[1.0] "They can fix this, but any promise and hype behind Cody vs. Roman II has been smothered. The fact they've cut the legs out of their golden child, all so someone can stroke their ego, is immensely disappointing."

[0.0] "Yeah, this is a solid 0/10. They had a good thing going with Bayley choosing Iyo as her Mania opponent, the KO v Logan Paul tease for their match at Chamber, the tag team fatal 4-way match and Tiffany & Naomi signing for SmackDown ( even though I personally wanted Tiffy to join Raw); until they fumbled it in the end by 1) making the WHC look like a consolation prize compared to the Universal championship, and in the process making Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes look like B-tier guys and not the Roman-level top guys they actually are. 2) making Cody win 2 back to back Royal Rumble matches "just to look good on paper" or "historical references for later programmes". 3) Cody stepping down fumbles his entire momentum and the 2 year story the company and Cody himself have been telling, and they rather went for the extra tickets approach. I get it Punk got screwed the same way in 2013 but man, I personally thought the company started making better booking decisions after Vince got out of the creative process back in 2022. This sucks."

[0.0] "What happened was nothing short of a trash, honestly, it was a mess by every standard. The Rock taking Cody Rhodes' opportunity was, in hindsight, one of the worst decisions WWE ever made, and I think the fan reaction proved just how impactful it was. It forced the company to backtrack and rethink things. Sure, we got the "Final Boss" character out of it later, but that wasn't the plan at all. If you watch the *Behind the Scenes WrestleMania* documentary, it's clear that this wasn't how they envisioned it going down."

[9.0] "hahaha I caught the feeling like on raw, which was after the mania of 39. Everything is the same, in Code, the story was stolen, everything was bought and everything disappeared. But looking at what happened in the future, it was a genius move and HHH is a business genius. But even then, I saw the Rock vs. Roman sign as something really cool, and it would have been a cool matchup for me, too. However, everything happened perfectly. Well, another issue that makes you think about our society and laugh. And even if you take the matches by match, the show had good fights and dynamics. That is, even in accordance with respect for other wrestlers, evaluating the release by 1 point is simply a manifestation of disrespect for them. Well, in general, this release deserves a 9/10, bravo."

[1.0] ""but not at Wrestlemania..." was perhaps the dumbest story decision the executives have done in the Triple H era, and they only salvaged it due to the response of the community. They salvaged the story and created one of the best storylines in wrestling history, however, that does not make the decisions here any better."

[0.0] "logan promo and the following owens match were both pretty average, tiffy and naomi signing to smackdown is great. the tag match was fun and the following damage ctrl angle was excellent, one of the best stories on the road to mania. the main event match was dissapointing. the roman promo was great and perfectly showed how stupid this decision is. a pretty decent show and now wrestlemania, the road to mania, roman's title reign and cody's story completely ruined by rocky on a power trip"

[4.0] "In a bubble, this SmackDown was good. However, this was the infamous show where Cody Rhodes decided to step aside his WrestleMania main event against Roman Reigns for a returning Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. That segment overshadowed what was a good episode and nearly derailed the build towards WrestleMania 40. Luckily, someone realized that that idea was f**King and pivoted."

[6.0] "Kevin Owens und Austin Theory hatten ein wirklich recht gutes Match, das die Story zwischen Owens und Logan Paul sinnvoll fortsetzt. Die Promo von Bayley und der Split von Damaga Control war nach den Ereignissen bei Raw logisch und ich denke, Bayley gegen Iyo könnte wirklich gut werden. Das Promo-Segment von Cody und Reigns im Main Event war gut vorgetragen. Die Richtung für das WrestleMania-Programm scheint aber nach wie vor unklar zu sein. Codys Textzeile, er werde Reigns kriegen (coming for you), bedeutet ja eigentlich, dass Rock nur als Übergangsherausforderer fungieren könnte, zumal es wohl ausgeschlossen ist, dass Rock tatsächlich Champion wird. Außerdem muss man die Frage stellen, ob Rock-Reigns wirklich das größtmögliche Match für WrestleMania ist. Es ist eine auf dem Papier imposante Paarung, aber wenn man beachtet, wie over Cody ist und wie man ihn im Grunde seit einem Jahr für die zweite Begegnung mit Reigns warmgehalten hat, könnte Cody-Reigns das größere Match sein. Ich sehe allerdings in dieser Entscheidung keinen Grund, die Show zu hassen und mit null Punkten zu bewerten."

"An overstuffed SmackDown! that was all over the place. Bayley's face turn was executed perfectly and had a lot of emotion to it. She acted incredibly well. I wasn't high on KO's promo work, but his match with Theory was a usual banger from him. Logan Paul is good on the microphone. The four-way tag match was bonkers and a lot of fun. I am high at the moment on a Rock/Roman Reigns WrestleMania match, but I will look for Cody Rhodes to explain why he is bowing out after winning the Royal Rumble."

[7.0] "For most part of it a very inoffensive show with 2 decent matches. Did not like the segment in the main event but it was not as bad enough for me to that it tanks the entire show. Not a show that i would recommend to someone or do a second watch of though. Positives were Tiffany Stratton getting a solid debut on the main roster and the 4 way tag. Do not understand how Bayley is the face in this feud is though she cost both Asuka and Kairi Sane months of their career but she is appalled that they were saying mean things about her."

[8.0] "It may be simpler in hindsight, but in the end this SmackDown didn't strike me as all that shocking. Admittedly, Cody Rhodes withdraws for no apparent reason, but the impression of confusion that emerges participates in the beginning of what is probably one of the most interesting storylines of the least to come. Some may object that the aftermath of this episode wasn't necessarily planned. But then again, if that's true, isn't it one of the pleasures of wrestling to see that the audience has a part to play in choosing future title contenders and in the ever-shifting writing of the various storylines? On the other hand, the three matches were quite decent and useful for what was to come.But I can understand why some might criticize the lack of wrestling in this episode 8/10"

[0.0] "Triple H is the worst booker, the story with Cody makes no sense, his Rumble win makes no sense, the Bloodline makes no sense anymore."

[7.0] "Kann die Kontroverse um die Cody Rhodes-The Rock-Roman Reigns-Story verstehen und für mich war es auch fernab von gut gelöst, aber es ruiniert mir nicht die gesamte Show. In-Ring-Action hätte ich phasenweise gerne etwas knackiger gehabt und so actionreich das Fatal Four Way der Tag Teams auch war, da waren doch einige Lücken in Sachen Plausibilität dabei. Tiffany Stratton mit einem guten Debüt. Bayley mit einer guten Promo, Reigns in Richtung Rollins sehr unterhaltsam und auch Logan Paul liefert mal wieder. Ordentliche Show."

[7.0] "Pretty decent show, the highlight matchwise was British Strong Style getting a win. The closing segment was an all-timer though. Roman Reigns eviscerating Seth Rollins was incredible, that no pop insult was great. He gave Seth a hell of a receipt for his past remarks. Roman came across as a huge star, talking about his money and his world championship being the most important and how Cody could take a shot at him. Cody came out to cheers and seemed to be setting up a title shot declaration. However that "not at Wrestlemania" declaration caught me completely off-guard. The Rock showed up and showed what true aura is. That staredown with Roman was electric, I'll never forget this closing segment."

[3.0] "An okay show, tainted by a money-grubbing Hollywood nobody who thinks after two decades that everyone still thinks he's God's gift to mankind. The matches were okay, and the promo between Bayley and Damage CTRL was actively really good (which makes this rating hurt even more, because Bayley doesn't deserve to have this moment taken away from her like this), but the Rock forcing himself into a narrative that did not require him is tragic. I don't care if it's a work; I don't see a way that this gets resolved that makes anyone happy. This is one of the worst WWE shows in recent memory."

[5.0] "Ich bin mit der Entscheidung The Rock gegen Reigns zu bringen auch nicht wirklich glücklich, aber die Matches hier waren doch sehr ordentlich und das macht mir hier nicht alles kaputt. Kevin Owens gegen Austin Theory ist ein recht gutes Match ***. Das Four Way hat gute schnelle Action ***1/4. Stratton gegen Michin ist ein gutes solides Match."

[4.0] "Ganz schwer zu bewerten. Vorweg, ich gehe mit den 0-2 Punkten nicht mit aber ich kann jede Bewertung nachvollziehen. Es gibt Dinge im Wrestling, die sind schlecht, weil sie langweilig sind. Es gibt Dinge, die schlecht sind, weil sie unlogisch sind. Es gibt Dinge, die schlecht sind, weil die Matches schlecht sind. Und es gibt Dinge, die schlecht sind, weil sie den Fan missachten und nicht nur für sich gesehen schlecht sind, sondern ganze Shows, ganze Wochen und Monate aktiv runterziehen. Das Segment am Ende ist letzteres, es zieht eine an sich solide Show extrem runter, weil es jeder schlecht findet, mich eingeschlossen. Es ist auf sehr viele Ebenen falsch und sch***e. Dennoch hat diese Smackdown Ausgabe auch ein echt gutes Segment mit Bayley und dem Turn von Damage Control gegen sie. Bayley als Face kommt absolut an und auf die Story freue ich mich tatsächlich auch. Die kleinen Segmente mit Jade Cargill oder Bron Breakker, in denen es darum geht, dass beide Shows sie unter Vertrag nehmen wollen, sind auch gut gemacht und total sinnvoll. Die Story mit Logan Paul und Kevin Owens ist auch okay, ebenso das Debut von Stratton, auch wenn ich nicht ihr größter Fan bin. Dennoch wird fast alles von der Cody-Sache überschattet und das ist einfach schade. Auch schade ist, dass die Ausgabe gerade einmal 3 Matches beinhaltet, sodass man bei 80-90 Minuten Nettolaufzeit vielleicht weniger als 30 Minuten Wrestling hat und das ist mir einfach zu wenig, auch bei WWE."

[7.0] "The matches on this show were solid to good. I know exactly why the score is so low, but it just goes to show how reactionary everyone on here is. Is the whole Rock situation complete shit? Absolutely. I hate the idea of it and don't think there's any conceivable way that The Rock is in the same ring as Roman Reigns in Philadelphia without it being boring or a shitshow. But I'm not gonna lose sleep over it like 80% of the IWC is apparently. As terrible as the final segment was I'm not gonna let it ruin the rest of the show."

