After some unfortunate events, the Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony was cancelled for tonight’s (January 23) Raw XXX episode.
While the episode is still stacked with legends to help celebrate the last 30 years, the Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony got fans talking about it being the first step on the road to WrestleMania 39 where it was believed the Rock would face Roman Reigns for the honor of their family.
Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony CANCELLED for Raw XXX; There Is No Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39
This was pure speculation since no mention of the Rock was made, and we found out late last week that the Rock doesn’t have time to get into ring shape.
Anything can happen and there’s no reason to give up hope, but it looks like it’s long odds for the Rock to return for a match. Or that news could just be some spin to take us by surprise at a “surprise” entrant for the Royal Rumble.
There have been rumors that the WWE is pleased with their planned surprised at the Royal Rumble, so anything’s possible.
One rule of thumb in professional wrestling is never say never. But as for tonight, it looks like there are other legitimate reasons for eh Acknowledgement Ceremony to be replaced with a Sami Zayn trial.
The WWE announced: “Weeks of tumultuousness and questionable decision making has caused dissension in The Bloodline. A wild Royal Rumble contract signing between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, left The Bloodline wiped out in the ring and Sami Zayn holding the contract.
“Now, The Head of The Table and The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion has decided to hold a Tribal Court and put Sami Zayn on trial for his recent actions.
“What will the final verdict be on The Honorary Uce? Tune into RAW XXX on Monday on USA to find out!”
TONIGHT on #RAWisXXX #TheBloodline will hold a Tribal Court and put @SamiZayn on trial for his recent actions 😳
📺 8/7c on @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/tBgrZlxNfL
— WWE (@WWE) January 23, 2023
Breaking away
It’s no secret that Sami Zayn’s run with the Bloodline was supposed to be quick and burn out so he and Kevin Owens could join forces to face the Usos.
It looks like we’re in the process of that endgame with Zayn falling out of favor for feeling like the pawn he truly is and Reigns isn’t happy about that.
Things may have been sped up as there are three important figures that are reportedly unable to appear, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer:
“The change was made because Afa & Sika & Rikishi were all not going to be able to be there. They were to be the key people, but Afa & Sika were not ready for the trip and Rikishi got sick this week so the idea basically fell apart. Creative was changed with The Bloodline story on Friday to reflect the change in Raw, and what happened was not what was originally scripted to happen.”
If there’s one thing that’s awesome and frustrating about wrestling is how they can change rapidly if things go wrong. While we may miss something we were looking forward to, we often get to see some fun creative tweaks.
With all of that being said, we wish Rikishi the best and hope he has a rapid recovery.
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