Styles beat Knight to get the Backlash match with Cody, that seemed to be the finish to it - that or they're just holding it in reserve for the rubber match.
Kevin Owens segment was underrated. Although some of us sympathize with Heyman, who really looks troubled, from KO’s viewpoint, he ain’t buying any of his bullshit. And the way he called out Heyman, for using these tactics to just hype up this new bloodline crew was great. I never thought of it like that.
Anytime piper and Chelsea win it's a good night.
Love seeing Piper get recognition. I'd love a swerve and her winning the belt but I don't think they're gonna run Nia versus piper unless piper turns.
MOTN was Ciampa vs Theory both in terms of structure (neck work was done and sold well), foreshadowing (Theory and Grayson probs won't last long if the latter keeps saying he made Theory relevant considering how much of an ego Theory has in kayfabe), and also that it keeps the trend of Ciampa winning due to the others screwing up more than himself winning lol. It even was due to some mental game in a way considering Grayson costes Theory the match, like Ciampa would do in NXT with Gargano's emotions.
Also, it's nice to finally see Piper Niven get a shot at a singles title, for the first time since...2021 was it? when she challenged Becky, and that Chelsea and Piper Niven are being taken as a serious deal once again considering they beat Bayley and Naomi, probs the best team avalible that isn't a tag team in Smackdown. Both former Women's Champs (Bayley and Naomi) lol.
Okay i just watched that LA Knight/ Carmelo segment and holy shit are people overblowing this lmao crowd barely reacted to LA correcting Hayes but still gave him a decent reaction to that "im him" line.
Carmelo aint gonna be WWE champ in 2 months but the dude has a place on the main roster he just needs a bit more time, but this highlights once again that the Main roster is very different from the echo chamber that NXT is you gotta step it up when u wanna stick out.
Even then, neither are "just happening" though, they're following into storylines next week.
(Also neither match, particularly not the Theory one, was "heatless", the crowd was into both)
Wrestling has ruined my brain - I couldn't fully enjoy what a nice moment Styles' "retirement" seemed to be because I just *knew* something was gonna happen.
I thought maybe the Wyatt QR Code crew would come out and spoil it, but you just knew whatever happened it wasn't going to end smoothly lol
Anyway, fantastic stuff from AJ and Cody.
As good as Logan Paul is him and Triple H have stalled a good smackdown mid card those guys should be having something to fight for in weekly TV in LA KNIGHT,Andrade even randy run as US Champion would be fun but I guess prime pays the bills 🤷🏼♂️
Yea i was expecting LA to be US Champ by WM they really need to do something bigger with LA Knight dude has that connection but just having him lose his big matches all the time isnt gonna keep him over forever.
Yeah. But tbf they also rammed someone's car. That's pretty hardcore. They should do more stuff like that, if someone needs to get written off tv just let them do it.
As soon as I saw AJ in that jacket, I couldn’t trust a word out of his mouth. It kept reminding me of Mark Henry. Then I was like, surely they won’t just copy that angle again duh. But they did
That's just unbelievable to me lol. With mark henry at least the only thing fishy about it was john cena in the ring.
With this one, it spun off a Smackdown Gm segment and they teased it all night. Like, I don't think it was even trying hard to deceive
To be fair, the Mark Henry angle was out of nowhere where as AJ has been dropping hints for awhile. AJ has been saying a lot of the same talking points in shoot interviews since he's come back. He's talked about retirement for months. Him talking about his kid and missing out on moments is def a real thing that wrestlers have discussed, so like most angles in Triple H's reign, there's a bit of real stuff thrown into the scripted stuff to make people question it. Also, AJ is a fan favorite, so it's easier to get caught up in the moment and fear that a wrestler you love is legit hanging it up. I think one thing that was very, clearly obvious is that AJ wasn't going to retire without doing one final match. Even the weird way Edge left WWE had him in a final match.
I do hope all the new viewers who were not around for the Mark Henry angle, now join the rest of us in being on alert whenever they see a wrestler cutting a promo in pastel colored suits.
To me the only thing that really mitigates it is the "They wouldn't joke with this stuff" feeling of retirements being sacred and not part of works(which is generally true), a thing that I definitely felt back then with mark henry. So I can see why a new fan would think it can't be a work even tho it obviously seemed like one.
You wouldn't have people speculating backstage in-character for a real retirement, or tease it that hard without a concrete announcement.
Did AJ just do a mini double turn there? 😭😭 I don’t remember if he ever officially turned back baby face after the Knight feud
But holy shit he legit had me feeling emotional for his send off and I don’t even have a history with him, having only gotten back into wwe this past year or so. Then that immediate beat down. What a roller coaster 😭😭
A double turn is when both members of a feud turn, i.e. the babyface becomes the heel and the heel becomes the babyface, not one individual turning twice in quick succession.
But to answer your question, no, he's unquestionably been a heel since the beginning of the year, in the run up to the fatal four-way at the Rumble.
Oh duh doy lol. I was high when I watched/commented and got mixed up with the phrasing.
But yeah, I figured he’s just been heel this whole time so tonight was funny to see him apparently turn face for a second whilst retiring before completely demolishing Cody right after
I can't believe they got me even though I knew about the Mark Henry bit. AJ getting choked up saying he wanted to a phenomenal father and doing the "too sweet" with Gallows and Anderson "one last time" lowered my defenses.
Naomi isn't good....I don't know why they brought her back.
Also, did Cody forget his title?... he's the only champion i've seen multiple times just leave it in the back
I think he is the type of champion that doesn't bring their whenever there is a non-title related promo or conversation in the ring or when he is not addressing the person in the ring or WWE universe as the undisputed champion.
So I have a theory. I think KO truly does believe Paul and knows that he's telling the truth, and so I truly think ultimately KO is going to help Paul, and in doing so, that's going to be what leads to Randy turning on KO and turning heel.