[2.0] "A very austere show, the matches felt very apart from the show due to Cody's decision, the 4way tag team was the best, a correct matcht but nothing out of the ordinary, obviously the Rock/Cody theme made people will get angry and the evaluation is so low, the segment itself is strange, for the tenth time Cody looks stupid next to Roman and even more so for stepping aside, booking decisions that affect the image of your biggest babyface."

[10.0] "In my own personal opinion this is by far one of the best smackdowns of all time I loved this episode from the beggining to the very end I understand people being mad about the rock taking Codys place but I still believe Cody will beat Roman for the title in the main event at wrestlemania and the whole rock angle is being used to propel Cody even more kind of like Daniel Bryan in 2013-2014 the bayley segment was perfect definetly gave 2005 Batista vibes which I thought was extremely well done and the promo she cut I felt might of been the best womens promo of all time my only knock on this episode is I wish they would of had another match or two maybe actually let kross and lashleys group wrestle instead of that being a kind of throw away brawl segment that was suppose to be a match Im hoping this Cody story works out and we have a great wrestlemania."

[1.0] "Stories don't matter. Characters don't matter. All that matters is some bald fuck showing up because he makes more money. Damn it all. Fuck this company."

[0.0] "The last segment represents everything that is hateable within WWE. I remember watching ten years ago when Batista returned and won that awful rumble. Thankfully in the end they got it right (not thanks to Vince surely). Ten years later, this happens. This time is even more insulting, even more blatant in its execution, and even if there's still time and anything can happen, doesn't mean this wasn't a disaster to watch. Got me wishing Punk never got injured, but even then Rocky would have found a way to book himself in. Not that Rock vs Roman wouldn't be somewhat entertaining in another scenario (in-ring quality would be awful in every scenario) but this was really painful to watch. Pleased to see so many 0/10, they actually managed to strip away most of the hype for this Wrestlemania in 5 minutes while completely burying a visibly annoyed Cody Rhodes, the top babyface of the company. If this is the retirement match for the Rock (which I'm not sure it is) it would be late and inappropriate, at best."

[6.0] "This was an interesting show. Plenty of great moments with Bayley having one of the best promos of her careers. The matches were all good but nothing crazy. Like them teasing all the big NXT names coming up and the feud between Pierce and Aldis. The final segment was obvious hard as the story with Cody winning the title from Roman at Wrestlemania 40 is what everyone wanted and him stepping aside for the Rock made no sense with the story. Obviously WWE thinks that Rock will draw better for Mania so they are giving him whatever they want. Still overall a pretty decent show overall."

[0.0] "Need I say more? Regardless of everything that happened before, the main event completely justifies this rating. Give us back Cody."

[6.0] "This was an up and down ride, that's for sure. Not much to say about the closing segment, other than it was a real downer. Rock going full Hogan to punt Rhodes out of the Mania main event just sucks, and this segment announcing it made Cody look like a right plonker. The Damage CTRL segment, on the other hand, was a real high. It was a great flashpoint in a banger storyline that sets up and awesome Road to Mania, that will lead to a banger match and (hopefully) Bayley's coronation back at the top of the Women's division on Smackdown. A real up and down ride through Smackdown, so a middle of the road score."

"Dwayne Johnson is the biggest egotistical moron since Hulk Hogan. Apart from that, a good show, Bayley made the right choice and can't wait!"

[0.0] "So, Cody won the Rumble so he can hand his title shot against Reigns to the Rock. SMH I think a lot may have to do with the fact that Punk got injured and everything else just went off the rails. So far, WWE has really gotten itself snakebitten as of late and we barely scratch 2024 now and considering with everything that's going on now, I bet they did what they did as a distraction to make sure that we "focus on the positives"...Doesn't seem to be working. 2 years of planning only to have it all washed down the drain for a PR stunt...That's shameful. I did want to give this a high grade seeing that I actually did enjoy the episode but that ending really ruined it for me. Can't say that I'm really enthusiastic about WM40 now if Rock vs Roman really is set in stone. Hell, I'm not even looking forward to Elimination Chamber either after that. 0/10"

[7.0] "This Smackdown was not that bad at all! People just keep rating it low because of the ending segment, but everything else in the show was not bad! Kevin Owens and Logan Paul are progressing their storyline and I can see a rematch at Elimination Chamber. The tag match was pretty fun and British Strong Style got another win. And on the womens side, Tiffany made her in ring debut and the Damage CTRL segment was awesome. But unfortunately, the reason this rating is so low is because of that main event segment. Cody basically handed his Main Event to The Rock, leading to a current online outrage from the IWC. One segment ruined the whole show for a lot of people."

[2.0] "The in-ring performance was decent and quite engaging. However, the ending was disappointing. I'm intrigued by the idea of Rock versus Roman, but the abrupt shift of the spotlight from Cody was unsettling. Rock versus Roman shouldn't be for the WWE title; it doesn't make sense. Cody, who has been expressing his desire for Roman's title for years, wins the Royal Rumble for the second consecutive year. Then, out of nowhere, he declares that his focus isn't on Roman's title, but on the Heavyweight Title? What's the logic behind this? He says he wants to defeat Roman, but not at WrestleMania, how does that work? He has the right to challenge Roman, but he wants to wait? This ruined the show and my expectations for WrestleMania. It's a real shame."

[2.0] "This is maybe one of the single best examples of how the closing segment can overshadow an entire show. Bayley's break-up with Damage CTRL was fantastic. Owens and Austin Theory had a genuinely great TV match. We got the debut of Tiffany Stratton, albeit in a slightly awkward segment and a short match, but still. Then, we got the segment everyone's talking about, where the biggest babyface WWE has had in a decade makes himself look like a total dweeb so that the near-billionaire who just joined the company's board of directors can upstage him and derail a two year long story. Watching it, I was entertained and really feeling positive about the build to WrestleMania, until the final segment. So, I'm giving it a 2. I don't feel good about it. Emotionally, I want to give it a 0 -- but I've got to give at least a couple points for what was good on the show."

[3.0] "matches were pretty average. Damage Control promo was good and they Bailey made the right decision. but the final promo! well, I don't feel like that I need to share my opinion, because I partially agree with what the most people are saying and it was unbelievably weird and unacceptable! so what was the point of Cody winning the Rumble? if there would not be a surprise in the future, it was an insult to the fans! but I cannot rate a show based on a hypothetical thing that I'm not sure is gonna happen so I'm gonna rate based on what I just saw! the ending promo dropped my point from 6 to 3!"

[7.0] "Wow. So let's start this off with I'm glad for the call ups, happy Tiffany is on, Naomi, and possible Bron breakker potentially being on smack down. The segments during this show I feel did its job progress stories and keep us relatively engaged. Bailey finally standing up for herself and challenging iyo sky was a feel good moment and finally bayley turning face good segment there. The tag team match tonight was a very good match sucks it'll get lost because of what I'm going to say next. Having Cody submit his spot for the rock completely erases the story of Cody. The whole point was not only for Cody to beat Roman reigns and end the reign of terror. It was also about him winning the WWE championship. A title that his dad never had a chance to win. This feels like a massive slap to the face of Cody, his fans and investors of this story who may have felt cheated. Always happy to see the rock, intrigued to see how roman and rock plays out. Just would've been sweet to have Cody finally win at the main championship at the grandest stage of them all only to give him what I feel is a consolation prize. What a waste."

"Before the Royal Rumble, I was very happy with The Rock return and agreed that Roman Reigns and The Rock should be main event of WrestleMania 40, but what we saw at the Royal Rumble was the exact opposite of what we saw on Friday."

[7.0] "Before I get to the actual review I think it's important to preface it with my thoughts on this episode's rating on this website along with the rating system itself. If I recall correctly, the rule to write a relatively long comment for ratings that extremely differ from the average was introduced recently as a result of the fiasco that took place. And although it is a welcome change, it hasn't solved the common problem in ratings for polarizing episodes like this that stray towards an extreme. 0s and 10s as the website's guidelines suggest, are extreme ratings that must be scarcely given and thus there must be a similar rule for such ratings to be justified with a long comment. Getting onto the actual contents of the episode, I won't talk about the controversial segment that is solely responsible for the average rating as there's nothing I can add to the discourse that hasn't been said already. I agree with almost all of the criticisms so instead I'll argue why I think this episode deserves a higher rating for the highlights that have unfortunately been overshadowed for no fault of their own. Bayley's face turn is arguably the best in WWE history when it comes to the women's division. Bayley and Iyo hit all of the beats with how well they sold it not only in the delivery of their lines but in non-verbal ways as well. With one segment Bayley got over more than she ever has in over 6 years and that is a testament to why Bayley deserves to be amongst the all-time greats. The way her voice cracked and her silent puppy eyes made it believable that she was on the verge of crying. Excellent character work from Bayley with one of the most organic and natural face turns that didn't feel forced at all, which is very difficult for a heel to pull off. This segment should've been the main takeaway from the episode instead of the current talking point (albeit understandably so) that has eaten all of the former's discourse. My rating solely is because of how great Bayley's segment was, besides the rest of the episode up until the last 5-10 minutes was very enjoyable as well."

[6.0] "Based on the entire show, it's a overall 5 to me. The Bayley segment was fantastic and I really liked the first two matches, as well as the NXT call ups. But of course it was all overshadowed by the final segment, when I really felt for Cody. I understand the anger surrounding this booking decision and although I don't think it will happen, I hope these plans change if the rivalries WWE has in mind are Seth Rollins vs Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns vs The Rock. Definitely not the right move for the majority of the fans."

