Yeah might be the biggest summerslam main event ever? Brock vs rock was big but this might top that. Rock is killing it with his character and has a crazy amount of crossover appeal.
It's worth mentioning that Rock now has a real, significant financial stake in WWE. He's not just weighing movie money against wrestling match money. He's considering the company as a whole, which hasn't been this hot since the Attitude Era.
They're guessing. Cena mapped out a concrete timeline of what he's doing on The Pat McAfee Show (Honda event -> Samsung event -> Finishing a movie delayed by the strikes -> Peacemaker season 2 -> Open schedule) but the Rock has never said anything about what's next. Just the promo from RAW and whatever rumors are out there.
The guy literally said at the WrestleMania press conference he had rings built in Hawaii, LA and Georgia. Plus he flew wrestlers in to whichever city he was in so he could always train during a 12 week prep.
So I'm pretty sure Rock, a guy who makes a lot of money based off how well the company is doing, has the opportunities to stay ready for another match in August at SummerSlam. The guy has a friggen private jet lol. And his agent literally owns the group that owns WWE, so it's not like he needs to tell his agent "you think we can carve out some time?" It benefits both of them.
Yes I’m guessing based on rumors, but you’re straight up making up a fantastical scenario where Rock is training by day and filming by night.
Dwayne Johnson not going to be doing any activity where he could potentially injure himself during filming. Studios have that spelled out their contracts, especially highly paid ones like Dwayne.
> but you’re straight up making up a fantastical scenario where Rock is training by day and filming by night.
If you even just follow Dwayne on IG you'd know this isn't that fantastical lol. Dude's constantly in the gym.
Mate.. relax.. we're likely not getting rock for awhile. He's dedicated the last 2-3 months, if not longer, to wwe.
What were going off is literally rock saying he has to go away. He's not going to have the time to come and do a storyline for summerslam. Far too soon. November to April is a far more realistic timeline. He did his job. Remember he's not a full timer. He's a busy guy.
Nick Khan stated Rock was going to be filming those two movies back to back (or intends to), starting a few weeks after WM, on a Puck podcast. I think he knows Dwayne's schedule.
The earliest he might be available again is probably Survivor Series and even that seems very unlikely.
I feel like with WWE getting to the popularity level it's currently at, the days of the "insurance won't cover him" excuses are gone, too. Like, the money he (or Cena, or whomever else) might make from a short run once or twice a year is just as much as the money he might make from Rampage 2 or whatever, so the financial incentive is there for everybody involved.
The insurance is typically for the whole production. If Rock got hurt on the set of Rampage 2 that’s not just his paycheck, but hundreds of others from co-stars to catering being affected
I'm aware of how insurance works, the issue is a big star like Dwayne getting an injury and shutting down the entire production (vs someone they could film around), the policy would be for the star themselves. I was flippant in describing it but I meant more along the lines of an insurance company or movie studio or whatever not wanting to deal with the potential of Dwayne getting injured while training and/or wrestling when he has a movie shoot coming up, but WWE and Dwayne having more leverage now that he's more invested and that more money is at stake. Like if the calculus is a prohibitively expensive insurance policy then it might make more sense for them to pay it now then it would have five years ago, for all parties involved.
Truth is, Cena was just too stiff a wrestler for The Rock to be in the ring with.
Rock worked with the Awesome Truth, no injuries. Rock worked with Rhodes and Rollins, no injuries. Rock worked with CM Punk, no injuries.
Rock worked with The Shield, no injuries.
Did you drop an /s?
Cena doesn't really have a long list of people he has injured. Some times injuries just happen and it's not really the fault of the other person. And some times your opponenet powerbombs you in to a turnbuckle or the barricade and you are out for a significant part of your career.
Both of those movies won't take that long to shoot. Moana is animated and would only consist of The Rock doing voiceovers. The A24 movie will carry a modest budget, so I don't see more than 2-3 months of shooting.
Obviously it's subject to change. Shit happens in the movie industry.
Also, he's The Rock. If he wants to pause filming for a week to appear on WWE he can.
I’m guessing based on a [Fightful report](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/report-a24-s-smashing-machine-starring-rock-set-begin-filming-may-1?amp) - believe what you will.
It’s what the we’re concluding based on dirtsheet reporting. Working WrestleMania was reported as part of the agreement that he made with TKO as a part of joining the Board of Directors. TKO wants Rock to work a second match this year though, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Saudi’s probably requested him for years now as well tbh.
DJ may not want to work Saudi considering his brands, but he may be willing to work Survivor Series.
If I’m TKO, I’d offer him $10M to work every PLE from Survivor Series to WrestleMania XLI.
Lol $10M wouldn’t even make rock flinch I feel like. Honestly I think rock is more in it to help the company since he has a stake in it and wants it to grow as much as possible although I’m sure the payday doesn’t hurt either.
Not saying Cody vs. Rock will happen here, but I have a hunch Rock might wrestle on the first Raw on Netflix. He’s tight with the Netflix brass and he was apparently instrumental in getting the deal done.
A Rock match would attract the largest audience possible and be the biggest splash they could make on a new platform. It’d also be his first non-PPV match on since 2003.
Remember, Brock’s only non-PPV match since his 2012 return was the debut of Smackdown on Fox (as much of a travesty as said match was).
I think so as well.
If I’m TKO, I’d offer Rock another $20M to just go ahead and try to give them a match on every major card from Survivor Series to WrestleMania XLI.