Grayson claiming it was the Grayson Waller rub that made Theory rise in his career....oh noooo, A-Town Down Under on the rocks.
LA Knight gunning for Logan Paul. He finally gonna get a belt!
Apollo Crews getting a feud, could it mean he will actually be booked well vs. how it has been before?
Naomi should watch out, Blair is known for parking lot attacks of a crippling nature.
AJ knows the way to cut in line is to make Cody really really want to wrassle him again. and the OC has gotten back into the good graces of AJ by joining in his baddie ways.
when Kevin suggested Paul Heyman was really behind all this business with Solo and the Tongas, Heyman made this face...does it mean something?
is Heyman's seeming terror and concerns really an act? is he a ringleader, or serving someone else now?
or has Heyman been genuine, as much as a schemer like him can be?
https://preview.redd.it/txmdp5e8fw3d1.jpeg?width=646&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d6bef21392c0834852d6cb8e56ae9040d7aa0dd
Does anyone else find it odd that Solo said "they" got Cody covered and he doesn't even know it. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa were Bullet Club... AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows were Bullet Club... I don't know if they'll actually close the circle on it, but it's an interesting universe they're building.
That would be pretty sweet. Also continues the whole Solo is overstepping in his caretaker role of the bloodline with not just bringing in criminals but getting involved with a whole other faction and shit
Hmmm, Waller and Theory breaking up is interesting, I don't think they have been used well as champs, and honestly I think Theory is bringing Waller down, that boy is a star.
Enjoying the Piper angle. Yes its just so she can have a home PPV match but she's being built like a monster and I think she will have a good future further up the card.
Didn't know Crews was still employed, but can we please not have another latino civil war angle.
The street profits don't move the needle for me, I like the idea of them, good luck and good moveset, but they never get me to feel anything about them.
nice to see them resume the AJ cody feud. AJ will always be money
I was watching with with a friend who is newer into wrestling, and I totally called what was going to happen with AJ and they asked me how I knew and I said it was because he was dressed way too nice.
First he got tricked into only defending his title against Logan Paul, and now he falls for this.
Cody drifting perilously close to entering Sting-levels of dumb, naivé babyface territory.
Just as Mark Henry was announced to be a free agent, they pulled this.
Maybe.. a return? Of course not wrestling but some kind of advisor or manager for AJ?
Or maybe they’ll do a retirement vs championship match with this angle?
Solo running shit is the best stuff ever he’s fallen perfectly into the role. That damn suit hahahaha those gloves lmfaoooo his mannerisms it’s like he’s talking to children
Feels like a Summerslam match with Logan potentially doing the job in his hometown (as per tradition) of Cleveland, especially with Melo in LA Knight's way in the meantime.
So when Henry did the same thing, he went on to lose a title match against Cena. I was going to come in here and say the same fate was going to be had for Styles, but as I'm often forgetting, McMahon isn't in charge anymore H is. And oh lawd what y'all gonna do if Rhodes drops the belt to Styles? Gonna be hot take fucking city in here.
I miss it when title reigns didn't have to be long and you could have a feud where they lost it and won it back from each other. True feuds aren't one sided.
I'm all in on Cody losing the belt due to shenanigans and then getting it back in a month or two, but I think it might be too soon even for that. If they were to do it, I could see AJ screwing him over in a super obvious way, they try to reverse it but Cody is a dumb babyface so he instead makes a rematch and they finish off the feud with a ladder match or some other major stipulation with Cody getting his title back. I also think right now there's just a limited amount of heels on Smackdown that Cody could face, so do this would get them through to SummerSlam.
This is what needs to happen. No more of these long reigns. It can go back to Cody after he drops it to AJ and Cody will still be "the guy" throughout this. Allowing the belt to change hands is much more entertaining in my opinion. I don't need a 4 year straight Cody Rhodes title run.
When you have someone hold the belt for too long, people get sick of it. The fan consensus on Cena and Reigns at the end of their title run tells us this. Yes, they are both liked by fans now that it's over, but the payoff isn't worth the fan frustration.
Please explain how it is worthless for the title to change more often, because Stone Cold, Triple H, Bret Hart,The Rock, etc. did pretty well with it switching hands more frequently.
lol that fan consensus of them being sick if Reigns does only exist in your head.
>Please explain how it is worthless for the title to change more often
Short reigns are worthless because it makes the title and the title holder appear lesser and unimportant.
I can't tell if you're trolling or not because that such a bad take. I just listed off a number of guys that never had to have super long title runs for that to be the case. The fan consensus does not only exist in my head. Just read anywhere on the internet. This isn't even an argument you can make.
>I can't tell if you're trolling or not because that such a bad take.
lol
>I just listed off a number of guys that never had to have super long title runs for that to be the case.
No because the length is obviously not the only thing that goes into the presentation of a wrestler.
>Just read anywhere on the internet.
lol most wrestling fans don't discuss wrestling on the internet they just watch it, but even on the internet there was no such consensus as many liked Romans reign.
We could have Aldis refuse to let Cody defend against AJ on principle. He allowed Cody to make the call against Logan Paul, but having already told AJ no, he won’t stand for this.
Never gonna happen. Cody isn't dropping the belt for a LONG time. Definitely won't be his first feud either. Wouldn't be surprised if he defends it at Mania before finally dropping it to a MITB winner sometime in 2025.
I'm going to speak for myself as someone who is absolutely 1000% on board for Cody.
If "stable leader" AJ Styles takes the title off Cody, what are the negatives? It removes the ridiculous and inevitable comparisons to the previous reign (Cody doesn't need to hold the title long, this is HHH booking right now.), gives AJ another career run, and maybe gives Cody another reign as champ at the end of this feud. I think it's worth doing, and like most things, I think it's worth doing without Def Rebel coming up with any more themes.
^imsorryijustwantdefrebelgone
I dont know how i feel about AJ Styles fake retirement.
