GDT: WWE Royal Rumble 2023

I Hart Conor Garland

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Did you watch the ending of the show?

They’re not facing each other, if anything they’ll slowly form an allegiance.
In my version of events I believe there is a plausible f*** you from KO to Roman in helping Sami go over Roman. Then KO wanting first shot at the title because Sami “owes” him and KO is bitter that it took this long for Sami to open his eyes, even serving KO up as meat for the wolves at Survivor Series. Best friends facing one another for the title at Wrestlemania as an offshoot of the best story in nearly a decade? I like it?
 

Sheppy

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Nov 23, 2011
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In my version of events I believe there is a plausible f*** you from KO to Roman in helping Sami go over Roman. Then KO wanting first shot at the title because Sami “owes” him and KO is bitter that it took this long for Sami to open his eyes, even serving KO up as meat for the wolves at Survivor Series.
Nah dude. I think this is a serious stretch.
 
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GKJ

Global Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
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They’re not going to have Kevin turn on Sami, at least this soon and quite frankly I don’t think I would ever want to see it. I’ve seen them do a bunch of matches against each other. I’d quite frankly would be more interested in seeing Sami fully earning earning Kevin’s trust back and have that culminate in Montreal.
 

dahrougem2

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Dec 9, 2011
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Nobody gives a f*** that Cody won the Rumble.

You could have still done the exact same storyline post-main event last night if Zayn won the Rumble. If anything it would be more significant.

Now you have backed yourself into a corner. This is all about Roman and Zayn, but for some random reason Cody is about to get involved. Crowd won't give a f***.
 

TD Charlie

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Sep 10, 2007
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I legitimately like Cody and wanted him to win the Rumble for months, but it's so obvious things have changed.

No one got a pop as loud as Sami did when he hit Roman with that chair, and he got the whole crowd to turn on Roman hard
That reaction was earned by Sami.
I do think if you have Roman work both nights. Having him lose twice would be quite the bold ending to his championship storyline after dominating for so long.
I’d have him beat The Rock
 

bobholly39

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Mar 10, 2013
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It's also super personal with Sami. Cody's story is about the title. Sami's is about Roman, and vice versa. With jey walking out, Roman believes Sami has broken up his family.
I've seen a lot of complaints about Cody having "no story with Roman".

I think I was leaning towards Sami above Cody too, but I still don't get this argument. Cody isn't supposed to have a story with Roman yet? That's why there's 3 months to go - it's so he can build a compelling story/feud towards that match....that's how road to WM after the Rumble is supposed to work. 3 months is plenty of time to build an extremely compelling story/feud between the 2.
 
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bobholly39

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Cody will come out tomorrow and give a fake cry, “this is for my dad” and cut the same promo he’s been cutting. Again, Cody is a great wrestler, he’s also a great asshole.

Usually you Remember the Royal Rumble for the winner, tonight, it was all about Sami. The entire show revolves around Sami and the Bloodline.

I originally thought it would be KO/Sami for the belts against the Usos, but f***ing hell, Sami is almost Daniel Bryan over. Put the strap on him, even if it’s only for a few months.

He absolutely is not, and it's not anywhere remotely close to it.

Crowds were hijacking whole segments for Bryan. Nobody chanted even once for Sami during the rumble, or when he didn't come out....do you remember 2014 rumble when Bryan didn't come out? Or 2015 when crowd booed The Rock because of how they treated Bryan?

I like Sami - and i'd be fine if they want to do a co-main event and add Sami to it (or, somehow make it a triple threat for more intrigue). I'm not disputing crowds love him or that he's been fantastic, just drawing a line in that he's nowhere near what Daniel Bryan was.

I think there's absolutely money in a Sami/Roman match - my biggest worry with Sami is, what comes next if he wins?

Crowds genuinely loved Daniel Bryan and Daniel Bryan had a ton of credibility in-ring as being the best, and crowds were desperate to see him as a champion, taking on all comers, and winning in a long reign.

