The Phantom Rant: Do You Smell What The Bloodline Is Cooking?

Well I thought I was going to write about AEW the other day, but life had other plans. I ended up getting sick as hell and missed all weekend so by the time I could have finished a column the topic would have been cold anyway. But fear not. I am well rested and recovered I am very excited about where The Bloodline feud is going. Solo, Jacob and The Tongan’s showed up at the end of the Jey Uso vs. Bron Breaker match on RAW to offer “moral support” to Jey. Jey of course wanted none of this and as you can imagine things broke down from there.

I loved everything about the last five minutes of the match. The biggest surprise moment came when Jacob Fatu and Bron Breakker came face to face. People complain about not creating stars anymore. Well this was a star making moment for both men. I think they took that next step. Jacob will become more than just Solo’s hitman. Bron will be more than just the son of Rick Steiner and the nephew of Scott Steiner. Just watch that face to face. The future of the WWE is very bright. But right now we’re talking about the present and it’s just as bright if not brighter.

This Bloodline angle is probably the best thing the WWE has done in ages. Yes, it’s better than Cody’s “Finish the story”(which was pretty damn good). This is all setting up for WAR GAMES and it could be the best War Games match in a long time. Admittedly I’m not a fan of the WWE’s war games set up. I hate that there’s no roof on the cage. Also I hate that moment in the match when both teams have that stand off in between the rings and then they all start fighting. I’m a fan of the old NWA/WCW War Games matches. 1992’s War Games is without a doubt the gold standard for War Games matches.

So the fact this is building to a Bloodline vs. OTC War Games match intrigues the hell out of me. After the great Hell in a Cell with Drew and CM Punk, the bar has been set for caged matches in the WWE. Obviously we’ll get the usual spectacle of a WWE War Games with lots of plunder and dives off the top of the cage by Jacob Fatu. I’m hoping after the events of HIAC we actually get some blood in this match which would be perfect for this Bloodline battle. It’s rare that I am this excited for a match more than a month away, but the way the WWE has been cooking it’s hard not to be excited.

This Bloodline angle is only setting up for bigger things down the road. Everything leads to Wrestlemania. The only question I have for all of this is where and when does The Rock show up to continue his role in all of this? The Rock has to be at Wrestlemania (especially for the prices they are charging) next year. The early rumors are some sort of triple threat between him, Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes after he showed up last month at the pay per view and held up three fingers to the ring. But honestly there’s probably a dozen different things The Rock could do at Wrestlemania and it would be awesome.

I find it amazing (and I know I said this before) that in 2024, going into 2025 The Rock is still a top tier attraction in pro wrestling. His time schedule is limited, but there are so many matches they could do depending on how this all plays out. Isn’t it fun to watch something and be happy about it? I could look at some of the negatives of all this. But what’s the point? The point is to be entertained and I assume many of you are entertained. I know I am. It’s been a long time since I can say I have been entertained by this stuff.

It’s amazing how much of a change there has been since Triple H took over. The programs are more lively and as I said entertaining. Yeah there’s still some stuff that doesn’t work. But that’s at a minimum compared to how it used to be. I wish there was no Crown Jewel in between now and the Survivor Series. Crown Jewel always throws everything off and they have to put things on hold to deal with all that. Ah well I tend to ignore Crown Jewel anyway. I’ll watch it probably, but I won’t get all invested in it. GUNTHER vs. Cody should be a good match. It’s just a shame it’s for this novelty title belt.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

As I’m typing this The Bloodline angle takes another turn. Jey Uso costs Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa the WWE Tag team championships and the newly signed Motor City Machine Guns in their third WWE match are now champions. For years the Machine Guns were in TNA so no one would ever think they would finally sign with the WWE much less become tag team champions. This adds a new layer to the Bloodline since they just lost the gold they had.

Roman, Jimmy and now Jey are firmly against Solo and company. They just need a forth man to even up the odds. I just wonder who could that forth man be? Could it possibly be someone who coined the term Ucey? Yes I’m hoping that the forth man for team OTC will end up being Sami Zayn. Jey and Sami are still friends so it could work if Jey asks him to join up with them. Sami fights for the greater good anyway and there’s no greater good than to take out Solo and his Bloodline.

Of course there could be another member of the family we don’t know about that could be brought in for team Roman. Zilla Fatu…the son of Umaga is out there. There’s just so much mystery to all this we just don’t know. And as I said a few paragraphs up…we don’t know where The Rock stands in all of this. This is so much fun to be a fan and just to see where this ride is going next.

On that optimistic note I am done for this week. As always feel free to leave comments down below, on twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com