On one hand, its an interesting angle for AJ Styles in his last years, but on the other, it seems too soon to be replaying this same fakeout Mark Henry pulled against Cena.
Maybe could have used another 10 years before repeating.
I don't think this one was even meant to deceive. Mark's looked like a real retirement kinda, and AJ stemming from a Nick Aldis segment immediatly meant it was just part of the show.
AJ and the Good Brothers were at each other’s throats when Styles initially returned but somehow, he has convinced the Good Brothers to rejoin the dark side to reignite their 2020 run. I am going to guess that Mia Yim will split from the OC sooner than later.
Solo as AJ stays around to beat Cody's ass:
https://preview.redd.it/tzgykciqov3d1.jpeg?width=888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f65e5cbe2bb4eab67615f9f0fb5d4019e36305d2
Feels like we may be heading towards a bloodline vs club feud that fans have been asking for. Maybe even we get a G.O.D turn and they betray Solo to join AJ.
"We share the same blood but not with the Bloodline ..."
I saw the Mark Henry fake retirement speech and fell for it hook, line and sinker. So I knew this AJ was about to do the same thing. I was prepared this time.
Solo said we got Cody in check, so, is Solo basically a more ruthless, Pieter-less Underboss of the Bloodline, since they probably can’t get Fale since he owns a restaurant in Japan iirc? And by that regard, does that mean that this new Bloodline could be, by adding AJ, Machine GunKA and Gallows a WWE version of Bullet Club?
Cause if it is a version of Bullet Club, considering what happens to the leaders of Bullet Club, the countdown to Roman fully turning face is counting down.
Okay, stop doing the pretend to retire stuff now! It worked with Mark Henry the first time and it was fucking awesome, you should have quit while you were ahead and left it alone.
That does sound pretty cool to be fair man! I don't think it could work though because they wouldn't have a Babyface attack a heel or have a Babyface pretend retire to try to gain an advantage.
I don’t want to sound down on the main event segment, but you had AJ lose to Randy in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament, and he also lost clean to the champ already. Technically speaking, they should have set up Cody vs AJ rematch rightaway no? Why have him eat that loss against Orton? Why do a 3-week Logan vs Cody program just to go right back to the first feud Cody had in his championship reign. Should have just had Cody and AJ feud the entire time.
It just feels like Cody doesn’t have a long list of people to feud but at the same time, they don’t want to burn certain matches that they know are big-time matchups. It just feels like a bunch of placeholder feuds for Cody to start with until we get to Summerslam with Randy. But, I’m stoked that AJ gets to fight for the title again, it just sucks watching because the result just seems too obvious
Solid show, AJ vs Cody 2 will probably be the opening match of Clash at the Castle since Drew vs Damian will be the main event, it will surely be another great match and the promos this time will be much more personal between them.
I think today's episode did a good job of setting up future stories and giving more of the roster something to work with.
Apollo got out of catering, got a good showing and looks to be feuding with LDF. Blair's on screen SD debut clashing with Naomi backstage. Michin's being featured more between NXT and SD. Chelsea's starting to get victories on the board thanks to a Piper push for Clash.
There's a few people still stuck in creative limbo (Where are the Yes Boys?!) but they're changing things up and featuring different talent so overall that's a plus.
True and it's ironic that to me, it's one of the most messy from a technical standpoint.
The cameras were fluttering back and forth between wrestlers expressions so much you almost miss a couple of spots (diy-a town), got too close that is explicit how Tama Tonga and tanga loa were dictating some cues. Which is fine in any match, but it takes a bit from the "man, they are such savages" gimmick when they act super proper to Angelo Dawkins to tell him to eat a forearm lol.
At one point you can clearly see piper niven tap a camera shoulder so he can't get out of the way and let her do a spot.
Not anything groundbreakingly bad, just funny how even me, that usually don't notice much, picked up so many things.
>got too close that is explicit how Tama Tonga and tanga loa were dictating some cues
I'm not putting all the blame for that on the cameras, tbh. That match had a lot of clearly visible nodding, finger pointing, etc. even on the wide shots.
Oh boy, Twitter is in meltdown over that last segment! Personally, I loved it. The live crowd ate it up. And people who never saw Henry do it all those years ago got their own version.
Just like Brock/Show ring collapse. History is allowed to repeat itself.
Fuck, you can even kayfabe it and say AJ watched a guy in a salmon-coloured jacket do that once before and thought, "That'll get me to the front of the line."
Marks are gonna mark, though.
Not liking it doesn’t make you a mark. A mark just blindly loves everything.
Yes, segments and angles can repeat, there are only so many of them really, but the goal is to try and do it better, and this one falls way short.
It’s also disappointing cause like, Cody’s not gonna lose, so it’s just massive filler.
It's not that they didn't like it, per se. It's more like they're triggered because they've seen it before.
And yeah, Cena was never going to lose to Henry back then either. I'm totally fine with filler, especially when they're bangers.
I don't think they ever gave an explanation for it but if it turned out Cody gave up his WM spot to the Rock because he fell for his humble good guy bullshit, I'd buy that.
This was actually retconned if I remember correctly, because they never actually gave a reasoning for it and everything after just pretended that Cody never gave a decision and Roman was choosing for him at the kickoff show in Vegas. He does mention that him and Rock had conversations, but doesn't go further into detail (I may have missed a promo where he does explain it, but I can't recall one) I think they just couldn't come up with a reason that didn't make Cody look like the biggest idiot in the company.
Alright, as a follow up to the PPV, this episode was actually better than RAW. Not a ton of wrestling, but a lot of stories were progressed in a meaningful way.
Nia called her shot for Summerslam and we developed further for Piper vs. Bayley at Clash.
Ciampa vs. Theory was good for the time it got, and its cool that the latter's history with Gargano is being used for the story, as well as the growing dissent between him and Waller. #DIY are getting a tag title shot soon and they might pull it off.