[5.0] "Not going to bury the whole show and the good things it had because of the last segment, but what a way to crap on your whole build-up. Logan Paul and Kevin Owens promo was ok, and it suggests they're having a rematch, perharps at Elimination Chamber. The match with Austin Theory was really good, not as good as their tournament match, but those two work really well together. Surprised to see Tiffany Stratton being promoted, she had a good showing in this show, but Mia Yim prevented her for looking better with an inconsistent performance. The Fatal 4 Way Tag Team match was your typical spotfest. Well performed by all men and great result with British Strong Style advancing. Pretty Deadly were the most original team in the match by performing with more IQ and psychology than cool looking moves. I have some mixed feelings with the execution of the Damage CTRL betrayal to Bayley. This was being obvious since Kairi arrived to the stable and we saw how they always looked bad to Bayley but pretended to be cool with her as Io gained more power and leadership in the stable with the addition of the Kabuki Warriors. The thing is Bayley always seemed like she wanted to make Damage CTRL succeed and she had a plan for it that was being fulfilled, and all of a sudden, because she conveniently heard Io saying "Bayley is done tonight" it all blew off. I feel like this needed more build-up, because it also made Io look stupid. Why would you want to put Bayley against you after winning the Rumble? I think they rushed the betrayal and maybe it should've happened before the Rumble or in the very same match. I'm not going to say anything about the bunch of crap that was the final segment, I already left my opinion in the promo itself. As long as people care only for money ignoring quality these things are going to keep happening."

[6.0] "Ich fand die Ausgabe gar nicht schlecht. Wenn The Rock mal wieder Bock hat dann muss man es auch nutzen. Cody wird noch genug Titelchancen bekommen. Ist ganz klar das er Ihm denn Vortritt lässt. Die Matches dieser Woche waren leider nichts besonderes. Hoffe das bald William Regal kommt und Tyler Bate und Pete Dunne managt, die würden echt sehr gut zusammenarbeiten. Hoffe das man das 6 Man Tag Team Match dann in Australien bringt mit einer ordentlichen Stipulation. Bin mal gespannt wie Kevin Owens sein Rückmatch bekommt."

"This was unironically a really good show of Smackdown, unfortunately no one will remember that about this showor will they? Hear me out for a moment, with all of the backlash from this show, it has led to an overwhelming amount of support for Cody Rhodes. Support that has only increased as time moves on and more people (maybe new to wrestling) find out about this, possibly being interested and bringing more eyes to the product (Raw, NXT and Smackdown). The WWE have a chance to pivot this into a better situation, right their wrong and create an all timer build up to WrestleMania. Im aware its a stretch but if theres one thing we know about this business is that anything and I mean ANYTHING (im looking at you CM Punk) is possible. So lets just agree to wait this out, watch the upcoming shows because theyre beyond vital for how this game of Chess will move forward. The fans made their move. Time for WWE to make their move or fold."

[6.0] "This smackdown was actually pretty good if you take out the last 8 mins of the show. Yeah we all hate the booking decision to sideline Cody but I'm not gonna judge this episode based on that. All the matches were actually quite enjoyable and even got the debut of Tiffany Stratton on smackdown which is an absolute amazing pickup for the women's SD roster. Kevin Owens vs Austin Theory was really fun and the slow burn to Theory's babyface run is on the horizon. Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate are continuing their push and won a fun 8 man tag man sprint. The Roman Reigns promo was going good until they had him bury the fuck out of Rollins and the WHC. They decide to talk down on it and then to make it better, have their top babyface who won the rumble, called out roman, said multiple times in the past year say that he doesn't want the WHC but then they're gonna have him go for it? 0 sense and I hope they pivot after seeing the backlash theyre receiving. That whole promo really did take a few points off from my rating which is a shame because it was quite the good episode. (I forgot to mention the Bayley segment which was one of my favorite women's segment in quite some time out of all companies. Good stuff)"

[2.0] "2 points are given out for that brilliant Damage CTRL segment, Tiffany's main roster debut, and a pretty good 4-way tag match to determine the #1 contender to the tag titles (still don't know why they aren't split up yet but whatever). But I can't talk about this without discussing the massive, mostly Samoan elephant in the room that was that final segment. In just one fell swoop, WWE had Roman Reigns completely bury the remaining prestige of the WHC, and they themselves buried two years, not a couple weeks or hell a couple months, TWO YEARS worth of storytelling and buildup along with the concept of how winning the Royal Rumble even works which, HOW DO YOU EVEN SCREW THAT UP? It also made arguably the top babyface in the whole goddamn company look like a complete chump who threw away what had been basically his life's work for.... what exactly? Just bowing out and giving his position to a 50+ year old part-timer who hasn't wrestled a proper match in a decade (and hasn't been injured doing so in even more) that's so pumped full of PEDs from acting that his quad will tear off the bone from just merely running the ropes. If WWE actually goes through with this, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE loses here. Cody because his story had been completely trashed and he was made to look like a fucking loser, Rock because his legacy will forever be tarnished for pulling this backstage politicking shit like he's Hogan or 90's HBK (the ladder of whom he was a victim of so it only adds irony that he ended up doing the same shit 30 years later), Roman because his title reign will not be rightfully remembered as one of the most legendary in WWE history, but one of the most legendarily boring and tumultuous reigns in wrestling history, eclipsing even Double J's Stranglehold of the Ten Pounds of Gold in TNA. And at the end of the day, this will only hurt WWE and TKO as a brand and/or company because in the short term, cool! They found themselves the main event that's the most "financially salivating" box office draw of a match to headline the 40th WrestleMania, but in the long run, fans are going to leave in droves because their trust has been played around with for the final time and even when Vince McMahon is long gone from the company, WWE simply doesn't care for what fans think or want to see."

[2.0] "Alright, let's just get the positive stuff out of the way. Kevin Owens vs Austin Theory was a pretty solid opener. Pretty Deadly vs LWO vs British Strong Style vs Legado del Fantasma turned out to be a good match too. However, the Bayley + Damage Control segment was EASILY the best part of the show. BIG kudos to these women for successfully pulling off Bayley's face turn. Io Shirai vs Bayley being the most interesting/compelling match on the Wrestlemania 40 card is INSANE, but we will cover that later. Anyway, I'm also happy for Tiffany Stratton and Naomi since they're welcome additions to this division (with hopefully LESS of Bianca Belair). With that being said, GOOD GRIEF does this show fucking suck. There was an advertised 6-tag match with the Final Testament vs Bobby Lashley/Street Profits that just never happened. Gee, I wonder why. Could it be because they would've taken time away from Roman Reigns's godawful, boring entrance? Could it also be because their match would've prevented Roman Reigns from unceremoniously BURYING the legitimacy of the World Heavyweight title, and EVERYONE who ever competed for that belt over the last 8 months in that HORRIBLE promo? Seriously, this selfish prick simply tarnished Seth Rollins's hard work in making that world championship mean something.... just by opening his oversized mouth. Anyway, here comes the next awful part. They had Cody Rhodes ADMIT that he wanted to challenge for the WWE (Universal) title, and that he was going to come for Roman Reigns; but just not at Wrestlemania 40. Then, The Rock made his unwanted surprise appearance. He actually gave Cody Rhodes the 2013 CM Punk treatment except this was MUCH worse. Anyway, this obviously reeks of backstage politics and nepotism by The Rock AND Roman Reigns. This is just a convenient way for Reigns to extend his terrible reign of terror by retaining against Rock while also avoiding Cody. Honestly, this endless push of Reigns, and this shitty Bloodline lore is honestly the worst part of the whole product (at least on Smackdown). NOBODY ELSE on this show matters besides the Bloodline. Did you guys notice how Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and LA Knight were absent on last night's show? Reigns did NOTHING to elevate any of them nor did he do ANYTHING to make them look good. He beat the 3 biggest babyfaces on Smackdown, and none of them were even there. Seriously, just move Styles and Orton to Raw already. This brings me to my next point. Smackdown's main event scene is SO dead. Their ONLY realistic options for Reigns to face on Night 2 of Wrestlemania 40 are Rock and/or Cody. That's basically it. One of those men is a washed 51-year old legend who hasn't wrestled a lengthy match in 11 years. The other guy is the most over babyface in the entire company who just won his 2nd rumble match in a row, and he's part of the RAW roster. Smackdown's world title scene is COOKED, and it's been this way over the last 3 years too. Anyway, I kept trying to tell some of you folks that Smackdown is the WORST weekly wrestling show on television, and I'm officially vindicated for saying that too; especially after last night's debacle. Have fun with Roman Reigns and the Bloodline burying the men's roster for another 5 years. Have fun with Bianca Belair continuing to bury Bayley (who's STILL not promoted on the Wrestlemania 40 poster because Bianca just HAS to look SUPER strong), and Damage Control years later. This fixation and obsession over part-time world champs will eventually be the downfall of WWE. Funnily enough, it wasn't Brock Lesnar who started this concept in 2017. That was THE ROCK back in early 2013, and now he is here to challenge his untalented cousin for the WWE Universal title in a battle that will inevitably be a mediocre match. Rock will be gassed early in that shitty "dream" match, and he'll be forced to sell for most of that contest. Reigns will spend 6-10 minutes cutting his boring monologues in the early parts of the contest, and he will give a C-level performance (if you guys are lucky) because he has not consistently cooked or tried in the ring since early 2021. It is hilarious how they think they needed this "money" match (which Rock will SINGLE-HANDEDLY draw interest since Reigns is a such an anti-draw) when Wrestlemania 40 was already sold out. Anyway, this show does NOT deserve my generous 2 points; but I respect the women too much to completely bury this awful show entirely. The first two men's matches were pretty solid; so that is why I am barely giving this rating a 2/10. It's honestly amazing how it only took 6 days for WWE to completely kill my interest for Wrestlemania 40. Way to kill the vibes already. The Rock's return, Roman Reigns, the Bloodline, and Triple H can ALL fuck off as far as I am concerned."

[5.0] "Two years of storytelling, potentially down the drain for a PR move? Yeah I'm not sure I'm into that. However I don't think it's completely fair to 0-rate this over just that. The stuff before it was mostly good. The Bayley turn was very well executed. Tiffany is a star in the making, and giving her the penultimate segment against Mia Yim (Michin) is a good move to showcase the future of the women's division, which is becoming more and more stacked. The main event of the Roman/Cody ending is obviously the point of contention, and I agree. However, I'm delusional enough to believe that they might pivot due to this backlash, or that this was a swerve. Rating will go up or down depending on what comes up next."

"The matches were solid, specifically the four-way tag match. Corey Graves and Wade Barrett were surprisingly good as a team in their debut effort. The Bayley/IYO segment set the stage well for the road to WrestleMania. I understand the disappointment in Cody not going for Roman like expected, but am willing to let things play out. Show was way better than these ratings."

