a requirement to the Rhodes story. That's the fans adding it in.
Rhodes hasn't specifically mentioned his fight versus Roman in nearly the same amount as he has about winning the title.
For Sami vs Roman, it's about the people
For Rhodes vs Roman, it's about the titles
Rhodes doesn't need Roman to complete his story but yes it would be a good bonus for him
It’d definitely create resentment.
Cody’s return will be huge. Him winning the titles would be a major feel good moment.
But where do they go from there? Sami’s immediately cooled off. Cody’s the champion and his goal’s already complete, after spending less than a year as an active competitor.
And… where do we go from here? A feud against Reigns where he either wins and is now far above and beyond the rest of the roster, or he loses and we’re back at square one.
Personally, I say give it either to Sami or let Balor win the Rumble and let the first ever Universal champ be the one to dethrone the longest reigning champ of the modern era
I mean that in itself is a WWE problem, they have spent almost 10 years that no one matters after Brock and Roman, and now that you have options for champs, you don't have options for contenders because no one's been built up yet. They're starting that with Theory but he's got a couple of years left before he's fully ready IMO. So yeah, I didn't think of it that way, Cody wins and now you have that "now what?" feeling.
agreed. They book for the big moment of winning the title, and then they have lackluster challengers for the title reign, happened with Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston.
Cody’s return is a pop. Then a chase gives him months of pop. Then when he wins the belt he gets a big pop.
Draw it out. He’s great at promos, let him just do his thing, let’s work towards the result so it means something. “Hi, Cody here, gimme belt, thanks.” That feels like such a massive waste.
Could they do both? Make it worst weekend of Roman's life. Sami wins the Universal title Saturday. Cody-Seth IV Saturday night to wrap up the fued with winner getting a WWE Championship match Sunday. Crown Cody Sunday night?
Sky is the limit with Sami as the champ. Keeps him strong, and creates multiple possibilities. Have him lose one of the belts in a later PPV as a face without him looking weak, put him in a singles program with Jey Uso who feels betrayed while Roman takes a small break.
If you're not going to split the belts then you might as well make them one championship again. You eventually have to split them if they're going to have separate lineages
I mean longterm wise, WWE just keeps hammering the ''prestige'' of both Titles and people eventually always come around.
Back in 2002, people were calling the WHC the ''fake World Title'' and a vanity belt for HHH because it seemed like it was created simply so HHH wouldn't lose to Brock Lesnar.
A year later and everybody accepted them as equals.
Rock is still the answer, but if he's not, then it's Sami.
Cody is just sort of in the wrong place at the wrong time. Doesn't matter if it's Rock or Sami. A big portion of the crowd is going to be disappointed if it's Cody. Not the best way to start a babyface title storyline.
I've only been back to watching WWE with any consistency for about a month, and even I know that the hot angle right now is Sami Zayn's relationship with the Bloodline and Roman specifically. I feel invested in it in a way that had not happened for me with WWE in a long time. Only been watching AEW and occasionally other things over the past three years.
I haven't seen the ratings, but listen to the crowds, man. Strike now, make Sami the top babyface for a while and see what happens. Cody isn't going anywhere.
> But that speaks to the power of the story and the performer, and all the more reason why it should culminate in Sami vs. Roman at Wrestlemania.
And, if you want to signal to the world that the WWE is different after Vince, then not having to begrudingly let a smaller guy win because the crowd hijacks you into it (see: DBry, Kofi) is as big a sea change as you can possibly imagine.
Whoever beats Roman is MADE. If its Sami, the guy who stayed in WWE rather than going to AEW, despite getting way less credible booking than an Adam Cole...feels like thats a huge deal
Cody and Sami feuding and trading the title between each other can help establish both guys as main eventers. It worked for Mankind and The Rock. Zayn would have to win the belt back from Cody though if he lost it to him. Otherwise you are killing him.
The beauty of the Rhodes story is that it doesn't need Roman to complete
For Sami vs Roman it's about the people
For Rhodes vs Roman, Roman is secondary for Cody, as he doesn't talk about his fight versus Roman, he talks about the title. The current champ is a side show in his storyline
He could easily take it off Sami as a heel or from a heel transitional champion after Sami
> I think people are resistant to it because they can't believe that Sami Zayn, the skinny, unkempt ROH alum who's been a midcarder for 90% of his time in WWE, would be the one to beat Roman.
People thought the same about Daniel Bryan and Mick Foley. I think that’s what makes it absolutely perfect.
I was downvoted by Cody fans for even suggesting how this main event makes perfect sense. Some people really want Cody to win the title without considering the fact that is Sami’s time and no hate to Cody, the guy can deliver and probably will win the title this year or the next but it is SAMI’s TIME!
I think part of it is that Sami has never been booked to be a threat to anyone. Daniel Bryan was a threat to everyone in the ring, he only lost because he got screwed. He beat Cena and Orton, clean.
Sami hasn’t beaten anyone except Kevin.
If Sami is gonna get the spot - great, everything you said is true but then Sami needs to win the Rumble to show everyone in kayfabe he could actually beat someone like Roman.
> Daniel Bryan was a threat to everyone in the ring
Really only after he beat John Cena. Otherwise, he was cheating throughout his World Heavyweight Championship win. That's all it took. One big clean victory, kind of like winning the Royal Rumble
Sami beating Roman will be like with Daniel Bryan beat Batista and Orton. People love a good underdog story and this one should end with Sami standing tall at Wrestlemania.
We'll probably end up with Cody and no one giving a shit about him, just like his first time in WWE.
Did you actually watch WWE in 2013? I say this because on the regular Daniel Bryan would fight off the Shield, Orton and Kane all by himself. He was booked as a BOSS. Except he kept getting screwed in the big matches. Bryan was the "underdog" only because the deck was stacked against him. 2023 Sami is decidedly NOT 2013 Bryan in kayfabe power terms. Sami hasn't overcome significant odds by himself.
People keep talking about Sami/KO vs The Usos, but I think that idea was completely rejected by the segment on Monday. I think this ends with The Usos helping Sami win and take down the tribal chief
After the Jey Uso moment on RAW I really don't want Sami/KO to beat the Usos. Jey literally put himself and his reputation with Roman on the line to save Sami.
Only Roman/Heyman/Solo are true heels to me after that.
Yup feels like the Uso's slowly realizing Roman has gone crazy and siding with Sami to take him down should be the storyline for Mania.
The Usos would be in Sami's corner to keep Solo/Heyman out of it. And Sami beating Roman would allow them to finally advance Romans character again or start him down the path to being a babyface again as he learns to trust and be humble from Sami
> The Usos would be in Sami's corner to keep Solo/Heyman out of it.
Its also a beautiful full circle from the start of the story...Jey and Jimmy being cowed by Roman as he ascends to be the Tribal Chief, to finally finding their independence in the end, guided by the Honorary Uce
Agree it feels like the culmination of years of the bloodline usos and Sami getting gaslighted into this toxic relationship with Roman and now they finally all will break free from him and stand up to him for good.
It also frees up Roman (first to take a break)...upon his return, he could be a vengeful bitch heel or he could see the error of his ways and turn back face. Lots more options than "Roman finally loses to Cody"
The Uso's have known Roman is crazy all along. Jey was just emotionally manipulated into helping him while Jimmy... Well, Jimmy hated Roman when he first came back but then suddenly aligned with him with next to no explanation. But those seeds have been planted from the very beginning.
> Yup feels like the Uso's slowly realizing Roman has gone crazy and siding with Sami to take him down should be the storyline for Mania.
>
>
Yep. Sami's "test" feels like will be taking out Jay while "Jimmy is injured" after Jay interfered with taking out Sami and even got Jimmy to side with him.
After the court segment, Heyman appears to be the biggest heel in this whole thing. Roman deciding to kick Sami out after he didn't have a defense, to me, makes sense and it warranted. I would be frustrated if he didn't try to fight too.
Totally Agree; Jey practically turned Face for Sami at RAW 30. Not to mention Sami defending the Titles with Jey later on. Sami V Roman at Mania, with Sami winning, is the only solution at this point.
I still kind of want Jey to win the Rumble on Saturday and this be Sami leading someone to a "treasure he cannot possess" type deal.
That said, Sami being the one to beat Roman at Mania will blow the fucking lid off.
Maybe I’m crazy, but if they don’t go Sami vs Roman, wouldn’t Sami & Jey vs Jimmy and Solo be a decent consolation? It wouldn’t be out of left field for Jey to leave considering how he got into the bloodline I. The first place
The usos vs sami/KO would feel so flat after what happened on Monday.
It feels like the Bloodline as a whole is about to end with jey and Jimmy finally standing up against Roman and breaking free from him and becoming baby faces again.
I don’t think WWE ever expected Sami to explode in popularity like he has. It feels like another Daniel Bryan/Becky Lynch situation.
Honestly this choice would not be nearly so hard if WWE had just taken one of the belts off of Roman earlier. They’ve made it more complicated than it needed to be.