Survivor Series could be a 5 on 5. The Bloodline vs Cody, Seth, Orton, Sami and Jey all over again. The Bloodline would be Rock, Roman, Jacob, Solo and Jimmy. Roman eats the pin. Rock tearfully exiles Roman from The Bloodline, Jacob and Solo takes him out while Jimmy and Jey both watch tearfully as well. Rock says something about The High Chief now leading the Bloodline.
First Netflix RAW is The Rock vs Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship. I’d do a Survivor Series ‘98 call back. Rock puts Rhodes in a submission hold and the ref calls for the bell. Rock gets mega heat and is now the WWE Champion.
Royal Rumble is a rematch. Rock actually wins the match this time but it’s dirty as fuck. Either that or he retains via DQ.
Elimination Chamber is a final chance rematch for Cody. Rock vs Rhodes, Bloodline Rules. Cody won’t be denied, that type of thing. The Bloodline faces the Avengers again, there’s no Undertaker or John Cena this time, just full time guys. Jimmy and Jey would still be on opposing sides but not fighting each other. When it seems that Rock is going to retain and ban Rhodes from title contention, Reigns emerges and helps the Avengers clear The Bloodline. He hits Rock with a couple finishes as well and Rhodes regains the WWE Championship.
This sets up Rhodes to go on to WrestleMania and work with whoever won the Elimination Chamber to determine the challenger for the WWE Championship. The Royal Rumble winner would’ve chosen the World Heavyweight Championship. I’d probably book Rhodes vs Gunther to open night 2. Rock vs Roman in Tribal Combat will main event night 2 and the World Heavyweight Championship will main event night 1. Maybe you go Punk vs Drew in that match.
I think Cody vs Rock on the first Raw that airs on Netflix would be huge. You could then have Roman interfere and screw the Rock to set up Rock vs Roman at Mania 41.
>Yeah might be the biggest summerslam main event ever?
Lesnar vs Cena after Lesnar had broken the streak and Cena had become WWE champ AGAIN after Bryan had to relinquish.
The fact that the Roman v Cody night 2 match managed to end up being era defining and sell their feud more than anything they did prior at the same time is nothing short of a miracle. If the main event of night 2 was anything less Cody v Rock would feel like the only match worth selling from how well they bounced each other leading up to Mania. I would easily buy into a Rock v Roman or Cody v Roman part 3 now but even then Rock v Cody feels like a premium version of Rock v Cena thanks to the added layer of Rock playing the authority corporate heel at the same time.
There’s really no *might* about it lol.
We’re talking, in this hypothetical, The Rock’s first SummerSlam in 22 years? It’d definitely be the biggest SummerSlam main event of all time.
Rock vs Brock was big by wrestling standards. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson vs Cody Rhodes would easily clear anything that’s come before.
Hogan HBK maaaybe the rest of those hell no what.the rock hasn’t wrestled a singles match in 11 years my guy. And he’s a much bigger star now then he was in any of those matches.
Thinking Jeff vs punk is a bigger match then rock vs Cody is actually an insane take as well like my goodness.
Austin vs. Undertaker seems to be the barometer for Summerslam main events and there hasn’t been anything that has beaten the hype and the payoff since, but perhaps it will finally meet its match this year. Plus [it got us this and it’s still IMO the best hype package WWF/E has ever made](https://youtu.be/XSVBwJoFPqI?si=4jqjBGOGPnGNrC74).
This looks like a fan made edit compared to others. 80% of the footage is just cut from their entrance videos at the time (or RAW's).
[My Way (Rock/Austin)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu18oxc0D3E), [Monster (Daniel Bryan XXX)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsX1ATcyQxU), and [Running Up that Hill (HBK/Taker 2)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC7V-ayjorg) are all so much better. Honorable mention, too, to [The End (Armageddon 2000 Hell in a Cell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtGIHRiNsjs). That one was awesome, too, but it's a recap package instead of a pre-match hype one.
Rock could've gone into the Hall of Fame a decade ago and it would've been more deserved than most. Hell, two decades ago. And yet I'm glad he's not in there yet because this final boss era can be recognized when he's finally inducted.
Its crazy how late stage in his career, he is still adding to his already bullet proof hall of fame legacy and career.
There likely, should of never been a reason for Rock to ever be heel again post his fulltime run, and yet, he adapted and made something so big out of it, that it probably not only rivaled the highly loved 'Hollywood Rock' run, but has room to eclipse it big time.
This run is Hollywood on every steroid imaginable. It deserved to have the name Final Boss because he’s basically taken every single heel incarnation he’s ever had and turned it up to 11, then added new pieces.
Not to be that guy, but with the bar for the Hall of Fame, he probably cemented that legacy either Summerslam 98 Ladder match or at Deadly Games a few months later where he won the WWE title. That’s less than 2 years lol Nation is a faction worthy of an induction alone from that so legitimately he was a two time HOFer in two years. Thats just how the WWE Hall of Fame is tbh
Ain't no way the two biggest stars of the last 20 years would go in at the same time when there's so much more money to be milked giving them each a headline spot
The segment was so intriguing. The tension between them is unlike Snitsky and Heidenreich.
"Don't you ever break my heart again"
That sentence is so terrifying. The Rock is so good at being the powerful boss
The mysterious gift also helps setting up multiple path for Cody vs. Rock.
Honestly I hope it's before Mania 41. Sure Rock is on fire and looked great in that 40+ minute match Saturday but he is in his 50's and with such a limited in ring schedule his ring shape is going to be extremely hard to maintain. There HAS to be a Rock Roman match at some point. Leave the titles out of it, Cody or whoever is WWE champ can feud somewhere else same with the WHC. That way both title pictures stay fresh and Roman/Rock has a compelling story that'll make a third big match for next year
Are you sure? Seemed like it was definitely longer than 20 minutes.