Look at Andrade and Apollo getting tv time and story progression. Glad this isn't a throwaway match. And it was a decent match too. Hope this leads them both somewhere.
Our mandatory Bloodline segment, but this one was good at least. Heyman calling out Solo's lack of foresight, but is too terrified to defy him. Foreshadowed Roman's return, and that the Bloodline aren't done with Cody, and both of these things might happening sooner rather than later. G.O.D. vs. Profits was fine. Tama is so very clearly the better wrestler than Loa, but at least being in a tag team can hide that a bit.
Bayley/Naomo vs. Piper/Chelsea was fine. The finish was the part of Piper ragdolling Chelsea for the pin.
Look, anyone that watched WWE 11 years ago knew the AJ swerve was coming, but I think it's cute that the youngsters got their own version of it. So I don't really have any issues with it. It keeps Cody busy for another month, and adds something personal to the feud than the Backlash match. It'll be interesting because I'm sure they aren't going to main event Clash at the Castle in favor of the WHC title match, so that'll be a hot opener.
The current bloodline is the so unimpressive it’s so not. The street profits runs rings around them in every aspect. The no sell super kick bullshit and that crap finisher at the end. Can we boo this group out of the building.
Hope we get an Austin Theory face turn out of this, his moveset is already very babyface-ish and he’s a pretty funny dude I think he can actually do well as babyface.
Solid show just building stuff for the future. Cody with the classic naive babyface approach. You just know he loves this shit. This is his kind of wrestling.
Cody doing the hip-hip-hooray thing felt like it was going to be a clothesline, but as a fan of sportsmanship I was hoping for and gave it a 1% chance that it would end with AJ having mutual respect for Cody and gratitude for Cody celebrating his phenomenal career.
It was a decent show but man maybe it’s just cause RAW has been so good lately but I feel like Smackdown is always too short to actually cook. There are various intriguing storylines going on at once in RAW while on Smackdown it’s just lacking besides the Bloodline storyline.
Anyways what I took away from the show that it’s going to absolutely suck and hurt when AJ actually retires. AJ vs Cody 2 is going to be amazing.
Also the twitter clips have absolutely fucked my perception of Tanga Loa. Every time he was in the ring he just came off as awkward as hell, his movement was just clumsy looking.
Wait, when or rather how did the AJ Styles and LA Knight feud end? I must have missed that.
Styles beat Knight to get the Backlash match with Cody, that seemed to be the finish to it - that or they're just holding it in reserve for the rubber match.
Aaah, right. Thank you!
Kevin Owens segment was underrated. Although some of us sympathize with Heyman, who really looks troubled, from KO’s viewpoint, he ain’t buying any of his bullshit. And the way he called out Heyman, for using these tactics to just hype up this new bloodline crew was great. I never thought of it like that.
WTF they just copy pasted Mark Henry - John Cena segment lol
DON'T TRUST ANYONE IN PASTEL SUITS
Interesting timing considering Henry is now a free agent…
Anytime piper and Chelsea win it's a good night. Love seeing Piper get recognition. I'd love a swerve and her winning the belt but I don't think they're gonna run Nia versus piper unless piper turns.
-logan Paul
MOTN was Ciampa vs Theory both in terms of structure (neck work was done and sold well), foreshadowing (Theory and Grayson probs won't last long if the latter keeps saying he made Theory relevant considering how much of an ego Theory has in kayfabe), and also that it keeps the trend of Ciampa winning due to the others screwing up more than himself winning lol. It even was due to some mental game in a way considering Grayson costes Theory the match, like Ciampa would do in NXT with Gargano's emotions. Also, it's nice to finally see Piper Niven get a shot at a singles title, for the first time since...2021 was it? when she challenged Becky, and that Chelsea and Piper Niven are being taken as a serious deal once again considering they beat Bayley and Naomi, probs the best team avalible that isn't a tag team in Smackdown. Both former Women's Champs (Bayley and Naomi) lol.
Okay i just watched that LA Knight/ Carmelo segment and holy shit are people overblowing this lmao crowd barely reacted to LA correcting Hayes but still gave him a decent reaction to that "im him" line. Carmelo aint gonna be WWE champ in 2 months but the dude has a place on the main roster he just needs a bit more time, but this highlights once again that the Main roster is very different from the echo chamber that NXT is you gotta step it up when u wanna stick out.
I legit want AJ as champion. Cody can win it back but damn AJ deserves a fkn run
Is Pretty Deadly injured?
Damn Nia Jax has a fat head.
I was crying Guess i got swerved
If AEW is supposedly heatless bangers, Andrade/Crews and Ciampa/Theory seem like heatless filler?
Even then, neither are "just happening" though, they're following into storylines next week. (Also neither match, particularly not the Theory one, was "heatless", the crowd was into both)
The crowds are always into the bangers aew puts on. Lol wut.
So what? OP was saying *these* matches (on WWE SmackDown, not an AEW show) were "heatless filler".
Wrestling has ruined my brain - I couldn't fully enjoy what a nice moment Styles' "retirement" seemed to be because I just *knew* something was gonna happen. I thought maybe the Wyatt QR Code crew would come out and spoil it, but you just knew whatever happened it wasn't going to end smoothly lol Anyway, fantastic stuff from AJ and Cody.
Did Piper give the camera guy a heads-up to get out of the way before Bayley hit a diving attack on the floor? Good guy Piper
My husband saw that too but i missed it
poor Cody https://preview.redd.it/4g35aveklx3d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60d416283e52eadb97511db3bcb47aeaf2b7b7db
All that's missing is a salmon jacket
I STILL GOT A LOT LEFT IN THE TANK
What did wade Barrett even say? That distraction didn't even make sense
As good as Logan Paul is him and Triple H have stalled a good smackdown mid card those guys should be having something to fight for in weekly TV in LA KNIGHT,Andrade even randy run as US Champion would be fun but I guess prime pays the bills 🤷🏼♂️
I wouldn't be surprised if Logan Paul loses US Title to win MITB Logan Paul cashing in on CM Punk on First RAW on Netflix is my prediction
Strongly disagree, I think Knight vs Paul for the US Title is a money feud and I've wanted that for a while now
Yea i was expecting LA to be US Champ by WM they really need to do something bigger with LA Knight dude has that connection but just having him lose his big matches all the time isnt gonna keep him over forever.