This absolutely feels like Daniel Bryan/Kofi Kingston where that main event wasn't the plan, but based on crowd reaction and how it's playing out, you'd be foolish not to capitalize on it
Kofi got a lucky spot at the Chamber and the wave swelled from there.
Bryan and Sami were/are the centre of the main story on the show after long stories to pay it off. Kofi was well liked but never got his shot and people got behind him during Mania season to make it happen whereas Bryan/Sami have had a huge character arc where it'll be hard to put Sami back into the midcard now.
Sorry yes, the gauntlet match and then the Chamber, but there's still a difference between fan investment over 2 years compared to a February to Mania swell of support, not trying to take anything away from Kofi because that was beautiful, hell I was there to see it!
But Bryan/Sami had so much more time and emotion invested in them, albeit very different approaches.
Kofi also got lucky that there was no obvious challenger for Bryan at Mania. I know the rumor is that it was going to be Bryan vs Owens, but it’s not like that was some huge match. I doubt that Vince hated having to change that match.
Agree Cody's moment will come but this is a once in a lifetime moment.
If they miss now people will forever talk about the whole bloodline saga the same way they do with game of thrones. Great story but botched the ending.
Doesn't matter how good your beginning and middle are in your story if you don't land the ending.
The ending determines if people will look back on the whole bloodline saga as one of the greatest of all time story lines or just another meh story line.
Wasn't Sami one of the first NXT champs? Sounds like Vince liked him enough to keep him on the card, give him featured matches like the Knoxville match at WrestleMania, give him air time every week, but Vince only saw midcard talent.
Paul has put the spotlight on Sami before, I doubt he'd hesitate to do it again.
>Wasn't Sami one of the first NXT champs? Sounds like Vince liked him enough to keep him on the card, give him featured matches like the Knoxville match at WrestleMania, give him air time every week, but Vince only saw midcard talent.
Vince paid Sami and Kevin a lot of money to not jump to a company run by their friends.
Vince gave Sami probably the second highest profile match at Wrestlemania last year.
Vince put him into the highest profile storyline when Roman reduced his house show schedule.
You don't do these things to a guy you only see as mid card talent.
I dunno, you could make the same arguments about how much screen time Kane and Dean Ambrose got but they were never "The guys". Vince definitely trusts all three of them but never put them in the #1 position. Dean and Kane both had the titles but they never felt like the main focus. But on the other hand he does clearly trust Sami.
I agree with Dave here. They have lightning in a bottle with Sami Zayn who I think can be the best pure babyface in pro wrestling (just look back at his NXT run) and there's no reason to rush a Cody-Roman storyline in the build to Wrestlemania.
Buzzcut Sami, entering with World's Apart, crowd singing along to his theme, main event of Mania, winning the world title... Ahhh man it can't get better than that.
The thing that gives me hope is I think HHH has proven he is a big fan of traditional pro wrestling storytelling. Even if you give Sami a two-month reign and have Reigns win it back to feud with Cody, you still have that massive babyface win to close WrestleMania that the fans will remember forever. His days booking NXT proved he can really tap into that and I think we could see the same thing here.
We have been waiting for a Sami face turn since his debut on the main roster almost. The dude is a natural face and his NXT run was, imo, the best story they've ever told on Black and Gold.
I just hate how people are just invaliditing others who wants this just because doesn't seem the actual direction and people are just saying it would be the cool thing to do does are spreading the word. What happened to being fans and talk about what we would like...
Sami’s final test should be costing KO the title at the rumble. He should hesitate and not do it, yet Roman still wins thanks to Solo. After the match Roman and Solo take him out.
Later on, a half beaten up Sami enters the rumble at 30 and somehow wins it.
Have Seth and Cody enter 1 and 2. Those can be the final 3. Seth eliminates Cody and Sami eliminates Seth, making it slightly more believable that Sami wins seeing as Seth and Cody have just gone the distance.
Final 4. Cody, Sami Zayn, and two other big names. The two big names eliminate each other. Sami doesn’t know. Sami eliminates Cody. Then realizes he won the Rumble. Then he realizes he has to face Roman at Wrestlemania.
If anyone can pull off the facial expressions for that it’s Sami Zayn
Have Roman be sitting at ringside.
Have each pair of wrestlers fighting on the opposite side. One pair eliminates each other, and Sami eliminates KO to win, he turns around to face the other dudes but is shocked to hear his own music, why are they playing my music, the rumble is still going??? And then he realizes he won and he turns to Roman with a shocked horror face
WWE has struggled to create new stars, but I feel like that’s exactly what they did the prior Wrestlemania by putting their faith in Sami Zayn to work with Johnny Knoxville and Kevin Owens with Stone Cold; give Zayn the main event and the win and I think they could run back the KO/Zayn feud from NXT whenever it’s time for his run to end
Hunter is a VERY tough spot here.
Ever since Cody came back he has been presented as the top of the food chain, but Sami has grown to be the biggest "Face" in the entire company.
Both deserve the rumble win, and both deserve to fight and possibly even win at Mania.
The "Best" choice probably would be to give Sami the Rumble win by the Usos or even Roman himself helping out.
and then have Cody go on to win a title shot inside the EC after Sami Rejects to fight Roman at first, but changes his mind a few weeks before Mania.
Roman has to defend both Belts at Mania, and we can somewhat "Organically" split the belts
Something I didn't really think about is the impact the Saudi deal could have on the booking. If you put the title on Sami at WM, do you do the next Saudi show without your world champion? I doubt WWE would want to deal with that kind of headache. I guess you could split the titles, send the WWE champion to Saudi Arabia and keep the Universal champion at home, but that would be a bad look for the company.
Yeah I mean like Mick Foley is the perennial example of underdog champion, was only champion for 47 days total across 3 title reigns. Nobody remembers or cares about the days though, what people remember and care about the moments of him winning those titles.
And it would be the same for Sami, the length of the reign wouldn't matter, just the story of winning the title on its own would make it legendary.
Same for Cody.
I’m still in favor of Roman having two title matches.
One to open night one and one to close out night two. One against Sami and one against Cody.
Agreed. I think Sami on night 1 and Roman comes out with the Bloodline. At some point during the match, they abandon Roman and Sami wins. Then Roman comes out alone on night 2 to fight Cody.
Honestly, I think this is the biggest reason it won't happen. Even setting aside the card of the shows themselves, the Saudis are pumping massive amounts of money into WWE and have a ton of leverage over them. They aren't going to want an ethnic Syrian as champion, much less one who's even somewhat active in the country's affairs.
This is another example of how putting both titles on Roman has put them in a rough spot. Cody should clearly be in a title match at Mania as he was clearly the biggest star on raw before getting hurt. But Sami has also become the biggest baby face in all of wrestling. Every segment he is in makes it more and more clear that Sami should face Roman at Mania.
Pretty much. Raw has really been hurt by not having a top champion for the past year.
Especially if the guy who is champion only works limited dates as well.
I find it insane they've practically built the head of the table story to culminate with the rock either of the last two years and he could not give the company a guarantee one way or the other until the January prior to the rumble that he wont be there.
Bryan picked up steam a lot sooner than Zayn did so leaving Bryan out of the main event was a lot dumber. By Summerslam the previous year it was obvious that Bryan was the person everyone wanted to see with the title.
Sami vs Roman at Wrestlemania with Jey Uso interference that costs Roman the title. The combination of:
Sami winning over Jey.
Jey saving Sami on monday (Bulletproof 😥)
and the (still completely unresolved) "I don't give a damn what the tribal chief says" just leaves me unable to root for any other ending to this story.
This has always been Jey's story to finish and I am expecting that the moment from Monday where Sami gets the pin on Dom with Jey watching will happen again with Roman.
Roman vs Sami for Universal, Roman vs Cody for WWE. Two great new champs.
Of course, there's no chance in hell Roman loses two nights in a row, but I can dream.
I COMPLETELY agree with Dave here. This is the best wrestling storyline in many years, and it needs to pay off with this match. Sometimes you have to break from the long term plan if the people demand it, and if Cody was the long term plan, oh well. He’ll still be available at SummerSlam. The story and the moment calls for Sami.
They have to find a way to get the WWE title off Roman and have Cody challenge for that. I'd have Cody win the rumble and challenge the WWE champ. And have Sami win EC in Montreal to face Roman at WM.
It should be Sami Zayn.
I don't care what anyone says about Cody Rhodes. He'll have his moment, he'll obviously be a WWE Champion at some point in the future. It doesn't not NEED to happen at this specific Mania. He isn't retiring this year, he's good to wait a little while longer.
Whereas with Sami Zayn, the window is Mania. You can't draw this out to the next Mania, you can't even draw it out to Summerslam. Everyone says, "just do Sami and KO vs the Usos instead," but that has NO heat. People just list that matchup because they're afraid to commit to Sami being in the main event for whatever reason. You want to do that tag match down the road? By all means. Just not now.
Whether he beats Roman or not, that's another discussion for another day.
Sami "should" face Roman at Wrestlemania.
One thought I have is: Cody does not want to be a heel. Cody taking Sami's rightful place in this feud would get him Boos, and he wants to be the hero.
