In this WrestleTalk News, the fallout from Cody Rhodes’ loss at WrestleMania, the latest
on WWE’s sale and multiple WWE stars unhappy.
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[SUPPORT WRESTLETALK] So… what do you want to talk about?
I mean we could talk about how WWE somehow just pulled perhaps their biggest swerve in
Mania history by also doing the same thing they’ve been doing for the last ten years…
having Roman Reigns win the main event of WrestleMania.
Lol Yes, but why oh why were we so convinced that
this was going to be the time?
Oh I don’t know, was it that WWE had been simultaneously spelling out Cody finishing
his story while also seemingly pointing towards the demise of the Bloodline?
Was it that Sami and KO received their storybook finish on night one?
Was it that we are living in the Triple H era of WWE creative and expected HIM to make
the right call, being Cody dethroning Roman on the grandest stage?
Well, I guess we’re the real fools in the end because this is Roman we’re talking
about, and history has told us never to expect anything but 1: Roman winning and 2: for a
combination of a referee bump and Usos/Solo interference to be the reason for said victory.
And you know what… as many fans have noted online since, the overbooked chaos of the
tail-end of the match had a rather familiar stench.
That of a Vincent Kennedy McMahon finish.
The very real concerns of Vince being involved in Mania have been rooted in the reality that
he is now OFFICIALLY a WWE employee once again.
You can shave that tache now Vince, no need to hide your identity anymore.
Naturally after seeing Vince at the WWE HOF, it was inevitable that Vince would also be
at Mania too, with the only question being would his return be in gorilla position or
in catering with the other WWE ‘employees’?
Well, according to Fightful Select not only was Vince in gorilla position for night one
of Mania but he was also “not shy about giving input” while there.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer would also note that Vince was “very much involved”
once again, albeit not to the same degree he once was before.
PWInsider would also note that Vince could be heard on production headsets before the
show, giving feedback and asking questions.
However, they would affirm that Vince’s role was “supervisory” with Triple H being
the one “in charge”.
So, what of the finish itself?
Was Vince involved like some of us suspect?
According to Fightful Select’s latest report, the answer is no.
Fightful notes that their WWE sources as well as rep all told them that Vince was not involved
in the decision making at Mania, meaning Cody’s loss would have been a Triple H call.
However, it’s perhaps worth noting that according to Fightful, while Vince was still
in charge prior to the summer “there was no plan for Roman Reigns to lose the world
championships, much less for Cody to win it”.
With the plan for Cody to face Roman reportedly only coming once Vince was out of power.
Hmm… curious.
Regardless, while a Cody win seemed spelled out on WWE TV over the last few months, was
that in fact the plan?
Was it a classic Vince-esque last minute script change?
Well, Fightful have now confirmed that Roman’s triumph was a nailed on decision, with ‘people’
within WWE aware of it “several weeks ago”.
However, Fightful were not told as to whether the talent involved were informed in this
same timeframe or not.
As well as this, the specifics of the match itself such as the many, many interferences
during the match “weren't relayed to talent, refs and ringside staff” until Sunday.
While the reasoning behind the decision will likely be questioned by EVERYONE for a while,
what have those involved said regarding the disappointing end to Cody’s story?
Well, Triple H in the post-Mania presser would reassure fans that Cody’s defeat is in fact
not the end of his story after all, instead saying:
“In the WWE, the story never finishes.
Tomorrow night on Raw, the story continues.
The story takes another chapter.
We just got to the end of the chapter.”
When questioned further regarding the decision and potentially passing up a major opportunity
by not having Cody win, Triple H would reply:
“It's telling a story.
Where do you want to go with the story and how do you want to get there?”
“It's always feel and where you are at that moment, honestly, it's the right place to
be and that's where you have to be and bank on what's next.
If you continue to tell the story and if I didn't feel like we had a compelling story
on the other side, it wouldn't be the decision."
While Triple H (hopefully) has a bigger picture in mind, I don’t know it just felt so wrong
this time.
Maybe Trips was waiting for some revenge for all that throne smashing back in the day?
While we’re all bound to be feeling a bit flat, spare a thought for Cody’s friends
and family for a second, that’s gotta sting.
While Cody’s brother Dustin wasn’t in attendance in LA, he replied to the result
via a single stone faced emoji tweet that summed up pretty much all our collective emotions,
while Cody’s friend and former colleague Sammy Guevara simply responded with “wtf”.
As for Cody’s wife Brandi, she, similarly to Trips, seems to have a more ‘big picture’
outlook, tweeting: “hard times make better men”.
