In Depth Details on Cody Rhodes – The Rock Storyline – Days later and the saga of The Rock potentially taking Cody Rhodes’ WWE WrestleMania 40 shot continues to dominate the headlines in the world of wrestling. Today, Fightful Select has released a report revealing several new pieces of information about the timeline of events that have led to the #WeWantCody movement and the uncertainty of who faces Roman Reigns at Mania.
Starting on last night’s Raw WWE actively acknowledged the support Cody has garnered and consistently referencing it on the show while the American Nightmare appeared. He remained undecided about his WrestleMania plans while WWE also emphasized that Rock vs. Roman Reigns was not yet official.
Fightful states in the report that if this entire thing was a work then many involved parties were unaware as of last Friday. While the overarching plan cannot be confirmed it’s certain that key figures like Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and others were not informed of an elaborate work of any kind. As of last week, the creative direction pointed towards Cody Rhodes facing Seth Rollins. Before the Royal Rumble, the plan was CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, a plan communicated to Punk himself, but obviously his injury changed plans. Therefore, if there was a “work” in progress, it would have caught these parties off-guard as well.
However, the question of “why” Cody won the Royal Rumble remains unanswered. Reports indicate that on the day of the Rumble, several in creative were informed about The Rock vs. Roman Reigns being the plan, with merchandise already being produced to promote it.
Regarding the plan for The Rock and Roman Reigns dating back to January 3, WWE sources suggest there were meetings on January 1 and subsequent discussions reaffirming to Cody Rhodes that the creative direction remained unchanged, with him slated to face Reigns at WrestleMania. Up until the week before the Royal Rumble, no other parties were made aware of any changes. A select group of people was reportedly informed of the change in direction during Royal Rumble weekend.
Some sources claim that Cody Rhodes expressed concerns to WWE about the potential reaction of him being pulled from the WresteMania 40 match but he still “somberly” went through with the segment. There are even claims that the decision came from higher-ups like Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, who are above Nick Khan and Triple H.
On the now infamous segment The Rock whispered something into Cody’s ear. While the exact context of what he said is unknown the belief is that it had something to do with their fathers. The report reiterates that Cody and The Rock have a great relationship.
Furthermore, WWE had been working on a follow-up to the American Nightmare documentary for months, with cameras following Cody for additional content, including filming on Friday’s SmackDown.
WWE closely monitored reactions, discussing future options in the days following Smackdown. However, no confirmations were made regarding other outlets’ reports or future developments.
Regarding signs at WWE Raw, there’s no indication that WWE distributed them. Fans in attendance claimed to have made the signs themselves, with evidence timestamped before the broadcast. WWE was not planning to avoid the controversy, recognizing it as a significant shift in coverage. Talent were not instructed to tweet about it as of the weekend after, though this could change.
As noted earlier today, WWE were “taken aback” by the “Rocky Sucks” chants on Raw.
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In Depth Details on Cody Rhodes – The Rock Storyline
