Dave Meltzer: “Cody Rhodes y Roman Reigns or the son of Austin y Rock”

Sometimes being good, very good at what you do, is a direct ticket to comparison with those – also very good – who came before you in the same subject. It happened with LeBron James and Michael Jordan in basketball, with Messi, Maradona and Pelé in football or with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in tennis, to give just a few examples. And wrestling, of course, is not immune to these inevitable setbacks.

Analyzing who was the best has its subjective parts, of course, although it is also true that independence plays a role in some aspects. At CuadrilláteroTops.com we know this, because we are used to this kind of comparison between big names (if you are interested in the sector, connoisseur, We recommend you to watch The Undertaker vs. Stop as a starting point). In short, our point is that the present and the past are linked by the inevitable question “who is better?” James or Jordan? Messi, Maradona or Pele? Djokovic or Federer? And why not, we add a couple of things that connect us closer: ¿Roman ruling the rock? ¿Paul Levesque era from the time of opinion? ¿Cody Rhodes from Stone Cold Steve Austin?

► “Rhodes y Reigns or son of Austin and Rock”

he is the last three questions were answered with perhaps the most authoritative voice. It is, of course, about him Dave Meltzerwho expanded in one of the latest editions of Wrestling Observer Radio this way when that question was raised:

“Cody Rhodes y Roman kingdoms They are not as big as Cold Stone y The Rock. No matter how good things are today for WWE, They have not yet reached the popularity they had at that time. Although it is true that they are at their most popular since then.

“As they do more stadium shows, Cody and Roman aren’t as big as Austin, by any means. Maybe they sell more merchandise than him, I don’t know, at least that’s what they say, but Today when I go out I don’t see Cody, Roman or Rock t-shirts and I saw Austin t-shirts everywhere at that time.”

Somehow, it cannot be denied that both the period between 1996 and 2001 and the current one are two of the most successful that WWE has experienced in its rich history. The comparison can be misleading if we look at the data, because on the one hand it can be said that the company of 2024 is several times more profitable than the one in the late 90s and early 2000sbut then the way of handling merchandise was not much more aggressive than today, and from then on it was WWE, by ceasing to be a private company and starting to be listed on the stock market, which took the beginning to be what it is now. .

In addition, changes in times have brought with them changes that make it difficult to make fair comparisons. In an Age of Change, the WWE generated much higher numbers on television than today. However, this discussion cannot be carried out without mentioning that television in general has stopped being widely consumed in recent years, with the emergence of streaming platforms and social networks.