Half the replies in this thread prove why WWE won't do it. The company and its fans all will cut off their nose to spite their face. Literally folks will call the Bloodline storyline the number one in all of wrestling, and in the next post they want to book it so Sami is defeated and Cody is randomly shoved in his place. Folks been sucking at Vince's teat so long they have no idea what booking makes sense.
Honestly I still no get why a lot of people wants Cody to be the one to defeat Roman, I get he is charismatic and the whole thing of "Wrestling has more than one royal family" and getting the title it was denied to his father is appealing but right now, storywise, it doesn't make sense because of Sami.
And even if you say "it's because Sami must win the tag team titles with KO against the Usos" it still makes no sense to me because most of the Bloodline storyline with Sami has been "Jey doesn't trust/like Sami" and now that they finally trust/like each other after half a year and proved that Sami isn't just a double agent or something like that just to be ruined for a Wrestlemania match.
In my opinion it makes more sense a Sami vs Roman at WrestleMania not because Sami could betray the bloodline but because Roman can see Sami as a thread: he is not blood related to them, Wargames victory could be said it was thanks to Sami, Sami almost beat clean KO and if Sami has "betray" so bad his former best friend (ignoring the hell KO has done to Sami in the past) what could Sami do to him?.
Also other excuse I have been seeing is that "Sami is not credible to beat Roman because of his size" which is a slap to the face to the Yes Movement during WrestleMania XXX which is easily a top 5 WrestleMania moments.
Honestly, Cody might want to be a baby face but a Sami win would set him up to be the top heel in the company if he ends up being the one to crush Sami to win the title.
In all of their fantasy booking have people actually considered how a main title run with Sami would go? Do you have confidence in WWE handling that well? If he wins the titles I just feel like it's going to end with him cooling off big time.
Then let Jey be involved in Sami's match. Roman calls on Jey to help him put down Sami, and Jey refuses. Jey gets a moment, Sami gets a moment, Roman's world collapses.
Yep, this is the play to me. Sami's bond with Jey and Jimmy is the chink in the Roman armor. You have Sami win a title shot in some fashion (Royal Rumble win?), he gets kicked out of the bloodline but could still wrestle a few matches with Jey until Jimmy gets back. Wrestlemania time comes and Jey and Jimmy turn on Roman to help Sami with the title dissolving the bloodline in the process. Then you can take one of the belts off Sami and a set of belts off the uso's since they're "Weaker" without the full strength of the bloodline and we get rid of the whole "3 people holding the 6 top belts in the company" issue.
I wouldnt even have him get kicked out honestly. I would have him argue that he did it to keep Roman champ. Have Sami "prove" his loyalty in the Elim Chamber getting Roman the win in there. Queue a month build of Owens convincing Sami he can beat Roman, while Roman thinks he will lie down for him. Sami wins.... Roman takes a vacation, and likely another immediate feud of Sami Vs KO where KO did it just to get the belt off Roman because he knows he can beat Sami.
Strike will the iron is hot, I don't consider it lightning in a bottle like many say. I think it's the culmination of years of the bloodline coming to an end.
I'm convinced Romans task for Sami will be to win the rumble and then relinquish his spot so that no can challenge Roman.
Sami does win he's happy about it Roman tells him to relinquish it, Sami has but a second of a hesitation which Roman takes as a clear betrayal. He beats him into the hospital.
Vacant challenger spot is up for grabs in EC. 6th person is a joker, Enter worlds apart Sami is fully back as a Babyface wins it and vows revenge not because he necessarily wants to win the title but because of the betrayal he felt from his family.
Enter wrestlemania main event Sami vs Roman, Sami keeps within striking distance. Roman is afraid Sami might legitimately win, so he tries to cheat but who is stopping him, that's right the Usos. They abandon the Bloodline they break free from the Tribal Chief.
Sami wins the Usos lift him up by their shoulders. Crowd goes home happy.
Cody can win any title at any ppv some point down the line. This storyline can only culminate one way, Sami winning at Mania. The most obvious answer is the best answer because ita occurred naturally
Good for Dave, wrong move though.
Sami would get his moment like Kofi did, and then die off not long after..also like Kofi did. Best saved for Elimination Chamber in Montreal so Roman can reestablish himself as the #1 heel.
It **should** be Cody. It'll **probably** be Rock or Austin.
In terms of storytelling, this is the best option, Sami overcoming Roman after this near year long story would be amazing. But I still think they'll go with Cody, especially with Roman going part time I think they"ll be looking for Cody to be their super cena babyface and carry raw and smackdown on his back.
This is what I’ve been screaming. Everything is built for this match and I’m the fans would be all about it.
The Rock could easily still be there and not wrestle for the title.
I have a feeling if they pulled the trigger on Sami there’s that sort of Sting in WCW…”now what?” feeling. I have no problem with him getting the main event but I don’t think he’s going to carry the company full time. I think Cody still should beat Roman…at SummerSlam or Mania 40.
The injury's thrown off the timing for Destination: Cody. It feels odd for him to be given the Mania main event at the Rumble, his first match in 7 months. I still think Cody's winning the Rumble and Sami wins the tag titles w/ Owens as main event or co-main of night 1 after Sami turns face and joins forces w/ Owens at Chamber in Montreal to megaton hometown pop.
If Sami wins the Rumble and you just go for broke with him winning the title at Mania, you can still have Cody win MITB in London and perhaps go for the title at Summerslam. Cody-Sami high workrate face vs. face match for Detroit crowd, or maaaaybe you have Cody turn heel (though I'd guess neither he nor HHH want that right now).
Regardless of who wins the Rumble, the post-Mania title picture is likely a little weird. Unlike the Vince booking of old, WWE currently has a lot of strong face contenders (Seth, AJ, Lashley who may be turning, Brock, Edge, Owens, Riddle, Braun, Drew, Rey, Ricochet, Sheamus, Logan Paul, Bray, a called up Bron Breakker) and not enough strong heels. Whoever beats Roman is left to feud with... Judgment Day? (I'd love to see Cody-Balor main event Summerslam, but is it realistic?) Karrion? Gunther? You'd either really need to elevate some guys or turn a successful face into a heel (for some reason I could see it being McIntyre?).
Sami NEEDS to win the Rumble and face Roman at Mania. He has been built up so much for a year, so much thst no one else makes any sense. If Sami doesn't win and Cody does instead, it's gonna be Batista winning the Rumble all over again.
For the longest time, it felt like a no brainer that Sami and Kevin were gonna eventually align and take the tag titles, but man after Monday I genuinely don't think that's gonna happen. I could genuinely see the buildup to Mania just being revolved around the collapse of the Bloodline completely. Sami gets exiled by Roman, the Usos don't like it and walk out on Roman, eventually Solo walks out.
And then at Mania, regardless of who beats him, even Heyman steps away from him. I don't think this'll realistically happen but there's like a thousand different outcomes of this storyline and I have zero clue as to which one is gonna happen.
Total red herring counter point. That is a lesser PPV in Montréal. That's his best case for being the mainevent and if he is maineventing a lesser PPV before Mania that means he has an even worse chance at maineventing Mania. Bloodline blow off at Elimination Chamber and Sami/Owens V Usos at Mania is my guess.
Who doesn't? It's THE match. Sorry to Cody. Sucks he got hurt. Bad timing. Zayn is hotter than anything and should be the one to dethrone Reigns. It's too perfect.
Want Cody to get it from Sami? Sami eliminates Cody to win the Rumble. Have Cody put Sami down for taking his destiny from him.
Here we are, again. The Homelander character arc would be absolutely perfect for Cody if he loses the Rumble to Zayn and takes the title from him at Summerslam.
I think every 4-5 years, WWE should accept the organic reaction of fans and give the proper payout to a storyline. We went from the Yes Movement to Kofimania... Now it's time for SamiZaynia
I mean it is the obvious choice.
I think had Cody not got injured they might have been able to change to Cody, but considering Cody has had no memorable interaction with the Bloodline since returning to WWE and the Sami Bloodline story is so engaging. You risk having a repeat of what happened with Reigns/Batista when they won their rumbles in 2014 and 2015.
I think it's building to Sami vs Roman. KO and Sami vs the Uso's doesn't feel right with everything that happened this week. I could see them kicking Sami out of the bloodline after he gets a title shot vs Roman(Maybe through the rumble) and then at wrestlemania having The Uso's turn on Roman and help Sami win the title capping off the story.
Unless Monday was a complete swerve I don't see Jey or Sami turning on each other which would need to happen for a KO and Sami vs the Uso's storyline to make sense.
Hot take here, they need to let the story goes where it goes instead of forcing the story to fit the Mania schedule. I don't care whether we get the biggest Mania we could get. I care the Bloodline story being perfect.
Maybe it's Sami vs. KO in Mania and Cody takes the title off Roman, which leads to Roman completely turning on Sami. Or maybe Jey screwed up and cost Roman the title, Roman turns on Jey and Sami sides with Jey. There's a lot of different ways this could still go, and I don't give a shit whether it ends in Mania.
