The main event for WrestleMania 40 (Night Two) is set as Cody Rhodes will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
However, WWE almost swerved people when it appeared that The Rock would challenge Reigns and Rhodes would face Seth Rollins. Due to fan outrage, WWE reversed their decision in favor of Cody who will now get a second chance to “finish his story.”
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Triple H’s idea was that if Rhodes endorsed The Rock on the February 2nd show, that would nullify any potential backlash. However, WWE didn’t expect the backlash to happen the way it did.
Dwayne Johnson and Brian Gewirtz decided that if fans were booing The Rock, he should turn heel, which is exactly what happened at the WrestleMania XL Kickoff when The Great One slapped Cody.
The story is that The Rock and Gewirtz are pushing for ideas that are different from creative plans. By leaning into this, WWE is blurring the lines of fact and fiction. This explains why there have been segments forcing a power struggle between The Rock and Triple H.
When The Rock was announced for The Road To WrestleMania, Triple H reportedly “scrambled” to keep Rhodes involved “at all times.”
An abandoned idea was for The Bloodline to injure Rhodes on the February 2nd show, which would take him off television and set up The Rock vs. Roman Reigns. The American Nightmare would eventually return and win the title.
However, never did WWE plan to take away the match with Reigns, although it’s unknown if it was even going to happen at WrestleMania 40 before the fan backlash.
WWE decided it didn’t make sense for Rhodes to challenge Rollins if he was “injured.”
CM Punk was originally set to challenge Seth Rollins at WrestleMania XL, prior to his injury.
The segment with Rollins asking Rhodes to choose him was to set up a backup plan, as things are constantly developing behind the scenes, especially with The Rock pitching various ideas.
It is believed that more backstage details haven’t been revealed but “can’t be talked about now.”
The Rock has reportedly pitched himself and Reigns vs. Rhodes & Rollins for WrestleMania 40 (Night One).
The main event for WrestleMania 40 (Night Two) has been announced, and it will feature Cody Rhodes challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. However, this match almost didn’t happen as originally planned. There were talks of having The Rock challenge Reigns and Rhodes facing Seth Rollins instead. But due to fan outrage, WWE decided to reverse their decision and give Cody Rhodes a second chance to “finish his story.”
According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Triple H had the idea that if Rhodes endorsed The Rock on the February 2nd show, it would nullify any potential backlash. However, WWE didn’t expect the backlash to happen the way it did. Dwayne Johnson and Brian Gewirtz, realizing that fans were booing The Rock, decided that he should turn heel. This surprising turn of events took place at the WrestleMania XL Kickoff when The Great One slapped Cody.
It seems that The Rock and Gewirtz are pushing for ideas that are different from the creative plans set by WWE. This has led to a blurring of the lines between fact and fiction in the storyline. To further emphasize this power struggle, there have been segments featuring The Rock and Triple H at odds with each other.
When The Rock was announced for The Road To WrestleMania, Triple H reportedly made efforts to keep Rhodes involved in the storyline at all times. There was even an abandoned idea of having The Bloodline (Reigns’ faction) injure Rhodes on the February 2nd show, which would have taken him off television and set up The Rock vs. Roman Reigns. However, Rhodes would eventually return and win the title.
It is unclear if the match between Rhodes and Reigns was initially planned for WrestleMania 40 or if it was a result of the fan backlash. What we do know is that WWE decided it wouldn’t make sense for Rhodes to challenge Rollins if he was “injured.”
Interestingly, CM Punk was originally set to challenge Seth Rollins at WrestleMania XL before his injury. The segment with Rollins asking Rhodes to choose him was a backup plan, as things are constantly developing behind the scenes, especially with The Rock pitching various ideas.
There are believed to be more backstage details that haven’t been revealed yet but cannot be discussed at this time. However, it has been reported that The Rock has pitched himself and Reigns teaming up against Rhodes and Rollins for WrestleMania 40 (Night One).
As the road to WrestleMania continues, fans can expect more twists and turns in the storyline. The involvement of The Rock and the backstage developments add an element of unpredictability to the event. It will be interesting to see how Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns’ clash for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship unfolds and if any further surprises await the fans.