Tag: Cody Rhodes

Triple H on WrestleMania plans changing with The Rock: ‘We always have to call audibles every single week’

Triple H won’t hesitate to call an audible when the reactions warrant it, even if it involves the main event of WrestleMania.

The Rock‘s transformation from fan favorite to villain on the journey to WrestleMania 40 was swift. Seemingly poised to headline the event against Cody Rhodes, The People’s Champ found himself despised by WWE fans, viewed as attempting to wield his corporate power for a greater role ot the Grandest Stage of Them All.

Instead of Roman Reigns and The Rock fighting, which WWE never officially announced, the two Bloodline leaders will team up to face Seth Rollins and Rhodes in the main event of night 1 of WrestleMania. Reigns and Rhodes will then battle for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on night 2.

It reflects a new era where storylines are increasingly shaped by fan input, a trend embraced by Triple H, who heads WWE’s creative team. When questioned about altering the WrestleMania storyline involving The Rock, The Game emphasized in an interview with ESPN the need to make adjustments on the fly, acknowledging that they call audibles every week.

Now it’s a different time, and the way I do things is slightly different. My career, I learned from being here, but there were things along the way that I always thought I would do differently. In this time now, I get to make those calls and with a large team of people. Whether people will want to believe it or not, I think we were sort of looking at this as here’s where we’re going to go to get this started and it has the opportunity of going this way or that way.

We always have to call audibles every single week. Everything you do is dependent on reactions. That’s what we do as an industry. … The beautiful thing with this group and with Cody and Roman and Rock especially, everybody’s got their ear to the ground. … And then we all just get together and figure the s–t out.

WWE’s pivot for WrestleMania created a red-hot storyline involving their top stars, coupled with The Rock’s return to a heel persona not seen in two decades, adding a refreshing twist. If similar situations happen in the future, it seems Triple H will evaluate all options if it’s best for business.

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The Rock has simple message to Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins before WrestleMania: ‘F–k them’

The Rock carried out a beatdown/profanity combo on Cody Rhodes for the second straight week on WWE Raw.

If The Rock has done two things consistently during his current run as The Final Boss of The Bloodline, it’s beat up Cody Rhodes and drop some four-letter words.

Monday night in Brooklyn was no different. The Rock and Roman Reigns combined to add to Rhodes’ misery, suckering him in perfectly during the night’s main event, a Bloodline Rules affair between Seth Rollins and Bloodline enforcer Solo Sikoa.

Even though Rhode arrived as Rollins’ Plan B to counter The Rock, the unexpected appearance of Reigns tilted things back in favor of The Bloodline. The show ended with The Rock and Reigns taking turns beating the good guys with Cody’s own weight belt, symbolically and physically imposing their will once again.

And just like the previous week on Raw, when The Rock beat Rhodes bloody, he didn’t just flip the switch off once the cameras stopped rolling. WWE posted a short but succinct video after the show, with just a few last words from The Rock: “F–k them.”

It’s an interesting little clip if for no other reason than the widespread fascination with The Rock being allowed more leeway with curse words than other WWE talent. It certainly fits his current persona perfectly, and though he uses some of the same language on TV, it’s bleeped out when he does.

This likely won’t be the last we’ll hear from The Final Boss ahead of the Show of Shows, with WrestleMania XL Kickoff and SmackDown in Philadelphia still looming on Friday. Rhodes probably won’t want to see or hear from him again, however, before they meet in the tag team match that will close out WrestleMania XL night 1 on Saturday.

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WrestleMania night 2 card: All matches confirmed for April 7

A look at WWE’s match card for night 2 of WrestleMania 40.

Once again, WrestleMania takes place over two electrifying nights. Set to unfold from April 6 to 7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, this year’s event promises to be a spectacle, spotlighting WWE’s top talents and culminating the year’s top storylines.

Night 1’s main event has implications for night 2’s headlining match, Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Should Rhodes and Seth Rollins emerge victorious, all members of The Bloodline will be banned from ringside on night 2. However, should Reigns and Rock win, the championship match will be Bloodline Rules.

Rollins will also compete on night 2, defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre. While the spotlight has focused on the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, don’t overlook this match, as it stands among the weekend’s top bouts. The Architect puts his near-year-long title reign on the line against a superstar riding a wave of momentum, both in the ring and on the microphone, and though this won’t main event, it should prove noteworthy.

