We’re now in the post-Mania wind down and now we have Cody beginning a new story as the undisputed WWE Champion. He’s a big star now and is so far being unanimously loved in the live crowds all over which is rare for a pure white-meat babyface these days. What would you like to see happen as far as Cody’s presentation and how would you protect him from being overexposed?
I like what’s he doing so far with and I enjoyed the contract signing with AJ last Friday. I think a working heel instead of a monster heel is a good starting point as well. AJ Styles can make matches look good and be the heel, psychologically, without it being another case of Cody being in trouble and needing to slay a dragon. Let some other stories and stars come up to the temperature on the stovetop. The steak is still there and will be perfect when you plate it with everything else.
Also I’m an old-school person, I want the world champion to feel special and I don’t think he should be there every single Raw & Smackdown. Keep him unique and add some more fire to his promos.
I still think he should have won last year’s Maina. Cody defending the title against Brock, Balor, Priest, Rollins and even a first time math up with GUNTHER would have been FIRE! Roman could’ve held the Universal title for another year, instead of that actually happened.
As for now I think it’s has been good. AJ Styles is a great opponent for Cody and I think they will have another P.P.V match after Backlash, fully establishing Styles as a more ruthless heel. But if I get to have Cody vs GUNTHER at The Bash at Berlin, then I am ALL IN!
I think so far so good, but I also think it’s super early. I think the key to the run being good is essentially three things, good matches, good storylines, and when he eventually looses it, it’s done in a big match that doesn’t make him look bad.
I think it’s off to a good start. I saw Cody at a house show and he was by far the most over wrestler at the show.
AJ Styles is a good first opponent. He still commands the respect of the audience for being one of the best wrestlers in the world. Nobody really expects him to win the title but at least the fans will tune in expecting a good match.
Now that the draft is over there are a few Smackdown wrestlers that Cody can have short programs with. Lashley and Solo. But his next big feud they should be building up in the background for SummerSlam is Orton. Cody vs Randy is a money match with a lot of history between them and their families.
For the record, I agree. The reasons I can think of are:
Saudi’s wanted the match and liked the idea of title vs title. WWE is doing what they asked.
WWE is thinking of getting rid of the US title, this is an easy way to do it.
They are going to put the World Title on Logan Paul and then have Cody chase him
The idea the entire time was to have some type of non finish, so title vs title made sense since it wouldn’t ultimately matter
I really don’t like any of these ideas outside of MAYBE getting rid of the US title. We’ll have to see. I think with the new World title you don’t need 4 Mens singles titles. Cody winning the US title is the only one of these scenarios that appeals to me.
Cody has been truly amazing in his run so far especially given the lack of viable challengers on SmackDown. And in fact the WWE Championship is just on a level that you simply cannot buy anyone other than Cody or Roman holding it. Maybe Punk or Seth. But even then they are on Raw and both injured.
Did they botch something yesterday? I was very into it last week.
I love how they have built up Cody and Kevin’s friendship over the past year or so, so now you have a dynamic where Cody wants to do the “right thing” by his friend and give him a title shot, which could get dicey since Owens has a history of doing “anything” to be the champion.
For me, it feels as if Kevin is scared that his previous addiction to that title is going to bring the old KO back, which IMO leads to a very interesting dynamic since he and Cody are friends. Of course, the backdrop for the story is great, but its all about execution and booking.
I mean you’re waiting for Kevin to turn on him. I agree as it is it’s not a great feud as there’s no scenario I see Kevin Owens winning that match, but I guess they’re kind of short on heels if you don’t include the bloodline. I mean other than Drew, but he’s already tied up in Program, and Gunther, they don’t really have those big heels so I can see KO filling that role.
I think the feud is fine. But is KO winning the title? Almost definitely not. WWE needs to do a surprise title change occasionally with their World Title, because between Brock and Roman, the last decade has probably been at least 75% meaningless world title matches. Throw in Cena and you may be able to say 15-20 years (at least with the main World Title).
This is true, when everyone holds the title for 6 months to a year it leads to situations where title matches feel like a mere formality opposed to an interesting match that can go anywhere. With that said, Ill take that over the Vince Russo style of flipping the title every week.
I can’t seeing Owens winning the title right now, as with Cody you are in a tough situation as after a 2 year build you almost have to give him a strong run. With that said, if Owens looses the first match and then snaps, I wouldnt be shocked if he won the title and went on a short run before dropping it back to Cody.
I think they sort of did that with Damien Priest and Gunther being the last two champions. Like nobody would’ve I think Peg either of those two as being the next two title holders after Seth Rollins.
The main title yes very predictable. But they built a legacy with that when Roman held it for so long. Like I don’t think Cody is losing that other than two Roman, the rock, or, possibly Randy Orton.
My personal guess here is that defeats the rock, and then they set up next year with the Roman reigns, and Roman beats Cody after Cody had the title for three years.
Six months in, how does everyone feel so far? I’m happy that he’s gone away from the Bloodline story as I feel like he’s been second fiddle to that for a bit for the time being and this program with Kevin Owens and maybe Randy in the near future can keep his momentum up as an aggressive babyface.
I think Cody’s programs and matches have been fine. But there’s been nothing where you think the result (or at least the title) is in doubt. And that hurts interest in the match. Fans start having 90s Hogan or 00s Triple H flashbacks.
I’m not saying we go back to the days where your top champ loses the belt on Sunday just to win it back on Monday, but you also can’t maintain this aura where the world title change HAS to be the endgame.
It’s tricky with Cody, after all that build, I feel like if they took the belt off early it would make him look so bad. With that said, it does feel the way you describe. Not a single defence of his ever felt in doubt IMO.
I guess what you are describing is similar to what they are doing with the world title. As since January we have already seen 4 champions, most of which lost in a match we really didn’t know what would happen. (I haven’t watched since bad blood, so if another change happened I am unaware).
World Title).