The Bloodline Storyline

[Messiah]

This is the most engaged I have been in wrestling since, man, even before the opening of the original WWE-Club. And I was like damn... I wish everyone was still actively discussing it on here.

So this is a message to everyone. If you haven't followed the WWE, go catch up on this story. A+++

[KaiserGlider]

I acknowledge you, my Tribal Messiah, for speaking the truth.

Does Roman defend his belts at Wrestlemania against Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn in singles matches on both nights? Elimination Chamber is in Montreal (Sami's hometown), where he could win the chamber to get a shot at Roman. The other option is a triple threat match, but you wouldn't want to put the fans in a position where they could chant for Sami over Cody.

Where is everyone? I'm calling out the entire Squaredcircle/WWE-Club locker room, or what's left of it, to get in this ring!

@Tim @Hanley! @The Legend @AkydefGoldberg @Everlong @prophet @Chewy @DBSoT @Daz @PorkChop @Circled Square

[The Legend]

I think the fact that WrestleMania is two nights saves WWE from itself and the way it typically books itself into corners. I think the only way to go is to do main event singles matches on each night. I'd have Roman vs Jey close the first night and then have Cody Rhodes' crowning moment close Sunday night. I touch on this a lot more in my Mania fantasy booking, but this is the best Mania main event title scene they have developed probably since Daniel Bryan was doing his Yes Movement stuff. It's beautiful television.

[Everlong]

I'm here! Albeit late!

I have absolutely NOTHING in terms of knowledge of what the WWE is doing right now. Literally nothing. So give me the cliff's notes about this storyline @Messiah or @KaiserGlider or @The Legend

[Messiah]

I acknowledge you, my Tribal Messiah, for speaking the truth.

Does Roman defend his belts at Wrestlemania against Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn in singles matches on both nights? Elimination Chamber is in Montreal (Sami's hometown), where he could win the chamber to get a shot at Roman. The other option is a triple threat match, but you wouldn't want to put the fans in a position where they could chant for Sami over Cody.

I acknowledge you!

Personally, I'm cool with the direction that the WWE is likely going to take. I love Sami Zayn, but Cody Rhodes has been built for this moment. I think he should take the title in a one-on-one match. But man Reigns/Zayn in Montreal will be something. The past two times we have seen a situation like this (RVD at One Night Stand, Punk at Money in the Bank), the challengers walked out with the title. But I think Jey Uso costs Zayn the match. However I do think by WrestleMania that Jey will stop allowing Reigns to manipulate him and that could play a role in the Rhodes/Reigns match.

I think the fact that WrestleMania is two nights saves WWE from itself and the way it typically books itself into corners. I think the only way to go is to do main event singles matches on each night. I'd have Roman vs Jey close the first night and then have Cody Rhodes' crowning moment close Sunday night.

I think this devalues Reigns' match on Night 2 too much, not to mention the injury risk. Reigns doesn't wrestle much in general nowadays.

But I do agree with you that a Jey/Reigns match needs to happen at some point with Jey winning. That is how the story started, that is how it should end.

[Messiah]

I'm here! Albeit late!

I have absolutely NOTHING in terms of knowledge of what the WWE is doing right now. Literally nothing. So give me the cliff's notes about this storyline @Messiah or @KaiserGlider or @The Legend

Oh boy. Cliff noting this would be insanely hard.

This is probably a lot to ask, but if you ever have a free hour, WWE actually has a video encompassing the entire rivalry on Youtube. The fact that there is a one hour video (which doesn't even include everything) should tell you how fleshed-out this story has been and they haven't missed a single beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvVR0nw ... hannel=WWE

Anyway, I'll try my best real quick in case you can't watch that.

- First, it is worth noting that Roman Reigns has been champion for 900+ days. He won the Universal Championship back in August 2020 and won the WWE Championship at last year's WrestleMania. And yes, that is a long title reign... but it works because Roman Reigns is your Tribal Chief and you will acknowledge him. Seriously, this dude is awesome. One of my favorite runs from a wrestler, ever. And watch any of his recent PPV matches (vs Owens, vs McIntyre, War Games, vs Paul, vs Lesnar) and you will feel like you are watching a living legend when he makes his entrance.

- The Bloodline originated back in mid-2020 after Reigns won the world title. Jey Uso won a No. 1 Contenders match and refused to acknowledge Reigns as Head of the Table. Reigns beat the hell out of Jey in an "I Quit" Hell in a Cell match and Jey had no choice but to fall in line. This is probably the most important piece of information to remember. Unlike other members of The Bloodline, Jey Uso had to earn his spot, both mentally and physically. Jimmy was out with an injury at this time in case you are wondering why Jey was on his own.