With Damage CTRL ousting her from the group, Bayley will use her Royal Rumble win by challenging IYO SKY for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. It’s an opportunity for Bayley to receive a moment years in the making, and Philadelphia could be where she shines.

Recall when AJ Styles flew around the world to cost LA Knight a WrestleMania title match? After weeks of escalating tensions, the stage is set for these two to clash and settle the score once and for all.

WrestleMania night 2 goes down on Sunday, April 7 from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Latest update: April 1, 2024, 9:53 p.m. ET.

WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 2 card:

  • Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes – Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match
  • Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre – World Heavyweight Championship match
  • IYO SKY (c) vs. Bayley – WWE Women’s Championship match
  • Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton – WWE United States Championship match
  • LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
  • Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits vs. The Final Testament – Philadelphia Street Fight

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WrestleMania night 1 card: All matches confirmed for April 6

A look at WWE’s match card for night 1 of WrestleMania 40.

As WrestleMania 40 approaches, the card nears completion, with a long list of matches set to unfold during the two-night extravaganza at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. WWE’s plans potentially shape this to be the biggest edition of the Grandest Stage of Them All, as some of the top talent of the past and present will compete and create moments to last a lifetime.

With so many planned matches, not all of them will be on one night, which is how it used to be. It gives each match more breathing room, rather than packing a bunch of short matches across just one night.

Night 1 of WrestleMania takes place on Saturday, April 6, headlined by Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and The Rock, who will compete in his first full match in more than a decade.

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This monumental tag match has night 2 implications as if Rhodes and Rollins win, tall members of The Bloodline will be banned from ringside for Rhodes vs. Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. If Reigns and The Rock win, the title match is Bloodline Rules, allowing anyone from Solo Sikoa to Jimmy Uso to interfere.

WWE also confirmed that Gunther will defend his Intercontinental Championship on night 1 against Sami Zayn, as well. With the Imperium leader’s record-breaking title run on the line, it could mark a historic moment for the Canadian star’s career if he wins.

WrestleMania night 1 goes down on Saturday, April 6 from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Latest update: April 1, 2024, 9:08 p.m. ET.

WWE WrestleMania 40 Night 1 card:

  • Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and The Rock – If Rhodes and Rollins win, then all members of The Bloodline will be barred from ringside during Rhodes’s Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match against Reigns on Night 2; however, if Reigns and Rock win, then the championship match will be Bloodline Rules
  • Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch – Women’s World Champion
  • Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn – WWE Intercontinental Championship match
  • The Judgment Day (Finn BĂĄlor and Damian Priest) (c) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Awesome Truth (The Miz and R-Truth) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) – Six-Pack Ladder match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
  • Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
  • Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka and Kairi Sane)
  • Rey Mysterio and Andrade vs. Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar

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Watch: The Rock kept beating down Cody Rhodes (and cursing) even after Raw was off the air

The Rock is great when he gives zero F’s (and yes, he’s been throwing some around too) in his segments with Cody Rhodes.

To say that the last segment of this week’s WWE Raw was a hot one is a bit of an understatement. Though not even advertised to be on the show, The Rock made his presence felt right from the start, crashing the promo Cody Rhodes cut to kick things off and whispering something to the American Nightmare that had him shook.

The main event (between Jey Uso and Shinsuke Nakamura) didn’t have either man as an official combatant, but Rhodes ended up getting involved when The Bloodline tried to interfere. That in turn brought The Rock into the fray, administering a vicious beating of Cody that started in the back and ended up outside in the rain.

The show ended with The Rock triumphant, having followed through on his threat to “Mama Rhodes” to bloody her son and wipe some of that blood on his belt. But as it turns out, even after the cameras stopped rolling, The Rock wasn’t finished.

Check out the video below from The Rock’s Instagram account, which shows the beating of Rhodes continued after Raw, punctuated by some four-letter words from The Final Boss (so NSFW language warning, obviously). He also explained his (in-character) reasoning for continuing the one-sided brawl past 11 p.m. ET.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5GpCQ4rug9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

The heat between The Rock and Rhodes has grown so explosive that it’s now fair to wonder if a singles match between the two of them has eclipsed even the upcoming Rhodes-Roman Reigns rematch at WrestleMania or a hypothetical and long-discussed Rock-Reigns match as the biggest WWE could possibly put on.