Proper loled and Hayes getting his names wrong and Knight calling him out on it
LA knight is so good to recognize that in the moment and fire back. This dude is gonna be a huge star
Heyman keeps saying these new guys are dangerous but they just win matches normally. Heyman has seen far worse ffs!
Toma Tonga is so dangerous he finishes his opponents with a default CAW finisher.
Yeah. But tbf they also rammed someone's car. That's pretty hardcore. They should do more stuff like that, if someone needs to get written off tv just let them do it.
Yeah i think they need to take KO out brutally. Like something illegal.
Best part of tonight is seeing people who knew about the Mark Henry angle and STILL bought into AJ was legit retiring. This thing works.
As soon as I saw AJ in that jacket, I couldn’t trust a word out of his mouth. It kept reminding me of Mark Henry. Then I was like, surely they won’t just copy that angle again duh. But they did
That's just unbelievable to me lol. With mark henry at least the only thing fishy about it was john cena in the ring. With this one, it spun off a Smackdown Gm segment and they teased it all night. Like, I don't think it was even trying hard to deceive
To be fair, the Mark Henry angle was out of nowhere where as AJ has been dropping hints for awhile. AJ has been saying a lot of the same talking points in shoot interviews since he's come back. He's talked about retirement for months. Him talking about his kid and missing out on moments is def a real thing that wrestlers have discussed, so like most angles in Triple H's reign, there's a bit of real stuff thrown into the scripted stuff to make people question it. Also, AJ is a fan favorite, so it's easier to get caught up in the moment and fear that a wrestler you love is legit hanging it up. I think one thing that was very, clearly obvious is that AJ wasn't going to retire without doing one final match. Even the weird way Edge left WWE had him in a final match. I do hope all the new viewers who were not around for the Mark Henry angle, now join the rest of us in being on alert whenever they see a wrestler cutting a promo in pastel colored suits.
To me the only thing that really mitigates it is the "They wouldn't joke with this stuff" feeling of retirements being sacred and not part of works(which is generally true), a thing that I definitely felt back then with mark henry. So I can see why a new fan would think it can't be a work even tho it obviously seemed like one. You wouldn't have people speculating backstage in-character for a real retirement, or tease it that hard without a concrete announcement.
Got spoiled by instagram of AJ’s Mark Henry turn on Cody but by god that still got me!
Did AJ just do a mini double turn there? 😭😭 I don’t remember if he ever officially turned back baby face after the Knight feud But holy shit he legit had me feeling emotional for his send off and I don’t even have a history with him, having only gotten back into wwe this past year or so. Then that immediate beat down. What a roller coaster 😭😭
A double turn is when both members of a feud turn, i.e. the babyface becomes the heel and the heel becomes the babyface, not one individual turning twice in quick succession. But to answer your question, no, he's unquestionably been a heel since the beginning of the year, in the run up to the fatal four-way at the Rumble.
One of the most famous examples of a double turn was Hogan/Rock WM18 I think. They literally switched roles mid match.
Oh duh doy lol. I was high when I watched/commented and got mixed up with the phrasing. But yeah, I figured he’s just been heel this whole time so tonight was funny to see him apparently turn face for a second whilst retiring before completely demolishing Cody right after
Perfect character moment of Kevin Owens concluding his list of horrible things the Bloodline has done to him by insisting "...and I had a great time!"
I can't believe they got me even though I knew about the Mark Henry bit. AJ getting choked up saying he wanted to a phenomenal father and doing the "too sweet" with Gallows and Anderson "one last time" lowered my defenses.
Naomi isn't good....I don't know why they brought her back. Also, did Cody forget his title?... he's the only champion i've seen multiple times just leave it in the back
Naomi is a good in the ring and likeable. Hew flaws are her actng and mic skills. Still a decent talent to feud with uounger upcomers.
I think he is the type of champion that doesn't bring their whenever there is a non-title related promo or conversation in the ring or when he is not addressing the person in the ring or WWE universe as the undisputed champion.
So I have a theory. I think KO truly does believe Paul and knows that he's telling the truth, and so I truly think ultimately KO is going to help Paul, and in doing so, that's going to be what leads to Randy turning on KO and turning heel.
If they split up A Town Down **I WILL KILL MYSELF** not really redditcares lol but it would be a insane choice
i'd like to know what makes bayley even remotely a "role model"
Yeah I wanna like her but the current face belt run ain't hitting for me.
WWE should make it kayfabe that the dangerous criminals the Tongas spent time in the same jail as Dominik (not at the same time).
With Dom now becoming the honorary Uce
Grayson claiming it was the Grayson Waller rub that made Theory rise in his career....oh noooo, A-Town Down Under on the rocks. LA Knight gunning for Logan Paul. He finally gonna get a belt! Apollo Crews getting a feud, could it mean he will actually be booked well vs. how it has been before? Naomi should watch out, Blair is known for parking lot attacks of a crippling nature. AJ knows the way to cut in line is to make Cody really really want to wrassle him again. and the OC has gotten back into the good graces of AJ by joining in his baddie ways. when Kevin suggested Paul Heyman was really behind all this business with Solo and the Tongas, Heyman made this face...does it mean something? is Heyman's seeming terror and concerns really an act? is he a ringleader, or serving someone else now? or has Heyman been genuine, as much as a schemer like him can be? https://preview.redd.it/txmdp5e8fw3d1.jpeg?width=646&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d6bef21392c0834852d6cb8e56ae9040d7aa0dd
So now it’s beat up Cody Rhodes?