I'm not sure I get the same vibe with Sami. Hypothetical - Sami wins the WWE title from Roman, and Roman goes away and takes a break....then what? Will crowds be invested in a face Sami taking on someone like Lashley or Gunter for the title? So much of Sami's charm has been his heel mannerisms being hilarious and fans being sympathetic because they hate Bloodline/assume they're messing with him. How do you translate that into a credible, babyface world champion? I think once bloodline goes away and once Sami is a cast as a babyface instead of a funny heel whose sympathetic, I'm afraid he won't really work as a champion.
 
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GKJ

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I've seen a lot of complaints about Cody having "no story with Roman".

I think I was leaning towards Sami above Cody too, but I still don't get this argument. Cody isn't supposed to have a story with Roman yet? That's why there's 3 months to go - it's so he can build a compelling story/feud towards that match....that's how road to WM after the Rumble is supposed to work. 3 months is plenty of time to build an extremely compelling story/feud between the 2.

It’s less having no story and more already having one with someone else. They could - but don’t have to build a story in 3 months, because they’ve already been doing one for the better part of a year with someone who will be more over and get better reactions.
 

Habsrule

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Jun 13, 2004
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Let’s be real out of the three guys in the title picture (Roman, Sami, Cody) only Sami can win. WWE have put themselves in a corner now.

This is how I would solve the problem;

Announce that the winner at EC gets a title shot on night two at WM. Sami wins EC and gets the biggest pop ever in his hometown. Cody faces Roman on night one at WM and Roman wins. Surprise!! Everyone is expecting Cody to win. Night two Sami faces an exhausted Roman. During the match you can see that Roman is tired and he plays it that way to show he is weaker for the Sami match. Sami gets a couple of two counts but just can’t beat Roman. It goes back and forth and Sami can’t be pinned either with a couple of close calls. Have the momentum changed back to Sami and he hits his finisher and the count goes one, two, then Solo grabs Sami from outside the ring to save Roman. Jey goes and pushes Solo in showing that he really did turn his back on the Bloodline. A beat down of Jimmy and Solo start start outside the ring. Owens hops over the barricade (having him run down the ramp would take too long) and he starts to defend Jey and attack Jimmy and Solo. Roman is distracted and Sami hits his finisher one more time and gets the three count. The crown goes insane.

Sami gets his WM moment. Roman still has a belt. Roman comes off of a loss but still has one belt and looks strong. The whole storyline has more layers to it and they can keep on going with that. Jey versus the Bloodline would make for a great storyline afterwards. You could even have the Uso’s as tag team champs and have a split between them. I can’t recall that ever happening with tag team champions.
 

bobholly39

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Mar 10, 2013
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It’s less having no story and more already having one with someone else. They could - but don’t have to build a story in 3 months, because they’ve already been doing one for the better part of a year.
I could see them booking Roman on 2 nights, once vs Cody and once vs Sami. I know people have alluded to this for months, him wrestling both nights. People were thinking Rock one night, and someone else night 2. To me that was stupid - if Rock is around, he's Roman's sole focus since he's such a huge name.

But without The Rock, the idea of Roman wrestling twice could work...do Roman vs Cody night 1 for WWE title, and Roman vs Sami night 2 for Universal Title, or vice versa.

You can also add Sami to the main event and make it a triple threat. The idea of Cody taking on the whole bloodline by himself is unrealistic, Sami too (even with KO's help). With a triple threat, it creates more drama/possibilities. Maybe book a big angle in Montreal where Sami earns his title shot to make it a triple threat
 

hockey20000

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Dec 23, 2018
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Cody will come out tomorrow and give a fake cry, “this is for my dad” and cut the same promo he’s been cutting. Again, Cody is a great wrestler, he’s also a great asshole.

Usually you Remember the Royal Rumble for the winner, tonight, it was all about Sami. The entire show revolves around Sami and the Bloodline.

I originally thought it would be KO/Sami for the belts against the Usos, but f***ing hell, Sami is almost Daniel Bryan over. Put the strap on him, even if it’s only for a few months.

hes not a asshole jesus. him winning the title his dad couldn't is a great story..
 
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hockey20000

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I've seen a lot of complaints about Cody having "no story with Roman".

I think I was leaning towards Sami above Cody too, but I still don't get this argument. Cody isn't supposed to have a story with Roman yet? That's why there's 3 months to go - it's so he can build a compelling story/feud towards that match....that's how road to WM after the Rumble is supposed to work. 3 months is plenty of time to build an extremely compelling story/feud between the 2.