[7.0] "I don't understand the hating, people's sentiments on a single moment of a 2 hour show shouldn't be blinding them on a good show outside of that vacuum. Whether fans like it or not and as shown in that final segment, The Rock's presence supercedes anything Cody has done because the fans in attendance literally cheered like wild animals when The Rock showed up and didn't care less as Cody left. The Rock vs Reigns is bigger than any match Cody will ever have, it has to main event Mania. That aside, Owens vs Waller was decent, Owens using the brass knuckles on the men who introduced it in the Logan match is karma, hopefully Logan vs KO is done soon in a Extreme Rules/No DQ environment. Tag Team 4 Way was MOTN but Tiffany Stratton's MR debut was very underwhelming with her botching some moves particularly the finish and Mia Yim and her only getting less than 8 mins is criminal too, Yim is massively wasted in WWE sadly."

[4.0] "Somo would say the rating this show is getting is unfair, but the feeling 99% of the people outside the arena is that ending was disrespectul not only to Cody but to all of the viewers who invested TWO YEARS in the Cody Finishing His Story to get taken away by a part-timer like the Rock, It's a shame for the workers in this show the only thing people will talk about it's that ending when almost everything in the show was good, and the segment between Damage CTRL was great"

[7.0] "Eine Episode anhand einer Entscheidung, die man nicht befürwortet, zu bewerten, ist nicht fair. Es war eine grundsolide Show, die viele Weichen für die Zukunft gestellt hat (Verpflichtungen von Tiffany Stratton, evtl. Bron Breakker und Jade Cargill) und zudem mit dem endgültigen Turn von Bayley gegen Damage CTRL und dem Rock/Cody/Roman Segment für zwei denkwürdige Momente gesorgt hat. Eine gute Episode von SmackDown, die vor allem im Hinblick auf WrestleMania extrem wichtig für den Aufbau ist / war."

[2.0] "2 points, because of the fantastic Damage CTRL segment. IYO, Bayley, Asuka and Kairi, thank you for at least trying to put on something good in a mountain of ass. Matches were subpar at best, but the obvious star of the show was Cucky Rhodes giving up his WM match with Roman to The Rock. What an awful decision. I've been thinking that the WWE was really steering themselves into the right direction, 2023 had been (for the most part) an incredible year, but now? What the fuck are we doing here? This is an embarrassing ego trip from Dwayne Johnson, and Triple H should be ashamed of himself for ever allowing himself to let this happen. *."

[1.0] "1 point for a brilliant promo with Bayley and Damage CTRL. But the main event completely took away any and all other merit that this show could have. I'm not going to talk about the promo at the end, because I've already reviewed the promo directly, but holy fucking shit is Dwayne out of tough and holy shit does Triple H have absolutely no spine for allowing this to happen. A truly disgraceful and disrespectful episode."

[1.0] "The event presented a considerable sense of underwhelm, accompanied by a scarcity of compelling matches. My initial rating of 3 to 5 would have persisted if not for a pivotal segment during the closing moments. It has become evident that The Rock, AT 51 exhibits a level of self-interest that stands out in the realm of wrestling. While acknowledging John Cenas commendable inclination to uplift his peers as his career approaches its conclusion, The Rock appears indifferent to the hardworking talent contributing consistently to audience entertainment. There is a palpable sentiment calling for WWE to diminish its reliance on part-time performers. Opportunities for significant matches, such as The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, were missed in previous WrestleManias, with the current timing deemed less than ideal. The handling of the World Title appears suboptimal, notably impacting Seth Rollins negatively. CM Punks unforeseen injury evidently disrupted planned storylines. Anticipation remains for an unexpected twist leading to Codys potential inclusion in a Universal Championship triple threat scenario. Considering the current state of WWE, the likelihood of such an outcome seems notably diminished. Anyways, I always look back at this quote from CM PUNK. trust me, this isn't sour grapes, but the fact that "Dwayne" is in the main event of WrestleMania next year and I'm not makes me sick! Im sure thats how Cody feels right now."

[3.0] "An incredibly funny ending to an otherwise boring show. I think my fellow inmates will harp on that final segment with Cody looking like a loser and I will just say that Cody should just go. The show itself was painfully boring at times, with the matches having almost no response from the crowd. Tiffany's debut being this cold is egregious even for Levesque's booking standards. A lot of things "happened" which make this show not that terrible, such as Damage Control breakup and Naomi, Jade, Stratton and Bron choosing brands but other than that a very boring and mediocre show. The Pride/Final Testament (god, what a bad name) segment was very funny too."

[4.0] "For the most part, I was going to rate Smackdown a 7 since there were some decent matches, it's looking like Logan Paul isn't going to be a part-timer, Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate are getting a little push, and Corey and Barrett did decent by themselves on commentary. However, 2 things that really messed this episode up the Final Testament vs Bobby Lashley and the street profits was an absolute waste of time, this easily could have been a backstage segment and not hyped us up for the AOP's return match. Also... the main event promo segment, Rock vs Roman is going to be a disaster, I don't want to be cliche and talk about "finishing the story", but why, no one in their right mind wouldn't take the opportunity to rematch (one of) the biggest men in WWE in his free rematch. Rock vs Roman makes zero sense for Cody to just let it go to someone who works less than him. WWE needs to realize, that no one cares this much about Roman Reigns as they (the wwe) do. From his rumble victory to people constantly complaining about his reign, it is a complete loss. I'm almost certain Wrestlemania will be over the match before the main event... at least as it sits right now."

[8.0] "Smackdown was a banger show with storylines progressing from the tag team and women's division. As well as the midcard and main events scene the big story with this episode will come down too where they go with Cody, Roman, and Rock stories. The new commentary team was good for the first night and can defiantly can improve from here. Also the battle of the general managers for signing of free agents is fun and entertaining with Jade and Bron where will they sign? Tiffany Stratton had a good introduction the segment with Legado de Fantasma was really good, the feud with the LWO should elevate both factions. Final Testament and The Pride is just not clicking yet even with the introduction of B-Fab. Bayley segment was the best part of this smackdown episode."

[3.0] "The inclusion of Wade Barrett on commentary is undeniably a welcomed bonus for a pretty disasterous night. I'm genuinely pleased they haven't sidelined him from commentary. Logan Paul, on the other hand, is an insufferable prick, with just the right level of heat with me at the moment. He embraces the role of being an annoyance quite convincingly, which is simply an extention of his real personality. The 'what? ' chants from the audience feel fitting. Fortunately, the irritation is interrupted by Kevin Owens mid-promo, who aptly labels him as an "unbearable idiot." It turns out to be a decent confrontation between the two. As Owens faces off against Austin Theory, with Grayson Waller by his side, the pairing proves to be a fitting duo that elevates both men involved. The match is solid, though there's a bit too much focus on Paul on commentary. Nevertheless, he holds his own in that role. The back-and-forth with the Brass Knuckles adds a layer of unpredictability that gives us a nice finish. Afterwards, we're subjected to an incredibly tedious Fantasma video package, drumming up anticipation for a tag team match involving a mishmash of teams that, despite my best efforts, I don't give a monkeys about The highlight, or rather lowlight, of the match is the cliché moment where one individual leaps into a cluster of opponents, toppling them like bowling pins a move that's not only embarrassing but becomes an instant deal-breaker. The airborne performer even hesitated, seemingly double-checking if everyone was in their designated spots. They should've taken a page from the Samoa Joe playbook and let him hit the mat. Overall, it's a forgettable and occasionally frustrating match that lacks any real importance The only redeeming factor comes in the form of a brief appearance by Zelina Vega, gracing our screens for a fleeting moment. Bayley asserts her awareness of how Damage CTRL have been slagging her off behind her back. only to have her suspicions confirmed as she is then betrayed by the Kabuki Warriors, resulting in her face turn. She then straightforwardly declares Iyo Sky as her WrestleMania opponent, a choice that, in my view, is a more fitting one than Rhea for Bayley. It's a fine segment really. Michin goes against Tiffany Stratton as our final match of the night. While Im pretty high on Stratton - Michin does a pretty decent job in the match herself. Its certainly Tiffy Time though. With her debut being the highlight of the night for me. The video package shown earlier in the night offers the compelling argument that Rollins is making to Cody, pulling my heart strings with footage of Flair, Funk and Rhodes - real champions. Comparing them to the likes of Warrior, Hogan etc - the Hollywood champions. My issue with this argument - is that to me, going by Seths own logic - Cody would be better off going after the IC title with its history of being carried by the work horse and currently by the incredible talent Gunther. Rather than the consolation title Seth is carrying because of Romans limited schedule. Unfortunately no fancy video package will soften the blow or change the fact Cody has been claiming that he is after the title Reigns is holding, the title that was robbed from his fathers grip. Yknow, the story that has been hyped up since before the last Mania? You might be wondering why Im highlighting all of this, theyre obviously going to do the right thing, right? Wrong! WWE stands for We Wreck Everything. Roman delivers a pretty scathing promo, defending his current position and schedule, further burying Seths title. Its a decent bit of mic work from the tribal chief. Enter Cody, the most alive the crowd have been tonight. As Cody, god bless him - tries to make us all believe its his idea what we are about to witness. Enter The Rock, typically a man Im glad to see - but to have him seemingly snatch away an opportunity from a man they have been building up for a long while now. Why? Because he's The Rock! This leaves a sour taste in my mouth to say the least. No wonder The Rock is sweating, perhaps in the heat of the moment he realises just how terrible this looks for all parties involved - besides the box office draw he will be a part of at Mania, this makes all parties involved look bad. I just question is this truly whats best for business? Cody and Seth will perhaps be the better match, but to make what you've been building to and teasing on television for over a year - now seem secondary to a man who has been gone for how long now? It's a move to say the least. A move that without a doubt makes Cody look weaker, The Rock selfish, and the entire company having their priorities in the wrong order. The Owens and Paul segment, and the debut of Stratton hardly soften the blow that has been delivered here - I just hope there's an incoming swerve, perhaps The Rock will be a special guest referee/enforcer, could be a triple threat. All that - and I still fail to mention the absolute lack of WRESTLING on a WRESTLING show. Either way, a bad Smackdown."

[0.0] "This show had a lot of amazing stuff on it. The announcements of Naomi and Tiffany signing to Smackdown, the teasers of Bron Breakker and Jade Cargill moving to the main roster, a decent match with KO and Theory, a good 4 way tag, and an impressive SD debut for Tiffany. All of this went down the drain as soon as The Rocks music played."