Regardless, fans are going to continue to eat stuff like this up, and as we’ve noted here at Wrestling Junkie more than once over the past few weeks, it’s impressive the way The Rock has thrown himself into this heel role with so much gusto. Philadelphia should be a fun couple of nights, to say the least.

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What did The Rock say to Cody Rhodes on Raw? Here’s 1 report that makes sense

Turns out maybe The Rock did keep a promise he made to Cody Rhodes on WWE Raw.

Now that we’ve had a few days to recover from The Rock beating Cody Rhodes bloody on the March 25 episode of WWE Raw, there’s one part of the chaos that night that hasn’t been officially revealed: What did The Rock say to Cody during the first segment of the show?

To set the scene, recall that instead of getting on the microphone when he made his unadvertised appearance, The Rock joined Rhodes in the ring and whispered something to him. He left smiling while Cody looked like he saw a ghost.

(It wasn’t the first time this happened either, as The Rock also said something to Rhodes that the audience couldn’t hear on the Feb. 2 edition of SmackDown, one of the moments that set the entire Rock-Rhodes-Roman Reigns-Seth Rollins storyline into motion.)

WWE backstage interviewer Jackie Redmond asked The Rock what he said but was redirected to ask Rhodes. When she did, Cody noted that it wasn’t something he wanted to repeat out loud but called it a promise The Rock couldn’t keep.

As it turns out, that might not have been true. Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio said this week that The Rock promised to make Rhodes bleed … which is of course exactly what happened during the show’s dramatic final segment.

Well, that and The Rock saying “look at you now” and variations of that a lot of times while laying the smack down on the American Nightmare.

Not only did The Rock potentially do exactly what he told Rhodes he would, but he was also carrying out on his vow to “Mama Rhodes” that Cody’s blood would end up on his belt. Whether he’ll find Cody’s mom and sing part of “You’re Welcome” to her remains to be seen.

It’s possible that Rhodes could be looking for some payback on the April 1 episode of Raw, where The Rock is already scheduled to appear. If not, Cody will certainly have his chance to fire back when he and Rollins team to take on The Rock and Reigns on night 1 of WrestleMania 40, which goes down on Saturday, April 6.

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The secret to the best Raw in years? WWE let its stars be stars

Trusting its top talent to be true to themselves is paying off big time for WWE right now.

For years and years and years, regular WWE watchers complained about the creative constraints WWE would put on its roster of wrestlers.

The fact that WWE was presenting a PG, family-friendly product was not the sole reason for this either. A lot of it also had to do with the fact that Vince McMahon would oftentimes put creative governors on wrestlers that, simply put, did not allow them to get over.

McMahon couldn’t just let his stars be the stars he so desperately wanted them to be. They all had to do so under his arbitrary rules for how wrestling — or sports entertainment — should be presented. If they didn’t succeed, it was the fault of the wrestler, not the fault of the creatively stifling environment they had to endure.

Fortunately, McMahon is no longer in charge of WWE’s creative vision, and the company’s new regime, led by Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, has in many ways discarded many of McMahon’s doctrines. That goes from the stories the company is telling to how they are produced.

The results have been overwhelmingly positive. That’s not just me lauding WWE’s creative direction. The proof is in the fact that WWE has sold out a slew of television tapings — something that was unheard of during the end of McMahon’s tenure — and has enjoyed a sizable boost to its overall business.

Which leads me to this past Monday when WWE packed the AllState Arena in Rosemont, Ill. for its most recent episode of Raw, a show that has been hailed as one of WWE’s best in recent memory. 

So what’s WWE’s secret? It’s doing what McMahon seemingly forgot to do for the last decade-plus of tumultuous tenure: let the stars be stars.

On one show, we had CM Punk, Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins participate in a spicy verbal confrontation that clearly didn’t have the paint-by-numbers scripting of McMahon’s worst days. Instead, we saw three talented wrestlers simply riffing on the microphone.

Only in this environment could we see just how good McIntyre actually is on the microphone. That was never the case under McMahon.