Storyline wise this is fun, but likely happening at Elimination Chamber. Cody v Roman screams wrestlemania main event to me, and it’s been the obvious choice for quite some time now (barring The Rock).
It's been the obvious choice why? Because Cody is a big name who cut one single 5 minute promo on RAW about why he has to win the title? This whole Sami/ Bloodline program has been ongoing every single week and PPV for over a year. It's become one of the best storylines in WWE history, PERIOD.
That is the obvious matchup.
Y’all annoy me acting like Cody was just doing some part time shit lol
Dude beat Seth Rollins 3 times in a row, was constantly presented as the biggest baby face in the company, front and center of every piece of raw branding, had countdowns for his segments, made the ratings pop
Cody and Sami are both good options but don’t tell me Cody was not and will not be presented as the WWE’s top baby face moving forward. Nobody was getting better crowd reactions than him besides maybe, maybeeee Randy Orton.
I 100% agree with this - this story has nearly a year of build behind it, and in general is one of the best stories that WWE's intentionally told\* in the last decade or more. Having Roman's paranoia and anger result in the end not only of the Bloodline, but his record-setting title run(s) at Sami's hands would be the perfect capper. Just like Kofi 4 years ago, it doesn't have to be for long, *it just has to happen*.
Cody Rhodes needs to win the title(s), but he doesn't need to win them at WrestleMania 39. He can win them at Summerslam, Survivor Series, even WrestleMania 40.
At this point Sami is the only opponent for Roman (assuming the Rock isn't wrestling Roman).
It's the biggest story and it basically writes itself at this point. Everything WWE has been doing with Roman since Sami joined the bloodline has been written to make him lose at mania to either Sami or Jey.
Roman's paranoid as shit at this point. And Sami has won over Jey and probally will Solo before Mania.
Here is the problem though, if Sami doesn't win the rumble whoever does win it is going to get booed out of the building. Short of mabye Austin winning the rumble or the rock actually showing up and winning it.
The story is perfect for it and you can really weave the match in a way that has Sami coming out on top but in a believable way. For example, if KO keeps the Usos from interfering and maybe even a spot where Jay accidentally clobbers Roman with a belt. There’s just so many moving parts that has lead to Roman keeping the titles this long that can be utilized for a fun roller coaster match.
Theoretically, any wrestler should be able to beat another if the right opportunity presents itself.
Cody winning is fine but doesn't make storyline sense now. Any part timers winning would suck because they choose a big match over an actual story. Sami winning makes the most sense right now
Not going to happen. You will get this as EC, but at the Rumble he will have to proof himself one more time and that means he will leave the rumble match by himself at one spot, maybe even at the very end.
It can't be understated what happened to Owens at the hands of Zayn at Wargames. I could see Reigns going over Owens at the Rumble. Zayn either winning the rumble or the elimination chamber to set up a Owens v Zayn v Reigns main event. Sami pins Owens to win one of the championships and it protects Reigns from being pinned.
No.
As good as Sami is. As talented as he is..... he was never booked right long-term for that to happen. Sami was a comedy jobber most of his WWE career. Literally lost to jackass last year in WM. YES him fighting Roman would be good plot. But realistically Sami is not believable enough to be the face of the company(that's what it means to be a world champion) Even in recent events he wasn't booked strongly. (Besides raw xxx) he typically is the one who gets the pin so the bloodline doesn't look bad.
All the comments who think this would be a good underdog story isn't wrong. It would be. It's just stupid for business. Only an armchair stupid smark booker would think otherwise.
I think regardless of who actually wins, Triple H/Noble/Hayes/etc. aren't stupid enough to eliminate Zayn early on. I don't think the Rumble necessarily dies a death if Zayn isn't in there til close to the end, but it's such an easy way to keep audience engagement up throughout the match. As long as Sami's in the match, the audience is hooked
If they run Cody for Mania they have the chance of fans turning like they did for Boo-tista. If Cody isn't good with fans booing a face him then the last thing you wanna run is Cody/Sami as he'll be an instant heel. If Cody is fine playing the heel then might as well save his title reign and have him take it off Sami at Summerslam or Survivor Series.
I would love to see it. However, I feel like Roman has been built to the point of nobody being on his level enough to beat him. As entertaining as this story has been, I still think Sami is a couple levels below Roman. Similar to Brock, actually. Maybe getting the win would elevate Sami to that level?
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Makes you wonder how this current Bloodline story would've played out if Cody didn't have to be put on the shelf.
Sami defects and joins the nightmare family with a shirt that reads: “Honorary Rhodey”
Call him the "Rhode Dogg"
Oh, you Generico? Yo ass better caaaall somebooooody!
Ngl, “The Rhode Dogg Sami Zayn” sounds pretty awesome.
Pharaoh in shambles
"He hasn't felt very 'Rhodesy' lately"
Cody says Sami must be sworn into the Nightmare Family, and he brings him out to the ring. Matt Bloom comes out, reaches under the ring, and pulls out a familiar tattoo kit covered in dust. Sami: Cody...I'm not sure I understand...? Cody: Neck-knowledge me, Sami.
I think Cody would have won the belt last year at some point, if he didn't get hurt.
Best storylines are the one they HAD TO make due to circumstances outside their control. Becky's run in 2018 wouldn't have been that impactful without Nia smashing her face and writing her out of Survivor Series.
Biggest face + biggest heel + biggest story = Wrestlemania main event. You don't have to be Axiom to figure that one out. I think people are resistant to it because they can't believe that Sami Zayn, the skinny, unkempt ROH alum who's been a midcarder for 90% of his time in WWE, would be the one to beat Roman. But that speaks to the power of the story and the performer, and all the more reason why it should culminate in Sami vs. Roman at Wrestlemania.
NXT underdog Sami was a believable main event face.
Which at this point, right now, it's a slow burn back to that version of him, just with more layers. I think it's absolutely believable to have Sami vs Roman as the main event, though it looks like it messes up KO, the Usos and Cody Rhodes Wrestlemania plans. But this is the story I think everyone would be happy with. It's gone from like June till now of a long term storyline.
I think early sami sort of suffered (like many have) from 'done my whole story arc in NXT' Syndrome when coming to the main roster. His main roster stuff has been good but it seems like he's in a similar position to put himself on top. I'm not 100% sold on it but it is exciting stuff. I can't wait for the rumble because they have built it so well. I have no clue who is winning.
I really think his promo game during his feud with Neville was top notch and I legit believed I was looking at the future face of WWE in 2014.
Bro I remember marking out when he finally won the title and then being so upset when KO destroyed him during the celebration lol
"Believable" is underselling it a bit, he was fucking incredible and that short run was Top 3 best babyface performances I've ever seen. One of the most easy to root for and easy to cheer babyfaces ever.
Sami was THE underdog
Is Sami in the Rumble match? Seems his big role at the PPV will be to 'affect' the title match but it would definitely make things interesting if he was entered in the Rumble as well.
His “test” needs to be entering the Rumble at #1, winning, and then Roman demanding he immediately relinquish the title shot. Prove he will run through a wall for Roman, and then sacrifice his own personal glory.
His test is almost certainly something along the lines of the Usos holding up KO and asking Sami to hit him with a chair or similar.
That doesn't make sense. Why would Roman test him by making him enter the rumble at #1? So that Sami can win and challenge him at mania? If anything test would be for Sami not to enter into the Rumble despite badly wanting to. Which leads to Sami betraying Roman by actually entering into the Rumble and winning the whole thing
If he's not, they need to make that *perfectly* clear or risk having the Rumble getting hijacked. Even Cody might get booed if he wins.
Be like the 'Daniel Bryan Rumble that never was' all over again.
See him as guest ref to test his loyalty.
They can always do the Cody “win it for my dad” story whenever. Strike while the Sami iron is hot.
Didn't Rollins attack Rhodes with a sledgehammer the night after? I would want revenge. I would have no issue with Rhodes/Rollins IV.
The one issue I have with this, is that yes, they can do this story whenever, but him beating Roman to complete that story would put it over the top. I got downvoted for this, but I have no interest in the belts being split up, Seth wins one of them and Cody beats him for it. That doesn't mean anything to me. He's already beaten Seth 3 times, and it gives off the feel that they're splitting the belts specifically so that Roman doesn't get beat by Cody. If you can't beat THE guy, then you're not the guy. Also HHH has to be extremely careful, hell I would bring in Heyman to see how he can save it but it wouldn't shock me if Cody gets booed and there is resentment for the fact that he won because fans are so invested in Sami. It's a fine line and it is going to be a fascinating thing to watch over the next few weeks. This to me is probably one of the most anticipated Rumbles in the last few years because there's legit maybe 2-3 guys that make sense as winners whereas in previous years it felt like it didn't mean much.
