Acknowledging My Tribal Chief and A Perfectly Done WrestleMania Main Event
In Defense of Roman vs. Cody at WrestleMania 39.
(Credit-WWE)
I am thrilled with WWE’s booking right now and no this isn’t a delayed April Fools’ joke.
I often mention on the podcast the time Sean and I drove home in complete silence after Roman’s Royal Rumble 2015 victory. Roman’s rise to top guy in WWE hasn’t always been enjoyable. It’s been downright frustrating as a fan. There were times that I was ready to stop watching wrestling until AEW came along and, if not for NJPW, I probably would have. It wasn’t all bad; there were the incredible couple of matches he had with a debuting AJ Styles, John Cena, his Shield alumni and others. Roman is a top tier wrestler but for the longest time, the character didn’t work. The fans cried for WWE to turn him heel to embrace the boos from fans and I cynically never believed it’d happen.
Then the pandemic hit and we saw the rise of the Tribal Chief. Roman has had the title for nearly 1000 days at this point and last night, for maybe the first time in any of his title runs, I thought, “I’m not ready for this to end.” Cody gave Roman his first truly formidable opponent not named Brock Lesnar since his turn. Cody is over with the WWE Universe in such an organic way that it seemed like last night may be when they’d pull the trigger. There’s irony in babyface Cody being heel Roman’s best rival. When Cody was in AEW, fans rejected him in a similar way that Roman was rejected by smart mark fans of WWE for so long. Last night was proof that in the right circumstances, both are the stars that executives believed them to be. For the last few years, we all thought that last night would be The Rock vs Roman. A dream match for the ages but it would continue WWE’s trend of passing over making another full time star in exchange for a nostalgia filled one-off.
This podcast, myself included, were some of Cody’s biggest detractors in AEW. He felt forced and never felt like he matched the AEW culture. I get that it’s an odd statement to make seeing as Cody is directly responsible for AEW’s existence. Looking back, it seems pretty clear that Cody’s heart has always been in WWE. He loves the spectacle and presentation of WWE. He wanted AEW to be the new WWE, rather than the alternative it’s actually presented as. Trust me, I get it. Weekends like WrestleMania and other big PLEs from WWE often get me caught up in it all, too. As much as I prefer the product of AEW in ring, WWE gets it as a media company.
Everything over the past year since Cody’s return to WWE laid the groundwork for his WrestleMania victory over the long dominating champion Reigns. The triumphant return at last year’s Mania (that the Elitists were fortunate to attend!), the HIAC torn pec match and the Royal Rumble return and victory. Everything except the fact that Roman Reigns and the Bloodline story isn’t ready to end. This story is still showing the unraveling of our Tribal Chief. A man that is overly confident despite many of his wins coming at the hands of his cousins Silo Sikoa and The Usos interference. Cody HAD the win until Solo hit him with a Samoan Spike. With the Usos losing the night before to Zayn and Owens, I anticipate we’ll see Roman reject them as failures in the coming months, leading to a full circle moment of Jey eventually making the decision to turn on his cousin and help Cody overcome Reigns in Cody vs. Roman II.
Often times, WrestleMania can be seen as a season finale that wraps up big stories and match ups but this one is far from over. This was the beginning and while I understand fans were bummed by Cody’s loss, sometimes the short term pain is worth the long term gain.
*Note to the editor* if my predictions don’t come true and Roman loses to Jinder at some B-level PLE, please destroy all evidence of this blog.
(Credit-WWE)
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