We saw Becky Lynch punch Dominik Mysterio square in the mouth, which only cemented how much of a badass “The Man” is supposed to be.

We saw R-Truth continue to be R-Truth, which honestly is enough for me.

We also saw some fantastic matches, which have always been a staple in WWE. The problem previously was that the story surrounding the great in-ring action rarely matched it.

And of course, we witnessed The Rock beat the brakes off Cody Rhodes during a Chicago downpour while talking all sorts of trash to Rhodes, Rhodes’ mother and to all of the “Cody Crybabies.”

It looked like a scene straight out of an action movie, where the hero is beaten down and left for dead at the end of the second act, only to enact their revenge in the third. We even got to see Rhodes bleed, which has not been a common occurrence on WWE television for multiple decades at this point.

It was, in a word — and I know this gets thrown around a lot these days — cinema.

However, I do have one minor quibble with the final segment, and it’s the fact that Rhodes never really fought back. One of the pillars of being a great babyface is that they never stop fighting. That’s what makes them noble and endearing to fans. I’m not saying Rhodes needed to beat down The Rock for an extended period of time. Only one swing would have sufficed for me, which is better than nothing.

With that said, I’d be willing to put money down on Rhodes getting his revenge on The Rock on next week’s episode of Raw, which will emanate from Brooklyn. The Rock and Roman Reigns are both scheduled to appear, and the running theme during that show has to be that Rhodes is out for blood, no pun intended. I wouldn’t be surprised if WWE is planning to produce one of its best pull-apart brawls in recent memory.

It’s wrestling booking at its most basic level, but it is being executed at its highest. WWE gave people a lot to digest this past Monday and somehow left myself and many others wanting more.

Allowing the wrestlers color outside of the lines, especially when you’re promoting the company’s most important show to date, is what’s really driving WWE’s business to a new level. That does not mean I am calling for the return of the “Attitude Era,” which can stay in the past where it belongs. However, I’m not against a few four-letter words slipping out as long as the network is good with it as well.

At the end of the day, it just makes sense. If you have The Rock at your disposal, well, let him be The Rock. Let him talk all the trash he needs to in order to get his point across. That’s what makes him great. If you have CM Punk at your disposal, give him a live microphone, a bare-bones script, and tell him to fill in the blanks. That’s what makes him great.

Never backing down from a fight is what makes Lynch great. By letting McIntyre be great, we realized that the man cut a heck of a promo and his social media trolling game is top notch.

And allowing the wrestlers to blossom into the stars that they could potentially be is what has made WWE such much fun to watch heading into WrestleMania. It’s been a while since wrestling fans can say that.

That is not to say that the rules and regulations of yesteryear have been completely tossed out of the window. There have been reports of some wrestlers complaining about the fact that they don’t get to play by the same rules as some of the bigger names.

But even if WWE doesn’t allow every wrestler to shout “f–k” and “dips–t” into the microphone every night, the roster has still benefited from this shift in philosophy. We’re seeing just how much right now.

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WWE Raw results 03/25/24: The Rock bloodies Cody, CM Punk makes Mania plans

The Fina Boss lived up to his word on WWE Raw from Chicago, much to Cody Rhodes’ detriment.

“Look in my eyes, what do you see? CM Punk on my TV!”

OK those aren’t the actual words to “Cult of Personality,” but they do fit the rhythm and also summarize the big selling point for WWE Raw tonight in (well really near) Chicago. Even though Punk won’t be able to compete at WrestleMania due to injury, there’s no reason he can’t address what is sure to be a rabid hometown crowd.

Considering Drew McIntyre keeps talking about him even while he’s out, Punk has stayed hot even while he’s been rehabbing his torn triceps. Our feeling here at Wrestling Junkie is that he and the Scottish Warrior are going to have a feud later this year, assuming McIntyre wins gold at WrestleMania.

Seth Rollins is going to have something to say about that, of course, and he might get involved in tonight’s festivities too. We know McIntyre is in town.

As for actual wrestling matches, WWE has promoted a bunch of those as well, including solo outings for Jey Uso and Sami Zayn, Ricochet taking on JD McDonagh, Andrade in action against Ivar, and new queen of the mean girls Candice LeRae battling Ivy Nile.

