Sunday, February 4th, 2024, 1:00 pm: Two days after The Rock showed up on SmackDown, stared down Roman Reigns, and the company all but confirmed that The Rock vs Roman Reigns will be the main event of Wrestlemania XL. The match that wrestling fans have been clammoring for, begging for, and dreaming of is finally actually happening. And... the majority of wrestling fans aren't excited for it? How is that even possible? For me personally, I told my girlfriend after that aforementioned Monday Night Raw promo that if The Rock is facing Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania, I am going. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. At that time, there was no way I was missing being there for that match. A month later, like most wrestling fans, I'm not even looking forward to the match. Again, how is even possible to not be excited about The Rock vs Roman Reigns? How did people's perceptions and excitement levels change so drastically in such a short period of time?
Saturday, January 27th, 2024,11:43 pm: Fireworks are blasting off throughout Tropicana Field, Cody Rhodes is pointing to the Wresltmania sign, and screaming at Roman Reigns that he is coming to take his WWE title at Wrestlemania. My reaction, which I assume was similar to the majority of others, was mixed. On one hand, I was pumped to see Cody win back to back Royal Rumbles and I was excited to see the likely Wrestlemania outcome of Cody finally "finishing his story." On the other hand, this meant The Rock and Roman Reigns would not be happening. Another year of the match not happening, another year of hoping that maybe next year would be the year. Had anyone else other than Cody Rhodes won The Royal Rumble, The Rock vs Roman would have still been an option. Since last years Wrestlemania when Cody Rhodes lost in the main event to Roman Reigns, anyone with half a brain knew that at next year's Wrestlemania, Reigns would be facing The Rock or Cody Rhodes in a rematch. One of those two guys. No one else. Rhodes winning the Royal Rumble was the final nail in the coffin on The Rock vs Roman Reigns at Wresltemania XL. Maybe we would get it next year with a year long build to the match, but it clearly wasn't happening this year.
Sunday, April 2nd, 2023, 11:30 pm: Cody Rhodes has just lost in the main event of Wresltemania to Roman Reigns. Wrestling fans around the world are in complete shock, as this was supposed to be Cody's moment. This was supposed to be the time, place, and moment where Roman Reigns' historic WWE title run came to an end. I know I was shocked. Going into the match I wanted Roman Reigns to win. I thought it was dumb that Cody Rhodes was even in the main event of Wresltmania in the first place. We're talking about Stardust main eventing Wresltmania for goodness sake. This guy shouldn't be the one to defeat Roman Reigns. But I had watched enough wrestling throughout my life to know that the writing was on the wall. Rhodes was winning. But then he didn't, and I was surprisingly dissapointed. About half way through the match, my feelings changed. The crowd was so behind Cody,and the moment was building up to one of those story book endings that wrestling gets right every so often. The match was leading to be an incredibly emotional celebration with his family in the ring, 46 years in the making for his family. Despite the loss, anyone like myself who had doubts about Cody Rhodes as the future of WWE left without them after his unbelievable performance. This wasn't Startdust anymore. This man was truly becoming a mega star in the WWE right before our very eyes.
Anytime, any place, any waking, breathing moment in the universe post Wrestlemania 39: The instant reaction was that Cody's loss was a terrible decision on the part of the WWE. The general consensus was that there wouldn't be a bigger chance or a more perfect opportunity than they had just had to put the WWE title on Cody Rhodes. If they did it at the next Wrestlemania, it wouldn't have the same level of excitement. Those reactions turned out to be wrong. Over the course of the last year, WWE has built Cody up even more than before, he has become more popular than he was heading into Wresltemania 39, and in a lot of ways has become the face of the company. It has become blantantly obvious that the money with Cody Rhodes is in the chase. The longer that he doesn't "finish his story," the more popular he becomes. His story, of course being, winning the WWE title in honor of his father, Dusty, who never won the title, despite being so close to doing so at Madison Square Garden in 1977. Cody's story has become THE story in WWE. This storyline has been beat over the head of wrestling fans by Cody and the company every day for the last two years, even more so since the loss at Mania 39. But what happens when he does win? What happens once he has that belt and there is nothing left to chase? What happens when Cody becomes the Champion that never loses that people begin to get tired of? Again, the money in Cody Rhodes is in his journey to eventually claim the WWE Championship. I would like to think most wrestling fans know this as well. So when the WWE started hinting at The Rock vs Roman Reigns earlier this year, I believe most fans were more than happy to see Cody Rhodes continue his chase, despite simultaiously wanting him to get his moment in the sun. But another year of Cody becoming more popular, becoming more desperate, and adding some possible self doubt into his storyline sounded great to me.
