The internet dropped to its knees this weekend after The Rock appeared on SmackDown and took Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania main event away from Roman Reigns.
Rhodes has been working towards winning the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship for two years. Since setting foot back in the WWE from AEW, suffering a torn pectoral muscle along the way, the American Nightmare has been on a mission, one that can’t be sidetracked by a newly created Seth Rollins world title shot.
It has to be Reigns’ title. And while many may argue that Rhodes should have defeated the Chieftain in Los Angeles last year, the reality is that he didn’t.
Now the idea of ”finishing the story” seems to have been blocked by the biggest Hollywood A-lister of them all. A man who, on the surface, appears to have made a deal to become a board member of WWE’s parent company TKO and put himself in the biggest match possible, at Rhodes’ expense.
Is there any good reason for fans to be upset about one of the most popular full-time babyfaces in recent memory being pushed aside? Or is this exactly what WWE wanted? Mailsport parses.
WWE could have turned its back on a Roman Reigns (left) vs. Cody Rhodes (right) rematch
The Rock could face Reigns instead after facing his real-life cousin on Friday
The pair faced each other on SmackDown and appear to be working towards a match before WrestleMania
All part of the plan?
The Rock joined TKO’s board on January 23, four days before the Royal Rumble went down in Florida.
According to Dave Meltzeras part of The Rock’s agreement to join the board, he would get his match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.
Even in light of that, WWE still decided to have Rhodes win the Royal Rumble, pointing out during his celebration that Reigns announced his challenge for the showpiece event in April.
It’s believed that WWE expected Rhodes to receive “Daniel Bryan-esque” reactions as a result of being cast aside and boy, at least on social media, were they right.
That suggests that WWE is manipulating the narrative to put the momentum behind Rhodes, and not the Bloodline story between Reigns and Rock, two real-life cousins.
WWE still let Rhodes win the men’s Royal Rumble match despite reports that there were plans to not have him face Reigns after all
Reigns is the biggest draw in wrestling right now, and after beating Rhodes last year, fans were eager to see another match this time
So who is facing whom?
It would be mind-boggling if they went through with Rhodes vs Rollins for a world title. Rhodes has already stated that he does not want that.
The 38-year-old has also said he plans to take everything from Roman.
With the stars in play, this is one of those storylines where it pays to listen carefully to the promos. From what Rhodes said on SmackDown, it sounds like he’s still very keen to challenge for the title, but Rock wants to remove Roman from the head of the proverbial table.
How do we get there? That’s a complicated question. Roman working both nights, one against The Rock and one against Rhodes, is a strong option. A triple threat would detract from both stories, so that seems far-fetched.
Brock Lesnar will not be used by WWE in the future. His name popping up in Vince McMahon’s lawsuit has derailed plans for a mouth-watering showdown against Gunther.
Instead, the Austrian is the natural challenger for Rollins, while Rhodes is still on a collision course with Reigns.
Intercontinental champion Gunther (pictured) looks the best place to challenge Rollins after Brock Lesnar was dropped from all plans
What did they say?
Could The Rock Face Reigns perform elsewhere? He won’t want that, and for good reason: the biggest money match in wrestling should take place at WrestleMania.
The Rock continues to say he is a “long gamer” both in interviews and social media posts, and Brian Gewirtz, former WWE head writer and senior vice president of development at Rock’s Seven Bucks production company, also tweeted: You all have no idea’ .
It’s hard to believe that legendary figures like The Rock, Paul Heyman, Triple H behind the scenes and even Gewirtz are stupid enough not to be able to read the room.
The Rock could be a tease and this is how they start the battle for the head of the table. If WWE monitors fan reactions to this story and is willing to adjust it PWInsider suggests that this would fit into Rock’s “long-term vision.”
If the story is truly about Reigns “taking over everything”, then The Rock basically beating Roman (although he has stated he would like to take over Roman) and Rhodes taking his title in one weekend would be the perfect way to do that. That.
WWE chief Triple H (pictured) and the rest of the company are reportedly managing the responses
Rhodes looked ready to announce he would face Reigns until he stepped aside
Further context
The Bloodline has been on the verge of imploding for a while now. It is widely expected that the real-life twins, Jimmy and Jey Uso, will face off against each other at WrestleMania 40.
Solo Sikoa is gradually going his own way and if he were to turn on Roman in the process, it would mean the end of WWE’s biggest box office faction of the modern era.
Rhodes has long stated that he wants to win the title from Roman because it is the same championship that his late father, WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, was never able to win. Considering that Rollins’ world heavyweight title doesn’t have the same pedigree or history, that wouldn’t be the end of his story.
The Rock’s team seems to be doing their best to let us know that there’s a bigger story happening that fans can’t see yet, and you have to imagine they’re hearing the cries for Rhodes as loudly as anyone.