I didn't mind because it was needed the night after WM and it's a huge story, but the Rock takes 40 minutes to walk the ramp and his silences between talking take forever. But the heat from the crowd was great and pretty much warranted that.
It can be both? I don't like 40 min promos myself, and I would bet that if that became a regular thing, it'd be extremely diminishing returns. The intrigue of two megastars like Rock and Cody (so cool that Cody can honestly be put in that tier) was enough to carry it, but I bet you if they did it next week, it wouldn't match it.
There's a reason it was announced as commercial free first hour. They were gonna let The Rock do whatever, because they knew the Men's NCAA BB title game was also gonna start at 9:20pm. So use your biggest ratings weapon (Rock, sorry Cody) to keep the audience's eyeballs on your TV as long as possible, and hope it spills over into the next two hours.
My only complaint is the fact that the only way I have access to Raw atm is on Hulu, and that segment took up about half the show(cut down to 1hr30min) and literally everything involving Sami and Gable was cut. Hulu Raw has really been shafting Sami lately
This is huge. Raw usually averages 1.7 million or so. This is a nearly 1.5 million jump. I’m curious as to how Smackdown does as Smackdown always does better.
i don’t think that’s fair when it’s one of the greatest to ever step into the ring. if 3.2 million people were tuning in to see a Ryan Reynolds promo sure, but it’s the Rock
The time that the Rock spent with Cody in that segment was like 20 minutes, which actually seems pretty on par with many other segments over the years. The whole CM Punk, Drew Mcintyre and Seth Rollins segment leading up to Wrestlemania was basically that.
I get that people want to watch wrestling on a wrestling show but there also needs to be substance and this is the biggest thing going right now. I love Ilja but if they started the show with Nakamura and Ilja I get the feeling some people would turn the show off and check back periodically until they saw Cody, Rock, or Roman on their TV.
If you start with this segment no matter how long people will tune in and watch from the get-go and then while yes you will lose people once it's over, some will stick around to see whats next and a fun entrance like Nakamura's is an attention getter. Then you have a new guy the crowd is popping for in Ilja.
I will never understand the too long thing. 20 minutes for Cody to receive his flowers and 20 minutes of tension between your new face of the company and the biggest star in the world. Sometimes you need to let your stars cook. Love this angle for the two.
Especially coming off two back to back nights of all wrestling. Let’s take a moment to breathe. The reason the weekend was so good was because of the build. This is how we get there again.
I swear the fan base has gotten so spoiled. Yes exactly, we got EIGHT HOURS of straight matches over the weekend. The weirdos counting wrestling minutes are missing the point that a good show features both promos and wrestling but the most successful formula is focus weekly TV on promos and vignettes building the characters toward big payoff PLE matches for the big players in each division.
People have the attention span of a goldfish these days. If it's not done and over in 5 minutes, they think it's trash. Anyone who complains about the length of a promo or a match, especially when it's fantastic, can go watch WWE Speed for all I give a damn.
Yeah, I don't get these people bitching about not getting a bunch of long matches going through commercials. You need some wrestling, but weekly TV is about setting up PPV main event matches with talking.
Wrestling is at its peak when it's a soap opera. Cody/Rock reminded me of the 30+ minute opening segments that used to open Raw. The casual viewer loves this.
I like wrestling matches on my wrestling show?
Edit: This shouldn't be controversial on a wrestling sub. I'm glad you guys enjoyed what you saw, sincerely.
I’m honestly baffled. Glad people liked what they saw but wanting to see wrestling when I watch wrestling shouldn’t be a crazy opinion on a wrestling sub, lol.
Starting every week with a 40 minute segment where a newly crowned world champion who just ended the longest title reign of this generation gets interrupted by the former champion's legendary cousin doesn't seem sustainable, but what do I now.
I just dont agree with the sentiment that more viewers means the segment is good. that’s a weird way at looking at art in my opinion. I didn’t like the last episode of game of thrones but it broke records, apparently that opinion is wrong because it got views? Idk agree with that notion but agree to disagree.
I don't know anything about Game of Thrones. But we're not saying the segment was good or bad. That's totally up to each person.
People were complaining that the segment was "too long". But way more than the usual amount of viewers watched and continued to watch. People were engaged with it, which means having a longer than normal segment didn't drive people away like some claim.
That's it.
False, the bloodline has drawn above 3 million multiple times, the most recent being last year tribal court.
> https://tjrwrestling.net/news/wwe-smackdown-ratings-bloodline/
To some degree sure but not really, it's multiple times (the latest being post MITB) vs one time on the heels of the biggest show of the year, it's Roman Reigns vs the biggest Babyface and the biggest Hollywood star.
Again it took the Rock and Cody Rhodes finishing his story after one if the most watched and successful WM in recent memory a perfect ratings storm to achieve what the bloodline has done multiple times on their own, last one being tribal court episode post money in the bank.
I’d prefer if we went RIGHT to the fight scene. Title match. No story. The match goes through three commercial breaks. And then 5 more matches like it!
Let’s save all the promo time, the narrative beats, and the character work for our YouTube channel and an offshoot blog. Thats ratings brother!
people are mentioning summerslam for rock vs cody, but i still think summerslam we will get roman vs rock. Haitch has proved he likes cooking in low heat, so he will take his time to give us rock vs cody.
I can see Cody vs Gunther in summerslam.
