A new report shines some light on the situation involving Cody Rhodes, The Rock, and Roman Reigns.
The wrestling world has been buzzing since Cody Rhodes stepped aside so The Rock could confront Roman Reigns on the February 2 episode of WWE SmackDown. In doing so, he seemingly gave up his match against Reigns at WrestleMania. WWE played into the way fans have rallied around Cody on WWE RAW, and they emphasized that nothing has officially been announced for WrestleMania 40.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (via Fightful Select) reports that if the situation was a work, numerous parties had not been clued in, at least as of February 2. Sapp writes that as of last week, Seth Rollins versus Cody Rhodes was the direction creative was told, and Rollins was set to face Punk prior to WWE Royal Rumble.
Sapp also writes that several in creative were told that The Rock facing Roman Reigns was the plan the day of WWE Royal Rumble. Regarding the timeline for this plan, Sapp cites WWE sources who note that there were meetings on January 1 and others that indicated that Cody Rhodes’ direction had not changed. Sapp states that only a select group of people were informed about the changed plans on Royal Rumble weekend.
Cody Rhodes Thought The Reaction Wouldn’t Be What WWE Wanted
Sapp goes on to cite sources who stated that Cody Rhodes expressed that he thought the reaction to the segment on SmackDown would not be the desired one, and he was said to be in a somber mood afterwards. Sources also claim that the decision goes up to Ari Emanuel and Mark Shapiro, meaning it was even above Nick Khan and Triple H.
Per Sapp, WWE has been monitoring the reactions to the situation, and the options were being discussed in the aftermath of SmackDown.
WWE was heavily monitoring the reactions, and we’re told that as of the days after Smackdown, there were options being discussed moving forward. We can not speak to other outlets reporting of what will or won’t happen and can’t confirm as much.
Additionally, Sapp writes that WWE were not planning to shy away from the controversy, but sources backstage at WWE RAW said they were not necessarily expecting the “Rocky sucks” chants.
WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available.
