Fans on social media were not pleased with the news that The Rock would be replacing Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. As PWMania.com previously stated, the segment was posted on WWE’s YouTube channel and is now their most disliked video ever.
The match has yet to be officially announced because they want to wait until the press event in Las Vegas on Thursday to do so. Things can always change, but the top two matchups for WrestleMania appear to be Rock vs. Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship and Seth Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Cody Rhodes.
While many people expect Reigns to retain his title, that may not happen. According to Fightful Select, they spoke with people who stated that The Rock pushed for the match with Reigns, and some believe he pushed to win the match, implying that the last thing you would see at WrestleMania is Rock holding the Universal Championship. This also means that Reigns will not surpass Hulk Hogan’s title reign. It throws a monkey wrench into Cody’s plan to defeat Reigns for the title, which has been built up over the last two years.
The Rock’s inclusion in the match is viewed as a political move to bring more immediate money into TKO, rather than a malicious act by The Rock against Cody Rhodes. One has to wonder if TKO executives, including The Rock, are seeing the negative reaction on all social media platforms and are considering returning to Rhodes vs. Reigns. There is currently no indication that they will return to that match, but plans may change between now and Thursday.
There are also changes occurring behind the scenes. According to Fightful, Brian Gewirtz, a former WWE creative team member and long-time friend of The Rock, will play a significant role in The Rock’s creative plans. Gewirtz was the writer for The Rock during the Attitude Era, and he has been involved in the Rock’s return appearances over the last decade or so. According to PWInsider, this could become a “B-plan” for the future if The Rock’s team is chosen to take over the creative side of things, which is currently handled by Triple H.