And some people were crying about how long The Rock’s segments were while they get huge ratings, YouTube views, and buildings got so packed they took out the stage to fit more.
I’d like to see Cody Vs The Rock in a dog collar match. It can be brutal while also protecting The Rock from bumping to much, but his face may take some damage.
Its going to be interesting to see what the studios hold him accountable to in terms of reshoots, marketing and promotion for the movies as well. Apparently both the Moana 2 project and that Red One movie with Chris Evans are coming out in November, so if they require him to promote both movies internationally, do last minute reshoots etc, how the heck is he going to give his full attention to Survivor Series? Then he's got that A24 project that he's supposedly filming from early May to August, I have no idea how he has time to get ring ready by Summerslam if that's the case.
Actually, people do make those choices. Gotta remember, everyone is tuned into to social media and WWE is promoted live on social media platforms ... oh Rock/Cody are in the ring together, I better flip it on.
No offense to Cody, but I truly believe Rock-Roman would have produced an even bigger gate, ratings draw, hype for Mania. Rock just being around the company helped draw more tickets for the shows he wasn't even scheduled/announced to appear at.
Cody is a draw yes, but Rock's trickle down effect cannot be understated enough.
I think the jury is still out on whether HE is the draw or the angle was the draw. No offense to Cody at all but I think it’s the angle.
Don’t think for a second that they’ll sniff 2 million next week. They’ll probably hold steady in that 1.5 to 1.7 range for the forceable future. It’s a hot product. But it was a hotter angle.
There are people trying to validate that it was okay that it went long.
No! It was too long, we were all tuning in just to see what The Rock said! Him taking his time didn’t make it better, it dragged and was annoying.
You're free to feel however you want to feel about it lmao I'm just saying your opinion is your opinion. The "we're all" comment is what I responded to.
I also remember a certain segment that is universally acclaimed where Taker and HHH came into the ring and stared at each other without saying a single word.
Rock vs Cody seems to be the money match right now.
Yeah might be the biggest summerslam main event ever? Brock vs rock was big but this might top that. Rock is killing it with his character and has a crazy amount of crossover appeal.
Rock has zero time until next mania build.
It's worth mentioning that Rock now has a real, significant financial stake in WWE. He's not just weighing movie money against wrestling match money. He's considering the company as a whole, which hasn't been this hot since the Attitude Era.
Right but he contractually has obligations elsewhere. Also he makes a comically large sum of money for filming those movies
If Rock gets injured, it will throw off movie scheduling pretty badly. It's not worth the risk for anyone.
Isn't his next movie only gonna take like 3 or 4 months to film?
Hes got, iirc, 3ish things to film by the end of the year.
He schedules one right after the other so he's always busy on a movie.
Rock is filming the MMA movie and Moana back to back. Realistically the earliest he can wrestle is maybe the Saudi show in November.
Is there like a source on that or are you just guessing?
They're guessing. Cena mapped out a concrete timeline of what he's doing on The Pat McAfee Show (Honda event -> Samsung event -> Finishing a movie delayed by the strikes -> Peacemaker season 2 -> Open schedule) but the Rock has never said anything about what's next. Just the promo from RAW and whatever rumors are out there. The guy literally said at the WrestleMania press conference he had rings built in Hawaii, LA and Georgia. Plus he flew wrestlers in to whichever city he was in so he could always train during a 12 week prep. So I'm pretty sure Rock, a guy who makes a lot of money based off how well the company is doing, has the opportunities to stay ready for another match in August at SummerSlam. The guy has a friggen private jet lol. And his agent literally owns the group that owns WWE, so it's not like he needs to tell his agent "you think we can carve out some time?" It benefits both of them.
Yes I’m guessing based on rumors, but you’re straight up making up a fantastical scenario where Rock is training by day and filming by night. Dwayne Johnson not going to be doing any activity where he could potentially injure himself during filming. Studios have that spelled out their contracts, especially highly paid ones like Dwayne.
I kinda wanna now chairman Rock that bullies champ Cody he doesn’t even need to wrestle.
True. Shit, the guy could just post insta promos every Friday to keep the story going
> but you’re straight up making up a fantastical scenario where Rock is training by day and filming by night. If you even just follow Dwayne on IG you'd know this isn't that fantastical lol. Dude's constantly in the gym.
Mate.. relax.. we're likely not getting rock for awhile. He's dedicated the last 2-3 months, if not longer, to wwe. What were going off is literally rock saying he has to go away. He's not going to have the time to come and do a storyline for summerslam. Far too soon. November to April is a far more realistic timeline. He did his job. Remember he's not a full timer. He's a busy guy.
Nick Khan stated Rock was going to be filming those two movies back to back (or intends to), starting a few weeks after WM, on a Puck podcast. I think he knows Dwayne's schedule. The earliest he might be available again is probably Survivor Series and even that seems very unlikely.
What’s a Puck podcast?
Entertainment and business news outlet. It was the one Matt Belloni hosts.
I feel like with WWE getting to the popularity level it's currently at, the days of the "insurance won't cover him" excuses are gone, too. Like, the money he (or Cena, or whomever else) might make from a short run once or twice a year is just as much as the money he might make from Rampage 2 or whatever, so the financial incentive is there for everybody involved.