While we got to hear Roman’s response to the victory at the WWE presser, in which he
implored SOMEONE to beat him for his titles, we have not heard from Cody as of yet.
But I think his face in that closing shot of Mania said more than words could ever say.
While Cody’s bound to not be best pleased with the result last night, it seems like
he may in fact not be alone in his displeasure as two major Raw stars have seemingly voiced
there frustration following WrestleMania.
One of the two is the woman who now owns a 0-5 record at WrestleMania…
Asuka.
Yes the ‘Empress of Tomorrow’ continued her unfortunate streak going in her loss to
Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair.
In response to her defeat Asuka would take to Twitter and make a statement that seemingly
casts doubt on her WWE future?
Asuka would say in her post “I may as well go back to Japan” following her loss.
However, before you panic she did seem to want to channel her disappointment into an
eventual takeover of the WWE women’s division.
Although, it’s easy to imagine that there’s some real sentiment there.
As for our number two frustrated Raw star, we have the ‘All-Mighty’ Bobby Lashley,
who after all the uncertainty surrounding who his opponent was going to be at Mania
ended up having no opponent at all…
I mean c’mon The Miz had two matches you couldn't have at least let Bobby have one?
It seems like Bobby’s absence is not through a lack of trying as according to Fightful
Select Lashley “pushed to remain on the WrestleMania card but it didn’t end up happening”.
Taking to social media Lashley would post a video to voice his disappointment saying:
"This is without a doubt one of the toughest things to swallow,”
“It kind of sucks.
Things happen.
The show has to move.”
“I've been to WrestleMania, but this year everything fell apart.
Thankful that I got to be in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, but I was really looking
forward to being a part of WrestleMania."
Lashley was of course originally booked for a match with Bray Wyatt at Mania, however,
due to an unknown illness to Wyatt plans fell apart.
Curiously Wyatt was pictured in LA over the weekend as was Uncle Howdy AKA Bo Dallas which
led fans to speculate whether the match could go ahead.
However, this was not the case in the end.
While Cody losing seems like much more important news for us die-hard fans, some MUCH bigger
WWE news had seemingly broken in the shadow of WrestleMania weekend, that being that the
bloody company seems to have finally been sold.
Yes, as reported first by CNBC WWE will reportedly be sold to… drumroll please…
Endeavor.
Take that Saudi PIF.
While Triple H, Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman were questioned about the sale, nobody made
a comment.
Trips did allude to something happening with his closing comments where he assured everyone
that regardless “WWE was going nowhere”.
The concern that led to Triple H’s comments perhaps comes from the report that Endeavour
plans to merge WWE and UFC under the same umbrella following the deal.
However, while that may lead to concern the general-consensus from many talent is a positive
one, with Fightful Select noting that talent were “ecstatic” that the company wouldn’t
be sold to the Saudi PIF.
Not only that but according to Fightful, the sale to Endeavour could be a massive positive
for talent freedom, that is if the company adopts the same policies as they do for UFC
fighters.
At present, contracted fighters are allowed to have exclusive content pages such as OnlyFans
and Brand Army, something WWE have been a bit funny about in recent years.
The sale itself was said to be negotiated in LA over WrestleMania weekend, however,
Fightful Select notes that the deal with Endeavour was in motion “well ahead of that”.
Endeavour will reportedly take 51% of the company while the other 49% would go to WWE
shareholders as a new publicly traded company.
As for Vince McMahon’s potential role in an Endeavour-owned WWE, Fightful notes that
while UFC president Dana White was retained following Endeavour’s purchasing of the
company back in 2016, the same could not be confirmed to be happening with McMahon.
The deal to sell to Endeavour was also reportedly in the works before Vince signed his recent
two-year deal.
Fightful also adds that those with knowledge of the situation have told them that Vince
would likely have “protections” to keep him in the company or have a “healthy severance
clause” in the event he was let go following the sale of the company.
Vince’s future role in the company was previously reported to be a major factor in the sale
process, being a “sticking point” for many of WWE’s potential suitors.
As for current head of creative Triple H, according to Fightful’s Endeavour source,
they reportedly trust in what they've seen out of him”, not only that but they also
have “a general respect for the work Stephanie McMahon did before leaving”, potentially
leaving the door open for a return and also perhaps easing fears of Vince taking full
reigns of WWE creative once the sale is complete.
As today is the day things are meant to be made official make sure to stay locked to
Wrestletalk.com for any and all updates on
the situation.