Tommy Dreamer said Monday’s Stephanie McMahon segment on Raw at Madison Square Garden has him speculating that Vince McMahon could return at WrestleMania 42 and may have been the person on the phone with Randy Orton throughout the storyline.
Speaking on Busted Open After Dark, Dreamer broke down the Stephanie McMahon and Cody Rhodes confrontation and said specific lines in the promo shifted his thinking about who has been guiding Orton.
“Madison Square Garden, ‘the house my grandfather built,’ and then later on it was Michael Cole saying ‘the house that Bruno built,’” Dreamer said. “Vince McMahon helped build Madison Square Garden. Vince McMahon helped take WWE to the next level. I can’t say helped. Vince McMahon did.”
Dreamer said Stephanie’s closing line to Cody, “you’re not your father either,” was what pushed his speculation further.
“That final line of ‘you’re not your father either,’ which got the ‘oh,’ that had me thinking,” Dreamer said. “I was like, well, I know what I’m going to talk about first.”
Dreamer said he was previously convinced the person on the phone with Orton was The Rock but has now shifted.
“This whole time, I kept saying a long time ago Randy’s on the phone on Raw, and he’s like ‘of course you were watching,’ and ‘yes, there’s only one royal family.’ I said it was The Rock. And now I’m starting to lean another way,” Dreamer said.
Dreamer said he believes Vince McMahon would get a massive reaction if he appeared at WrestleMania, regardless of what he did.
“I think if he returns at WrestleMania, he will get an insane reaction,” Dreamer said. “And if he helps Randy win, the place will cheer. If he helps Cody win, and please remember, Cody was Vince McMahon’s handpicked person when Cody returned to WWE when he fought Seth Rollins, I think they’ll boo him, but I also don’t think it’ll be boos of heat. I think they’re just gonna boo because fans want to see a change right now at the top with Cody.”
Dreamer said he believes an Orton victory with an RKO at WrestleMania would produce one of the biggest pops in WWE history.
“I think Randy going over with the RKO will be one of the biggest pops in WWE history,” Dreamer said. “And where you go from there will be the bigger thing in the continuation of the story.”
Dreamer acknowledged his speculation could be wrong and said this could simply be WWE teasing the idea to get people talking.
“Is this a teaser for Vince McMahon may show up? Is this just a nice little teaser to get people to speculate?” Dreamer said. “But then is the ramifications of stuff like this, where you drop little notes and you understand how the internet picks up every little sound bite, and then it starts, what’s not even factual becomes truth, and then if it doesn’t happen, is it a letdown?”
Dreamer said the segment accomplished exactly what WWE intended and changed which WrestleMania match he is most invested in.
“I was looking forward to Roman Reigns and CM Punk more, up until tonight,” Dreamer said. “Tonight, WWE did exactly what WWE is supposed to do. They have piqued my interest, and now have me going another route.”
Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Orton in the Night 1 main event of WrestleMania 42 on April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Busted Open After Dark with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
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