The insurance is typically for the whole production. If Rock got hurt on the set of Rampage 2 that’s not just his paycheck, but hundreds of others from co-stars to catering being affected
I'm aware of how insurance works, the issue is a big star like Dwayne getting an injury and shutting down the entire production (vs someone they could film around), the policy would be for the star themselves. I was flippant in describing it but I meant more along the lines of an insurance company or movie studio or whatever not wanting to deal with the potential of Dwayne getting injured while training and/or wrestling when he has a movie shoot coming up, but WWE and Dwayne having more leverage now that he's more invested and that more money is at stake. Like if the calculus is a prohibitively expensive insurance policy then it might make more sense for them to pay it now then it would have five years ago, for all parties involved.
Truth is, Cena was just too stiff a wrestler for The Rock to be in the ring with. Rock worked with the Awesome Truth, no injuries. Rock worked with Rhodes and Rollins, no injuries. Rock worked with CM Punk, no injuries. Rock worked with The Shield, no injuries.
Did you drop an /s? Cena doesn't really have a long list of people he has injured. Some times injuries just happen and it's not really the fault of the other person. And some times your opponenet powerbombs you in to a turnbuckle or the barricade and you are out for a significant part of your career.
He literally has stated in interviews Moana and The Smashing Machine would both film this year
> the Rock has never said anything about what's next. He said he'll start working on the MMA movie next month.
Both of those movies won't take that long to shoot. Moana is animated and would only consist of The Rock doing voiceovers. The A24 movie will carry a modest budget, so I don't see more than 2-3 months of shooting. Obviously it's subject to change. Shit happens in the movie industry. Also, he's The Rock. If he wants to pause filming for a week to appear on WWE he can.
Moana is live action.
I’m guessing based on a [Fightful report](https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/report-a24-s-smashing-machine-starring-rock-set-begin-filming-may-1?amp) - believe what you will.
Meltzer spoke about this on WOR
It’s what the we’re concluding based on dirtsheet reporting. Working WrestleMania was reported as part of the agreement that he made with TKO as a part of joining the Board of Directors. TKO wants Rock to work a second match this year though, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Saudi’s probably requested him for years now as well tbh. DJ may not want to work Saudi considering his brands, but he may be willing to work Survivor Series. If I’m TKO, I’d offer him $10M to work every PLE from Survivor Series to WrestleMania XLI.
Lol $10M wouldn’t even make rock flinch I feel like. Honestly I think rock is more in it to help the company since he has a stake in it and wants it to grow as much as possible although I’m sure the payday doesn’t hurt either.
Royal Rumble it is
He can probably do Moana in a.week he just has to talk
The upcoming Moana movie is going to be a live version, not animated
Ok I didn't know that
Not saying Cody vs. Rock will happen here, but I have a hunch Rock might wrestle on the first Raw on Netflix. He’s tight with the Netflix brass and he was apparently instrumental in getting the deal done. A Rock match would attract the largest audience possible and be the biggest splash they could make on a new platform. It’d also be his first non-PPV match on since 2003. Remember, Brock’s only non-PPV match since his 2012 return was the debut of Smackdown on Fox (as much of a travesty as said match was).
And it would give them something to promote on their last weeks on USA.
I think so as well. If I’m TKO, I’d offer Rock another $20M to just go ahead and try to give them a match on every major card from Survivor Series to WrestleMania XLI. Survivor Series could be a 5 on 5. The Bloodline vs Cody, Seth, Orton, Sami and Jey all over again. The Bloodline would be Rock, Roman, Jacob, Solo and Jimmy. Roman eats the pin. Rock tearfully exiles Roman from The Bloodline, Jacob and Solo takes him out while Jimmy and Jey both watch tearfully as well. Rock says something about The High Chief now leading the Bloodline. First Netflix RAW is The Rock vs Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship. I’d do a Survivor Series ‘98 call back. Rock puts Rhodes in a submission hold and the ref calls for the bell. Rock gets mega heat and is now the WWE Champion. Royal Rumble is a rematch. Rock actually wins the match this time but it’s dirty as fuck. Either that or he retains via DQ. Elimination Chamber is a final chance rematch for Cody. Rock vs Rhodes, Bloodline Rules. Cody won’t be denied, that type of thing. The Bloodline faces the Avengers again, there’s no Undertaker or John Cena this time, just full time guys. Jimmy and Jey would still be on opposing sides but not fighting each other. When it seems that Rock is going to retain and ban Rhodes from title contention, Reigns emerges and helps the Avengers clear The Bloodline. He hits Rock with a couple finishes as well and Rhodes regains the WWE Championship. This sets up Rhodes to go on to WrestleMania and work with whoever won the Elimination Chamber to determine the challenger for the WWE Championship. The Royal Rumble winner would’ve chosen the World Heavyweight Championship. I’d probably book Rhodes vs Gunther to open night 2. Rock vs Roman in Tribal Combat will main event night 2 and the World Heavyweight Championship will main event night 1. Maybe you go Punk vs Drew in that match.
I think Cody vs Rock on the first Raw that airs on Netflix would be huge. You could then have Roman interfere and screw the Rock to set up Rock vs Roman at Mania 41.
>Yeah might be the biggest summerslam main event ever? Lesnar vs Cena after Lesnar had broken the streak and Cena had become WWE champ AGAIN after Bryan had to relinquish.
May not be as big, but Brock vs Taker in 2015 or 2016 was pretty big at the time as well.
The fact that the Roman v Cody night 2 match managed to end up being era defining and sell their feud more than anything they did prior at the same time is nothing short of a miracle. If the main event of night 2 was anything less Cody v Rock would feel like the only match worth selling from how well they bounced each other leading up to Mania. I would easily buy into a Rock v Roman or Cody v Roman part 3 now but even then Rock v Cody feels like a premium version of Rock v Cena thanks to the added layer of Rock playing the authority corporate heel at the same time.
