Source: The Xavierite
After almost a week of the hashtag #WeWantCody trending on X, it seems that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fans’ message was heard loud and clear. It has now been confirmed that Cody Rhodes will face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40.
While the announcement was well received by the fans, The Rock’s reaction was not as joyful.
This past Thursday, Feb. 8, the WWE held its ‘WrestleMania XL Kickoff’ press conference at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, NV. The event had been hyped up as the night where Rock and Reigns would face-off on stage and the match would be made official for ‘WrestleMania.’
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins came out to introduce Rhodes onto the stage to confirm his decision, which most believed was going to be Rhodes vs. Rollins. However, Rhodes would not be the one to walk on stage. Instead it was the ‘Tribal Chief’ Reigns.
Reigns told Rollins and the crowd that this was no longer Rhodes’ decision. It was now the Tribal Chief’s decision. Reigns said, “Here’s a life lesson, kids. If you hesitate, your moment’s gonna move on. And that’s what happened to Cody Rhodes.”
“I choose The Rock,” stated Reigns. The crowd was lively as Rock entered the stage to answer the challenge. Things quickly went sour though, as boos started raining down on the Rock as he tried to deliver his iconic “Finally, The Rock has come back” catchphrase.
The crowd was clearly unhappy as they began to chant “We want Cody!”, which became a trending topic ever since Rock came back to challenge Reigns on the Feb. 2 episode of ‘SmackDown.’
Rock responded by saying “Members of the press, world watching, I introduce you to the Cody crybabies”. He continued by displaying a family tree of the Anoa’i family, which includes a strong lineage of some of the biggest pro-wrestlers in history such as Yokozuna, Umaga, The Usos, Reigns, and the Rock himself.
As Rock explains, it all goes back to his grandfather the ‘High Chief’ Peter Maivia and Reigns’ grandfather Amituana’i Anoaʻi taking a blood oath, which in Samoan culture makes both participants agree to treat each other as brothers.
“If you can’t see the fact that this is proof that there is only one dominant and powerful royal family in professional-wrestling, if you can’t see that and if you think that the Rock and Roman Reigns isn’t the biggest main event in the history of WrestleMania – It doesn’t matter what you think.”
Rock and Roman then shook hands, signaling an agreement to proudly represent their family in their match at ‘Mania.’ However, instead of a celebration, the two were met by overwhelming boos from the crowd. Rhodes then came out, calling this whole thing “bulls**t.”
Rhodes called out Reigns, saying “It is not your distinction to determine the main event, it is mine. I won the Royal Rumble! – I have made my decision. At WrestleMania 40 – I choose you Roman Reigns.”
Clearly this angered Reigns who told Rhodes the match with Rock was already a done deal and he should go wrestle at the “number two table” with Rollins. “Nobody cares about you finishing your story – you just understand this, you’re irrelevant, just like your dad,” Reigns stated.
Rhodes fired back by calling the Bloodline “yes men” who rely on him as their meal ticket. He then called out both Rock and Reigns for their absences from weekly television, saying “And what is this match all about right here, who sits at ‘the Head of the Table’? What does it matter when neither of you have been doing any of the cooking for two years?”
The animosity reached a breaking point when Rhodes told Reigns that if Maivia and Anoa’i were alive they’d be ashamed of him. This angered the Rock who then told Cody, “Let me make something perfectly clear to you. When you talk about his family, you’re talking about my family – so now, we have a problem.”
Rock then delivered a slap heard around the world to Rhodes. Chaos ensued on-stage with Triple H, Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce trying to hold everyone back.
As the saying goes, a common enemy brings people together, and it seems that Rock and Reigns are closer than ever through their issues with Rhodes. It was announced that both will make an appearance on this Friday night’s episode of ‘SmackDown’, which means we will witness more of the fallout from last week’s press-conference.
An interesting possibility could be Rock and Reigns teaming up against Rhodes and Rollins, who surprisingly stood by Cody’s side when the altercation happened. Rollins has had his own issues with Reigns in the past and did not appreciate Rock’s behavior.
In a post-conference interview with Fox News, Rollins stated, “That’s just what happens when powerful people exert their power – they just think they do whatever they want and get away with it.”
Perhaps there could be a potential tag-team match with Rhodes and Rollins facing this new powerful alliance between Rock and Reigns at the Feb. 24 ‘Elimination Chamber’ pay-per-view?
It is still unclear what happens next, though the build-up to ‘WrestleMania’ has already been eventful to say the least.
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