Alright folks it’s time for the grand finale! Strap in because I’m rounding third and coming home!
So as we hit the road (Or Rhodes) to WrestleMania the Bloodline story begins to come to a close, and we have to take a step back and really appreciate this story. Never has the WWE told a story for damn near a year and it have nothing but hits and no misses. Sami being the perfect addition to the Bloodline was the shot in the arm that story needed. Couple that with the real life happenings in the WWE with Vince McMahon being ousted from the company he took from a northeastern wrestling territory to the globally recognized largest pro wrestling company in the world. A billion dollar organization that’s also partnered with one of the big media conglomerates in Comcast via Peacock. McMahon was ousted in the middle of 2022 due to sexual assault allegations, and following that Paul “Triple H” Levesque, McMahon’s own son in law would take over the creative of WWE. Due to Triple H taking over, his influence over the quality of the product has been incredibly clear. Hunter has done a great job with this story especially with how this entire Bloodline story has gone. Roman’s return to wrestling with the heel turn that started it all, where he went from cocky dominant Chief to where he is now where the cracks are starting to show, you can feel his sanity fade as he becomes more and more self concious about what’s going on. The walls are starting to close in with Sami capturing the hearts of fans around the globe, Jey Uso walking out and giving up on his own family. Then you also have the Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes beginning his feud against Reigns with an epic promo battle with Paul Heyman recently so while one story closes another epic one is right around the corner. Credit is due to Triple H here, not only does he appreciate the actual in-ring aspect of this business but he has proven to be a masterful storyteller, and the Bloodline and the return of Cody Rhodes are two glowing examples of that. This has also translated to real life financial success as well as this past Royal Rumble was the most watched ever with over 2 million viewers on Peacock (For reference, the most bought PPV of all time was WrestleMania 28, headlined by The Rock vs John Cena with over 950,000 buys). This upcoming WrestleMania at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles is on pace to be the most financially successful event in Pro Wrestling history. The WWE is simply on fire right now, even with Vince McMahon making an improbable return but to only the corporate side, and not the creative side. While the future of the WWE is unknown due to the upcoming sale of the entire operation, we need to take a moment and smell some roses here because they smell amazing.
All of this perfectly encapsulates why this is the best damn story on TV. First off it’s the longest lasting weekly television show that has ran a new episode for over 30 years. This isn’t a script. This is 52 episodes of RAW and 52 Episodes of Smackdown every single week since the 90s. This isn’t tv where everything is overly prepared. Every script is written and rewritten, followed by a script supervisor who looks it over, followed by the actor, so on and so on. Then they film on sets that were made over the course of months, with cameras perfectly prepared to film everything in the exact motion the director wants. If the director doesn’t like a shot, he just says cut. Every time until it’s pristine. No room for mistakes in that. Then everything is edited frame by frame until it’s the exact vision the director wants, no matter how good or bad. It takes months to prepare modern tv, and you almost always get the exact results fans want and expect, unless you’re the Game Of Thrones guys WHERE APPARENTLY THE GUY WITH A STORY SO BORING HE MISSED AN ENTIRE SEASON BECAME THE KING OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS DESPITE AN ENTIRE SEASON DEDICATED TO EXPLAINING THAT JON SNOW IS THE RIGHTFUL HEIR, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO BANGING HIS AUNT LIKE A REAL GOD DAMN TARGARYEN, SOMEHOW ISN’T KING AND IS JUST BANNED TO THE NORTH LIKE AN IDIOT. Sorry I got carried away there. Anyway…
This is why in my humble (and possibly worthless) opinion is that the WWE’s Bloodline story is the best consistent storyline on television. This isn’t overly prepared. This is real life. This is the genuine lives of Joe Anoa’i, Kevin Steen, and Ramy Sebei all colliding as the tv characters of Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn tell a story of underdogs, of families, of acceptance, betrayal, friendship, everything that makes a human feel an emotion is in this. All of it, in wrestling. An industry where half naked men get oiled up and wrestle each other for a belt and it’s all fake. It’s scripted just like actual tv. But you don’t see Logan Roy taking bumps. You see Roman take bumps. Wrestling is as real as anything we see in life. Wrestling has impacted this world in every way. Look at the news. It’s pro wrestling. Republicans are cutting promos on Democrats and vice versa everyday. It’s always “Your city sucks! Your people stink!” It’s pro God Damn wrestling. So much of who we are is professional wrestling in a way. We all have a gimmick, we all cut promos on one another don’t deny it. So when something happens in this industry I will make very well certain that you know all about it and how awesome it is. Just ask the group chat I’m in. This industry has created the most popular actors, they’ve created heroes and villains, they’ve impacted culture and television in ways we might not fully understand, but recognize. And right now, the WWE are in a golden era themselves with The Bloodline, a story that was never planned from the start. It was just “Roman is the big boss and he orders his family around”. Sami was never supposed to be a part of it, he just asked Roman if they could work together. All of it was imperfect and yet, somehow, has created genuinely compelling week by week television that for the first time since the glory days of the Attitude Era, is can’t miss.
That’s why this is the best story. When Pro Wrestling is great, it’s better than anything, and everything.