[0.0] "WWE once again going at it with the "let's fuck over our most over superstar so an old man that can't even wrestle anymore can take the spotlight"."

[0.0] "The episode was good until the last 20 minutes of that now cursed show that transform Cody into the biggest clown this company ever had and completely destroys his character in one f*cking sentence, this is a really impressive performance. Rock vs Roman will stink as hell and we all know damn well that Roman will win after only 4 minutes this is crazy"

[7.0] "An dieser einmal ein großes "Lol, Internet-Fans". Ganz ehrlich weiß ich nicht, was los ist. Diese Show war gut. Die Matchqualität war solide, der Turn von Bayley wurde wirklich gut in Szene gesetzt und es gibt frisches Blut. Was jetzt mit Cody, Dwayne und Roman wird, bleibt abzuwarten. Ehrlich, haben Internet-Fans mittlerweile so eine kurze Aufmerksamkeitsspanne, dass sich Storytelling (und damit meine ich nicht bloß Brawls oder "X fordert Y heraus") für diese Zuschauerschaft nicht mehr greifen lässt? Ernsthaft, mir fehlt eine vernünftige Erklärung dafür. Ich kann den Unmut kein Bisschen nachvollziehen und bin tatsächlich interessiert zu sehen, wie sich das Geschehen im Main Event entwickelt. Einfach mal runterkommen, abwarten und die Luft anhalten."

[1.0] "I haven't felt this deflated and upset about wrestling in a bit. This has completely shot down my excitement for wrestlemania this year, if cody does not finish the story against roman at mania, i do not want it."

"This was an good episode of Smackdown. one of the best I have watched in a long time. While the in ring wasn't particularly great, there were some good spots and points in the match. I really loved the Bayley turn that we got here and that main event segment was just amazing. From the Roman/Cody stare down to the Rock returning to go against Roman. It couldn't have been better IMO. If the course is for Rock Vs Roman Reigns to main event WrestleMania 40, then this was a great starting point. 3.5/5 show"

[9.0] "lmao smarks, the show was very good, an enjoyable fatal 4 way tag in which each team made a nice showing, good to see Bate & Dunne promoted to the finals on Smackdown because they have potential, great performance from Logan throughout the episode, Owens giving good arguments, good to see Tiffy debut because the women's division apart from Damag CTRL is non-existent, and speaking of them - well played face turn by Bayley which is not talked about. All because of the action with Cody and Rock. I understand the Codas fans who are constipated but he didn't deserve a second fight with Roman. Cody vs Roman? Bad. Rock vs Roman? Bad. Wrestling fans are the biggest hypocrites who change their minds as the wind blows. Also, people cool it. The narrative looks like this is Rhodes' last fight in the federation and it's like there's no telling what happened. I'm happy for the possibility of Rock fighting because he's the biggest money maker they could cook up. Besides, there could be a lot of twists flying in here and such a decision is due to Punk's injury, blame it on him XD Who then is to go for Seth if you suddenly have two major stars falling out - Brock and Punk? They have to patch it up somehow. Cheers to the whole complacent community. Smackdown was good."

[0.0] "This show itself was decent with a few decent matches, a good return in Naomi and decent debut in Tiffany Stratton. However, the ending is nigh unforgivable. What they essentially did was a mockery of all the people in WWE who actually work day in and day out to give the best product possible. But now they've fucked it once again by giving the main event to someone who's not wrestled in ages and someone who's pretty much ready to retire. There was absolutely no reason why Cody wouldn't finish his story this year, but of course WWE have managed to find another reason to justify not having Roman drop the title, while Cody can win "that other world championship". Hopefully there is a swerve here and we actually see Roman vs Cody at mania, even if it is a triple threat now, but regardless the ending segment completely ruined the entire night and hopefully this is not what it seems, because you really can't keep getting away with insulting your hard working talent and dedicated audience like this."

[2.0] "ruining codys story for a washed up bald loser that cant wrestle. either he weaselled his way into this since hes on the board or triple h has had his first vince moment. rip cody. only reason this gets a 2 is for bayley and dmg ctrl having a great segment"

"Didnt watch the whole show so not fair to rate, but I will say that maybe we should let things play out with Cody. Maybe he will face Seth, maybe it will become a triple threat, who knows. Early indications are rightfully bad, and it was poorly done, but it may just be a beat in a larger story."

[2.0] "Forgetting the ending, this would be like a 6 out of 10. A perfectly serviceable episode of Smackdown with precisely one match actually worth watching, the tag team four-way. Aside from that, the only other standout thing came from the breakup of Damage CTRL. But my GOD that ending. Let's sum up what happened here. 1) Roman buried the shit out of Seth Rollins and the World Heavyweight Championship. 2) Cody came out and said he was coming for Roman... but not at Wrestlemania. Then why did he point at Roman after the Rumble? And why did he even enter the Rumble in the first place if he didn't want the Mania main event? Which Roman's match WILL obviously be, even in kayfabe that should be obvious to the character. 3) The Rock comes out, Cody just backs down and leaves with the most obviously dejected look on his face I've seen since... uh, well, the aftermath of Ibushi vs Marufuji, actually. This is one of the worst decisions WWE has made in years, sacrificing FINALLY building a top guy that might possibly be able to take over once Roman inevitably goes Hollywood with no one primed to take over that spot, for a quick "hey, let's all just forget about that Vince stuff, eh? Look, Rock the Dwayne Johnson is here! " pop. What a load of shit. Fuck this."

[10.0] "I'm genuinely shocked that so many people didn't like the episode. I personally loved it. All segments were very well done, for all tastes, from comics to historical moments. The combats were also good, nothing out of this world, but decent. In addition to Rock x Reigns, Bayley x Sky, Cody x Rollins (I think you can assume intrinsically) I also hope to see Aldis x Pearce at WrestleMania, the battle of the GMs and former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champions. As for the additions to the roster, Tiffany is a big name for the future and Naomi is perhaps the only low point, as she is extremely overrated. Her joining Bloodline would be the only way to become relevant again. I think Bron will go to RAW and be the face to face Gunther for the Intercontinental title, I'm in doubt about Jade. Excellent episode of SmackDown, I'm very curious to know what will happen on the way to Elimination Chamber."

[9.0] "I feel the frustration. I do. What transpired tonight makes me feel confused and a little dejected. I don't think Seth vs Cody at Mania is a particularly good matchup. I don't think it makes sense for Cody's character to bow out of the picture to give Rock a Mania main event. But this is episodic TV that left us with a cliffhanger. The dust needs to settle. We need to watch Raw on Monday. We need to watch next week's Smackdown. It's very possible that the mania card will feel like a mess, but we can't declare that Cody, Seth, and the WHC are buried after one closing segment on Smackdown. It kinda feels like it, I'll admit, and it could absolutely play out that way, but I am holding off judgement on this booking decision until we have a greater scope of context (i.e. there's a Meltzer report going around this morning claiming that Punk's injury was the catalyst for this). For the time being, I mean talk about a riveting and controversial episode of TV. let's not act like this Smackdown didn't have us on the edge of our seats. The Bayley segment was great. I thought Logan did a great job opening the show with KO. Tag title implications for Dunne and Bate. B-Fab joins the Pride. Stratton looked great and won her debut match against someone hot off a title match. Naomi announced for Smackdown. Jade and Bronn teased signings. Legado del Fantasma formally debuted. And as much as the IWC has been bitching about the Rock; the crowd sure was feeling him. He had an undeniably electric entrance and staredown with Roman, and if they fight for the strap at Mania, that is an undeniably generational main event (in a vacuum). What matters is what follows. Can the WWE navigate this without burying the two biggest babyfaces on Raw, the WHC belt, and the Royal Rumble? I don't know, and I'm not exactly confident, but I will be tuning into WWE programming like a mark until Wrestlemania to see how this all plays out, and to me, that's what makes a good episode of wrestling television"

[0.0] "Genuinely one of the worst episodes I've seen. The good things were Aldis, as usual, Tiff & Naomi getting signed, Bayley's face turn and... Yeah that's about it. A total of 5 minutes I enjoyed from this whole 2 hour episode. I don't like British Strong Style. I don't like Iyo. The wrestling was meh and with very predictable outcomes. The closing segment really made Cody look like the dumbest motherfucker alive. He had the chance to finally avenge his loss from last year and achieve his life-long goal of winning the prestigious title his dad couldn't win, but instead he is choosing the crippled guy he beat thrice, for a Mickey Mouse title that wasn't even around in Dusty's life span, possibly because Seth asked nicely on Monday. And on top of that, Roman buried Seth and his drawing ability for reasons I guess?"

[3.0] "Man, I just dont know. This was just a bizarre show. The Lashley/Profits/Testament match that actually wasnt a match, the ending to the tag match seemed a little off. The Bayley segment was great, the reason this show isnt getting a 1 or 2 rating from me, and is sadly getting overshadowed by the ending of the show. The ending of the show was a wet fart. I was just waiting for someone to be like ha! Gotcha! but that never happened. Just seemed so weird and out of touch. Idk man."

"I didn't watch the show, but I saw the Cody segment. I'm no nowhere near a Cody fan boy. I don't find him entertaining, I feel like he's playing Cody Rhodes rather than being Cody Rhodes. But they did him SO dirty tonight. Shame on WWE and HHH. This roster is insanely stacked. There's no reason Seth couldn't take on Sami or have a fatal four way like Roman had at the rumble with Drew, Kofi and Jinder. What about Shinsuke? What they did to Cody was rotten, his character looks like an chump. Hell we could have finally gotten the priest cashing in on Balor story. So many possibilities. This is exactly what is wrong with mass media entertainment. Keep recycling the nostalgia acts. It's the wrestling equivalent of remakes, and reboots, and sequels long past the interest of the people. We don't need Roman is going to break Bruno's record. This is just stupid. Like the rumble was stupid predictable and it was lame. Now mania is shaping up to be another show without consequence. They had it all and killed it"

[0.0] "Genuinely I don't want to watch mania anymore, they had all the pieces in play for a 5 star show but it's all ruined. CM Punk missing mania is one thing but it's nobody's fault so I'm fine, but the rock vs roman for the title is going to be the worst main event in mania history since LT vs Bam Bam. I mean seriously who would even win? Either Roman keeps the belt for another 1000 fucking days, or the Rock holds the biggest championship in all of wrestling at the age of 51. Is it crazy to say that Vince might have booked mania better?"