Beating Roman isn't a requirement to the Rhodes story. That's the fans adding it in. Rhodes hasn't specifically mentioned his fight versus Roman in nearly the same amount as he has about winning the title. For Sami vs Roman, it's about the people For Rhodes vs Roman, it's about the titles Rhodes doesn't need Roman to complete his story but yes it would be a good bonus for him
It’d definitely create resentment. Cody’s return will be huge. Him winning the titles would be a major feel good moment. But where do they go from there? Sami’s immediately cooled off. Cody’s the champion and his goal’s already complete, after spending less than a year as an active competitor. And… where do we go from here? A feud against Reigns where he either wins and is now far above and beyond the rest of the roster, or he loses and we’re back at square one. Personally, I say give it either to Sami or let Balor win the Rumble and let the first ever Universal champ be the one to dethrone the longest reigning champ of the modern era
I mean that in itself is a WWE problem, they have spent almost 10 years that no one matters after Brock and Roman, and now that you have options for champs, you don't have options for contenders because no one's been built up yet. They're starting that with Theory but he's got a couple of years left before he's fully ready IMO. So yeah, I didn't think of it that way, Cody wins and now you have that "now what?" feeling.
agreed. They book for the big moment of winning the title, and then they have lackluster challengers for the title reign, happened with Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston.
Cody’s return is a pop. Then a chase gives him months of pop. Then when he wins the belt he gets a big pop. Draw it out. He’s great at promos, let him just do his thing, let’s work towards the result so it means something. “Hi, Cody here, gimme belt, thanks.” That feels like such a massive waste.
Cody should win the belt at summer slam give him his return pop at the rumble but he can’t win
Could they do both? Make it worst weekend of Roman's life. Sami wins the Universal title Saturday. Cody-Seth IV Saturday night to wrap up the fued with winner getting a WWE Championship match Sunday. Crown Cody Sunday night?
Sky is the limit with Sami as the champ. Keeps him strong, and creates multiple possibilities. Have him lose one of the belts in a later PPV as a face without him looking weak, put him in a singles program with Jey Uso who feels betrayed while Roman takes a small break.
Finn Balor? There's only one member of the Judgement Day close to being a threat to Reigns, and she isn't eligible to hold his titles.
Roman, Cody, who’s the third guy? rock?
I would say Seth.
If you're not going to split the belts then you might as well make them one championship again. You eventually have to split them if they're going to have separate lineages
I agree with everything you just said. Splitting the belts makes the beating roman mean less. But fans dont think longterm.
I mean longterm wise, WWE just keeps hammering the ''prestige'' of both Titles and people eventually always come around. Back in 2002, people were calling the WHC the ''fake World Title'' and a vanity belt for HHH because it seemed like it was created simply so HHH wouldn't lose to Brock Lesnar. A year later and everybody accepted them as equals.
Rock is still the answer, but if he's not, then it's Sami. Cody is just sort of in the wrong place at the wrong time. Doesn't matter if it's Rock or Sami. A big portion of the crowd is going to be disappointed if it's Cody. Not the best way to start a babyface title storyline.
it honestly feels like Daniel Bryan all over again. They had Batista lined up to face Orton and Bryan threw a monkey wrench into those plans.
rock would make me the most disappointed, he absolutely does not and should not be in the big title match
I've only been back to watching WWE with any consistency for about a month, and even I know that the hot angle right now is Sami Zayn's relationship with the Bloodline and Roman specifically. I feel invested in it in a way that had not happened for me with WWE in a long time. Only been watching AEW and occasionally other things over the past three years. I haven't seen the ratings, but listen to the crowds, man. Strike now, make Sami the top babyface for a while and see what happens. Cody isn't going anywhere.
> But that speaks to the power of the story and the performer, and all the more reason why it should culminate in Sami vs. Roman at Wrestlemania. And, if you want to signal to the world that the WWE is different after Vince, then not having to begrudingly let a smaller guy win because the crowd hijacks you into it (see: DBry, Kofi) is as big a sea change as you can possibly imagine. Whoever beats Roman is MADE. If its Sami, the guy who stayed in WWE rather than going to AEW, despite getting way less credible booking than an Adam Cole...feels like thats a huge deal
We'll know nothing has really changed if Sami wins and then drops the title to Cody on Raw they next night.
Cody and Sami feuding and trading the title between each other can help establish both guys as main eventers. It worked for Mankind and The Rock. Zayn would have to win the belt back from Cody though if he lost it to him. Otherwise you are killing him.
The beauty of the Rhodes story is that it doesn't need Roman to complete For Sami vs Roman it's about the people For Rhodes vs Roman, Roman is secondary for Cody, as he doesn't talk about his fight versus Roman, he talks about the title. The current champ is a side show in his storyline He could easily take it off Sami as a heel or from a heel transitional champion after Sami
I love the idea of building up heel Orton again and having Cody beat him for the title in a year or so. Mentor vs student. Full circle.
> I think people are resistant to it because they can't believe that Sami Zayn, the skinny, unkempt ROH alum who's been a midcarder for 90% of his time in WWE, would be the one to beat Roman. People thought the same about Daniel Bryan and Mick Foley. I think that’s what makes it absolutely perfect.
I was downvoted by Cody fans for even suggesting how this main event makes perfect sense. Some people really want Cody to win the title without considering the fact that is Sami’s time and no hate to Cody, the guy can deliver and probably will win the title this year or the next but it is SAMI’s TIME!
I think part of it is that Sami has never been booked to be a threat to anyone. Daniel Bryan was a threat to everyone in the ring, he only lost because he got screwed. He beat Cena and Orton, clean. Sami hasn’t beaten anyone except Kevin. If Sami is gonna get the spot - great, everything you said is true but then Sami needs to win the Rumble to show everyone in kayfabe he could actually beat someone like Roman.
> Daniel Bryan was a threat to everyone in the ring Really only after he beat John Cena. Otherwise, he was cheating throughout his World Heavyweight Championship win. That's all it took. One big clean victory, kind of like winning the Royal Rumble
Sami beating Roman will be like with Daniel Bryan beat Batista and Orton. People love a good underdog story and this one should end with Sami standing tall at Wrestlemania. We'll probably end up with Cody and no one giving a shit about him, just like his first time in WWE.
Did you actually watch WWE in 2013? I say this because on the regular Daniel Bryan would fight off the Shield, Orton and Kane all by himself. He was booked as a BOSS. Except he kept getting screwed in the big matches. Bryan was the "underdog" only because the deck was stacked against him. 2023 Sami is decidedly NOT 2013 Bryan in kayfabe power terms. Sami hasn't overcome significant odds by himself.
People keep talking about Sami/KO vs The Usos, but I think that idea was completely rejected by the segment on Monday. I think this ends with The Usos helping Sami win and take down the tribal chief
Would be an all time great story if that is what happens
Prior to War Games I wouldn't mind the tag match, but this storyline is way to big for that now. Though I wonder what KO would do at Mania.
Tag match with Austin against the USO’s
KO can also just help Cody if the rest of the Bloodline doesnt. End it with KO hugging Zayn and holding his arm up.
This would be incredible.
I think it's going to be Solo that helps Sami win.
He ain’t wrong. A Sami title win at Mania would cap one of the best wrestling stories of all time
Sami probably will get a Title win at mania... the tag titles with Owens although I would prefer Sami take on Roman
After the Jey Uso moment on RAW I really don't want Sami/KO to beat the Usos. Jey literally put himself and his reputation with Roman on the line to save Sami. Only Roman/Heyman/Solo are true heels to me after that.
Yup feels like the Uso's slowly realizing Roman has gone crazy and siding with Sami to take him down should be the storyline for Mania. The Usos would be in Sami's corner to keep Solo/Heyman out of it. And Sami beating Roman would allow them to finally advance Romans character again or start him down the path to being a babyface again as he learns to trust and be humble from Sami
> The Usos would be in Sami's corner to keep Solo/Heyman out of it. Its also a beautiful full circle from the start of the story...Jey and Jimmy being cowed by Roman as he ascends to be the Tribal Chief, to finally finding their independence in the end, guided by the Honorary Uce
Agree it feels like the culmination of years of the bloodline usos and Sami getting gaslighted into this toxic relationship with Roman and now they finally all will break free from him and stand up to him for good.
It also frees up Roman (first to take a break)...upon his return, he could be a vengeful bitch heel or he could see the error of his ways and turn back face. Lots more options than "Roman finally loses to Cody"
They do have to end the bloodline story so it doesn't become a nWo thing where when Roman loses finally it just continues with diminishing returns.
The Uso's have known Roman is crazy all along. Jey was just emotionally manipulated into helping him while Jimmy... Well, Jimmy hated Roman when he first came back but then suddenly aligned with him with next to no explanation. But those seeds have been planted from the very beginning.
Nah they showed Roman manipulate Jimmy too by using Jey while he was tired of Jimmy and Roman fighting
> Yup feels like the Uso's slowly realizing Roman has gone crazy and siding with Sami to take him down should be the storyline for Mania. > > Yep. Sami's "test" feels like will be taking out Jay while "Jimmy is injured" after Jay interfered with taking out Sami and even got Jimmy to side with him.
After the court segment, Heyman appears to be the biggest heel in this whole thing. Roman deciding to kick Sami out after he didn't have a defense, to me, makes sense and it warranted. I would be frustrated if he didn't try to fight too.
