One too many story beats
By Scott Keith on 8 April 2024
Satisfying conclusion and great catharsis and all that, but I can’t help but be a bit irked at Rollins in the Shield gear directly leading to the end of the match. Yes, it’s a callback to Seth saying “I’ll be your shield” a few weeks ago, but this isn’t a story of what Seth Rollins would sacrifice, nor is it Roman’s about ancient pre-Bloodline history. Especially considering that Roman was the wronged party in that incident! He was cost by his anger about a callback to something that…he had every right to be angry about, but had also worked out with Seth very publicly in having previously reunited said group with him multiple times? It felt very tacked-on as a way to directly influence the outcome.
I think it’s symptomatic of what my biggest issue was with this build: it was perfect timing for Cody’s ascension and holding off on last year was clearly the right call in hindsight, but it was a year too late for Roman.
All in all, the whole thing definitely worked and created one of the more cathartic moments in recent wrestling history, but I think the CiNeMa!!1!1! kinda went off the rails in getting us there.
Yeah, definitely. The Bloodline story had really reached the end the year before and Roman got eclipsed by the Rock in the build here.