[0.0] "If that show ended 5 minutes earlier, it would have been a solid 8, Bayley's turn was great, matches were decent, Tiffany being there is huge for women's division, Pearce/Aldis stuff is always good. Then they wrote Rock's inclusion on Mania card the worst possible way, if he's supposed to go there, just don't make him win the Rumble because it's so stupid to not use the Mania match on someone that makes sense. If Cody is supposed to face Seth and Rock wasn't available for Rumble, write it in a way that makes Cody actually interested in Seth's title instead of having him concur to Roman's point about how worthless is the WHC. Worst ending to a WWE show since Fiend vs Goldberg."

[0.0] "The Damage CTRL Segment was awesome, the matches were pretty standard however the Cody-Rock situation is absolutely horrendous!"

[0.0] "Unless there is some swerve between now and Mania, Dwayne showing up and taking Codys spot is one of the biggest fumbles in Professional Wrestling History."

[6.0] "Good episode of SmackDown, with many good points - The two first matches were pretty cool - The storyline between Owens and Logan Paul continues and it's quite entertaining - Damage CTRL's segment was awesome - Tiffany Stratton in the Main Roster, that's cool - The tension between Aldis and Pearce is cool - The final segment is very harsh because nobody who loves pro wrestling wants to see Reigns vs Rock and not Cody vs Reigns. But... let's see what they will cook. Maybe, they'll find a solution to change that. Or maybe I'm still hoping for nothing... But well, globally a good SmackDown. Only a 6 because of the final segment."

[0.0] "It's crazy how what was a great SmackDown turned into a complete fail. All the backstage segments, matches, main roster signings, etc were all so good! but then The Rock, who joined the TKO Board of Directors just weeks ago has already marched in, chosen his time and place and pushed Cody to the side for his own personal gain. It's sad really that an 8-time WWE Champion and Royal Rumble winner can't see that this isn't his moment and this isn't the time to face his cousin. Let it go Rock. This isn't about you. This isn't your story. This isn't your moment. This is frustrating."

[9.0] "I mean to give this show anything from 0 to 5 because of one segment is stupid imo. The show itself was good. The Bayley face turn was very well executed and got very over with the crowd. The matches were good too, nothing spectacular, but good overall. I am happy to see Stratton, Breakker and Cargill. Breakker hasn't signed to Smackdown, so maybe they are going to do Gunther vs. Breakker at Mania. I can't say that I don't feel upset for Cody. He said that he still wants to win the Title, but Finish the Story means for him to take everything from Roman, not just the title. So my guess is, they do Roman vs. Rock at Mania not for the Title because Rock doesn't deserve it, but they do it for the title of Tribal Chief, Rock will win that and Roman is no longer Tribal Chief, so Cody vs. Roman will happen at Summerslam for the championship and Roman doesn't have his family in the back, because he is no longer Tribal Chief. I mean this isn't so bad. Rock is the bigger match for Mania and Summerslam is still a huge stage."

[0.0] "The worst bit? This was a good show minus the last 10 mins. All the good work done by all in this show got detracted from for some questionable choices made. Now I firmly believe on giving it a chance but with the way the final segment played out, who actually benefits? Disappointing, honestly as someone who followed the past year of WWE, it's a bit of a spit in the face."

[3.0] "Ein paar backstage Segmente waren ganz gut und gleiches gilt für das Damage Control Segment. Die Matches kann man hier gut skippen, da hat man nichts verpasst. Der Main Event Angle war dann eine Katastrophe, sollte da nicht in den nächsten Wochen noch ein Twist kommen. Cody sieht hier einfach sehr dämlich aus..."

[6.0] "It does suck for Cody and his fans (myself included) that he's not getting the Roman match, but that was just the very end of the show. The rest of the card was fine. I liked Bayley's segment a lot actually and the fatal four way was satisfactory. I was a little disapointed by Tiffany vs Michin, but they did satisfactory enough too. Also for the record I am looking forward to Rock vs Roman for the spectacle of it even if they should have done it next year instead."

[3.0] "You guys are crazy, this issue of SD shouldn't have been a zero-rated show. We had Tiffany's debut singles match and saw the split between Bayley and IO. Don't let the ending segment ruin the rating of the whole show.POOR Cody, go back to AEW, maybe the AEW World Title is where you belong."

[1.0] "I have invested nearly 3 years into the Cody Rhodes story and WWE flushing it down the toilet. What a bad decision. So disappointed. Besides that BS, is Smackdown a wrestling show or a talk and clip show? Just 25 minutes of action on a 2 hour show is awful. The only good thing on Smackdown was Bayley and Damage CTRL."

[8.0] "I'll start by saying WWE had wronged Cody Rhodes, his work ethic, dedication, and, of course, the story - big time! But, I enjoyed this show. KO & Paul's promo was a good banter between the two. The KO/Theory match was decent, primarily thanks to KO. He's versatile and can get the crowd behind him big time. It'll be interesting to see if he'll be the one to challenge for the US title on the Elimination Chamber PLE. The Fatal 4-Way Tag Team match was a lot of fun; plenty of enjoyable spots, physicality, athleticism, and storytelling all around (I can't wait for a Zelina vs. Elektra showdown). Dunne & Butch are a great team; I don't mind at all seeing them as the next champs. Bayley's segment was a masterpiece. Even though it was talked about so much in the past few weeks, and one could have seen it from a mile away, the storytelling was so good. What I especially liked about it was the relatability. The good girl who wishes to be a part of the group gets ousted by the "cool" mean girls. Honestly, It made me tear up. With the addition of Naomi & Tiffany Stratton to the fold, the Women's division got a significant boost. Tiffy's debut was decent. It seemed like it wasn't the cleanest match with Michin, but I enjoyed it. She is going to have a bright future on the main roster. The two things that didn't do it for me in this show were The Final Testament segment and the main event. First, The Final Testament & The Street Profits/Lashley/B-Fab segment should have been built better and gotten the proper time for it; it was too short. And, of course, the main event. Cody got his usual pop, and you could see how the WWE universe was behind him, waiting for him to finish the story. It was deflating big time. Pulling it off will take some extraordinary craftsmanship once they put The Rock in the center of his story. Perhaps, at the SummerSlam PLE..."

[0.0] "in wwe all i care for is cody and sami and both of them are fucked , last night was bad bad bad and I'm sad and mad"

"It's kinda sad to see how the worst booking decision in recent years (yes, even worse than unifiying world titles back in 2022), overshadows an otherwise good episode."

[3.0] "what the f**k is wrong with these guys? There is no recovery from this bro. They fumbled it so hard. Show was like a 6 till the end which brought it to a 3/10"

[7.0] "Bis auf die folgenreiche Entscheidung war das eine gute Show. Es gab das Debüt von Tiffany Strattom, der Turn vom Bayley. Eine Fortsetzung der Owens/Paul Story, die Fehde der GM wurde mit Cargill und Breakker als Rosinen fortgeführt. Auch um die TT Titel mühte man sich heute. British Strong Style gefallen mir seit NXT UK eh gut. Schön auch das man B-Fab eine Möglichkeit gibt und Sie nicht beim Catering rumlungern muss. Was die ME Sache soll muss mir die WWE jetzt aber erklären? Und zwar gut. Das es hier viele emotionale One Liner in die Wertung schaffen und Leute sich erklären müssen wenn Sie eine Show gut fanden kann nicht richtig sein. Man sollte eher bei extremen Eertungen einen Zeichenlimit einführen."

[0.0] "Sorry, but no. I love The Rock and The Rock vs Roman is a dream match, but I didn't invest a year+ investing my time in a storyline with no pay off. This Smackdown is going to be remembered, not fondly, for many years to come."

[0.0] "They did Cody, arguably their biggest Babyface since John Cena, dirty for no reason man. Why that "I'm coming for you but not in the Main Event of the most important show of the year where you beat me 1 year ago" Just... Bullshit."

[7.0] "Good episode of SmackDown, you would think people on here would know you're not supposed to rate a whole episode of a show based just off the ending but nonetheless. I get people are upset Cody won't be finishing the story at this year's Mania and the ending segment made him look weak in the process but that doesn't make this whole episode a 0. I'm upset Cody isn't finishing it this year too but at least we're getting The Rock vs Roman Reigns out of it which is a match that's been years in the making, I think they could've handled Cody basically giving his spot to the rock a little better but I think there's still a few more twist and turns to come. I didn't even expect The Rock to face Roman this year at Mania especially after Cody won the rumble I was expecting him the SmackDown before the rumble in Miami if anything so this was quite the unpredictable surprise which makes for compelling TV. Cody will still finish the story like he said just not at WrestleMania 40. Not super big on Seth vs Cody for the WHC but I hope they tear it down, put CM Punk on commentary too since he can't wrestle and have him put the match over as the workhorse main event he always wanted to have before The Rock took it from him just like he's now done to Cody. Also forgetting all about the ending that Bayley and Iyo segment alone makes this show no where near as low as people are rating it. Absolute cinema."

"5/10 show, it would've been 8 maybe even 9 if not for disastrous giveaway of Wrestlemania main event by Cody. It sucks that all the good things like Bayley's face turn, Tiffany Stratton main roster debut and rising tensions between Pearce and Aldis are completely overshadowed by The Rock inserting himself into Wrestlemania match with Roman Reigns. I never thought that WWE was able to book more predictable Wrestlemania main event after Roman vs. HHH at Mania 32, now Roman will beat Hogan's record with 5 title defences within a year. Bad decision for us fans, but best for the business."

[0.0] "I'm sorry for giving a 0 when Damage CTRL have had probably the best segment in his tenure but what they did to Cody is straight bullshit...."