That’s plenty of reason to tune in even if you weren’t looking forward to seeing Punk, though you know you are. Here’s how it all unfolded.

WWE Raw results from Chicago:

(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)

  • CM Punk and Cody Rhodes are shown on the way into the building, after which we see highlights from the final segment of SmackDown that led to a standoff between Rhodes and Roman Reigns
  • Cody Rhodes is kicking us off, but The Rock is here too, and something he says to Cody has him a little shook
  • Jackie Redmond wants to know what The Rock said, but he suggest she ask Cody instead
  • The Judgment Day gets ready for tonight, with JD McDonagh saying he’ll handle Ricochet and Damian Priest suggesting he has a plan to have things in their favor heading into WrestleMania
  • Ricochet def. JD McDonagh by pinfall, shaking off distractions from Dominik Mysterio, who gets himself ejected from ringside before the finish
  • CM Punk has his homecoming, which turns into a discussion with Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins about WrestleMania
  • A short video shows Shinsuke Nakamura saying he’ll be a nightmare for Jey Uso tonight
  • Candice LeRae def. Ivy Nile by pinfall, again taking shortcuts and again making Indi Hartwell look like she feels bad
  • The New Day and #DIY do some backstage bickering when they’re visited by The Awesome Truth; R-Truth is hyped because he thinks it’s going to be The New Day vs. DX, and is that Paul Heyman talking to McIntyre in the background?
  • The New Day vs. #DIY ends in a no contest as The Judgment Day attacks both teams, and Awesome Truth (who were on guest commentary) ends up getting hauled into the mess and laid out as well
  • Redmond finds Rhodes, but Cody says it’s something he can’t repeat but suggests “it’s a promise that he can’t keep”
  • Cathy Kelley talks to Gunther, who doubles down on his assertion that Sami Zayn doesn’t really think he can win at WrestleMania, or even beat Bronson Reed tonight
  • Andrade def. Giovanni Vinci by pinfall
  • When are Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch finally going to throw down? How about right now
  • Chad Gable stops Sami Zayn and pleads with him to focus on his match tonight; Sami appreciates the tough love approach and says Chad is right, then shakes his hand
  • Bronson Reed def. Sami Zayn by pinfall after a distraction by Gunther proves costly for Sami
  • Jey Uso cuts his pre-match promo on Nakamura, but he gets a quick visit from Solo Sikoa, who says nothing, and Jimmu Uso, who says “no yeet”
  • Zayn laments to Gable that he knew what Gunther was doing and it still worked; Chad says that Sami needs a different approach, and they can talk about it
  • Rollins finds Jey and says something doesn’t feel right, but that he and Cody have his back so he can get that dub
  • Jey Uso def. Shinsuke Nakamura by pinfall, despite The Bloodline and McIntyre scrapping with Rhodes and Rollins
  • That fighting continues to the backstage area, where The Rock attacks Rhodes with a variety of weapons, including trash cans, and they battle outside into the rain, where Cody is busted open while The Rock wipes his blood on the belt just as he said he would last week

The Rock manages to unsettle Cody Rhodes with just a whisper

What does Chicago want to talk about? Cody could say nothing, as the talk is kind of over this close to WrestleMania. After getting the fans to cheer for Pat McAfee and Michael Cole, Rhodes talks about how Roman Reigns said a lot during his media rounds last week.

A “Roman sucks” chant loudly rings through the arena while Cody says the idea that he’s not keeping his promises got under his skin. He’s actually done plenty of promise-keeping, even for people he doesn’t really know. Cody says he’s had to play the role of champion because the champion isn’t here.

Even though Rhodes says he’s done all of this without asking for anything in return, he does need something now: He needs the fans to ride with him for both nights of WrestleMania. Now he wants all 15,000 people in the arena to point at the WrestleMania sign with him, which they do.

That is quickly answered though, by the unadvertised arrival of The Rock, which also sends the fans into a frenzy. There are some “Rocky” chants among the boos, for sure. Oh, and some “holy s–t” chants that have to be blanked out.

After an extended staredown and a smirk from The Final Boss, The Rock simply whispers something to Cody and leaves The Ring, bringing “Rocky sucks” chants as he smiles and walks to the back.

CM Punk will be at WrestleMania, but will he get the last word with Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre?