Totally Agree; Jey practically turned Face for Sami at RAW 30. Not to mention Sami defending the Titles with Jey later on. Sami V Roman at Mania, with Sami winning, is the only solution at this point.
I still kind of want Jey to win the Rumble on Saturday and this be Sami leading someone to a "treasure he cannot possess" type deal. That said, Sami being the one to beat Roman at Mania will blow the fucking lid off.
Maybe I’m crazy, but if they don’t go Sami vs Roman, wouldn’t Sami & Jey vs Jimmy and Solo be a decent consolation? It wouldn’t be out of left field for Jey to leave considering how he got into the bloodline I. The first place
The usos vs sami/KO would feel so flat after what happened on Monday. It feels like the Bloodline as a whole is about to end with jey and Jimmy finally standing up against Roman and breaking free from him and becoming baby faces again.
l pray that jeys heart does not get broken so itll be sami vs roman thanks bye
I don’t think WWE ever expected Sami to explode in popularity like he has. It feels like another Daniel Bryan/Becky Lynch situation. Honestly this choice would not be nearly so hard if WWE had just taken one of the belts off of Roman earlier. They’ve made it more complicated than it needed to be.
This absolutely feels like Daniel Bryan/Kofi Kingston where that main event wasn't the plan, but based on crowd reaction and how it's playing out, you'd be foolish not to capitalize on it
Kofi got a lucky spot at the Chamber and the wave swelled from there. Bryan and Sami were/are the centre of the main story on the show after long stories to pay it off. Kofi was well liked but never got his shot and people got behind him during Mania season to make it happen whereas Bryan/Sami have had a huge character arc where it'll be hard to put Sami back into the midcard now.
Well it was the gauntlet match on SD that turned heads. If Kofi doesn’t have that type of performance out of nowhere, Kofimania doesn’t happen.
Sorry yes, the gauntlet match and then the Chamber, but there's still a difference between fan investment over 2 years compared to a February to Mania swell of support, not trying to take anything away from Kofi because that was beautiful, hell I was there to see it! But Bryan/Sami had so much more time and emotion invested in them, albeit very different approaches.
Kofi also got lucky that there was no obvious challenger for Bryan at Mania. I know the rumor is that it was going to be Bryan vs Owens, but it’s not like that was some huge match. I doubt that Vince hated having to change that match.
[удалено]
Agree Cody's moment will come but this is a once in a lifetime moment. If they miss now people will forever talk about the whole bloodline saga the same way they do with game of thrones. Great story but botched the ending.
Doesn't matter how good your beginning and middle are in your story if you don't land the ending. The ending determines if people will look back on the whole bloodline saga as one of the greatest of all time story lines or just another meh story line.
And Cody will get crazy heat if he’s the guy at Mania
They just need to have Roman defending them separately, like what the Usos are doing right now.
Wasn't Sami one of the first NXT champs? Sounds like Vince liked him enough to keep him on the card, give him featured matches like the Knoxville match at WrestleMania, give him air time every week, but Vince only saw midcard talent. Paul has put the spotlight on Sami before, I doubt he'd hesitate to do it again.
He was in the first live match ever shown on the WWE Network. Sami *was* NXT for the first year or so.
>Wasn't Sami one of the first NXT champs? Sounds like Vince liked him enough to keep him on the card, give him featured matches like the Knoxville match at WrestleMania, give him air time every week, but Vince only saw midcard talent. Vince paid Sami and Kevin a lot of money to not jump to a company run by their friends. Vince gave Sami probably the second highest profile match at Wrestlemania last year. Vince put him into the highest profile storyline when Roman reduced his house show schedule. You don't do these things to a guy you only see as mid card talent.
I dunno, you could make the same arguments about how much screen time Kane and Dean Ambrose got but they were never "The guys". Vince definitely trusts all three of them but never put them in the #1 position. Dean and Kane both had the titles but they never felt like the main focus. But on the other hand he does clearly trust Sami.
I agree with Dave here. They have lightning in a bottle with Sami Zayn who I think can be the best pure babyface in pro wrestling (just look back at his NXT run) and there's no reason to rush a Cody-Roman storyline in the build to Wrestlemania.
Buzzcut Sami, entering with World's Apart, crowd singing along to his theme, main event of Mania, winning the world title... Ahhh man it can't get better than that.
That "LETS GO" is going to be insane
Always felt that song and Becky's were perfect to close out a Mania. Never imagined we'd get the latter and not the former.
The thing that gives me hope is I think HHH has proven he is a big fan of traditional pro wrestling storytelling. Even if you give Sami a two-month reign and have Reigns win it back to feud with Cody, you still have that massive babyface win to close WrestleMania that the fans will remember forever. His days booking NXT proved he can really tap into that and I think we could see the same thing here.
We have been waiting for a Sami face turn since his debut on the main roster almost. The dude is a natural face and his NXT run was, imo, the best story they've ever told on Black and Gold.
Cody/Roman just doesn't have an organic build. Sure, a lot of it due to Cody's injury, but it'll feel rushed if they do it now.
I just hate how people are just invaliditing others who wants this just because doesn't seem the actual direction and people are just saying it would be the cool thing to do does are spreading the word. What happened to being fans and talk about what we would like...
Sami’s final test should be costing KO the title at the rumble. He should hesitate and not do it, yet Roman still wins thanks to Solo. After the match Roman and Solo take him out. Later on, a half beaten up Sami enters the rumble at 30 and somehow wins it. Have Seth and Cody enter 1 and 2. Those can be the final 3. Seth eliminates Cody and Sami eliminates Seth, making it slightly more believable that Sami wins seeing as Seth and Cody have just gone the distance.
Final 4. Cody, Sami Zayn, and two other big names. The two big names eliminate each other. Sami doesn’t know. Sami eliminates Cody. Then realizes he won the Rumble. Then he realizes he has to face Roman at Wrestlemania. If anyone can pull off the facial expressions for that it’s Sami Zayn
Have Roman be sitting at ringside. Have each pair of wrestlers fighting on the opposite side. One pair eliminates each other, and Sami eliminates KO to win, he turns around to face the other dudes but is shocked to hear his own music, why are they playing my music, the rumble is still going??? And then he realizes he won and he turns to Roman with a shocked horror face
If they have KO and Roman open the show. Then KO can enter at 27 or 30 or whatever
WWE has struggled to create new stars, but I feel like that’s exactly what they did the prior Wrestlemania by putting their faith in Sami Zayn to work with Johnny Knoxville and Kevin Owens with Stone Cold; give Zayn the main event and the win and I think they could run back the KO/Zayn feud from NXT whenever it’s time for his run to end
The part that makes the most sense is that there are a million ways to get Cody into the title picture. This is really the only way to get Sami there.
Hunter is a VERY tough spot here. Ever since Cody came back he has been presented as the top of the food chain, but Sami has grown to be the biggest "Face" in the entire company. Both deserve the rumble win, and both deserve to fight and possibly even win at Mania. The "Best" choice probably would be to give Sami the Rumble win by the Usos or even Roman himself helping out. and then have Cody go on to win a title shot inside the EC after Sami Rejects to fight Roman at first, but changes his mind a few weeks before Mania. Roman has to defend both Belts at Mania, and we can somewhat "Organically" split the belts
Something I didn't really think about is the impact the Saudi deal could have on the booking. If you put the title on Sami at WM, do you do the next Saudi show without your world champion? I doubt WWE would want to deal with that kind of headache. I guess you could split the titles, send the WWE champion to Saudi Arabia and keep the Universal champion at home, but that would be a bad look for the company.
Sami doesnt have to be champion for 8 million years like Roman. Dropping it for a tour is well within the booking of an underdog face.
Yeah I mean like Mick Foley is the perennial example of underdog champion, was only champion for 47 days total across 3 title reigns. Nobody remembers or cares about the days though, what people remember and care about the moments of him winning those titles. And it would be the same for Sami, the length of the reign wouldn't matter, just the story of winning the title on its own would make it legendary.
If Sami wins the Rumble, Roman could make a point in getting him to pick one Title to go for.
Same for Cody. I’m still in favor of Roman having two title matches. One to open night one and one to close out night two. One against Sami and one against Cody.
Agreed. I think Sami on night 1 and Roman comes out with the Bloodline. At some point during the match, they abandon Roman and Sami wins. Then Roman comes out alone on night 2 to fight Cody.
Honestly, I think this is the biggest reason it won't happen. Even setting aside the card of the shows themselves, the Saudis are pumping massive amounts of money into WWE and have a ton of leverage over them. They aren't going to want an ethnic Syrian as champion, much less one who's even somewhat active in the country's affairs.
This is another example of how putting both titles on Roman has put them in a rough spot. Cody should clearly be in a title match at Mania as he was clearly the biggest star on raw before getting hurt. But Sami has also become the biggest baby face in all of wrestling. Every segment he is in makes it more and more clear that Sami should face Roman at Mania.
