The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling every Tuesday in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
The Rock and Cody Rhodes gave one of the best endings to “Monday Night Raw” in a long time — a gritty, throwback-feeling segment that even the Chicago rain cooperated with.
It was a perfect one-show story arc of Rock whispering something to Rhodes after his surprise appearance at the beginning of the episode.
Rhodes would only reveal Rock made a promise he could not keep, and then the legend went on to keep it in bloody fashion. It’s something Rock needed to do after having not yet responded to Rhodes slapping him.
Watching that and the much more tempered segment we received from Rhodes and Roman Reigns on Smackdown, I couldn’t help but make a few observations about WWE main event feuds going into WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia in less than two weeks.
1. We are at the point where Cody Rhodes vs. The Rock is getting a better build than Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns
We will see what comes next week, but in many ways, WWE has punted on fully fleshing out the second act of Rhodes-Reigns story, relying on the fact Rhodes needs to finish his story. Rock is doing anything he can to keep the belt on his cousin and there are questions about whether Reigns can trust “The Great One” and if Rhodes can trust Seth Rollins.
There seems to be a lack of passion between Rhodes and Reigns and the Tribal Chief treats the two-time Royal Rumble winner as a nuisance and not on his level, and it doesn’t seem to bother the American Nightmare.
The Rock is mocking Rhodes’ mom and dog while Roman is out there calling him a No. 2 and mocking his goodwill to strangers. Reigns, whose best work in all this may have come on “The Pat McAfee Show,” needs a big finish in the coming week to change this feeling as the creative constraints of his part-time schedule are showing.
2. Cody Rhodes needs more help
The numbers game doesn’t add up with the Bloodline having four members and the challenger having just Rollins and Jey Uso to back him up. Rock as the “Final Boss” is the equivalent of Super Shredder or Thanos, so you will need a larger edge in the numbers game or his equal to take him down. So what could that mean for Rhodes?
It could mean the rest of the babyfaces wronged by the Bloodline come to his aid against Reigns. There could be a betrayal. The Rhodes family — his mom, sister and wife, or in an unlikely dream scenario Dustin Rhodes — help finish Dusty’s story too. The last option is a star as big as Rock being the one to neutralize him in a babyface passing-of-the-torch moment. That means three men: Triple H, John Cena or “Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, in my opinion.
3. WWE’s overproduced, over-polished era is coming to an end
Even earlier in the show, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre and Rollins were allowed to riff off each other. The segment saw Punk dare McIntyre to say Vince McMahon’s name like he was Lord Voldemort or Beetlejuice. When it came to Rock and Cody, there were plenty of bleeped-out portions and Rock even dropped an F-bomb.
The blood itself was a line WWE shied away from crossing under McMahon. The way it was shot with Rock grabbing the camera also felt more gritty. With McMahon and Kevin Dunn no longer at the helm, WWE is continuing to push the envelope. Raw moving to Netflix next year will further allow it to distance itself from true PG programs.
4. Cody Rhodes needs to man up more when face-to-face with Roman Reigns
I wish Rhodes would have said some of the things he did in his opening promo on Raw to Reigns’ face on SmackDown and not to the camera. Rhodes explained going above and beyond for fans because Reigns is not around so he has to pretend to be the champion because of it. He told Reigns, “I hate your guts” and called a potential Reigns-Rock match a “wankfest.” Those would have been better barbs on Friday.
New AEW Pay-Per-View Destination
AEW is expanding where fans can watch their pay-per-views in North America — including the U.S. The company’s next three premium live events, Dynasty, Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door, will all stream live on Triller TV (previously FITE) along with Bleacher Report, The Post has learned. AEW had been using the company to stream its pay-per-views only internationally to this point. Dynasty is already available for purchase.
The move doesn’t come as a surprise as it’s likely a reaction to numerous recurring streaming issues with the Bleacher Report app — which I have encountered firsthand. Many customers complained about being unable to view the start of Revolution earlier this month, leading to AEW president Tony Khan issuing a statement and pivoting to Triller.
“For anyone with issues ordering on @BleacherReport, I understand BR’s app has now fixed the issue on most platforms + just to ensure everyone can view the ppv, we’ve now been cleared to offer Revolution on @FiteTV in the US as well!” Khan said at the time.
Triller, which also streams MLW, TNA, GCW and others, will now be an alternative destination for AEW for at least the next three pay-per-views.