The fans in Chicago greet Punk warmly before he says he will definitely be at WrestleMania. He says his arm is not great and he’s not medically cleared, but his mouth works. Does that mean he will host WrestleMania? Ten years ago he said he would have felt that was beneath him, but now he wishes he could just be in front of the people.

What about being a referee? Is there a title match that could use an impartial referee? People sure like talking about him, though, and Punk mentions that Roman Reigns talked about him on Pat McAfee’s show, but he’s earned the right.

Seth Rollins also likes talking about him, but Punk also figures maybe he’s earned the right too. In contrast, The Rock hasn’t talked about him, but Punk likes to think it’s because he already knows his arms “were just too short to box with God.”

And then there’s Drew McIntyre. Punk says he’s been very quiet because in Chicago, if you have a problem you handle it face to face like a man. The Scottish Warrior arrives and promptly gets a dose of verbal venom, which gets the fans on him too.

McIntyre says he’d love to head to the ring but also reminds Punk of what happened last time that happened. As they argue about t-shirts, McIntyre claims he doesn’t hate Punk, because CM completes him.

They finally end up finding something to argue about: McIntyre calling himself The Chosen One. Punk wants to know who chose him, because it wasn’t the people.

Drew insists he wants CM to have a front row seat at WrestleMania to see McIntyre have his long awaited moment in front of a stadium full of live fans.

That, in turn, brings out Seth Rollins, and the fans reach full throat again. Rollins, of course, doesn’t like Punk and says he doesn’t get to make decisions about a WrestleMania main event when he’s not in it.

Still, Rollins decides to poll the crowd: Should Punk be on commentary? That “referee” chant suggests they’d prefer something out. Punk demonstrates he can count with his left arm but also says he doesn’t think he could be impartial with “these two dips–ts,” to which McIntyre hilariously quips “PG, brother.”

Seth insists he never even thinks about Punk but appreciates the irony of him calling Rollins’ finest hour. He says Punk can do whatever he wants at WrestleMania as long as stays out of Seth’s way.

Punk says it’s decided: He’ll do guest commentary and manage to actually make them both interesting. An angry McIntyre says Punk doesn’t get the last word, insisting that Punk is “my No. 1 Stan,” but he climbs in the ring as he’s talking and gets a superkick and a Stomp from Rollins.

Words finally turn to fists for Rhea Ripley, Becky Lynch

Is Ripley getting enough attention? She tells Dirty Dom she doesn’t think so, saying Becky Lynch keeps fighting other people week after week. Though Rhea figures she could have attacked The Man at any time, she decided to be respectful.

Now she’s just getting impatient. Mysterio is about to throw in his two cents when Lynch’s music hits. Becky taunts Rhea about not ever wrestling on Raw any more, to which Ripley says she doesn’t need to be in the ring every week to get everyone’s attention. She can just post a photo or video online and “watch these freaks eat it up.”

They simply have different opinions on what being a champion is all about. Ripley agrees that Lynch is a survivor … or really a cockroach, since she’s hard to kill but not impossible. Rhea says she’ll leave Becky alive so she can sit on her couch and hear her daughter call Ripley Mami.

Lynch says if Ripley ever mentions her daughter again, it will be the last words Rhea ever utters. Neither her quips nor the title is a joke to Becky, even if they are to Rhea. Lynch also says when Ripley throws the first punch, there’s no going back, and neither of them will ever be the same again.

Dom holds Rhea back, but that gets him punched, and now Becky and Rhea are throwing hands. They battle onto the ramp, where referees finally arrive to separate them.

Jey Uso perseveres through chaos, pins Shinsuke Nakamura

It’s all yeets early, meaning strikes from Jey, but Shinsuke manages to fight back pretty quickly. The question is how long will it be until this all degenerates into chaos.

It won’t be until after the commercial break, when Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso emerge from the crowd and are quickly intercepted by Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. Here comes Drew McIntyre too, who ends up giving Rollins a Future Shock on the floor.

Amidst the melee on the floor, Uso is able to superkick and spear Nakamura, ending the match.

WWE SmackDown results 03/22/24: Cody Rhodes comes prepared for Bloodline hijinks

Turns out that neither Roman Reigns nor Cody Rhodes really kept their word on WWE SmackDown in Milwaukee.