[4.0] "Yeah yeah I know why everybody is shitting on this episode of SmackDown which.....I completely understand. That was a hunk of horseshit that was shovelled down our throats because of extremely shitty circumstances...the Punk injury (fragile body, fragile ego, weak mind, weak spirit) and the whole Vince McMahon fiasco forced HHH to make some drastic changes - but holy fucking shit what stupid changes they are Like bro, having Roman basically bury Rollins' title....and THEN having Cody come out to say he doesn't wanna face Roman at Mania....only for FUCKING DWAYNE TO COME OUT? ! ? ! ? Brainless bullshit booking on so many levels and a hell of a way to turn a dream match into a total nightmare. Hopefully the WWE Universe can pull a WM30 and hijack the show to get Cody slotted in at least for a Triple Threat....but that's just the hopeless romantic in me. Hell, you could have had Roman pull a WK14 and main event both nights - first against Cody to finish his story, and the second against Rocky so that the title no longer becomes a factor.....just....ugh. I don't know. All this said, I cannot in good conscience give a 0 to a show which had that excellent Damage Control segment and a decent Owens/Theory match. 4/10 will suffice."

[2.0] "This score recognises the decent in-ring action and the great reveal that Bayley learned the Japanese language and was able to rumble the Japanese contingent of Damage CTRL continually mocking her, leading to her picking IYO SKY for WrestleMania. But then we get to the main event storyline. How could you be so dumb, Cody Rhodes? No, I'm not attacking the human being, but the writing team did a massive number on him on this show, as he decided that after chasing Roman Reigns for over a year and having won two Royal Rumble matches to do so... he's decided to pass it up and gave the title shot to The Rock. It appears we're getting Cody challenging Seth Rollins instead, the same Rollins who Roman Reigns minutes before buried his title reign as a clear number two. We've now got two title matches the fans don't want, and the extra outside pressure concerning "you know who" certainly doesn't help. And as much as I'm looking forward to IYO vs. Bayley, that's not got a prayer of unseating one of those two as a main event. For a landmark WrestleMania in the 40th edition, they've sure put a dampner on it."

[0.0] "I tuned in cause of the whole buzz. 2 hour show with a subpar 30 minutes of wrestling? I know this is their mania season but this was so boring to watch. The Cody stuff that i tuned in is beyond laughable. 2 year storyline and he just hands the opportunity to finish the story to the Rock for reasons unknown? Cause he is Samoan or cousins with Roman? Classic WWE booking that hasn't changed a bit. Just hype and buzzwords with no reason and no depth no matter how hard people try to explain it that doesn't make any sence."

[3.0] "The show stank honestly. A Ko theory match that I feel like Ive seen way too many times for my liking. That came after a bad Logan Paul promo at the start. A whatever 4 way tag match. My favorite part of this show easily was the damage control segment. Very well done with Bayley turning babyface to a good reaction and also sets up her mania match vs Iyo sky. Loved seeing Tiffany debut on the main shes been ready for a bit now. Of course what everyone is talking about is the Cody Roman segment. Might be the stupidest piece of business Ive ever seen and thats saying a lot given how bad wwe have been before with their booking. In a span of about 15-20 minutes they managed to shit on Seth Rollins, the World heavyweight championship, Cody rhodes and the fans of Cody rhodes who have been waiting and wanting Cody to beat Roman at mania this year after he lost the year prior. Even worse then the rock comes out basically cucks cody on live tv and now has his spot. Awful Awful booking to top off a already bad episode"

[3.0] "So many 0 ratings as a reaction for something that was so OBVIOUS. It's impossible to not understand the outburst as is equally impossible to not understand why WWE would choose Dwayne over Cody. It's not because it would only generate them more money but also Roman will use Rock as a stepping stone to solidify his title reign. Will it be a 5-star classic? No. But it will be 'the' moment. Plus he'll get to surpass Hogan's all-time reign. When The Rock showed up and take a shot at Reigns, it was set in stone. What was the plans involving Punk then? Idk. As far as we know Cody was meant to win and Rock vs Reigns was never off the table. So, indeed they are doing Cody dirty here but Cody winning the 'workhorse' title and going on open challenges might be a more meaningful story in itself. The only problem is: a) What'd that mean for Priest (I always wanted him to cash in on Balor too btw) and b) It's WWE's fault to make WHC look so little compared to its counterpart Universal. Understandably, Cody would 'downgrade' himself if he was not meant to dethrone Reigns even if he keeps being a main eventer with a main event level belt lol. Same old bullshit. They shouldn't have kept teasing the match, I never took it was the intention (unless plans changed the last minute but I doubt) Weak wrestling this week but Stratton's first televised main roster match + Bron Breakker contract tease + the turn on Bayley (although I think it happened a bit early) + British Strong Style reunion on TV accumulates to 3 points."

[0.0] "So what was the point of making Cody the face of the company for nearly a year and made him winning the rumble to have a match beetween 2 PART TIMERS The rock havent wrestled for 10 YEARS and you want him to have a 40 minutes match against reigns its impossible Cody vs Roman 2 have been teased for months and at the last minute you gave him his spot to a 50 years old guy Theres really no interest to watch this match we know that reigns will retain and dont lose his title until WM 41. HHH made a horrible mistake."

[8.0] "Decent episode of Smackdown this week, I don't know why it is being rated so low on here when it was actually enjoyable. The opening segment with Logan Paul and Kevin Owens was interesting and a fun one to watch, a bit later on the show when Logan Paul interrupted Bianca Belair and Nick Aldis was entertaining. The segment featuring Bayley and Damage CTRL was a surprise to watch when Asuka and Kairi Sane attacked Bayley who in turn challenged IYO SKY at WrestleMania 40, Bayley out of Damage CTRL is intriguing especially on the road to WrestleMania. The final segment of the show featuring Cody Rhodes choosing his WrestleMania opponent took an interesting and shocking twist when The Rock came out and confronted his cousin Roman Reigns to end the episode of Smackdown, but the whole segment was decent to watch anyway and makes for an interesting road to WrestleMania 40. Kevin Owens vs Austin Theory: Decent match to open this week's episode of Smackdown, solid action in the match and the ending was cool to see when Logan Paul handed Austin Theory the brass knuckles which ultimately backfired when Kevin Owens got them off Austin Theory and Kevin Owens got the win [***1/2]. Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate vs Angel & Humberto vs Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde vs Elton Prince & Kit Wilson: Okay four way tag qualifier match that featured some good tag team wrestling but it wasn't given the right amount of time, with more time it could have been even better, Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate winning was the right decision [**3/4]. Tiffany Stratton vs Michin: A good main roster debut for Tiffany Stratton, especially going against someone like Michin, getting the win in her debut match on the main roster was good to see for Tiffany Stratton [***]."

"Made an account to trash this show and WWE. Its obvious they are having Rock face Roman as a PR move because of the Vince lawsuit. Roman buried Seth and Cody looked like a joke. Why does anyone want to see Rock wrestle again? His last match against Cena at Wrestlemania 29, he was gassed and he got injured. I don't ever want to hear anyone say HHH is a great booker EVER again."

[0.0] "Yeah so, here's the thing....the majority of this show is actually quite fantastic. The problem is of course the final few seconds of the show where you are actively punished for your investment in the product. A practice not unfamiliar to WWE but one that you'd believe to be long dead since Vince's initial removal from creative. Cody looked like a total loser in this segment. His character and motivations are dead in the water on top of that. The whole segment reeks of desperation to try and do something to make up for the recent drama and injuries which while I understand....I feel like that could have been accomplished by simply doing the right thing"

[1.0] "Everything beside final segment was rather medicore, solid Damage CTRL stuff and good to see Tiffany but nothing remarkable. But H's way to set Rock vs Roman is absolutely ASS. Creating an ambitious story for 2 years, giving up first chance of Cody to give him another this year by back to back RR winning ends with capitulation in front of part timer. There were so many ways to do it - Roman works both nights, wrestles with Rock in Arabia...but no, let's kill all hype for WM and bury babyface's momentum again."

[0.0] "Actually, a lot of historic moments and faceoffs tonight. In terms of pure entertainment, it was incredible. Bayley choosing Iyo segment. Cody, The Rock and Roman in the same ring... But no. NO. They can't be handling Cody's story like that. Guy was the top face a year ago, wins the Rumble 2023 after coming back from an injury (with which he decided to fight in a banger against Seth Rollins), faces and dominates Roman at WM39, all that to lose in the same shitty way as everyone else against him... he goes on to face the top heels during the next year, Brock, Judgment Day, Shinsuke, dominates them all, makes his way back to the be the top face in WWE... WINS THE RUMBLE A SECOND TIME. POINTS AT ROMAN REIGNS TO FINISH THE STORY. And then... "nah I'm good, I'm gonna give the match at WM40 to an old guy who didn't wrestled in 10 years and who will surely lose like everyone else against Roman". What the hell are Triple H and WWE smoking ? Gotta be giving a 0 to let them know that's clearly not the way fans want to see Cody's story finishing, and that we are DONE with Roman's title going on for SOOOO LONG, with the same storylines, same matchs, same endings. They're always good, don't get me wrong, but after watching the same movie 35 times in a row, you kind of want to watch another one at some point."

[3.0] "All three of these points are for Bayley. She absolutely killed it and the entire Damage Control segment was amazing. When she whipped out the Japanese and her voice was cracking during the promo I felt it. But over in the men's division they dropped the ball. Since Wrestlemania 39 ended we've been building up to Roman vs Cody 2. They've been sprinkling little hints and breadcrumbs leading up to it to keep all of us invested and basically saying, "Don't worry the story will be finished." Cody became the 4th wrestler ever to win back to back Royal Rumbles. He pointed directly at Roman when he won. He literally said he wants to take Roman's title and everything else away from him. "But not at Wrestlemania." What? Why would anyone win the Rumble and just give their spot to any other wrestler for any reason? It makes no sense and is a slap to the face of anyone who actively watches the product week in and week out."

