WWE WrestleMania 40 Kickoff press conference: The Rock slaps Cody Rhodes, who apparently now will face Roman

It’s now Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. We think.

As The Strokes might say, is this it? Are we about the get The Rock vs. Roman Reigns, a dream match speculated about for several years, at WrestleMania 40? Or is there one more twist in this narrative that will somehow get Cody Rhodes back into the picture? WrestleMania 40 Kickoff from Las Vegas should get us some answers.

Had it come about more organically, Rock vs. Roman would have been a slam dunk no-brainer to headline one night of WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia. However, as anyone who’s been following WWE in 2024 knows, the way it’s been put together is about as far afield from organic as one can get.

The Rock first appeared on the Jan. 1 episode of Raw, making a crack about whether he should “sit at the head of the table” that first suggested a possible confrontation with Reigns. That became a reality on the Feb. 2 SmackDown, when the two finally came face to face.

One problem: In the interim, Rhodes won the Royal Rumble, guaranteeing a shot at the champion of his choosing. His personal journey dictates it should be Reigns to avenge the WrestleMania 39 defeat at Roman’s hands and win the championship his father never did.

Rhodes has seemingly stepped aside, but WWE’s unusual focus on the fan reaction to this development have raised a legitimate question about whether there’s going to be another wrinkle in the whole situation. If there is, we should learn it during the WrestleMania 40 Kickoff press event.

Along with The Rock and Reigns, Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley are scheduled to be on hand, with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee hosting. Oh, and Big E and CM Punk. Let’s see how this all plays out.

WWE WrestleMania 40 Kickoff updates:

  • Michael Cole narrates a shot of Lincoln Financial Field (we call it The Linc here in PA), site of WrestleMania 40, and we see Roman Reigns and The Rock getting off their respective planes flying into Las Vegas las night; a WrestleMania hype video follows
  • Cole introduces Pat McAfee, Big E and CM Punk as his co-hosts
  • Big E says his neck feels great, Punk says “well it sucks” about his triceps injury and promises to “piss some people off”; Cole gets some opinions on what the other hosts think will happen tonight, with Punk thinking we could be in for “one hell of a roller coaster of a ride” and Big E “banging the drum for Cody”
  • Jackie Redmond reports that The Rock is in the building, which, yeah we hope so; Byron Saxton checks in with Paul Heyman, who talks about the reactions to Cody Rhodes and The Rock, and of course insists that everyone is really talking about who will get to face Roman Reigns

  • Cole quizzes the panelists on who they think Reigns wants to face, then reveals that WWE Speed will be coming exclusively to X

  • Paul “Triple H” Levesque is introduced and comes out to the stage to talk about WrestleMania’s history and promise that this year’s show will take it to a whole new level

  • Bianca Belair comes to the stage to talk about her reality show with Montez Ford and some of her personal WrestleMania highlights, and while she doesn’t know what she’ll be doing at this year’s show, she’s looking forward to continuing her dominance there
  • Rhea Ripley is up next, greeted by a healthy “Mami” cheer, to wax poetic about how she’s going to take care of Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber and go on to crush someone else at ‘Mania; Becky Lynch chooses that moment to interrupt, promising to win the Elimination Chamber match and challenge Ripley, promising that “Mami is going to learn what it’s like to be a bottom” before Adam Pearce has to step between them

  • Seth Rollins, looking dapper as always, gets the crowd to sing his song and chant his name; but when he calls for Cody Rhodes to join him, he gets Roman Reigns instead …
  • … and the Tribal Chief wants to talk about Cody instead, mocking him for his hesitation, saying it’s no longer his decision but Roman’s, and that he will decide who faces him in the main event of WrestleMania … and he chooses The Rock

  • The Rock experiences a mixed reaction when he joins them, slowly turning to a few more boos before he finally speaks; After asking the crowd who they think will win between him and Roman, he taunts the “Cody crybabies” again before revealing a large chart of The Bloodline’s family tree, saying it’s proof that there’s only one dominant royal family in pro wrestling
  • Hold on, though, because here comes Cody Rhodes, who says Reigns doesn’t get to determine the main event, he does as Royal Rumble winner … and in the main event, he chooses Reigns; Roman mocks Cody and tells him to go over with Seth in the loser’s bracket and that he’s irrelevant “just like your dad,” to which Rhodes says “how’s Jey?”
  • Cody says Roman’s relatives would be ashamed of him, which ticks off The Rock, who says they now have a problem and slaps Cody; Triple H, Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis step in to separate them, and Rollins also swears at Reigns and Rock on his way out
  • Back to the desk we go, where Punk and especially Big E talk up the fact that we don’t know where this is going, and McAfee is intrigued by the slap and the “flexing” by The Bloodline
  • Redmond talks to Triple H, who says moments like this have people going into business for themselves, which The Rock proves by swearing at him when he walks by and telling him to “fix it”