Up until this past weekend, WWE‘s Raw Is 30 show was set to feature a Bloodline Acknowledgment Ceremony, but on-the-fly changes needed to be made to creative. The Acknowledgment Ceremony segment raised eyebrows when it was announced, with some fans believing that The Rock could get involved ahead of the Royal Rumble. On Saturday, WWE tweeted that The Trial Of Sami Zayn would be happening, taking the Bloodline Ceremony out of the picture entirely. Speculation began to arise that this shift was due to The Rock pulling out of Raw Is 30 and the Royal Rumble, but it turns out that isn’t the case.
Dave Meltzer had touched on this subject several times throughout the weekend and wrote the following in a Wrestling Observer daily update: “Regarding the questions on the changing of the Bloodline segment fro [sic] an Acknowledgment ceremony with the family of Roman Reigns to the trial of Sami Zayn, rumors regarding this had to do with The Rock pulling out or Vince McMahon changing things are both false.” Interestingly, Meltzer writes that “Rock was never booked for the segment.” He then explains why the creative plans were shifted for Raw Is 30. “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, a what happened was not what was originally scripted to happen.“
1 Will Raw Is 30 Mark The End Of Sami Zayn In The Bloodline?
WWE fans have been wondering when the saga of Sami Zayn in The Bloodline could take a turn for the worse. It’s been teased heavily throughout the summer, but Triple H has been walking a tightrope between pushing things too far and giving the audience what they want. It’s been masterful long-term storytelling from a company that isn’t typically known for it, and Raw Is 30 could serve as a significant turning point.
At this juncture, it’s clear that Roman Reigns is keeping Zayn around for the sake of keeping potential enemies closer. That played out on SmackDown last week, with Paul Heyman talking The Tribal Chief into keeping Sami in the fold. That was before the final segment on the blue brand, which saw Kevin Owens ambush The Bloodline, dropping Reigns with a stunner before signing the contract for their Royal Rumble match. Zayn was noticeably absent during The Bloodline’s entrance and wasn’t in any hurry to get to the ring to aid in fighting off Kevin Owens. In storyline, this is why he’ll be on trial on Raw Is 30 in lieu of the planned Bloodline Acknowledgment Ceremony.
This shift on Raw might be one of those happy accidents for WWE. Fans would have expected The Rock to be involved in the initially planned segment, fair or not. That could have left them with a sour taste in their mouths as Raw Is 30 came to a close. Instead of getting a few extra legends on the show, some meaningful storyline progression will likely occur in The Bloodline saga. As far as check downs go, that’s a solid one for Triple H.
Source: Wrestling Observer