The Pivot From The Original Story is Must See TV!

Holy crap. This is getting really, really good.

The build to WrestleMania continues and this past week on Smackdown things took a turn that no one expected. The show ended with Cody Rhodes slapping The Rock in the face before the credits rolled and they faded to black. But how did we get here? Let's review.

Two weeks ago on Smackdown, live from Arizona, The Rock kicked off the show by joining Roman Reigns and The Bloodline in the ring. A few things happened that I didn't notice until I went back and watched it a second time. Remember, The Rock is supposed to be a heel in this current storyline. As his theme music was playing, The Rock made a few small gestures to grab his arms to address the goosebumps that he was getting from the fans reaction. But in this clip, The Rock was wearing a long sleeve shirt, so you couldn't see the goosebumps like he normally shows you. Second, as The Rock was coming out, they showed a quick clip of Roman Reigns looking into the crowd completely dejected. It was almost as if he didn't want to be there or he wasn't really impressed with The Rock's entrance. Why did they show that stuff? I guess we'll find out later on!

Once The Rock grabbed the microphone he did what he's the absolute best at: talking trash. And he ended his trash talking by challenging Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins to a tag match at Night One of WrestleMania 40 in my hometown, Philadelphia.

The Rock got a little creative by adding a stipulation to the match: if Cody and Rollins win, no interference from The Bloodline will be allowed in the main event of night two between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. BUT, and here's a big but, if The Rock and Roman Reigns win, then Rhodes will have to face Roman Reigns under Bloodline Rules in the main event of night two.

Before Smackdown ended in Arizona, The Rock was finishing his promo and then Roman Reigns put his hand over the microphone. The audience froze because they weren't sure what was happening. And then Roman made The Rock acknowledge him in front of the crowd. We never saw this before from Roman during this recent storyline. It was almost like he was becoming insecure with The Rock and he wanted to bring him back down to earth. He was reminding The Rock that he's currently the WWE champion and the leader of The Bloodline. Roman ended the show by saying "if you smell what the Bloodline is cooking". And as they always do, The Bloodline put their fingers up as the producers went to commercial. A few weeks back, The Rock held up his hands a little different in the middle of the ring and no one seemed to ntoice. This time it was very clear that Paul Heyman noticed it. Look at Heyman's face in the picture below, the writers of the WWE are making the audience aware that Paul thinks that something is up with The Rock. It's the little things in this storyline that are making these shows must see TV!

This week, The Rock, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Cody Rhodes were all in the same place together for the first time since the Wrestlemania press conference. Right as Cody Rhodes was going to give his answer to The Rock and Roman Reigns, The Rock cut Cody off and told him to "shut his mouth, boy". Cody was never able to actually give him a yes or no answer. The challenge from The Rock was accepted by Seth Rollins. Rollins accepted on behalf of himself and Rhodes, who never provided an answer directly to The Rock. And if you look at Cody's face moments after the challenge was accepted, it was almost like he was looking at Seth Rollins in disgust because he didn't want to accept the challenge. I didn't even notice this the first time I watched it because the camera cut away so fast, but Cody's look is very telling!

Reigns then immediately criticized Rhodes, explaining that WrestleMania 40 will be Cody's final chance at finishing his story. There are a number of different ways this can play out and I honestly have no clue how it's going to end. This is why the WWE is so amazing. Just when you think something is going to happen, they throw you a curve ball and something happens that you were least expecting.

Before the show went off the air, Rhodes responded to The Rock’s barrage of insults by smacking him across the face.

Clearly, the story between The Rock and Cody Rhodes has more to it than they're showing us right now. The Rock even acknowledged Cody's father, Dusty, as one of his all time heroes moments before getting slapped in the face. And although Seth Rollins accepted the challenge, it will be fascinating to hear Rhodes provide his answer later in the shows leading up to Wrestlemania. I think the fans deserve to hear that explanation. And I believe they will.

Eric Bischoff said it perfectly during his podcast, 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff, that the "pivot from the original story is only making the original story so much better."

It was clear that the original idea was to have The Rock vs Roman Reigns headline Wrestlemania 40 in Philadelphia. Once that didn't work with the fans, they changed the story, and it's been a masterpiece ever since.

Each week is getting better and better. The shows are can't miss. And as Eric Bischoff explained it, "it's a well disciplined arc", and the fans should just sit back and enjoy the show.

Cheers!