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JWeinCom on 14 July 2025
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Jumpin said:
JWeinCom said:

The why would be because it makes it easier for him to cash in if the champs think he's out. And the less unexpected the cash in the more people usually enjoy it.

I think we should agree to disagree. I'll just give my reasoning with what I hope is greater clarity:

I don't a very strong reason so much as a trick pulled out of a hat of tricks. And this trick doesn't build Seth, his stable, or anyone else. It cools down his heel heat by taking him off TV in the buildup. There isn't really any entertainment value for the crowd that can be equalled or exceeded in other ways. The big match on the card is a Smackdown match, it seems a little weird, Cody defeats Cena and transitions the belt to Seth, and Seth moves to Smackdown cutting off the vengeance feuds with Punk and Roman. Taking the belt off of Gunther anytime soon makes no sense, apart from a heel taking the belt off a heel, didn't Gunther just retire Goldberg?

The injury to me looks entirely legit. If it isn't legit, I don't see how just having him pop back in a few weeks to take the belt would be entertaining or enjoyable. Simply getting his faction to level the champion, keep him in the ring, and then have Seth cash the box to take the belt would be a superior angle because it: A. affirms and builds the legitimacy of Seth and the Stable as dangerous (like when NWO beat down The Rock). B. provides greater motivation for the babyface. C. It's more entertaining for the crowd. D. It adds heel heat to Seth and his stable.

I'm not saying that cashing in at a surprise moment and stealing the belt won't work down the road (like at WM or RR). But it would be under very different circumstances with a very different goal: after an extended absence and recovering from a legit injury and a massive setback, fans will want to see him back, and with a babyface turn against a hated heel.

But anyway, that's my reasoning there. We'll see how it goes.

Kind of pointless to argue about what would be the better booking decision because the smart decision and what wwe actually does are not always the same thing. There are oodles of decisions wwe has made which we could come up with a better alternative.

But to argue about why it could make sense, it makes Seth more dastardly. His group is already being viewed as kind of faces so having the fans legitimately feel deceived could be a way to change that.

It also keeps him away from potential opponents. For example, if he didn't get injured, legit or not, what would have been the end to the match? L.A. Knight losing a match when he cant really afford it. Then how do we prevent everyone he's pissed off from taking revenge on him without killing all of their momentum? Meanwhile, if done right, this could help legitimize Breaker and Reed as more than Flunkies.

So i think there are valid reasons to do it, even though booking decisions are not always based on valid reasoning. We'll see.