Having Cody Rhodes gracefully bow out of the WrestleMania event feels like a major creative misstep

The Rock vs. Roman Reigns makes perfect business sense for WWE. Creatively? Not so much.

Professional wrestling, like other forms of art and entertainment, is subjective. 

The industry’s predetermined outcomes removes the statistical objectivity that comes with traditional sports, where the final score is typically the best way to determine which team was better than the other, despite wrestling also requiring rigorous training and exceptional athleticism.

But when it comes to wrestling, as the cliche goes, a five-star match is in the eye of the beholder.

With that said, I don’t think many would argue that WWE’s content has exponentially improved during Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s tenure as the head of the creative department. Not since Triple H’s prime has WWE featured so many wrestlers that felt like real stars who are helping WWE sell out arenas and move merchandise across the world — not to mention, secure $5 billion bags. 

All of that is a testament to the quality stories Triple H and his team have been telling. But then came the most recent edition of Smackdown, which was fittingly on Groundhog’s Day, because it felt like something we had all seen before.

That is because a full-time wrestler — in this case Cody Rhodes — has been shoved to the side for the main event of WrestleMania to clear the way for a part-timer that carries a bigger name — in this case the biggest name in Hollywood, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with this decision. WWE could not possibly get a more mainstream star than The Rock. He’s so famous people are asking him to run for president. The sitcom based on his life featured him as president in the year 2032 narrating his childhood, and it didn’t feel like an unrealistic future.

It would obviously behoove WWE to put that man in the main event of the biggest show of the year because, well, money. However, the reaction to this fiscally sensible decision has been mixed, and it feels like the first major creative misstep of Levesque’s tenure. Granted this is just one portion of a large, large fanbase.

From what I have observed, two of the many hallmarks of Levesque’s style of booking are logic and taking the path of least resistance. Levesque and his team rarely look for ways to overcomplicate a story. Also, the decisions made by the wrestlers involved often make sense within the framework of the story. The same goes for the outcomes of the matches.

I thought we were headed down a similar path after the Royal Rumble, when Rhodes won the men’s battle royal for the second year in a row and looked directly at Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns. Rhodes had seemingly already made his choice and was going to once again challenge Reigns for the title.

This was logical given Reigns still has the title Rhodes desperately wants to win. Also, Rhodes has unfinished business with Reigns after their match at last year’s WrestleMania ended in controversy.

WWE was seemingly choosing the path of least resistance by just having Rhodes win the Rumble to get his shot at Reigns. I predicted CM Punk to win the men’s Royal Rumble mainly because Rhodes didn’t need to win the match to face Reigns at WrestleMania. But having him win the Rumble seemingly erased any other hurdles in his path to finally finishing his story.

But after watching Smackdown, I struggle to find the logic or an easy path to closing the book on Rhodes’ tale.

That is because Levesque and his team had Rhodes willingly step aside so that The Rock could face Reigns at WrestleMania. Wait, what? But didn’t he win the Royal Rumble?

Again, in reality, we know exactly why this is happening. But within the framework of the story, what sense does it make for Rhodes to allow The Rock to have this moment instead of him?

As Rhodes’ theme song says, wrestling has more than one royal family. Does Anoa’i business trump Rhodes business? Legitimately asking.

We still have a lot of time between now and WrestleMania and maybe by then this murky logic will be crystalized, but as of right now, logic has been defied. 

The decision also creates a whole lot of confusion around how and when Rhodes will get his chance to finish his story. Look, I know it sounds like fans are way too invested in this, but don’t blame the fans for that. Blame WWE.

Blame WWE for featuring Rhodes week after week in prime positions and winning virtually every match that he’s in, including back-to-back Royal Rumbles. Blame WWE for taking fans on Rhodes’ journey for the last two years, only for him to gracefully bow out of the biggest match of the year.

So if not at WrestleMania, when does Rhodes finish his story? And no, beating Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship would not accomplish that. Not to mention, Reigns all but buried the world title on Smackdown.

Fans are savvy enough to know the title Rhodes is actually chasing is the WWE Championship, which was merged with the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 38. I still believe that was an egregiously short-sighted decision by WWE at that point.

In a lot of ways, having The Rock face Roman Reigns instead of Rhodes feels like one, too. While WWE will assuredly enjoy a financial windfall due to The Rock’s participation at WrestleMania, it could begin a long-term erosion of trust between the company and its fans — something I believe Triple H and his team has done a great job of building up after years of it deteriorating due to McMahon’s nonsensical booking.

Could this decision be the result of pivoting after Punk tore his triceps at the Royal Rumble? It’s possible. But reports have already come out saying that there’s more to that story, no pun intended.

Wrestling fans can be fickle but that have been with Rhodes every single step of the way. They were with him when he returned to the company. They were behind him after he missed significant time due to a torn pectoral muscle. They were rooting for him when he lost at WrestleMania in 2023. They were cheering for him when he feuded with Brock Lesnar and Shinsuke Nakamura. And they were still supporting him when he won the men’s Royal Rumble for the second year in a row.

That is not common, and there is no guarantee that WWE will be able to maintain this with Rhodes or replicate it with someone else. 

But maybe it won’t matter at the end of the day because, at the end of the day, wrestling is subjective. Wrestling isn’t fake, but one of the few things that are real is the money. And as Dusty Rhodes would say, WWE is fixin’ to head to the pay window.

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