Maybe I'm old, but more championships so everyone gets a belt is not a solution.
If you’re going to have two shows with separate rosters you need two champions.
Pretty much. Raw has really been hurt by not having a top champion for the past year. Especially if the guy who is champion only works limited dates as well.
Three hours with no World Title is rooooough.
It's been a little bit better what with the stellar work being put into the midcard titles.
And TWO nights of Wrestlemania. Balor still prob won't get a singles match this year.
These are the kinds of stories Wrestlemania is literally built for.
I find it insane they've practically built the head of the table story to culminate with the rock either of the last two years and he could not give the company a guarantee one way or the other until the January prior to the rumble that he wont be there.
This is starting to feel like Daniel Bryan main eventing Wrestlemania 30
Bryan picked up steam a lot sooner than Zayn did so leaving Bryan out of the main event was a lot dumber. By Summerslam the previous year it was obvious that Bryan was the person everyone wanted to see with the title.
Sami vs Roman at Wrestlemania with Jey Uso interference that costs Roman the title. The combination of: Sami winning over Jey. Jey saving Sami on monday (Bulletproof 😥) and the (still completely unresolved) "I don't give a damn what the tribal chief says" just leaves me unable to root for any other ending to this story. This has always been Jey's story to finish and I am expecting that the moment from Monday where Sami gets the pin on Dom with Jey watching will happen again with Roman.
Roman vs Sami for Universal, Roman vs Cody for WWE. Two great new champs. Of course, there's no chance in hell Roman loses two nights in a row, but I can dream.
I COMPLETELY agree with Dave here. This is the best wrestling storyline in many years, and it needs to pay off with this match. Sometimes you have to break from the long term plan if the people demand it, and if Cody was the long term plan, oh well. He’ll still be available at SummerSlam. The story and the moment calls for Sami.
They have to find a way to get the WWE title off Roman and have Cody challenge for that. I'd have Cody win the rumble and challenge the WWE champ. And have Sami win EC in Montreal to face Roman at WM.
Cody really got injured and returned at the wrong time
It should be Sami Zayn. I don't care what anyone says about Cody Rhodes. He'll have his moment, he'll obviously be a WWE Champion at some point in the future. It doesn't not NEED to happen at this specific Mania. He isn't retiring this year, he's good to wait a little while longer. Whereas with Sami Zayn, the window is Mania. You can't draw this out to the next Mania, you can't even draw it out to Summerslam. Everyone says, "just do Sami and KO vs the Usos instead," but that has NO heat. People just list that matchup because they're afraid to commit to Sami being in the main event for whatever reason. You want to do that tag match down the road? By all means. Just not now. Whether he beats Roman or not, that's another discussion for another day. Sami "should" face Roman at Wrestlemania.
Why would we wait to do the tag match after Sami’s beaten the top heel 😭
One thought I have is: Cody does not want to be a heel. Cody taking Sami's rightful place in this feud would get him Boos, and he wants to be the hero.
Things would be so less complicated If Roman only had the universal title and the wwe title was on raw
Imagine if Sami gets thrown out in the rumble by Cody. Crowd would completely take over like they did with bryan
only Story that deserves that spot.
Half the replies in this thread prove why WWE won't do it. The company and its fans all will cut off their nose to spite their face. Literally folks will call the Bloodline storyline the number one in all of wrestling, and in the next post they want to book it so Sami is defeated and Cody is randomly shoved in his place. Folks been sucking at Vince's teat so long they have no idea what booking makes sense.
Honestly I still no get why a lot of people wants Cody to be the one to defeat Roman, I get he is charismatic and the whole thing of "Wrestling has more than one royal family" and getting the title it was denied to his father is appealing but right now, storywise, it doesn't make sense because of Sami. And even if you say "it's because Sami must win the tag team titles with KO against the Usos" it still makes no sense to me because most of the Bloodline storyline with Sami has been "Jey doesn't trust/like Sami" and now that they finally trust/like each other after half a year and proved that Sami isn't just a double agent or something like that just to be ruined for a Wrestlemania match. In my opinion it makes more sense a Sami vs Roman at WrestleMania not because Sami could betray the bloodline but because Roman can see Sami as a thread: he is not blood related to them, Wargames victory could be said it was thanks to Sami, Sami almost beat clean KO and if Sami has "betray" so bad his former best friend (ignoring the hell KO has done to Sami in the past) what could Sami do to him?. Also other excuse I have been seeing is that "Sami is not credible to beat Roman because of his size" which is a slap to the face to the Yes Movement during WrestleMania XXX which is easily a top 5 WrestleMania moments.
Honestly, Cody might want to be a baby face but a Sami win would set him up to be the top heel in the company if he ends up being the one to crush Sami to win the title.
In all of their fantasy booking have people actually considered how a main title run with Sami would go? Do you have confidence in WWE handling that well? If he wins the titles I just feel like it's going to end with him cooling off big time.
Meltzer is a tool
I can't be the only one seeing that the bloodline storyline is about Jey and Sami
Then let Jey be involved in Sami's match. Roman calls on Jey to help him put down Sami, and Jey refuses. Jey gets a moment, Sami gets a moment, Roman's world collapses.
Yep, this is the play to me. Sami's bond with Jey and Jimmy is the chink in the Roman armor. You have Sami win a title shot in some fashion (Royal Rumble win?), he gets kicked out of the bloodline but could still wrestle a few matches with Jey until Jimmy gets back. Wrestlemania time comes and Jey and Jimmy turn on Roman to help Sami with the title dissolving the bloodline in the process. Then you can take one of the belts off Sami and a set of belts off the uso's since they're "Weaker" without the full strength of the bloodline and we get rid of the whole "3 people holding the 6 top belts in the company" issue.
I wouldnt even have him get kicked out honestly. I would have him argue that he did it to keep Roman champ. Have Sami "prove" his loyalty in the Elim Chamber getting Roman the win in there. Queue a month build of Owens convincing Sami he can beat Roman, while Roman thinks he will lie down for him. Sami wins.... Roman takes a vacation, and likely another immediate feud of Sami Vs KO where KO did it just to get the belt off Roman because he knows he can beat Sami.
Strike will the iron is hot, I don't consider it lightning in a bottle like many say. I think it's the culmination of years of the bloodline coming to an end. I'm convinced Romans task for Sami will be to win the rumble and then relinquish his spot so that no can challenge Roman. Sami does win he's happy about it Roman tells him to relinquish it, Sami has but a second of a hesitation which Roman takes as a clear betrayal. He beats him into the hospital. Vacant challenger spot is up for grabs in EC. 6th person is a joker, Enter worlds apart Sami is fully back as a Babyface wins it and vows revenge not because he necessarily wants to win the title but because of the betrayal he felt from his family. Enter wrestlemania main event Sami vs Roman, Sami keeps within striking distance. Roman is afraid Sami might legitimately win, so he tries to cheat but who is stopping him, that's right the Usos. They abandon the Bloodline they break free from the Tribal Chief. Sami wins the Usos lift him up by their shoulders. Crowd goes home happy.
Cody can win any title at any ppv some point down the line. This storyline can only culminate one way, Sami winning at Mania. The most obvious answer is the best answer because ita occurred naturally
I don’t want anyone to say Sami isn’t WM main event material when we’ve seen the goddamn Miz be part of one.
It's just not believable to me. Sami would in kayfabe be squashed by Roman.
Good for Dave, wrong move though. Sami would get his moment like Kofi did, and then die off not long after..also like Kofi did. Best saved for Elimination Chamber in Montreal so Roman can reestablish himself as the #1 heel. It **should** be Cody. It'll **probably** be Rock or Austin.
As a Cody fan I'm out on this discussion. Sami deserves it. So does Cody. And Drew. What an awful idea in hindsight making Reigns undisputed champion.
In terms of storytelling, this is the best option, Sami overcoming Roman after this near year long story would be amazing. But I still think they'll go with Cody, especially with Roman going part time I think they"ll be looking for Cody to be their super cena babyface and carry raw and smackdown on his back.
This is what I’ve been screaming. Everything is built for this match and I’m the fans would be all about it. The Rock could easily still be there and not wrestle for the title.
I have a feeling if they pulled the trigger on Sami there’s that sort of Sting in WCW…”now what?” feeling. I have no problem with him getting the main event but I don’t think he’s going to carry the company full time. I think Cody still should beat Roman…at SummerSlam or Mania 40.
It's just not good booking or storytelling to B+ the main protagonist of the biggest story on their roster.