- Jimmy Uso joined the Bloodline a month or two after returning from injury. While Jey is presented as being hotheaded but easily manipulated, Jimmy is seen as being the cool dude who everyone loves. Solo Sikoa (the brother of The Usos) joined The Bloodline in mid-2022 and in storyline was sent by the elders of the family. He acknowledged Reigns as the Tribal Chief on Day 1.

- Sami Zayn was a heel who was desperate for respect and called himself the locker-room leader. However at last years WrestleMania, he lost to Jackass in what was actually a really entertaining match. Zayn was desperate for respect, which led him to seek the help of The Bloodline in his rivalry with Drew McIntyre. Reigns had an issue with McIntyre and the guys helping him that night, RK-Bro, so Reigns ended up sending The Usos to help Zayn

- For some time after this up until SummerSlam, Sami would wear a Bloodline shirt and act like he was a member of the group. Jimmy was cool with this (very important to keep in mind too), but Jey hated the idea of Sami being affiliated with them and seemed to hate Zayn straight up. These two would get into it every week. Another thing to keep in mind: Zayn and Reigns were kept apart on-screen.

- One night they were in Canada and the Usos couldn't be there (in reality Jimmy has multiple DUIs and can't travel to Canada). This is the first time Reigns and Zayn spoke and it was great! Reigns told Zayn the IC title would look good in the Bloodline. One quick note: you might be surprised at how good of a talker Reigns is. He is one of the best in the business and his facial expressions are AMAZING.

- In a segment on SmackDown, after Solo acknowledged Reigns, Zayn wants to do the same. Reigns forces Zayn to rip off his Bloodline shirt... then gives him an Honorary Uce shirt. One of many great segments and this is what REALLY sent everything into full motion

- Now if you haven't followed along with the WWE, this might surprise you. But Logan Paul challenged Reigns for the world title on PPV. WWE made it no secret this match was signed because of Paul's popularity, so the build was better than you would think. It also gave them more of a chance to focus on the Jey/Sami dynamic. It led to another classic segment where Reigns tells Sami and Jey to get their shit together. Jey at one point says "I DONT GIVE A DAMN WHAT THE TRIBAL CHIEF SAYS" and the whole crowd gasps. It was awesome man. And for a second you really saw the Jey Uso that challenged Reigns for the title years back. Then just as quickly you saw the face of someone who was traumatized by the Tribal Chief.

By the way, Logan Paul vs Roman Reigns was awesome. Paul is actually pretty damn good.

- Jey Uso continues to not trust Sami Zayn, but Reigns and The Bloodline have made a lot of enemies, including Kevin Owens (Zayn's best friend). Owens warns Zayn that the Bloodline will turn on him. At Survivor Series the first ever WWE War Games match is set between The Bloodline vs Sheamus/McIntyre/Dunne/Ridge/Owens. The match is awesome and sees Zayn break-up a pin Owens had on Reigns, then deliver a low-blow to Owens. Jey Uso, who had no trust in Sami heading into this, gives him a big hug to a huge pop. Reigns hugs Sami too but you can tell he's still skeptical

- After this, The Usos and Sami are all gravy, but Sami is still referred to as an Honorary Uce. This is because Reigns says they still have a KO Problem. This leads to John Cena returning to team up with Owens vs Reigns/Zayn in a huge SmackDown main event. Zayn cuts one of my favorite promos ever and basically guarantees victory. However they end up losing, which pisses Reigns off. Reigns screams at Zayn but eventually apologizes and tells Zayn how he can fix this problem: by beating Owens.

- Zayn looks to have Owens beat, but The Usos interfere, leading to a DQ and a post-match beatdown. Zayn is clearly annoyed by this and questions Reigns for not clueing him in on the game plan, which makes Reigns mad because why would The Tribal Chief need to gameplan with the Honorary Uce? Regardless, Owens vs Reigns is set for the Royal Rumble. During a contract signing, Owens jumps Reigns from behind and does away with The Usos before putting Reigns through a table. Zayn is too late to make the save

- On the 30th Anniversary of Raw, a Tribal Court is held for Sami Zayn. Heyman says Zayn is playing Reigns and needs to be kicked out and provides "evidence." Reigns finds Sami guilty and wants Solo to deliver the Samoan Spike to him.... but out of all people, Jey freakin' Uso stops Solo and defends Sami. Jey calls Sami a brother and thanks Sami for not giving up on him and Jey won't give up on Sami. Reigns says Sami Zayn has survived, for now, but must pass his final test at the Royal Rumble if he wants to be officially Bloodline

- Later that night, Jimmy gets "hurt" and Sami fills in and helps Jey to retain the tag team titles. Have I mentioned yet that The Usos are in the midst of a legendary run too? They are the unified tag team champions and have been champions for 570+ days.