Friday, February 2nd, 2024, 7:30 pm: Cody Rhodes is about to come out on SmackDown to make his Wrestlemania decision to either face Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship or Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship. Again, he and the company have told us for two years that he wants the WWE title, the one his father never won. The one that has been there from the very creation of The World Wrestling Federation. He is obviously going to pick Roman and the WWE title. He has told us for two years and he screamed it at us six days prior at The Royal Rumble. He comes out and says to Roman he wants his title and that he is coming for it, but not at Wresltemania. Wait, hold the fuck on. Not at Wrestlemania? Not at the show of shows? The prize for winning the Royal Rumble is facing the champion at...Wrestlemania. So why even enter the Rumble if you didn't want the match at Wrestlemania? Before I cover what happened next, I need to address how absoulutley stupid wrestling fans on the internet are. Since Friday, I have seen a lot of talk about Cody's story being about the title, not about defeating Roman Reigns, not about Wrestlemania. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Part of the reason the story is so compelling is because of Roman Reigns. He has held the title for over 1,000 days now. Someone else beating Roman and then Cody winning it would be dumb as fuck and would all but ruin this now two plus year story. Cody has to be the one to beat Roman. And it has to be at Wrestlemania. Anyone saying otherwise should be checked out by a doctor ASAP. Was Stone Cold Steve Austin crowned at No Way Out? Did Hulk Hogan slam Andre on Saturday Night's Main Event? Did the boyhood dream for Shawn Michaels come true at In Your House? Did the Undertaker have a Summerslam streak? Get the fuck out of here with "it doesn't need to happen at Wrestlemania." Yes it does. So Cody even uttering the phrase "not at Wrestlemania" goes against everything he has pursued for the last two years. Instead, he gives up his Wrestlemania match to give it to The Rock. Cody brings The Rock out, goes to the back, and Roman and Rock have a stare down while the camera pans up at the Wrestlemania sign. Cody Rhodes looks like the biggest bitch in the history of wrestling.
Saturday, February 3rd and Sunday, February 4th, 2024: In the two days since SmackDown went off the air, wrestling fans have made their displeasure clear with the decision to go with The Rock over Cody. The common theme being that we are not frustrated that we are getting the dream match, but how they chose to go about getting there. Making their biggest babyface in the company look like a cuckholding bitch. Something I really haven't seen mentioned however is that Cody had a say in how the segment would go down with The Rock and Roman. I am not saying he wanted to lose out on the Mania main event by any stretch of the imagination. What I am saying is that this is wrestling in 2024, not 1984. Everyone is saying that they made Cody look like a bitch, they referring to the company. Cody has talked about doing things in the wrestling world in a meta way, and by his character doing something so out of character like this, the instant reaction from everyone is not "I can't believe Cody would do this," it's "fuck the company, I can't believe they made him do that." It's also "fuck The Rock, how could he come in and insert himself into the main event of Wrestlemania after Cody won The Royal Rumble?" What better way to garner sympathy in wrestling in 2024? What better way to become even more popular? What better way to cause everyone to talk about what is going on in WWE? If done intentionally to create this reaction, this is a carny as fuck move, and there aren't too many bigger carnies in the wrestling business than the Rhodes family. Singling out Cody, the man damn near cries every promo he cuts and has the worst tattoo of all time on his neck, while dressing in three piece designer suits every week. Though the tattoo does make a great logo. The man is constantly trying to sell something and make people feel a certain type of way. However, the end result seems to point towards The Rock vs Roman Reigns with Cody being on the outside looking in. Whether this is an intential attempt by the company at recreating the Wresltemania XXX storyline with Daniel Bryan or if The Rock is truly this delusional to believe that fans would accept him blantantly stealing the Wrestlemania main event from the most popular babyface in WWE remains to be seen. Three things are for certain though. Cody Rhodes is more popular than ever. This storyline and the WWE are getting more attention and coverage than anything in wrestling has in my lifetime outside of out of the ring controversies. And last but certainly not least, the WWE has put a major stain on the match that wrestling fans had been looking forward to more than any other for the better part of the last half decade.
#WeWantCody
