In a perfect world, having Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wanting to take on the biggest star in WWE, Roman Reigns, at the company’s biggest event of the year, would be a blessing. Somehow, though, it currently feels like more of a curse.
That’s been evident since last Friday’s episode of SmackDown, when The Rock showed up to all but challenge Reigns to said WrestleMania match. The fans on hand did go nuts to see the biggest movie star in the world back in a WWE ring, but that on-site excitement quickly turned to dismay once people absorbed the way it came about: by having Cody Rhodes, whose quest to “finish the story” has a logical destination in a rematch with Reigns in Philadelphia, essentially step aside and cede that spot to Johnson.
His role as the quintessential company man is part of what makes Rhode such a beloved babyface at the moment, so he’s not going to complain about his fate publicly. But it’s not hard to understand why he’s gathered so much sympathy, especially since according to Fightful Select (subscription required), he apparently believed he was going to get his shot at Reigns … until he wasn’t.
For its part, WWE has taken the strangest possible tact since #WeWantCody became a thing, going to great lengths this week during Raw to emphasize that nothing was official and pointing everyone to the WrestleMania Kickoff event in Las Vegas. That’s genius marketing, to be sure, but also raises the specter of whether they are planning one more swerve.
Is it possible? Fightful thinks so, noting that “WWE was heavily monitoring the reactions, and we’re told that as of the days after Smackdown, there were options being discussed moving forward.”
There are probably dozens of ways WWE can proceed, but let’s narrow it down to just a few that are floating around the internet as we all wait for Thursday.
(Shout out to Lin-Manuel Miranda, 21 Savage, the late Nipsey Hussle, Britney Spears and Boy George for providing lyrics to summarize each section.)