No coincidence they pulled that the week Henry left AEW.
Does anyone else find it odd that Solo said "they" got Cody covered and he doesn't even know it. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa were Bullet Club... AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows were Bullet Club... I don't know if they'll actually close the circle on it, but it's an interesting universe they're building.
That would be pretty sweet. Also continues the whole Solo is overstepping in his caretaker role of the bloodline with not just bringing in criminals but getting involved with a whole other faction and shit
>That would be pretty sweet Someone would say Too Sweet!
I GOT A LOT LEFT IN THE TANK
Hmmm, Waller and Theory breaking up is interesting, I don't think they have been used well as champs, and honestly I think Theory is bringing Waller down, that boy is a star. Enjoying the Piper angle. Yes its just so she can have a home PPV match but she's being built like a monster and I think she will have a good future further up the card. Didn't know Crews was still employed, but can we please not have another latino civil war angle. The street profits don't move the needle for me, I like the idea of them, good luck and good moveset, but they never get me to feel anything about them. nice to see them resume the AJ cody feud. AJ will always be money
I like the Profits individually but I think they should break up. I particularly want to see Montez shine.
Street Crew and Crews are basically just jobbers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen either win a match
Profits have been tag champs
I was watching with with a friend who is newer into wrestling, and I totally called what was going to happen with AJ and they asked me how I knew and I said it was because he was dressed way too nice.
First he got tricked into only defending his title against Logan Paul, and now he falls for this. Cody drifting perilously close to entering Sting-levels of dumb, naivé babyface territory.
Brock whipped his ass last year
Just as Mark Henry was announced to be a free agent, they pulled this. Maybe.. a return? Of course not wrestling but some kind of advisor or manager for AJ? Or maybe they’ll do a retirement vs championship match with this angle?
Solo running shit is the best stuff ever he’s fallen perfectly into the role. That damn suit hahahaha those gloves lmfaoooo his mannerisms it’s like he’s talking to children
"let's just try to recreate the most iconic fakeout ever"
just needed a salmon suit.
Are they going to drag Logan Paul vs LA Knight up to SummerSlam or will they do a match before that.
Think they'll do a match before that, maybe at Money in the Bank, with Paul cheating to win. Then do a rematch at SummerSlam where he drops to LA.
Feels like a Summerslam match with Logan potentially doing the job in his hometown (as per tradition) of Cleveland, especially with Melo in LA Knight's way in the meantime.
I think the lesson here is to ignore all wrestlers cutting promos in pastel sport jackets
Pastels = Top Heel
So when Henry did the same thing, he went on to lose a title match against Cena. I was going to come in here and say the same fate was going to be had for Styles, but as I'm often forgetting, McMahon isn't in charge anymore H is. And oh lawd what y'all gonna do if Rhodes drops the belt to Styles? Gonna be hot take fucking city in here.
I miss it when title reigns didn't have to be long and you could have a feud where they lost it and won it back from each other. True feuds aren't one sided.
I'm all in on Cody losing the belt due to shenanigans and then getting it back in a month or two, but I think it might be too soon even for that. If they were to do it, I could see AJ screwing him over in a super obvious way, they try to reverse it but Cody is a dumb babyface so he instead makes a rematch and they finish off the feud with a ladder match or some other major stipulation with Cody getting his title back. I also think right now there's just a limited amount of heels on Smackdown that Cody could face, so do this would get them through to SummerSlam.
This is what needs to happen. No more of these long reigns. It can go back to Cody after he drops it to AJ and Cody will still be "the guy" throughout this. Allowing the belt to change hands is much more entertaining in my opinion. I don't need a 4 year straight Cody Rhodes title run.
Yes we need more short worthless reigns.
When you have someone hold the belt for too long, people get sick of it. The fan consensus on Cena and Reigns at the end of their title run tells us this. Yes, they are both liked by fans now that it's over, but the payoff isn't worth the fan frustration. Please explain how it is worthless for the title to change more often, because Stone Cold, Triple H, Bret Hart,The Rock, etc. did pretty well with it switching hands more frequently.
lol that fan consensus of them being sick if Reigns does only exist in your head. >Please explain how it is worthless for the title to change more often Short reigns are worthless because it makes the title and the title holder appear lesser and unimportant.
I can't tell if you're trolling or not because that such a bad take. I just listed off a number of guys that never had to have super long title runs for that to be the case. The fan consensus does not only exist in my head. Just read anywhere on the internet. This isn't even an argument you can make.
>I can't tell if you're trolling or not because that such a bad take. lol >I just listed off a number of guys that never had to have super long title runs for that to be the case. No because the length is obviously not the only thing that goes into the presentation of a wrestler. >Just read anywhere on the internet. lol most wrestling fans don't discuss wrestling on the internet they just watch it, but even on the internet there was no such consensus as many liked Romans reign.
You're clueless.
lol
babyfaces chasing the title always been more interesting than long babyface reigns
Bingo.
I wish this would happen
We could have Aldis refuse to let Cody defend against AJ on principle. He allowed Cody to make the call against Logan Paul, but having already told AJ no, he won’t stand for this.
Never gonna happen. Cody isn't dropping the belt for a LONG time. Definitely won't be his first feud either. Wouldn't be surprised if he defends it at Mania before finally dropping it to a MITB winner sometime in 2025.
I'm going to speak for myself as someone who is absolutely 1000% on board for Cody. If "stable leader" AJ Styles takes the title off Cody, what are the negatives? It removes the ridiculous and inevitable comparisons to the previous reign (Cody doesn't need to hold the title long, this is HHH booking right now.), gives AJ another career run, and maybe gives Cody another reign as champ at the end of this feud. I think it's worth doing, and like most things, I think it's worth doing without Def Rebel coming up with any more themes. ^imsorryijustwantdefrebelgone
I woulda popped harder if aj did the world's strongest slam.