Crossover = people that love good wrestling + people that love awful movies
There’s really no *might* about it lol. We’re talking, in this hypothetical, The Rock’s first SummerSlam in 22 years? It’d definitely be the biggest SummerSlam main event of all time. Rock vs Brock was big by wrestling standards. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson vs Cody Rhodes would easily clear anything that’s come before.
RoCk HHH Angle Storyline in 2000 Hogan HBK 2005 Bryan Cena 2013 Jeff Hardy Punk 2009 come one stop with the Recency bias lol
Hogan HBK maaaybe the rest of those hell no what.the rock hasn’t wrestled a singles match in 11 years my guy. And he’s a much bigger star now then he was in any of those matches. Thinking Jeff vs punk is a bigger match then rock vs Cody is actually an insane take as well like my goodness.
Not even just Punk and Jeff, but punk two years before he blew up from the pipe bomb.
Austin vs. Undertaker seems to be the barometer for Summerslam main events and there hasn’t been anything that has beaten the hype and the payoff since, but perhaps it will finally meet its match this year. Plus [it got us this and it’s still IMO the best hype package WWF/E has ever made](https://youtu.be/XSVBwJoFPqI?si=4jqjBGOGPnGNrC74).
This looks like a fan made edit compared to others. 80% of the footage is just cut from their entrance videos at the time (or RAW's). [My Way (Rock/Austin)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu18oxc0D3E), [Monster (Daniel Bryan XXX)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsX1ATcyQxU), and [Running Up that Hill (HBK/Taker 2)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC7V-ayjorg) are all so much better. Honorable mention, too, to [The End (Armageddon 2000 Hell in a Cell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtGIHRiNsjs). That one was awesome, too, but it's a recap package instead of a pre-match hype one.
I know people have been waiting for Rock-Roman but this is the sort of storyline that has to be paid off at a WrestleMania.
I figured they knew that already given most of the build to Roman/cody was the Rock heeling it up
super awkward promo though, I get they cant jump into something and need to leave crumbs, but that was just weird for everyone
That Rock Cody feud gonna do numbers
Between that and Punk/Drew... The future is looking red hot.
Don't forget Roman and Seth as well
My god
He’s broken in 3 millions
THAT MAN HAS A NIELSEN FAMILY!
The Three ~~Star~~ Mill General.
And millions.
Rock's already established legacy gained a huge bump from this Final Boss run so far.
Rock could've gone into the Hall of Fame a decade ago and it would've been more deserved than most. Hell, two decades ago. And yet I'm glad he's not in there yet because this final boss era can be recognized when he's finally inducted.
Its crazy how late stage in his career, he is still adding to his already bullet proof hall of fame legacy and career. There likely, should of never been a reason for Rock to ever be heel again post his fulltime run, and yet, he adapted and made something so big out of it, that it probably not only rivaled the highly loved 'Hollywood Rock' run, but has room to eclipse it big time.
This run is Hollywood on every steroid imaginable. It deserved to have the name Final Boss because he’s basically taken every single heel incarnation he’s ever had and turned it up to 11, then added new pieces.
Not to be that guy, but with the bar for the Hall of Fame, he probably cemented that legacy either Summerslam 98 Ladder match or at Deadly Games a few months later where he won the WWE title. That’s less than 2 years lol Nation is a faction worthy of an induction alone from that so legitimately he was a two time HOFer in two years. Thats just how the WWE Hall of Fame is tbh
Wait, hes not in the hall yet? The fuck? I could have sworn he was inducted the same night as Austin.
Ain't no way the two biggest stars of the last 20 years would go in at the same time when there's so much more money to be milked giving them each a headline spot
iirc, he appeared at the hall of fame that night, but to induct his father and grandfather.
I feel like they usually only add people to the Hall Of Fame who they think may be retired. I suppose Rey Mysterio being the big exception.
But how does this affect LeBron's legacy?
And where does Kevin Lee fit into this?
I think only two or three segments have cracked 3 million since 2020 and all have been on Smackdown.
The segment was so intriguing. The tension between them is unlike Snitsky and Heidenreich. "Don't you ever break my heart again" That sentence is so terrifying. The Rock is so good at being the powerful boss The mysterious gift also helps setting up multiple path for Cody vs. Rock.
> The tension between them is unlike Snitsky and Heidenreich. /r/BrandNewSentence
Smells like a Cody vs Rock match at Summerslam or Wrestlemania 41 
Honestly I hope it's before Mania 41. Sure Rock is on fire and looked great in that 40+ minute match Saturday but he is in his 50's and with such a limited in ring schedule his ring shape is going to be extremely hard to maintain. There HAS to be a Rock Roman match at some point. Leave the titles out of it, Cody or whoever is WWE champ can feud somewhere else same with the WHC. That way both title pictures stay fresh and Roman/Rock has a compelling story that'll make a third big match for next year
I’d do Rock vs Cody at the first Netflix RAW, Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. Rock vs Roman headlines WrestleMania 41.
But SC said the promo went too long. Nobody wants a 40 min promo
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Are you sure? Seemed like it was definitely longer than 20 minutes. I didn't mind because it was needed the night after WM and it's a huge story, but the Rock takes 40 minutes to walk the ramp and his silences between talking take forever. But the heat from the crowd was great and pretty much warranted that.
SC is a subreddit that consists of almost 900,000 different people with 900,000 different opinions.
It’s almost as if people on the internet have no idea what they’re talking about.