- Now the Royal Rumble man. One of the best PPV endings ever. So during the match, Reigns asks Sami to go get him a chair, but Sami is hesitant to do so because while he wants to be in the Bloodline, he still very much cares for Owens. He gets the chair but Owens had recovered in time. Doesn't matter because Reigns ends up smashing Owens including two nasty, disgusting to watch steel step spots. Zayn clearly looks uncomfortable but is happy when the match ends

- The Usos and Sikoa come down to the ring. Jey Uso wants to give Sami Zayn his flowers and make him officially Bloodline, but Reigns stops him and says the job isn't done. The Bloodline then beatdown Owens in a way that I can't even describe. It was actually kind of hard to watch. They handcuffed him to the ropes and superkicked him at least 15 times. Reigns then goes to hit him with a steel chair, but Zayn steps in the way. Reigns tells Zayn he should pull the trigger. After like 3 minutes of "will he, won't he," Zayn hits Reigns with the steel chair to one of the biggest pops you'll ever hear

- Zayn apologizes to Jey for hitting Reigns but he had no choice. Jimmy (the one who was supposed to be cool) ends up going HAM on Zayn and so does Sikoa... but Jey (the one who hated Sami) stands in the corner. Jey ends up walking out on The Bloodline, presumably because he did consider Sami a brother at that point. But also because Sami earned his spot in The Bloodline and look what they were doing to him. This causes Reigns to go bananas because in his eyes, Sami Zayn just split up his family. Reigns beats the crap out of Sami with a steel chair and the whole stadium chants "Fuck you Roman." Freakin' great moment and a damn shame that it has already been censored if you try and watch the show. Really one of those rare moments in wrestling that you had to be watching live, because like I said... one of the best endings to a PPV ever.

Which leads us to the Elimination Chamber PPV. Roman Reigns defends his Undisputed WWE Universal World Heavyweight Championship against Sami Zayn in Montreal. The anticipation for this main event is nuts.

[Messiah]

The best thing I can say about this story is that if Elimination Chamber was $60 like the old days, I would probably buy it.

[KaiserGlider]

Man, what an electric crown last night in Montreal. A match for the ages. Though maybe a bit more overbooked than it needed to be, especially with Owens coming out after the match and not during. But I know they did that to send the crowd home happy. And where was Solo? Incredible atmosphere nonetheless. Curious to see what the fallout is with Jey and Roman, the relationship between Owens/Zayn, and how things build for the next month. It was a great month of TV from the Rumble to Elimination Chamfer, so I have no doubt the final stretch to 'Mania will deliver.

I was hoping Roman would retain though, and I'm glad he did. It would have been weird to have him lose a month before Wrestlemania. As much as I like Sami, as much as he had all the momentum in the world coming into this match, Cody is the guy right now. Cody is the guy who will be headlining shows for the next 5+ years. Cody is the next face of the company. I'm not sure yet if Sami can be that guy, but he is over as fuck, and this is not the end of his story by any means. It's only the beginning. There is a lot of money to be made in having Sami Zayn chase the title. If last night was any other night in any other year, then yes, Sami takes it. But it was just too close to Wrestlemania. It worked when Eddie beat Brock at No Way Out 2004, because Benoit then beat Triple H the following month.

[Everlong]

Just catching up on all of this now. Man, that actually does sound pretty intense. I will have to watch that video, Messiah, and possibly even WrestleMania. I can't believe WWE pulled out a Wargames match -- wild!

I'm clearly behind the times, by a lot. Because the last time I was really cognizant of what was happening:

-Roman Reigns was not a strong talker and not particularly dynamic in the ring
-Cody Rhodes wasn't even in the WWE but when he was he was basically just a guy. To hear of him being the next face of the company is wild.
-Sami Zayn was fun but not really big, definitely not someone who was that over
-The Usos had never been in a really serious storyline
-There wasn't really anything interesting happening anywhere on the card

Good to hear they've got some good stuff going on and I will really have to consider looking into it all.

[Messiah]

Just catching up on all of this now. Man, that actually does sound pretty intense. I will have to watch that video, Messiah, and possibly even WrestleMania. I can't believe WWE pulled out a Wargames match -- wild!

Since you were a big Rey Mysterio fan, you might be interested to know that Dominik Mysterio (his son) is one of the best heels in wrestling currently.

[KaiserGlider]

WWE just released a near 2 hour video that chronicles the entire Bloodline saga up to now, starting with Reigns' heel turn during the pandemic.

