Why Does This Seem Or Not Seem Like A Work?

Why Does This Seem Or Not Seem Like A Work? How WWE Can Salvage WrestleMania 40 Main Event With Reigns, Rock and Rhodes It's not an exaggeration to say WWE has created one of its biggest creative blunders of all time with the messy Roman Reigns-Cody Rhodes-The Rock situation.

At this point, the disaster must be a source of secondhand embarrassment for fans.

Rhodes won the men's Royal Rumble, looked poised to main-event WrestleMania 40 and finish his story, only for Rock to come and take his spot.

Endless he said-she said buzz and backtracking from outside WWE, plus the company itself starting to pretend this was all one big work to confuse fans, has outright ruined the build to 'Mania.

But there's an easy way to salvage it.

Pivot, with Rock involved as a referee for the main event between Rhodes and Reigns.

It's maybe the most natural way for WWE to save this situation in a way that makes it seem like this was all just the plan the whole time.

Picture the scenario: Rock comes out to meet Reigns and Paul Heyman for the contract signing. Once it's done, The Great One asks if The Wise Man actually read it. He didn't. It stipulates that Rock is the referee, Rhodes is the real opponent.

How WWE Can Salvage WrestleMania 40 Main Event With Reigns, Rock and Rhodes
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Silly? Maybe, but it can work. The scenario would get a pass from most fans, a wink-wink "thanks for making it right, WWE" moment, especially if Rhodes goes on to win. Plus, Reigns gets mad at Heyman and is further isolated and during the match, Rock prevents Bloodline interference, setting up a match with The Tribal Chief at a later date.

There's always the question of whether Rock would sign off on this. But even he must see the "Rocky Sucks" chants, a 1996 throwback, and understand. He's had ample opportunity to do this match when it made more sense. Now, even he isn't immune to the wrath of the WWE Universe in an era when all fans are "smart" fans. He's the bad guy in this scenario, point blank, period.

If Rock really wants to play into it, the smart move might be going full-on Hollywood Hogan heel, at least. Maybe he doesn't want to, not after some real Hollywood struggles and his association with other things like football pursuits, but fans would eat it up. WWE would even get a slight win out of it in the form of fans throwing up their hands and actually cheering for Reigns' run to continue.

However, part of what makes this pill so tough to swallow right now is the PR side of a babyface Rock trying to play this off like a returning hero. He tells fans to shut their mouths, plays up the heel, it becomes much easier—and fun.

Because the length of the champion's run is something else to point out. If Rhodes hadn't won the men's Rumble and pointed right at Reigns as the show closed, it makes sense that he defends against Rock this year, gets a win and surpasses Hulk Hogan's third all-time number in the fall. But the last two weeks' worth of booking has been all-time bad to the point one has to wonder if there was some intentional sabotage involved.

The problem with other alternatives to the referee idea is most make Rhodes look worse. That's almost impossible, considering he won the Rumble and then handed off his two-year goal to a part-timer ("but not at WrestleMania" is an all-timer goofball line now). But his going on to sit in a Triple Threat with Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre instead would be stunningly bad.

So, too, would forcing Reigns to pull double duty, main-eventing Night 1 of 'Mania against The Rock before Rhodes gets a shot at The Tribal Chief 24 hours later. In that scenario, it might seem to fans that The American Nightmare only finally beat Reigns because Rock softened him up first.

We could say there are ways around this, like booking a quick squash, but Rock doesn't seem willing to do something like that, no?

And finally, the idea of a Triple Threat. Rock probably eats the pin no matter who wins, so Rhodes would never actually "pin" Reigns. Or in the opposite scenario, he gets treated unfairly again, probably as The Bloodline holds him back while Rock takes the three-count.

Hence, the special guest referee pivot.

Rock needs to read the room and step back, which would further the family-based storyline down the road while appeasing fans and the organic storytelling that has unfolded for years without his involvement.

Even then, there's debate on whether Rhodes should actually win in this scenario, with Hogan's record so close now. But it beats shoving him into a different title match and making him look worse than he already does, even if fans see through to the overarching mistakes.

In a way, this feels like a war between two eras. Not too long ago, part-timers could come back and insert themselves into any match and get a nice response. But that ship has sailed, leaving this whole thing feeling really jarring and out of touch.

With this proper pivot, though, the whole thing could look much better in hindsight. More importantly, it would put the build to WrestleMania back on track and be a signal to fans that this is indeed a new time for pro wrestling, with WWE really earning the "golden era" descriptor that is often thrown out.

If not, and WWE stubbornly pushes this current course through, the regression and erosion of trust from fans could be an all-time mistake. @redcarpetring #romanreigns, #therock, #codyrhodes