The Rock, Roman Reigns, and Cody Rhodes: What Will Happen at WrestleMania 40?

The behind-the-scenes storylines have only added to what is taking place on screen

The Super Bowl takes place this Sunday.

The game marks the defining moment in the NFL calendar, and this season’s matchup is a rematch from 2020 as the San Francisco 49ers compete against the Kansas City Chiefs.

KC is led by star quarterback Pat Mahomes, who is seeking his third Super Bowl title in the past five years. The Niners are quarterbacked by Brock Purdy, who is nowhere near the star as Mahomes, yet has proven effective under center–and is only victory away from giving his franchise a league-tying sixth Super Bowl win.

Despite his lack of drawing power, Purdy will not be replaced by Joe Montana, a legend of the game and four-time Super Bowl winner with the Niners.

Yet, somehow, that is happening in WWE.

Courtesy WWE

Instead of a long-awaited rematch against Roman Reigns, it now appears Cody Rhodes is on a collision course to meet Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40. Rhodes announced on this past Friday’s SmackDown that he would not challenge Reigns at WrestleMania, then introduced Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The change in storyline negates Rhodes’ pursuit of Reigns over the past year. A significant portion of the WWE fan base revolted at the decision to have Rock replace Rhodes: “#WeWantCody” was trending on Twitter all weekend, and the video of the SmackDown segment on WWE’s YouTube page had 97,000 likes–and 500,000 dislikes–before the dislike count was removed from the page.

Appreciate the passion, God bless y’all

…but

Trust me

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) February 6, 2024

Rhodes is in his wrestling prime, and he has carried the company since his defeat against Reigns at last year’s WrestleMania. If Paul “Triple H” Levesque were given full control of creative, Rhodes would win the belt this year at WrestleMania. Yet this is a power play by Johnson and WWE President Nick Khan.

Johnson joined the TKO board–WWE’s parent company–thinking this would be a perfect chance to capitalize on WWE’s hot streak. After struggling in the DC universe and receiving intense backlash for his Maui relief fund, a return to WWE–and a dream match against Reigns–seemed like the perfect crowd-pleasing moment before returning to Hollywood.

That script, however, has turned upside down. If The Rock gets booed at his WWE appearances, or even heavily booed in Philadelphia at WrestleMania, it would be disastrous. Is he willing to take that risk?

If WWE wants to pivot, there is time. WrestleMania is not until April, so there is time to better gauge the temperature of the fan base over the next month. But the WrestleMania press conference is set for this Thursday in Las Vegas, and it will be fascinating to see how The Rock is received–and the direction the creative takes.

Courtesy WWE

Fortunately for the key players, there likely won’t be too many opportunities for crowds to boo The Rock. If he wrestles later this month in Perth, Australia, he’ll enter the Elimination Chamber match late, hit a few trademark Rock Bottoms and a People’s Elbow, and get his hand raised en route to WrestleMania. Rock will not be a weekly presence on WWE programming, though he and his team will be closely listening to the reaction whenever his name is mentioned (who expected to hear “Rocky Sucks!” cheers last night on Raw?). For what it’s worth, Rock received a tremendous ovation this past Friday on SmackDown.

A lot of this could have been avoided had Rock–or someone else–won the Royal Rumble match. The powers-that-be in WWE booked themselves into a corner by having Rhodes win the match for a second straight year despite planning on having Rock wrestle Reigns.

Clearly, WWE is well-aware of the problem. It was interesting to hear Michael Cole and Pat McAfee call the Rhodes-Shinsuke Nakamura main event last night on Raw. Throughout the match, they did their best to explain why Rock-Reigns at WrestleMania will be unforgettable. But if you need to why it will be special, the damage may already be done.

Courtesy WWE

Who could have predicted that The Rock’s star power would be devalued by a return to WWE? Or that Rhodes would eclipse The Rock? Nick Khan could not have anticipated this type of backlash, as people have clearly invested into Rhodes’ story as he chases both the title and the man who holds it.

After #WWERaw went off the air last night, @CodyRhodes was overwhelmed with emotion following the immense support from the WWE Universe. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ld4PzCOVfp

— WWE (@WWE) February 6, 2024

An ace up WWE’s sleeve is Drew McIntyre. If he is inserted into the match with Rhodes and Rollins, making it a triple threat at WrestleMania, it adds more significance to that bout. It will enhance McIntyre as a constant disruption, furthering the narrative that he is intent on ruining everyone’s story.

But that is a big ask. While McIntyre is certainly part of the solution, adding him into the match with Rollins does not fix the Rhodes-Reigns-Rock issue.

Courtesy WWE

So where do we go from here?

Perhaps top executives will never publicly admit it, but the company needs to at least consider pivoting back to Rhodes against Reigns in the main event. The press conference on Thursday will be telling, and we will see in real-time what happens in a real-life battle between pride and reason.

Will WWE box themselves in to Rock-Reigns at WrestleMania? Or leave the door slightly ajar for Rhodes to regain the highly coveted main event spot?

If the majority of the crowd balks at the idea of Rock interfering with Rhodes’ story over the next few weeks, then a change needs to be made before it is too late.