[Everlong]

Just catching up on all of this now. Man, that actually does sound pretty intense. I will have to watch that video, Messiah, and possibly even WrestleMania. I can't believe WWE pulled out a Wargames match -- wild!

Since you were a big Rey Mysterio fan, you might be interested to know that Dominik Mysterio (his son) is one of the best heels in wrestling currently.

Man, I thought everyone thought he sucked!

[Messiah]

Update:

The greatest storyline in wrestling history. There is nothing that compares. I'm not even sure a bad ending could ruin it. It has single-handedly gotten me back into the WWE. I don't miss a PLE/PPV and I make sure I keep up with what happens on Raw and SmackDown.

I mean top to bottom the product is just freakin' great right now. It actually pains me to look back on some of the PPVs we had to endure back in the day lol WWE hasn't missed on a PLE in a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG time. Every single one is must-watch, even if mainly because of The Bloodline.

[Everlong]

Is it still going??

[Chewy]

I'm here! Albeit late!

I have absolutely NOTHING in terms of knowledge of what the WWE is doing right now. Literally nothing. So give me the cliff's notes about this storyline @Messiah or @KaiserGlider or @The Legend

You think you’re late…..

[Messiah]

Is it still going??

Yep, although it has changed a lot. Jey Uso (who believe it or not is one of the most over faces in the company, probably top 3) left the Bloodline and is set to face Jimmy Uso at WrestleMania. Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble and challenged Roman Reigns, which pissed off The Rock because it was supposed to be Rock/Reigns. The Rock turned heel as a result and started calling fans Cody Crybabies. We're on track for maybe the GOAT main event and certainly unpredictable

Here is one of the greatest wrestling segments in history:



Too bad wrestling wasn't this good when this site was active

[AkydefGoldberg]

I don't think this existing storyline was all planned but more so they were testing the waters to see how a Rock-Reigns match would be accepted by the fans, which it was in the arena at first but online, of course, there was outrage. But they muddied the waters when Cody made it clear he wanted everything but not at WM, subsequently backtracking to challenge Roman.

I'm really not sure Rock is ready for in-ring action this year. People have remarked how gassed he's got just getting to the ring and his body in 2024 is really conditioned for his movie career rather than wrestling. Twenty years ago, his body was for wrestling and he showed that in the ring. A tag team match on Day One is how it's going to go but I think it dilutes the Day 2 main event if Cody and Roman wrestle the night before.

I assume Rock-Reigns go over whilst Cody dethrones Roman on Day 2, with potentially Rock helping Cody but that match is going to be standard Roman main event with a referee bump and endless interruptions lol

[KaiserGlider]

I assume Rock-Reigns go over whilst Cody dethrones Roman on Day 2, with potentially Rock helping Cody but that match is going to be standard Roman main event with a referee bump and endless interruptions lol

If there was ever a time to overbook a match, it's this one. Seeing as how it is presumably going to be "Bloodline Rules" and interference would not only be encouraged but allowed, I say they should go all in and have a bunch of people interfere on Cody's behalf to even the odds. Seth, Sami, KO, Jey, Orton, LA Knight. Some people are even hoping that the glass will shatter and The Rock will oversell one last stunner. In any case I don't want us to just get the same match we already saw a year ago but with a better ending.

It has to come down to just Cody and Roman in the end though, with Cody beating Roman clean in the middle. This is another reason why I don't think Rock screws Roman, at least not now. If there's going to be interference on Cody's behalf it should be directed at taking out the rest of the Bloodline more so than Roman. If Rock was planning to screw Roman all along, why bother with all this joining the Bloodline business and fighting Cody in a tag match on Night 1? Rock keeps saying this is a "long game" and so far he's been right, so I think we will gradually see a rift develop in the Bloodline after Wrestlemania until one of them turns on the other.

[AkydefGoldberg]

Austin getting involved would be too much imo although he might do a segment or interaction with Punk to tease a future "dream" match.

Yeah, it does feel this is all moving too quickly for a Rock turn on Roman but I don't see how - other than a Seth turn - Roman loses the titles. Perhaps it's an accidental hit by Rock (with a weapon) that costs Reigns or just the sheer Bloodline Rules mayhem means that in the midst of it, Cody wins.

It depends how many chapters are there to be before WM41.

[Messiah]

This is the most engaged I have been in wrestling since, man, even before the opening of the original WWE-Club. And I was like damn... I wish everyone was still actively discussing it on here.

So this is a message to everyone. If you haven't followed the WWE, go catch up on this story. A+++

Bruh the McIntyre / CM Punk storyline might be even better.

Vince was really holding this company back from greatness for 15+ years