Once upon a time, Bryan Danielson, then known as Daniel Bryan, stood in the middle of a ring on live television and called wrestling fans around the world “fickle.”
Truer words have never been spoken. And that fickle nature has often derailed various stories and even a wrestlers’ push to the top of the card — all because the fans became bored and turned on it.
But here we are, three years into The Bloodline story, and fans are still fully invested.
Sure, there have been fans here and there who were mad online and expressed how they were over the long-running story. Those cries grew even louder when Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania.
But then you watch the July 7 edition of Smackdown, and you hear the fans in Madison Square Garden, the world’s most famous arena, get swept up in every single moment of the Tribal Court of the Tribal Chief, and you can plainly see that there is nothing fickle about how these fans feel about this story. They are still very much with it.
How many stories in WWE history can say that? How many stories in the history of professional wrestling can that?
How many people can say they were part of an angle that went strong for three years, with no dips in quality? The Bloodline can.
Sure, the New World Order lasted from 1996 until World Championship Wrestling closed its doors in 2001, and even had a brief run in 2002 in WWE, but the quality took a sharp turn in the wrong direction by 1998. And by 2002, the group was a mere shell of its former self.
Not The Bloodline. Not right now.
How many stories can have people frothing at the mouth for a segment that involves sending people to court?
Granted, Vince McMahon sent Steve Austin to jail multiple times in 1998 and ’99, but by 2001 we had been there and done that. At least that’s what Austin thought, which is why he wanted to turn heel and align himself with McMahon to begin with. Even he felt like it was getting a bit stale.
So far, The Bloodline has endured no such missteps. And those lack of mistakes have come as the group itself has shifted and changed over time – but not in a way where you would lose track of who is even in the group, which is how it was with the New World Order. Each addition or subtraction to The Bloodline has carried a lot of weight.
At first, you just had Reigns and Paul Heyman. But then Jey Uso fell in line. Not long after, Jimmy Uso fell in line. Eventually, The Bloodline took in Sami Zayn, which sparked its own arc that had fans yearning for Zayn to headline WrestleMania against Reigns.
At Clash at the Castle, Solo Sikoa made his main-roster debut. And with perfect timing, WWE began to unveil the cracks in the group’s seemingly impenetrable armor.
Out the door went Zayn, and The Usos soon followed. And despite the group being down to only three members, the story is still as enthralling as it was at its full strength.
The only story that can stack up against this is Austin vs. McMahon, which had fans buying into the fact that the world champ could headline the pay-per-views against a middle-aged non-wrestler.
And while that story was basically a license to print money and made a massive cultural impact, the quality wasn’t always tremendous. For as many hits Austin and McMahon produced together, they produced some misses, too, most notable their infamous handshake at WrestleMania 17.
But for The Bloodline, I see no misses. If this story was an album, there would be no skips. From the matches to the segments that lead up to them, the drama and emotion that has been on display throughout these last three years is all worth reliving.
Everyone has played their part. Reigns has elevated his game to a degree some didn’t think he was capable of. His work as the Tribal Chief has made his work prior to the pandemic as “The Big Dog” feel like child’s play.
“The Big Dog” had no depth. It was a very one-dimensional character. What was his character? He was just good at what he did.
The Tribal Chief? Not only is he good at what he does, he’s the very best, which comes with an extremely toxic ego.
However, Reigns adds an extra layer of complexity by making the Tribal Chief highly insecure, and his ability to convey that confidence and fragility at the same time is sheer brilliance.
The Usos have never been hotter. They compel fans to empathize with them because a lot of people have been bullied and manipulated, and a lot of times, a close family member was the culprit.
Even Solo Sikoa has displayed his conflicted emotions at various points, which is saying something for someone whose main directive is to be as stoic as possible on television.
And then there’s Paul Heyman, who always conveys the importance and gravity of every situation. The look on his face when Reigns threw down his title belt this past Friday night was classic. And it only added to the moment of Reigns bending a knee before Jey Uso, which garnered a massive reaction from the fans.
😲😲😲😲😲#TribalCourt #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/zWoimci5ER
— WWE (@WWE) July 8, 2023
The people have bought in hook, line, and sinker. Why? Because we believe everyone that is involved. We have met them. We have met a master manipulator with a fragile ego like Reigns. We’ve become fed up with our relatives like The Usos. We’ve also been Sikoa, who would love for everyone to just get along, but is still willing to do what he believes is best for the family – for now.
We even know someone like Heyman, who is so willing to kiss the ring of the person that would happily use the same hand to keep them in line if they saw fit.
The Bloodline story has made every little moment and detail matter. It has wasted none of our time. And while I was also wondering where they would go next after WrestleMania, WWE managed to keep me and many others invested.
And here we are, three years after Reigns returned to WWE after a pandemic-induced hiatus, he is set to defend his title against Jey Uso. Three years ago, that match would not have meant all that much.
Today it will be the most anticipated WWE match since WrestleMania. And those usually fickle wrestling fans will be there for every single moment.
It has been pro wrestling storytelling at its finest, and outside of Austin-McMahon, I don’t think anything else WWE has ever produced can measure up.