Small Steps Forward
The AEW women’s division had a good night Wednesday. Willow Nightingale looking like she was going to attack Mercedes Monè — who again got a live promo to open that show — with a chair for a potential heel turn added the necessary wrinkle to what up until then was an average segment. That led to a rare follow-up backstage that fet WWE-like to show Moné’s animosity toward Nightingale growing.
Thunder Rosa later pinning AEW women’s champion Toni Storm during a tag match could put her at odds with partner Deonna Purrazzo and put the former champ in line for a shot at the title she never lost. Then Nightingale, Kris Statlander, Julia Hart and Skye Blue had a brutally entertaining street fight in the Rampage main event. It felt like a little more care and attention were put into things all night.
The 10 Count
The back-and-forth banter between CM Punk, McIntyre and Rollins was fantastic and refreshingly unscripted. But I could have done without WWE teasing Punk’s WrestleMania role the entire way for him to just be doing commentary. Rollins should have avoided the polling of the crowd, which wanted a referee, and Punk should have never shown he could count with his good arm. It took some air out of the revelation of Punk’s true fate.
Have been impressed by Roxanne Perez’s heel transformation. You saw her gradually go from an ultra babyface to a full heel in the last few weeks and she is fully committed to the presentation with her energy, cadence and facials.
It looks like Becky Lynch may have caught Dominik Mysterio stiff with her punch and the fire she showed after Rhea Ripley brought up her daughter was exactly what we needed to see. WWE is certainly crafting a story of Mysterio and J.D. McDonagh being screw-ups right now. Curious how that could affect Judgment Day’s outcomes at WrestleMania.
Chris Jericho did a good thing by attempting to put Hook over in the way he did. I’m just not sold on how effective it was because Hook is a babyface right now. The FTW champion dominated the legend in a way a heel Brock Lesnar used to toss around opponents. It was hard to feel good watching it. Hook using a roll-up to gain his first-ever pinfall win was a nice ending, however.
Enjoying the pacing of WWE’s story with Bayley and Bianca Belair with incremental growth weekly. Naomi talking facts to the EST about Damage CTRL’s domination intentions and having the attack on Bayley leaving Belair as the only one to help Naomi. Next week, we could get all three finally standing side by side and Belair and Naomi angling for a women’s tag team title shot.
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams have earned the main event at Stand & Deliver. I’d still like to see a stipulation added, last-man-standing or loser leaves NXT. This should be Hayes’ swansong before the main roster and Williams should go after the NXT championship again.
It was a week of some incredible promos. Eddie Kingston cut two: One after losing the AEW Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada and another to address his Ring of Honor world championship match against Mark Briscoe. Athena, Billie Starkz and Lexy Nair had a fun one on ROH TV and Gabe Kidd went off on New Japan’s new former WWE stars after he re-signed with the company.
You got a sense just watching Ronda Rousey perform she wasn’t having fun during her second WWE run. But I’m not sure we knew she held this much contempt for the company, Vince McMahon, wrestling in Saudi Arabia and the alleged “casting couch” culture there until quotes in her new memoir came out. She’s said she isn’t going back either but remains complimentary of Triple H. So we will see.
With how dominantly the Authors of Pain can be booked, the Street Profits’ win over them in the tag team tournament felt like a nice vote of confidence for Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins.
Highly recommend Becky Lynch’s memoir, “Becky Lynch: The Man, Not You Average Average Girl.” We get a very honest, detailed, and very often humorous look into the life and mind of Rebecca Quin as she battles her self-doubt to go from the young girl teased for her weight in Ireland to one of wrestling’s all-time greatest stars.
Social Media Posts of the Week
Wrestler of the Week
Adam Copeland, AEW
Not counting his three minutes holding the TNT championship the first time, this will be the 50-year-old Copeland’s first title reign since he had to relinquish the World Heavyweight championship in WWE to retire in 2011. Getting to put on quite the spectacle of a match in his hometown of Toronto against his best buddy Christian Cage was certainly a bonus. Things got a little messy in the end and it didn’t come with any surprises, but the match did logically conclude the story. Open challenges begin this week.
Match to Watch
Alex Kane vs. A.J. Francis, MLW War Chamber (Friday, 7 p.m., Thriller+)
Francis, formerly Top Dolla, has done a nice job establishing himself as a singles act since his WWE release by using his ability to rap and freestyle. He and Kane, who is coming off an extended run as MLW world champion, have had some pretty heated back-and-forths since February. In one of his more high-profile matches to date, Francis can continue to rise up another rung in his post-WWE career