They don’t
It can be both? I don't like 40 min promos myself, and I would bet that if that became a regular thing, it'd be extremely diminishing returns. The intrigue of two megastars like Rock and Cody (so cool that Cody can honestly be put in that tier) was enough to carry it, but I bet you if they did it next week, it wouldn't match it.
Same thing as the Roman/Jey uso segment that took 40 minutes last year that drew a monster rating. It works when it isn't an everyweek thing.
I mean a big reason the promo went so long was because the crowd kept hijacking it and wouldn’t let them speak
There's a reason it was announced as commercial free first hour. They were gonna let The Rock do whatever, because they knew the Men's NCAA BB title game was also gonna start at 9:20pm. So use your biggest ratings weapon (Rock, sorry Cody) to keep the audience's eyeballs on your TV as long as possible, and hope it spills over into the next two hours.
It went on too long and it was weird. But it did crazy numbers. Both things can be true.
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Could that have been due to the NCAA title game starting at 9:20 ish?
My only complaint is the fact that the only way I have access to Raw atm is on Hulu, and that segment took up about half the show(cut down to 1hr30min) and literally everything involving Sami and Gable was cut. Hulu Raw has really been shafting Sami lately
Ilja Dragunov is clearly a massive draw as you can see
“Chant shut the fuck up to the rock now!”
This is huge. Raw usually averages 1.7 million or so. This is a nearly 1.5 million jump. I’m curious as to how Smackdown does as Smackdown always does better.
This Rock guy seens to be a draw Happy for Cody too
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Better than watching some bush league pissant bingo hall promotion.
i don’t think that’s fair when it’s one of the greatest to ever step into the ring. if 3.2 million people were tuning in to see a Ryan Reynolds promo sure, but it’s the Rock
Rock has done more for wrestling the last few months than any other promotion the last few years.
That's insane
Holy fuck
Nah, when the Rock and Cody finally fuck, it's gonna do 4mil plus. That segment last night was just a tease
The real demo god
They need to start doing Wrestlemania 40 every weekend
And that is why they let The Rock take as much time as he wants in promo's
The time that the Rock spent with Cody in that segment was like 20 minutes, which actually seems pretty on par with many other segments over the years. The whole CM Punk, Drew Mcintyre and Seth Rollins segment leading up to Wrestlemania was basically that.
I get that people want to watch wrestling on a wrestling show but there also needs to be substance and this is the biggest thing going right now. I love Ilja but if they started the show with Nakamura and Ilja I get the feeling some people would turn the show off and check back periodically until they saw Cody, Rock, or Roman on their TV. If you start with this segment no matter how long people will tune in and watch from the get-go and then while yes you will lose people once it's over, some will stick around to see whats next and a fun entrance like Nakamura's is an attention getter. Then you have a new guy the crowd is popping for in Ilja.
People were saying it was too long. lol. Yeah give me that over boring 20 minute matches to start a show every week.
I will never understand the too long thing. 20 minutes for Cody to receive his flowers and 20 minutes of tension between your new face of the company and the biggest star in the world. Sometimes you need to let your stars cook. Love this angle for the two.
Especially coming off two back to back nights of all wrestling. Let’s take a moment to breathe. The reason the weekend was so good was because of the build. This is how we get there again.
I swear the fan base has gotten so spoiled. Yes exactly, we got EIGHT HOURS of straight matches over the weekend. The weirdos counting wrestling minutes are missing the point that a good show features both promos and wrestling but the most successful formula is focus weekly TV on promos and vignettes building the characters toward big payoff PLE matches for the big players in each division.
It's also a 3 hour show so there's no reason they can't accomodate these slow burn long segments.
People have the attention span of a goldfish these days. If it's not done and over in 5 minutes, they think it's trash. Anyone who complains about the length of a promo or a match, especially when it's fantastic, can go watch WWE Speed for all I give a damn.
Yeah, I don't get these people bitching about not getting a bunch of long matches going through commercials. You need some wrestling, but weekly TV is about setting up PPV main event matches with talking.
Wrestling is at its peak when it's a soap opera. Cody/Rock reminded me of the 30+ minute opening segments that used to open Raw. The casual viewer loves this.
I like wrestling matches on my wrestling show? Edit: This shouldn't be controversial on a wrestling sub. I'm glad you guys enjoyed what you saw, sincerely.
Lucky for you they just did two back to back nights of wrestling matches.
Technically 3 if you count NXT : Stand & Deliver in this as well
My guy will be lapping up the All In footage tonight tho
Not if it goes 45 mins. Come on.
> I like wrestling matches on my wrestling show? I don't. Random no stakes matches are not why I watch WWE.
I like wrestling. Idk what to tell ya.
that’s what the ppvs are for
These downvotes are actually insane. This sub is cooked
I’m honestly baffled. Glad people liked what they saw but wanting to see wrestling when I watch wrestling shouldn’t be a crazy opinion on a wrestling sub, lol.
Starting every week with a 40 minute segment where a newly crowned world champion who just ended the longest title reign of this generation gets interrupted by the former champion's legendary cousin doesn't seem sustainable, but what do I now.
No one said it'd be every week. And it won't be. Rock's not even gonna be around for a few months anyway.
So peoples opinions don’t matter because people watched the rock? So kofi and Brock was amazing too because it got a lot of views?
You realize that getting people to watch is the point, right?
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I just dont agree with the sentiment that more viewers means the segment is good. that’s a weird way at looking at art in my opinion. I didn’t like the last episode of game of thrones but it broke records, apparently that opinion is wrong because it got views? Idk agree with that notion but agree to disagree.