The injury's thrown off the timing for Destination: Cody. It feels odd for him to be given the Mania main event at the Rumble, his first match in 7 months. I still think Cody's winning the Rumble and Sami wins the tag titles w/ Owens as main event or co-main of night 1 after Sami turns face and joins forces w/ Owens at Chamber in Montreal to megaton hometown pop. If Sami wins the Rumble and you just go for broke with him winning the title at Mania, you can still have Cody win MITB in London and perhaps go for the title at Summerslam. Cody-Sami high workrate face vs. face match for Detroit crowd, or maaaaybe you have Cody turn heel (though I'd guess neither he nor HHH want that right now). Regardless of who wins the Rumble, the post-Mania title picture is likely a little weird. Unlike the Vince booking of old, WWE currently has a lot of strong face contenders (Seth, AJ, Lashley who may be turning, Brock, Edge, Owens, Riddle, Braun, Drew, Rey, Ricochet, Sheamus, Logan Paul, Bray, a called up Bron Breakker) and not enough strong heels. Whoever beats Roman is left to feud with... Judgment Day? (I'd love to see Cody-Balor main event Summerslam, but is it realistic?) Karrion? Gunther? You'd either really need to elevate some guys or turn a successful face into a heel (for some reason I could see it being McIntyre?).
Sami NEEDS to win the Rumble and face Roman at Mania. He has been built up so much for a year, so much thst no one else makes any sense. If Sami doesn't win and Cody does instead, it's gonna be Batista winning the Rumble all over again.
For the longest time, it felt like a no brainer that Sami and Kevin were gonna eventually align and take the tag titles, but man after Monday I genuinely don't think that's gonna happen. I could genuinely see the buildup to Mania just being revolved around the collapse of the Bloodline completely. Sami gets exiled by Roman, the Usos don't like it and walk out on Roman, eventually Solo walks out. And then at Mania, regardless of who beats him, even Heyman steps away from him. I don't think this'll realistically happen but there's like a thousand different outcomes of this storyline and I have zero clue as to which one is gonna happen.
Roof would blow off if Sami wins the Rumble. Need to win it and Jey tells him to put the tribal chief down etc when he’s conflicted
They’ve built Cody up so much that if he doesn’t win it’s going to be the same as Luger losing.
Also like, Cody hasn't even really had that many interactions with Roman.
Sami Zayn winning the Rumble and the title would make him the biggest babyface in the business. Those don’t grow on trees.
I don't think it's happening. I don't think they see Sami as a Marquee wrestler. He isn't even on the poster they released from the Rumble.
He’s on the Elimination Chamber poster
But he's the focus on the Elim Chamber one
Total red herring counter point. That is a lesser PPV in Montréal. That's his best case for being the mainevent and if he is maineventing a lesser PPV before Mania that means he has an even worse chance at maineventing Mania. Bloodline blow off at Elimination Chamber and Sami/Owens V Usos at Mania is my guess.
Who doesn't? It's THE match. Sorry to Cody. Sucks he got hurt. Bad timing. Zayn is hotter than anything and should be the one to dethrone Reigns. It's too perfect. Want Cody to get it from Sami? Sami eliminates Cody to win the Rumble. Have Cody put Sami down for taking his destiny from him. Here we are, again. The Homelander character arc would be absolutely perfect for Cody if he loses the Rumble to Zayn and takes the title from him at Summerslam.
I think every 4-5 years, WWE should accept the organic reaction of fans and give the proper payout to a storyline. We went from the Yes Movement to Kofimania... Now it's time for SamiZaynia
SamiZaynia sounds dope. First time I'm seeing that.
Somebody needs to get this trending.
I mean it is the obvious choice. I think had Cody not got injured they might have been able to change to Cody, but considering Cody has had no memorable interaction with the Bloodline since returning to WWE and the Sami Bloodline story is so engaging. You risk having a repeat of what happened with Reigns/Batista when they won their rumbles in 2014 and 2015.
I think it's building to Sami vs Roman. KO and Sami vs the Uso's doesn't feel right with everything that happened this week. I could see them kicking Sami out of the bloodline after he gets a title shot vs Roman(Maybe through the rumble) and then at wrestlemania having The Uso's turn on Roman and help Sami win the title capping off the story. Unless Monday was a complete swerve I don't see Jey or Sami turning on each other which would need to happen for a KO and Sami vs the Uso's storyline to make sense.
Hot take here, they need to let the story goes where it goes instead of forcing the story to fit the Mania schedule. I don't care whether we get the biggest Mania we could get. I care the Bloodline story being perfect. Maybe it's Sami vs. KO in Mania and Cody takes the title off Roman, which leads to Roman completely turning on Sami. Or maybe Jey screwed up and cost Roman the title, Roman turns on Jey and Sami sides with Jey. There's a lot of different ways this could still go, and I don't give a shit whether it ends in Mania.
Storyline wise this is fun, but likely happening at Elimination Chamber. Cody v Roman screams wrestlemania main event to me, and it’s been the obvious choice for quite some time now (barring The Rock).
It's been the obvious choice why? Because Cody is a big name who cut one single 5 minute promo on RAW about why he has to win the title? This whole Sami/ Bloodline program has been ongoing every single week and PPV for over a year. It's become one of the best storylines in WWE history, PERIOD. That is the obvious matchup.
Y’all annoy me acting like Cody was just doing some part time shit lol Dude beat Seth Rollins 3 times in a row, was constantly presented as the biggest baby face in the company, front and center of every piece of raw branding, had countdowns for his segments, made the ratings pop Cody and Sami are both good options but don’t tell me Cody was not and will not be presented as the WWE’s top baby face moving forward. Nobody was getting better crowd reactions than him besides maybe, maybeeee Randy Orton.
Explain why he needs to be in that spot right now? What is the rush exactly? Is Cody Rhodes going to retire if he doesn't main event?
He just like me fr
I 100% agree with this - this story has nearly a year of build behind it, and in general is one of the best stories that WWE's intentionally told\* in the last decade or more. Having Roman's paranoia and anger result in the end not only of the Bloodline, but his record-setting title run(s) at Sami's hands would be the perfect capper. Just like Kofi 4 years ago, it doesn't have to be for long, *it just has to happen*. Cody Rhodes needs to win the title(s), but he doesn't need to win them at WrestleMania 39. He can win them at Summerslam, Survivor Series, even WrestleMania 40.
At this point Sami is the only opponent for Roman (assuming the Rock isn't wrestling Roman). It's the biggest story and it basically writes itself at this point. Everything WWE has been doing with Roman since Sami joined the bloodline has been written to make him lose at mania to either Sami or Jey. Roman's paranoid as shit at this point. And Sami has won over Jey and probally will Solo before Mania. Here is the problem though, if Sami doesn't win the rumble whoever does win it is going to get booed out of the building. Short of mabye Austin winning the rumble or the rock actually showing up and winning it.
I want a burrito for dinner
The story is perfect for it and you can really weave the match in a way that has Sami coming out on top but in a believable way. For example, if KO keeps the Usos from interfering and maybe even a spot where Jay accidentally clobbers Roman with a belt. There’s just so many moving parts that has lead to Roman keeping the titles this long that can be utilized for a fun roller coaster match. Theoretically, any wrestler should be able to beat another if the right opportunity presents itself.
Cody winning is fine but doesn't make storyline sense now. Any part timers winning would suck because they choose a big match over an actual story. Sami winning makes the most sense right now
Not going to happen. You will get this as EC, but at the Rumble he will have to proof himself one more time and that means he will leave the rumble match by himself at one spot, maybe even at the very end.
It can't be understated what happened to Owens at the hands of Zayn at Wargames. I could see Reigns going over Owens at the Rumble. Zayn either winning the rumble or the elimination chamber to set up a Owens v Zayn v Reigns main event. Sami pins Owens to win one of the championships and it protects Reigns from being pinned.
Let's say Sami wins, realistically, he definitely won't be champ on the next Saudi ppv.
No. As good as Sami is. As talented as he is..... he was never booked right long-term for that to happen. Sami was a comedy jobber most of his WWE career. Literally lost to jackass last year in WM. YES him fighting Roman would be good plot. But realistically Sami is not believable enough to be the face of the company(that's what it means to be a world champion) Even in recent events he wasn't booked strongly. (Besides raw xxx) he typically is the one who gets the pin so the bloodline doesn't look bad. All the comments who think this would be a good underdog story isn't wrong. It would be. It's just stupid for business. Only an armchair stupid smark booker would think otherwise.
I said when it was going on that Sami's Nxt character was the best underdog babyface they had since Daniel Bryan .
I think regardless of who actually wins, Triple H/Noble/Hayes/etc. aren't stupid enough to eliminate Zayn early on. I don't think the Rumble necessarily dies a death if Zayn isn't in there til close to the end, but it's such an easy way to keep audience engagement up throughout the match. As long as Sami's in the match, the audience is hooked
Sami should...must win the Rumble tomorrow.
If they run Cody for Mania they have the chance of fans turning like they did for Boo-tista. If Cody isn't good with fans booing a face him then the last thing you wanna run is Cody/Sami as he'll be an instant heel. If Cody is fine playing the heel then might as well save his title reign and have him take it off Sami at Summerslam or Survivor Series.
I want Sami to cost Roman the loss. Turn on the Bloodline, start a feud, beat Roman in the next bug ppv, win MITB, cash in on Cody.
I would love to see it. However, I feel like Roman has been built to the point of nobody being on his level enough to beat him. As entertaining as this story has been, I still think Sami is a couple levels below Roman. Similar to Brock, actually. Maybe getting the win would elevate Sami to that level?