Promises are a funny thing. Even villains, when they have a code of honor, can keep them, and there’s a big one that is at the heart of tonight’s WWE SmackDown from Milwaukee.

This week on Raw, Roman Reigns gave his word via Paul Heyman that he wanted to talk to Cody Rhodes on SmackDown and that he’d show up alone — no other Bloodline except for Heyman. In return, he asked that Rhodes also bring no backup, and Cody agreed.

It was somewhat reminiscent of the kind of agreement you’d see in movies, like a hostage exchange or drop of some sort. Meet me at this place, at this time, no cops.

Whether Reigns actually follows through will tell us a lot about how he’s feeling on the Road to WrestleMania. Does it make sense, at this point in his tale, that he’d be confident enough to stand across from Cody with no contingency plan? He did defeat Rhodes last year at WrestleMania, after all.

Or is Roman now paranoid and willing to go back on his word, a sign he’d do anything to keep the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from even possibly slipping through his grasp?

It’ll also be nice to see Reigns take center stage on the Bloodline portion of things, as he’s been somewhat upstaged by The Rock the last few weeks. Pretty sure that’s never going to come up again somewhere down the road. Yep, probably never. Wink, wink.

There are important tag team matches in store as well, which will help shape the Tag Team Ladder match at WrestleMania. Buckle up and prepare, Milwaukee, because here we go.

WWE SmackDown results from Milwaukee:

(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)

  • Cody Rhodes and Damage CTRL are shown entering the arena
  • Santos Escobar def. Rey Mysterio by pinfall, in large part due to a distraction from Dominik Mysterio
  • Bayley thanks Naomi for helping her last week, but Bianca Belair hasn’t forgiven the Role Model for what she did as leader of Damage CTRL, and Naomi ends up having to step between them as they bicker
  • Backstage, Bianca and Naomi continue to have a conversation, to which Naomi says she can’t change what’s happened in the past and won’t back down when Damage CTRL is picking them off one by one
  • Austin Theory and Grayson Waller def. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows by pinfall in a Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match, with Theory using the ropes for leverage to aid in his pinfall
  • A hype video pushes Bron Breakker as a superior athlete
  • Highlights are shown from Roman Reigns’ appearance on “The  Pat McAfee Show”
  • IYO SKY def. Naomi by pinfall thanks to aid from Damage CTRL; after the match, Naomi gets a dose of the poison mist from Asuka before Bianca Belair hits the ring with a vengeance, and is able to do pretty well against the whole group until numbers wear her down
  • Jade Cargill will make her first official appearance as a SmackDown superstar next week
  • Tiffany Stratton mocks Naomi as she’s trying to get the mist rinsed out of her eyes
  • Nick Aldis is talking to Kevin Owens when they’re interrupted by Pretty Deadly, and KO ends up challenging them to a tag team match alongside Randy Orton; K.O. ends up punching both members of Pretty Deadly in the face at once, as he does
  • Footage is shown of LA Knight rolling up at the house of AJ Styles and starting a fight with him, then dashcam video shows Knight getting arrested

  • Street Profits def. Authors of Pain by pinfall in a Tag Team Championship Qualifying Match
  • Paul Heyman is on the phone telling Roman Reigns that Cody Rhodes is here alone, and that his public awaits
  • Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes go face to face, and when it turns out Reigns actually did bring The Bloodline with him, Cody has backup too in the form of Jey Uso and Seth Rollins

Naomi learns going it alone against IYO SKY isn’t really a great idea

Is IYO even going to make it out to the ring? Cameras find her backstage scrapping with Bayley, but she gets the better of it and refs finally tell the WWE Women’s Champion to get to the ring.

SKY has to weather an early storm, and the crowd gets behind Naomi as she rallies to hit a springboard bulldog of sorts for a near fall that leads to a commercial break.

Yes Corey Graves, Milwaukee is starting to feel the glow after the break. She splashes into a split but gets only another two count.

You feel like Damage CTRL is going to interfere at some point, and perhaps others may get involved too. Maybe soon after Naomi hits a superplex and rolls through to produce another near fall.

Ah here come the Kabuki Warriors and Dakota Kai, perfectly timed to set their leader up for an Over the Moonsault to win it.

Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes exchange insults, and neither came alone

So far so good for Reigns sticking to his word, as Roman comes to the ring accompanied only by Paul Heyman. The Tribal Chief asks for and is handed a mic, talking about how he kept his word and showed up without the Bloodline. He asks everyone to acknowledge him while Cody is shown walking toward the entrance.

After commercials, Rhodes makes his way out to join Reigns in the ring. Cody says he’s as much a man of his word and also came alone, to which Roman calls him a fool.

From Reigns’ perspective, Rhodes is unfit for the position of face of the company. He scoffs at Cody aligning himself with Seth Rollins, reminding Rhodes that Rollins eventually stabbed him in the back.

Cody of course remembers The Shield, but asks if Roman remembers the first team that defeated them. He also says he has his “bullet cufflinks” on so he knows all about factions and betrayals, and he’s banking on Rollins hating Reigns more than he hates Cody.

There’s also a good question: Can Roman trust The Rock? Who’s really in charge of The Bloodline anyway, the Tribal Chief or the Final Boss? A “Roman sucks” chant breaks out in response.

Reigns retorts that Rhodes said the same thing to The Rock in reverse, then ridicules him for promising things and failing to deliver like a politician. All Cody will ever be is No. 2, while he’s No. 1 … forever.

Talking about how Reigns grew up in the business like he did, Rhodes says he’s accepted the idea that the next generation of youngsters will grow up wanting to be the next Roman. Cody disagrees about being No. 2, though, saying he’s the one and offering a handshake and good luck at WrestleMania.

Reigns shakes Heyman’s hand instead and they leave the ring. But Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa are approaching the ring through the crowd, and the American Nightmare looks surrounded.

Cody cracks a smile, though, as Jey Uso and Seth Rollins are also out in the crowd. It’s a big standoff to end the show, like something out of a movie.

WWE SmackDown preview 03/22/24: Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes face off

WWE SmackDown from Milwaukee will also see two teams get closer to qualifying for the Ladder match at WrestleMania.

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Paul Heyman says Roman Reigns is a Tribal Chief of his word. Whether Cody Rhodes can truly trust that or not is an issue at the very heart of tonight’s WWE SmackDown from Milwaukee.

What will Cody, Roman want to talk about — and will they do it alone?

Even though Reigns and Rhodes are no strangers to each other, it’s only right that they have another face-to-face meeting before they fight not once but twice at WrestleMania 40. It’s good that they are, too, because as one of the Wrestling Junkie staffers said last week, it was starting to feel like Cody vs. The Rock was the main event since they’ve been interacting the most.

That shouldn’t happen tonight, as The Rock isn’t scheduled to be here and Reigns promised (via Heyman) that no other members of The Bloodline would be on hand. If we were Reigns, though, we’d have Seth Rollins or Jey Uso on speed dial. You know, just in case.

Can Rey Mysterio get some revenge against Santos Escobar?

One of the pieces of the WrestleMania 40 puzzle that hasn’t quite fallen into place yet is the one concerning Legado Del Fantasma and the LWO. Will there be a multi-person match of some sort? We might get an idea tonight.

On the surface, it’s going to be Rey Mysterio vs. Santos Escobar one on one. But while that sounds great on paper, it seems unlikely that no one from their respective groups will try to get involved. And if that happens, a match could very well be made for Philly by the end of the night.

Who will get closer to joining the teams in the Six-Pack Ladder match at WrestleMania?

There are two spots left in the Ladder match at the Show of Shows, and there still will be by the time SmackDown fades to black. But two teams will advance one more step in two separate matches, one of which is very interesting.

Let’s deal with the one that should be by the books first. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller will take on the Good Brothers and … let’s be real, Anderson and Gallows haven’t done anything as of late to make one think they’ll be competing for gold at WrestleMania.

The other match pits the Street Profits against Authors of Pain. Not only could you see either team in the Ladder match, it’s going to be a continuation of the beef between Bobby Lashley and the Profits (please give them a stable name already) and The Final Testament. Should be intriguing.

We’re going to tear ourselves away from college hoops for a few hours tonight to recap all the action live, so join us back here at Wrestling Junkie at 8 p.m. ET for all the latest.

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