Cody Rhodes made headlines after today’s SmackDown by relinquishing his spot to main event WrestleMania 40 in favor of The Rock. WWE had been building the feud between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes for the past year, and fans expressed dissatisfaction with the sudden change in plans.
Following The American Nightmare’s announcement, WWE fans began trending a tweet posted by The Rock 13 years ago when he returned to host WrestleMania 27.
Specific Tweet from the Rock resurfaces following WWE SmackDown
The unexpected drama took place on today’s Smackdown episode, when Cody Rhodes was set to choose his WrestleMania 40 opponent. Rhodes have won the 30 Man Royal Rumble match on last saturday and had a staredown with the WWE Undisputed Champion, Roman Reigns.
Instead of choosing The Tribal Chief for the title, he decided to step aside and let The Rock face Roman at the main event of WrestleMania 40. The shared tweet, posted by The Rock himself, reads: ‘CM Punk: it’s simple business – The Rock is the main event at WrestleMania because it draws more money in one night than you will in a lifetime.’
CM Punk: it's simple business – The Rock is the main event at Wrestlemania cause it draws more money in one night, then u will in lifetime.
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 29, 2011
The tweet in question was a response to CM Punk, who referred to The Rock as a part-timer and criticized him for taking opportunities away from rising WWE Superstars. Punk and The Rock have a history of animosity dating back to their feud in 2013.
At that time, Punk was the WWE Champion and felt that The Rock was stealing his spotlight and main event spot at WrestleMania 29. The two clashed at the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, where The Rock defeated Punk, ending his 434-day reign as WWE Champion.
The Rock reportedly pushed for his match against Roman Reigns
The Rock vs Roman Reigns, the dream match that has been years in the making is finally set to happen at WrestleMania 40. Speaking on the Wrestling Observer radio, Dave Meltzer revealed the possible reasons for removing Cody Rhodes from challenging Reigns.
Meltzer disclosed, “Dwayne pushed super hard for it. Read last week’s issue and this week’s. The card changed when Punk & Brock were out and all the dominoes fell. Dwayne already wanted it and they felt they now needed it as well. Felt this was better to change the news flow away from Vince.”
REPORT: The Rock vs. Roman Reigns wasn't planned as of a few days ago, Dwayne Johnson pushed hard for the match https://t.co/l4JyZjN8nk pic.twitter.com/3EncRwK94N
— Wrestling News (@WrestlingNewsCo) February 3, 2024
Meltzer also said, “Cody was the plan. Dwayne was going to face him later, maybe next year’s Mania, maybe Saudi. Sh*t happens with Vince and Punk, the Vince thing ends up worse than they thought and they changed the plan. But 100% it was Punk vs. Seth and Cody vs. Reigns until Punk got hurt.”
Meltzer confimred that the plan was changed only after the Royal Rumble match to distract the WWE fans from the recent alligations faced by Vince McMahon. He also confirmed that
Rhodes vs Reigns was the main event of WrestleMania 40, but it has been changed after the recent injury of CM Punk.
WWE recently announced a press conference to be held on Thursday in Las Vegas, on which they would officially announce the main event of WrestleMania 40. It is not clear when Rhodes will challenge Reigns for the title, but it his story will most likely remain unfinished in wrestleMania 40.
