The Rock has permanently returned to WWE television to make things up for the absence of the likes of Brock Lesnar, and CM Punk from Wrestlemania 40. While he might not be seen in competition at the Show of Shows, his intention is clear and that’s to steal the spotlight from Cody Rhodes to a big extent and ensure that the latter doesn’t walk out of the biggest PLE of the year with the WWE Championship.
The Rock’s appearance also made a significant impact on SmackDown, last week as he ended up aligning himself with Roman Reigns to make The Bloodline even stronger en route to Wrestlemania 40. Despite him being a mainstream celebrity, the WWE Universe wasn’t keen on seeing him in the main event of the Show of Shows which forced the WWE to alter the match.
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The Wrestlemania 40 main event change wasn’t informed to Cody beforehand
According to the reports of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40 was the plan in late December. But after The Rock returned to WWE programming, this match was changed to The Rock vs. Roman Reigns on January 3rd. But, WWE didn’t inform Cody about this change until the day of Royal Rumble 2024 where he ended up winning the Men’s Rumble match.
“He was told the day of the Rumble that Rock was facing Reigns even though he was winning the Rumble. He was also told that they would be going to Reigns against him later so all the post-match stuff building that match wasn’t there to swerve people as much a build a later match,” the source informed about Wrestlemania 40 main event.
But the fact it was not going to be Reigns vs. Rhodes was kept secret from almost everyone (obviously a few knew) because Rock wanted the angle the next Friday a surprise.”
Wrestling Observer also previously informed that The Rock took himself out of the WrestleMania 40 main event and put Cody Rhodes in the opponent’s spot after seeing the fan backlash on social media. Plus, he was the one to have pitched the idea of turning heel to shake things up in the ongoing storyline which should favor The American Nightmare, even more in the long run.
The Rock’s Next Appearance Officially Announced On WWE Programming