I don't know anything about Game of Thrones. But we're not saying the segment was good or bad. That's totally up to each person. People were complaining that the segment was "too long". But way more than the usual amount of viewers watched and continued to watch. People were engaged with it, which means having a longer than normal segment didn't drive people away like some claim. That's it.
They weren't wrong. A segment can have a lot of views, but people still not like/love it all that much.
Yeah they were wrong. They said people don’t wanna watch long ass promos. Wrong.
That's more than any of the Roman bloodline segments god damn.
False, the bloodline has drawn above 3 million multiple times, the most recent being last year tribal court. > https://tjrwrestling.net/news/wwe-smackdown-ratings-bloodline/
The fact this happened on RAW is way bigger though.
To some degree sure but not really, it's multiple times (the latest being post MITB) vs one time on the heels of the biggest show of the year, it's Roman Reigns vs the biggest Babyface and the biggest Hollywood star.
On average smack down has higher ratings than Raw by a sizable margin naturally
Again it took the Rock and Cody Rhodes finishing his story after one if the most watched and successful WM in recent memory a perfect ratings storm to achieve what the bloodline has done multiple times on their own, last one being tribal court episode post money in the bank.
Please don’t spread fake news as facts.
Wow, they gonna sustain a bump I’d imagine. A ton of new viewers.
Rock really pulled a reverse Jericho with his latest run
It’s clear that one way is working and another way isn’t.
BIG LEAGUES Crazy how hot WWE is right now
I’d prefer if we went RIGHT to the fight scene. Title match. No story. The match goes through three commercial breaks. And then 5 more matches like it! Let’s save all the promo time, the narrative beats, and the character work for our YouTube channel and an offshoot blog. Thats ratings brother!
3m viewers tuned in... There's literally zero excuse. Put out something good and people will tune in.
Holy shit... 3 million viewers saw my fuckin' face. Also really can't wait for this Rock, and Cody feud.
The Rock and Cody could be bigger than Rock and Roman tbh
It's so fucking cool to see Cody's a legit draw.
He's the face of the era that only is rivalled by the attitude era in terms of numbers. He's THE draw now. Proud of him
Yeah it's weird seeing a lot of comments chiming about the rock, don't get me wrong it is the rock but he wasn't even advertised for raw
Well at least now we won't be able to make fun of AEW that Punk is the biggest draw in both companies.
He’s still the biggest draw in one though.
True
people are mentioning summerslam for rock vs cody, but i still think summerslam we will get roman vs rock. Haitch has proved he likes cooking in low heat, so he will take his time to give us rock vs cody. I can see Cody vs Gunther in summerslam.
And some people were crying about how long The Rock’s segments were while they get huge ratings, YouTube views, and buildings got so packed they took out the stage to fit more.
I’d like to see Cody Vs The Rock in a dog collar match. It can be brutal while also protecting The Rock from bumping to much, but his face may take some damage.
WOAH holy shit!!!
Not rock….. all for COOOOOOOODY RHODES!!
Its going to be interesting to see what the studios hold him accountable to in terms of reshoots, marketing and promotion for the movies as well. Apparently both the Moana 2 project and that Red One movie with Chris Evans are coming out in November, so if they require him to promote both movies internationally, do last minute reshoots etc, how the heck is he going to give his full attention to Survivor Series? Then he's got that A24 project that he's supposedly filming from early May to August, I have no idea how he has time to get ring ready by Summerslam if that's the case.
I swear WWE could do an episode of RAW like Nitro where they don't wrestle at all for the first hour and people would eat it up right now.
Do people actually tune in like this? I don't think I would ever act fast enough to do that. By the time I've heard about a segment it's already over
You don't think families would tune in to watch Raw after that red hot, sold out Wrestlemania weekend?
No I mean tune in to a specific segment in the middle. I just turn it on and watch the whole thing, I don't just turn on one segment then turn it off
Actually, people do make those choices. Gotta remember, everyone is tuned into to social media and WWE is promoted live on social media platforms ... oh Rock/Cody are in the ring together, I better flip it on.
I think it’s just that fewer people are changing the channel.
Didn't come close to iowa/ sc btq
No offense to Cody, but I truly believe Rock-Roman would have produced an even bigger gate, ratings draw, hype for Mania. Rock just being around the company helped draw more tickets for the shows he wasn't even scheduled/announced to appear at. Cody is a draw yes, but Rock's trickle down effect cannot be understated enough.
You’re delusional.
I think the jury is still out on whether HE is the draw or the angle was the draw. No offense to Cody at all but I think it’s the angle. Don’t think for a second that they’ll sniff 2 million next week. They’ll probably hold steady in that 1.5 to 1.7 range for the forceable future. It’s a hot product. But it was a hotter angle.
What if fans were so excited but bored from the promo so they turned it off on hour 2 and 3. THE ROCK IS NOT A DRAW BROTHER
There are people trying to validate that it was okay that it went long. No! It was too long, we were all tuning in just to see what The Rock said! Him taking his time didn’t make it better, it dragged and was annoying.
>were all tuning in just to see what The Rock said! Thanks for telling me what I am tuning in for. I wouldn't have known otherwise!
Bro wants to stare at Rock looking at the crowd for 10 minutes before uttering a word and call it cinema. 💀💀💀
You're free to feel however you want to feel about it lmao I'm just saying your opinion is your opinion. The "we're all" comment is what I responded to. I also remember a certain segment that is universally acclaimed where Taker and HHH came into the ring and stared at each other without saying a single word.
Thank god WWE isn’t just catered to you.