[0.0] "This show featured approximately 23% wrestling content and the matches that did take place were nothing to be remembered. Where the show really went off the rails was the ending. This made no sense given the events that took place at the Royal Rumble with Cody winning. The story has been codys road of redemption and taking his place atop the throne that has been dominated by Roman for the last 3 and a half years. The booking completely failed in this in every way possible. Every story if done right has a logical conclusion and those stories also have a shelf life and tonite also failed those two tasks 0/10"

""10/10 episode for me. I never saw that Swerve coming! Papa H continues to impress and prove why he's the Booker Of The Year! ""

[0.0] "This show was already not that good to begin with, subpar wrestling and not much of it. The show had less than 30 minutes of wrestling and cancelled probably the most interesting match of the night which isnt really saying much because the other matches of the night were the most run of the mill weekly matches that were short and average at best. To boot, the crowd was completely dead the whole entire night until the ending segment. The only possible bright spot of this show was Tiffany Stratton who had an okay at best match with Michin which had a poor finish. Also having the main event be the shortest match especially with a new up and coming star is definitely a strange strategy, didnt feel like Tiffany was able to showcase her potential much. Finally, the goddam final segment with reigns, Cody and Dwayne has to be one of the most confusing and bafflingly bad segments ever. Roman buries Seth and his belt as though Seth begging for a match wasnt bad enough. Then Cody comes in and says hes gonna take everything from Roman, then he just swerves and says he wont do it at mania and introduces the rock like a cuck introduces his wifes boyfriend to his parents. Plus the rock didnt even say anything cause time ran out so who even knows whens the next time well see him or when hes gonna speak to Roman face to face. This show has to be a 0/10 because literally nothing of importance and the most important thing happen all in the same night in the worst ways possible. Boring and then shockingly bad to the point of being upsetting is the the most positive way to briefly describe this episode."

[0.0] "CM Punk was right. The lack of actual wrestling on a wrestling show is one thing, but to top that off with that final segment is crazy. Guess we really didn't learn our lesson with the last time Dwyane main evented WrestleMania? The unfortunate truth is that this new main event will still pour in millions in revenue for the company while at the same time making your top babyface look like the biggest wimp on the planet. Furthermore, storywise, what sense does it make for Cody to give up his "story" for a part timer? Glad Cody is really being rewarded for being on the road 200 days a year!"

[10.0] "Generational show! The closing segment will likely draw 3 million viewers because Rock vs Roman is MONEY! It will make the most money, get the highest ratings, and make Wrestlemania the biggest success. WOW. The second Cody said he wouldn't be finishing his story this year, I got goosebumps! And then the Rock's music hit, and my goosebumps got goosebumps. And then the staredown for the ages! Two titans of wrestling. Two greats of the ONLY ROYAL FAMILY in wrestling, the A'noai Family staring each other down. EPIC EPIC SHOW!"

[0.0] "It was a great show; however, I have to give it a 0 rating for that absolutely abysmal ending to the show. It negates everything good that happened on the show, which is unfortunate because we are getting Bayley vs. Iyo and Tiffany Stratton debuted. It doesn't matter how high or how well you jump; if you break your legs on the landing, you get a 0 and that's exactly what SmackDown did tonight. I hope its a swerve, and I hope we are still getting Cody vs. Roman, but unfortunately, I don't think it's a swerve."

[2.0] "The whole show was centered around the two Rumble Winners choosing the champions they want to fight at Mania. Bayley and Dmg Ctrl segment was good but thats all that was good on the show, everything else was just meh wrestling and some NXT level promos. We hate the whole night to see Cody's decision, Romans Entrance takes 20 minutes and his promos makes the world title look midcard, Cody comes out and says he only wants to fight Roman but not at Mania? Ok that doesnt make sense. Codys story isnt the world title and hes beat Seth 3 times already so what are we doing. says he got advice from a close friend of Roman and the Rock comes out, Cody passes on his Mania Main Event to the Rock, Looks devastated and sad walking up the ramp. The WWE title is going to on Roman for another year because you know hes not losing to the Rock. This is trash bookking at its finest. Havent seen a positive review that isnt kidding themselves or playing Devils advocate."

[0.0] "For over a year, one of the primary stories in WWE has been that Cody Rhodes gave up everything he had in AEW so that he could win the top title in WWE and finish the story. Cody won the Royal Rumble, earning the chance to right the wrong that took place last year at WrestleMania. His only dream in life was right at his fingertips...and he *voluntarily* **forfeit** his chance to make that dream come true for ***nothing***. This was booked specifically and exclusively to put a bullet in the career of Cody Rhodes. If the design was to make Rock v Roman at WM40, the most logical course of action would've been to book an injury angle where the Bloodline takes out Cody. Broadcasters could then wax dramatic about how Roman had the Bloodline take Cody out because Roman knew his time was up. It provides Cody the ultimate revenge story for Summerslam 2024 through Wrestlemania 41 because, if he is taken out by injury, he has not forfeit his Wrestlemania title shot and can then stake his claim to the main event within the logic of the storyline. Instead, Cody gave up the title shot, forfeit his life's dream, for **absolutely nothing** in return. Kayfabe wise, this tells the viewer that the Cody Rhodes storyline, literally, meant absolutely nothing and that, in turn, Cody Rhodes means absolutely nothing. HHH just damned Cody Rhodes to no better than the upper mid-card for the rest of his WWE career. The story is that Cody Rhodes failed to make his dream come true without even trying. The story ends with Cody not being a failure, not being a loser, but a quitter who lost interest in his dream just as it touched his fingertips. What an absolute shame."

[0.0] "In recent years, Cody Rhodes has become synonymous with the WWE, carrying the company on his back during both prosperous and challenging times. His popularity has grown organically, and his story has become a focal point of the wrestling narrative. As the torchbearer for the WWE, Cody is poised to provide a fitting and satisfying conclusion to his ongoing saga, a culmination that fans have been eagerly awaiting. In the ever-evolving landscape of professional wrestling, it is essential to embrace change and usher in a new era. Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns represents the collision of two distinct journeys, a clash that encapsulates the current state and future direction of the WWE. By pivoting towards fresh faces and stories, the company can invigorate its fan base and pave the way for a compelling narrative that extends beyond a single event. While the allure of a match between The Rock and Roman Reigns may be enticing, the potential pitfalls of relying on a part-time performer are significant. Cody Rhodes, as the most popular figure in the company and a consistent force within the WWE, offers a more fitting alternative. It is time for Cody to finish his story, to carry the torch forward, and to provide the WWE Universe with a narrative that is not only captivating but also reflective of the current and future direction of professional wrestling."

[0.0] "I'm really sorry. The show might've had some action here and there (nothing remarkable), but what happened during the last few minutes obliterates everything they could've done. And I'm not talking about what they could've done during the show, but during the last year. First, you have Roman Reigns absolutely burying one of your biggest babyfaces, Seth Rollins, along with his title. Then you have Cody Rhodes, two-time back to back Royal Rumble winner, suddenly deciding that his desire to finish his story may not be as strong anymore, so let's give his place to Dwayne Johnson. The result? Your two biggest babyfaces looking like absolute idiots, while the biggest ego not only in this industry, but in others as well, inserts himself into a story that never needed him. Atrocious, depressing, a spit in the face of the fans who watch the shows week after week just to please the casuals. Believe me, I always scoffed at the typical "I'll stop watching, I didn't like this decision" complaint, and now I genuinely feel that way. Next week may be the last chance for them to fix this. For now, I've lost all the hype for WM40."

[0.0] "This rating is reflective of the god awful decision making with that final segment, I didn't even mind the show up until the final segment (show was your average Smackdown) but Cody giving up his guaranteed WM Main Event and handing it to "Dwayne" is beyond fucking horseshit and everybody should be pissed about it, especially Cody. I don't want to see Dwayne hobble his way through a shitty WM main event with Roman, I want Cody to finish his FUCKING STORY! . So yeah, WWE can fuck off with this. Triple H more like Triple fraud."

"Oooofff, because i am new, i can't give it a rating at this moment but damn it deserve a negative 10 if that was even possible. I am so done with this whole tribal chief stuff for a while now and thought they would finally go to send Roman home for a while now being the glass cannon that he is. Yeah, he is sick again.. just take away his title and let someone defend it who can actually have a match every week without help of others.. and yet, here we have Mister Board of Directors of TKO who's going to have a match against him. It's a kick between the legs for the people who are active on the roster to have this as a main event. And than in all that time we had a smackdown, we got a little bit of action but only a lot of talking. It's like being a kid again and have to sit through your mom's soap stuff watching The Bold and the Beautiful or that other shitty soap As The World Turns while eating your food. I want to see matches, not all that talking.."

[0.0] "The decision to book The Rock vs. Roman Reigns as the main event for WrestleMania represents a colossal oversight, particularly when considering the immense potential of Cody Rhodes. While the allure of a match featuring two colossal figures like The Rock and Roman Reigns is undeniable, given their star power and the legacy within the WWE universe, it's a decision that, unfortunately, sidelines wrestlers who are currently active and in their prime, like Cody Rhodes. Rhodes has not only the lineage but also the in-ring capability, charisma, and storytelling prowess that make him an ideal candidate for such a high-profile spot."

[0.0] "One of the most ridiculous smacks I hate rock I hate Roman I hate Cody And most importantly, I hate Hunter Is it possible for someone with such a brain defect to end the greatest moment of his life somewhere other than WrestleMania? How important is rock that we have to see an extremely weak and nonsensical match for Main One WrestleMania? It really is a wedge in Hunter's brain And in my opinion, it's stupid for Cody to want to end his story somewhere other than WrestleMania, it means hitting himself. As a WWE fan, I really doubted the brains of WWE agents who want to pit a bald clown against another clown. I hate rock"

[0.0] "Triple H once again FAILED. Investing so much time into the next face of your company only to spit on him with this horrible booking. The fact that Dwayne is in the main event of Wrestlemania and Im not makes me sick - CM Punk. No truer words have been spoken. Triple H is a fraud. It was disgusting seeing Cody hug Dwayne like that, seeing Codys visual displeasure on his face from the massive shit Triple H took on him pursing his father legacy and dream. But hey, always next year Cody. Hahahahahaha. Also 25 minutes of in ring action is two hours. wwe really a soap opera"

[0.0] "It's hard to rate SmackDown as a wrestling show on some weeks, as whenever Roman decides to leave the Island of Relevancy, actual in-ring wrestling has to take a back seat to the neverending Bloodline Saga. A story so compelling, they say, that it duped everyone into proclaiming Triple H as Booker of the Year even though the decision to have Roman go over at Mania was showing its cracks barely a month in when they had to create a new world title just to satisfy the Peacock. The only saving grace is the promise of Cody going over at WrestleMania XL and finally Finishing The Story only for Dwayne to come in a year late and completely derail a story two years in the making. If this is a straight shoot, it's fucking stupid. If they're trying to re-run the Yes Movement storyline, it's fucking stupid. You're not cooking, Triple H; you're just giving everyone food poisoning."