Cody Rhodes Emerges as Biggest Star at WrestleMania 40 Kickoff Event

Rhodes announced his intent to wrestle Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40

Cody Rhodes chose Roman Reigns.

The Rock slapped Rhodes in the face.

Roman Reigns insulted Seth Rollins.

And Rollins wanted a piece of The Rock.

"At #WrestleMania XL in the MAIN EVENT, I choose YOU @WWERomanReigns!" @CodyRhodes has made his decision! 🔥🔥🔥

The #WrestleMania XL Kickoff is LIVE NOW! pic.twitter.com/O5ffc1RVJg

— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2024

In a well-scripted event, WWE successfully added even more intrigue to WrestleMania 40. And just before the show went off the air, Rock demanded that Paul “Triple H” Levesque fix the entire situation.

Decision made. @CodyRhodes gets the chance to finish his story when he challenges @WWERomanReigns in the main event of #WrestleMania XL. pic.twitter.com/A12apAnELf

— Triple H (@TripleH) February 9, 2024

WWE did not allow the press to ask questions during the event, so there was no chance for anyone to ask about the impending lawsuit that effectively jettisoned Vince McMahon from the company. Instead, WWE presented a well-structured event that featured an entertaining panel consisting of Michael Cole, CM Punk, Big E, and Pat McAfee. Multiple wrestlers spoke, including Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, and Becky Lynch. But the most telling part may have been during Triple H’s time on the microphone, when he expressed his gratitude to four men–Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, and Mr. T–for making the first-ever WrestleMania event so memorable 40 years ago.

Four men.

WrestleMania.

Yes, we can connect the dots. Perhaps this mans the powers-that-be are listening to their fan base.

Pause that thought for a moment: conspicuous by her absence was Royal Rumble winner Bayley, who is challenging WWE women’s champion Iyo Sky at WrestleMania 40. The winner of the men’s and women’s Rumble are supposed to headline the two-night affair.

If Reigns, Rock, Rollins, and Rhodes have a four-way to close out Sunday night, then Bayley and Sky can work the main event on Saturday.

Will that be the plan? Less than a week after Rhodes said he was not going to wrestle Reigns at WrestleMania, he announced tonight that he was challenging Reigns. Did WWE further box itself into a corner? Or has a solution been found after the tone deaf idea to have Rock replace Rhodes in the main event?

Will it be a one-on-one bout? A four-way? A tag one night and singles matches the next? To WWE’s credit, its kickoff event raised more questions than it did answering them. Yet the job was accomplished, as the anticipation surrounding the event has only intensified.

And it ended in fitting fashion. In what is hopefully a foreshadow to the finish of WrestleMania 40, it was Rhodes who was the biggest star of the show.