Yep this. There all just sour pusses because they worried there boy sami will only get a tag team title shot lol. cody vs roman sami vs roman both have potential to be great.
 

Habsfan18

The Hockey Library
May 13, 2003
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Walter (he’s still Walter to me, damnit!) set the all-time iron man record for longest time spent in a Rumble, at 71 minutes. Mysterio held the previous record at 62 minutes in 2006.

He should absolutely headline a Wrestlemania some day, although I don’t think he has the ideal charisma to ever be considered the GUY. But he should absolutely be a World Champion one day. I wouldn’t complain if he were the guy to take the title off Roman..but that’d never happen.
 
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Megahab

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Apr 30, 2009
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He absolutely is not, and it's not anywhere remotely close to it.

Crowds were hijacking whole segments for Bryan. Nobody chanted even once for Sami during the rumble, or when he didn't come out....do you remember 2014 rumble when Bryan didn't come out? Or 2015 when crowd booed The Rock because of how they treated Bryan?
Zayn is absolutely over on the level of Bryan. Zayn isn't getting the hijacking Bryan chants because Zayn is actually being used in the company's biggest storyline. Those Bryan chants were protest chants. Fans have not had a reason to protest for Zayn (yet).
 
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Habsfan18

The Hockey Library
May 13, 2003
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I like Cody Rhodes, but I can see the fans turning on him real quick if he continues the over the top interviews and gets pushed as an unstoppable smiling babyface. That formula just doesn’t seem to work long-term with fans anymore. And with them continuing to build this incredible Bloodline and Sami stuff, I’m not sure how the fans will react to Cody potentially getting that Roman match over Sami. I think Cody is the more believable challenger, but you can’t do all this stuff with the Bloodline and NOT have it lead to a Wrestlemania payoff.

What a joke it’d be if this is all to lead to a tag titles match.
 

Megahab

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Apr 30, 2009
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Sami over Roman in Montreal for the Universal Championship. Sami Vs. KO at Wrestlemania in return for KO’s help in Montreal. Roman Vs. Cody for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. I don’t care who wins.
You can't do Sami vs KO anytime soon after last night. In storyline, Sami almost committed suicide for KO. A Sami KO match would have no heat.
 

Megahab

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Apr 30, 2009
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hes not a asshole jesus. him winning the title his dad couldn't is a great story..
That is such a bland story compared to Sami vs. Reigns.

They are pretending that the WWE title was a title that just always slipped through Dusty Rhodes' fingers. Dusty was in WWE for like a year and a half and I doubt he ever was even in a title match, as I think Hogan and Warrior were champions for Dusty's whole run. Face vs face matches were rare back then.

I don't think many people think of Dusty Rhodes when they're thinking about guys who should have won the WWE title but never did.

I don't think fans will connect to that story at all. I think Cody is lucky he got injured because I doubt he wins the Rumble if he was around these like 6 months or whatever it was.
 

Unholy Diver

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That is such a bland story compared to Sami vs. Reigns.

They are pretending that the WWE title was a title that just always slipped through Dusty Rhodes' fingers. Dusty was in WWE for like a year and a half and I doubt he ever was even in a title match, as I think Hogan and Warrior were champions for Dusty's whole run. Face vs face matches were rare back then.

I don't think many people think of Dusty Rhodes when they're thinking about guys who should have won the WWE title but never did.

I don't think fans will connect to that story at all. I think Cody is lucky he got injured because I doubt he wins the Rumble if he was around these like 6 months or whatever it was.
Dusty wrestled Superstar Billy Graham for the title and beat him by countout in 1977, then lost the rematch. Cody is not talking about Polka dot Era Dusty
 

pld459666

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Feb 27, 2002
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Cody was brought back with a title shot storyline. Injuries derailed that, but temporarily.

He may cost Roman a few wins against Sami which will add fuel to the Wrestlemania angle, but it IS going to happen.

Was disappointed in the Women's Championship match. For all of the time they have spent together these last few weeks, they had no chemistry last night. While both are at fault, Bliss is not good at her craft.
 

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