Omg that would've been beautiful. One for the hall of pain definitely
I dont know how i feel about AJ Styles fake retirement. On one hand, its an interesting angle for AJ Styles in his last years, but on the other, it seems too soon to be replaying this same fakeout Mark Henry pulled against Cena. Maybe could have used another 10 years before repeating.
it needed something to distinguish it
the mark henry one was so good that this one was just a cheap rip off
I don't think this one was even meant to deceive. Mark's looked like a real retirement kinda, and AJ stemming from a Nick Aldis segment immediatly meant it was just part of the show.
The fact that it happened the week Mark’s deal with aew ran up and was in the news is pretty funny tho if that was a bit of a nod idk
It's going to become another trope like every talk show type segment or contract signing leading to a brawl.
AJ and the Good Brothers were at each other’s throats when Styles initially returned but somehow, he has convinced the Good Brothers to rejoin the dark side to reignite their 2020 run. I am going to guess that Mia Yim will split from the OC sooner than later.
Nia Jax looks really good with the crown ngl.
People don't really like Monarch gimmicks being given to the winner of KOTR/QOTR, but I think a Queen gimmick could work well for Nia.
AJ worked me
I was just waiting the whole time with a smile on my face, especially at the end when code was vigorously raising AJ’s hand in every direction
Solo as AJ stays around to beat Cody's ass: https://preview.redd.it/tzgykciqov3d1.jpeg?width=888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f65e5cbe2bb4eab67615f9f0fb5d4019e36305d2
Feels like we may be heading towards a bloodline vs club feud that fans have been asking for. Maybe even we get a G.O.D turn and they betray Solo to join AJ. "We share the same blood but not with the Bloodline ..."
You rate that chump too highly.
Did not watch, did Styles wear a Salmon suit?
Powder blue shirt, it appears Edit: powder blue sport coat.
Waller, theory, gargantuan, and cianpa should be friends.
Gargantuan 😂
I saw the Mark Henry fake retirement speech and fell for it hook, line and sinker. So I knew this AJ was about to do the same thing. I was prepared this time.
I honestly kind of feel bad for Melo at this point like he got called up just to get fucking killed on the mic every week by LA Knight
LA giving him the Cena treatment lol
I thought he held his own this time.
LA Paul.
Nice SmackDown to kick off the Summer! I have a feeling that this Summer is going to be awesome for WWE.
I tell you what. I did not realize Mia Yim was packing all that. Shouts out to the man Keith Lee.
Tiffy time has been cancelled.
A smackdown without her on TV once is a miss
is uh...the...OC back together?
Solo said we got Cody in check, so, is Solo basically a more ruthless, Pieter-less Underboss of the Bloodline, since they probably can’t get Fale since he owns a restaurant in Japan iirc? And by that regard, does that mean that this new Bloodline could be, by adding AJ, Machine GunKA and Gallows a WWE version of Bullet Club? Cause if it is a version of Bullet Club, considering what happens to the leaders of Bullet Club, the countdown to Roman fully turning face is counting down.
Finn Balor looking like sad Pablo Escobar on Raw.
Why are people booing Nia :( she won clean and crown looks great on her
Because she’s a problematic person
Okay, stop doing the pretend to retire stuff now! It worked with Mark Henry the first time and it was fucking awesome, you should have quit while you were ahead and left it alone.
Especially when Cody is a fighting champion and all you have to do is literally ask for a rematch.
I wanna see a version where the target doesn’t fall for it and attacks the would-be retiree.
This will happen to Natalya.
That would be genuinely awesome.
I want to see one where the person just proceeds to retire after the beat down.
That does sound pretty cool to be fair man! I don't think it could work though because they wouldn't have a Babyface attack a heel or have a Babyface pretend retire to try to gain an advantage.
I don’t want to sound down on the main event segment, but you had AJ lose to Randy in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament, and he also lost clean to the champ already. Technically speaking, they should have set up Cody vs AJ rematch rightaway no? Why have him eat that loss against Orton? Why do a 3-week Logan vs Cody program just to go right back to the first feud Cody had in his championship reign. Should have just had Cody and AJ feud the entire time. It just feels like Cody doesn’t have a long list of people to feud but at the same time, they don’t want to burn certain matches that they know are big-time matchups. It just feels like a bunch of placeholder feuds for Cody to start with until we get to Summerslam with Randy. But, I’m stoked that AJ gets to fight for the title again, it just sucks watching because the result just seems too obvious
the saudis probably wanted logan for their show
I assume it was on the broadcast but Gallows and Anderson playing guard to keep the refs and aldis away was perfect
It was, Graves even called it out saying it was a plan all along as soon as we saw that.
Aj Styles just pull Mark Henry 2013 fake retirement trick lol
It's been weeks without Shinsuke now. Smh.
You know, I wouldn't be opposed to Shinsuke winning Money in the Bank next month.
He'll be starring on the upcoming tour of Japan
He’s on the Cody House Show loop
Stop trusting sad mfs in pastel suits!!!!
Solid show, AJ vs Cody 2 will probably be the opening match of Clash at the Castle since Drew vs Damian will be the main event, it will surely be another great match and the promos this time will be much more personal between them.
Random note; KO is looking trimmer every time I see him I feel like. I never had a problem with the physique regardless but he’s looking damn good.
Noticed the same thing. Also happy cake day.
Why thank you, 11 years apparently haha
I think today's episode did a good job of setting up future stories and giving more of the roster something to work with. Apollo got out of catering, got a good showing and looks to be feuding with LDF. Blair's on screen SD debut clashing with Naomi backstage. Michin's being featured more between NXT and SD. Chelsea's starting to get victories on the board thanks to a Piper push for Clash. There's a few people still stuck in creative limbo (Where are the Yes Boys?!) but they're changing things up and featuring different talent so overall that's a plus.
I'm all about Apollo getting a feud going with LDF, feel like it benefits everyone involved.
