The Rock is "setting everybody up," a WWE legend says; match with Cody Rhodes less likely
In two nights, the WWE Universe witnessed two different shades of The Rock. On Monday, he blurred the lines of his on-screen character, The Final Boss, to indulge in the landmark moment of the professional wrestling industry's shift to the Netflix streaming platform. After all, he is an important member of the TKO board.
But on Tuesday, he surprised the NXT crowd with a special appearance. The Brahma Bull's daughter Ava is the General Manager of NXT so it makes sense for him to appear despite it feeling like an unlikely occurrence.
Perhaps the company is testing the waters to ascertain which bout is getting a bigger reaction: The Rock vs. Cody Rhodes, or Roman Reigns. WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray notes that the latter is more likely to happen because it is what The Rock considers the bigger fight.
Speaking on the Busted Open podcast, Bully Ray and David LaGreca continued to voice their displeasure with how WWE used The American Nightmare on the premiere episode of RAW on Netflix. They expressed that unlike last year, fans are not so invested in Cody because he finished the story. So, if a match with Roman Reigns gets booked for The Final Boss, it would not get the same negative reaction it did last year:
"Is something telling me — I don't know if he's done [wrestling]," Bully Ray said, speculating about The Rock's in-ring status for WrestleMania 41. "It's almost like he's setting everybody up just to take them down. [...] I'm just not positive that the Cody fans are going to rally behind him like they did a year ago. " [From 15:58 to 25:22]
Will The Rock vs. Cody Rhodes happen at WrestleMania 41? More importantly, do the fans care?
When The Rock returned on February 1, 2024, Cody Rhodes gave him the main event spot of WrestleMania 40. Rhodes had just won the Men's Royal Rumble Match, meaning he could have refused if he wanted to.
This is exactly what he did eight days after WWE received major backlash for going with an out-of-left-field story instead of finishing what they started in early 2023 between The American Nightmare and The Tribal Chief. The fan reactions played a key role in the company going with Reigns vs. Rhodes II on the grand stage last year, with The Rock turning heel and joining The Bloodline.
As seen in the clip above, WWE seemingly dropped the entire angle. At WrestleMania 40, The Final Boss pinned Cody in a tag team match and on the RAW after, claimed that he would come back for The American Nightmare's Undisputed WWE Championship.
If you use the quote, please credit the Busted Open podcast and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