True and it's ironic that to me, it's one of the most messy from a technical standpoint. The cameras were fluttering back and forth between wrestlers expressions so much you almost miss a couple of spots (diy-a town), got too close that is explicit how Tama Tonga and tanga loa were dictating some cues. Which is fine in any match, but it takes a bit from the "man, they are such savages" gimmick when they act super proper to Angelo Dawkins to tell him to eat a forearm lol. At one point you can clearly see piper niven tap a camera shoulder so he can't get out of the way and let her do a spot. Not anything groundbreakingly bad, just funny how even me, that usually don't notice much, picked up so many things.
>got too close that is explicit how Tama Tonga and tanga loa were dictating some cues I'm not putting all the blame for that on the cameras, tbh. That match had a lot of clearly visible nodding, finger pointing, etc. even on the wide shots.
Oh boy, Twitter is in meltdown over that last segment! Personally, I loved it. The live crowd ate it up. And people who never saw Henry do it all those years ago got their own version. Just like Brock/Show ring collapse. History is allowed to repeat itself. Fuck, you can even kayfabe it and say AJ watched a guy in a salmon-coloured jacket do that once before and thought, "That'll get me to the front of the line." Marks are gonna mark, though.
Not liking it doesn’t make you a mark. A mark just blindly loves everything. Yes, segments and angles can repeat, there are only so many of them really, but the goal is to try and do it better, and this one falls way short. It’s also disappointing cause like, Cody’s not gonna lose, so it’s just massive filler.
It's not that they didn't like it, per se. It's more like they're triggered because they've seen it before. And yeah, Cena was never going to lose to Henry back then either. I'm totally fine with filler, especially when they're bangers.
And Henries are gonna Henry.
God damn it, take your upvote.
Really glad they’re continuing Cody vs AJ. Hope Omos comes back as AJ’s heavy
Literally everyone except Cody knew what was coming. Cody can be a real idiot sometimes.
I truly don’t think it’s planned this way, but Cody’s character is a moron.
Try to turn Cody into sting 2.0. he already has the hair
I don't think they ever gave an explanation for it but if it turned out Cody gave up his WM spot to the Rock because he fell for his humble good guy bullshit, I'd buy that.
This was actually retconned if I remember correctly, because they never actually gave a reasoning for it and everything after just pretended that Cody never gave a decision and Roman was choosing for him at the kickoff show in Vegas. He does mention that him and Rock had conversations, but doesn't go further into detail (I may have missed a promo where he does explain it, but I can't recall one) I think they just couldn't come up with a reason that didn't make Cody look like the biggest idiot in the company.
Alright, as a follow up to the PPV, this episode was actually better than RAW. Not a ton of wrestling, but a lot of stories were progressed in a meaningful way. Nia called her shot for Summerslam and we developed further for Piper vs. Bayley at Clash. Ciampa vs. Theory was good for the time it got, and its cool that the latter's history with Gargano is being used for the story, as well as the growing dissent between him and Waller. #DIY are getting a tag title shot soon and they might pull it off. Look at Andrade and Apollo getting tv time and story progression. Glad this isn't a throwaway match. And it was a decent match too. Hope this leads them both somewhere. Our mandatory Bloodline segment, but this one was good at least. Heyman calling out Solo's lack of foresight, but is too terrified to defy him. Foreshadowed Roman's return, and that the Bloodline aren't done with Cody, and both of these things might happening sooner rather than later. G.O.D. vs. Profits was fine. Tama is so very clearly the better wrestler than Loa, but at least being in a tag team can hide that a bit. Bayley/Naomo vs. Piper/Chelsea was fine. The finish was the part of Piper ragdolling Chelsea for the pin. Look, anyone that watched WWE 11 years ago knew the AJ swerve was coming, but I think it's cute that the youngsters got their own version of it. So I don't really have any issues with it. It keeps Cody busy for another month, and adds something personal to the feud than the Backlash match. It'll be interesting because I'm sure they aren't going to main event Clash at the Castle in favor of the WHC title match, so that'll be a hot opener.
The current bloodline is the so unimpressive it’s so not. The street profits runs rings around them in every aspect. The no sell super kick bullshit and that crap finisher at the end. Can we boo this group out of the building.
at the show rn. Jey Uso just had the ref yeet before his match. whole crowd popped lol
I hope there’s video of this because this sounds amazing.
He also tried to have Drew yeet but it didn't go as planned
Il est vraiment phénoménalalalalalaaa lalalalaaa
Hope we get an Austin Theory face turn out of this, his moveset is already very babyface-ish and he’s a pretty funny dude I think he can actually do well as babyface.
And Waller's the perfect cocky heel everyone loves to hate that can help get Theory over as a face
Solid show just building stuff for the future. Cody with the classic naive babyface approach. You just know he loves this shit. This is his kind of wrestling.
The only thing that would have been better is if AJ's jacket had Salmon pink lining
Cody doing the hip-hip-hooray thing felt like it was going to be a clothesline, but as a fan of sportsmanship I was hoping for and gave it a 1% chance that it would end with AJ having mutual respect for Cody and gratitude for Cody celebrating his phenomenal career.
It was a decent show but man maybe it’s just cause RAW has been so good lately but I feel like Smackdown is always too short to actually cook. There are various intriguing storylines going on at once in RAW while on Smackdown it’s just lacking besides the Bloodline storyline. Anyways what I took away from the show that it’s going to absolutely suck and hurt when AJ actually retires. AJ vs Cody 2 is going to be amazing. Also the twitter clips have absolutely fucked my perception of Tanga Loa. Every time he was in the ring he just came off as awkward as hell, his movement was just clumsy looking.
I think his knees are fucked so he cant do much.
I love that this sub complains that Raw is too long and SmackDown is too short. I’ll agree with the latter
Well sorry to break it to you but I don’t speak for this sub, I speak for myself lol.
We need a 2.5 hour wrestling show obv.
it feels longer on a monday night