The WrestleMania 42 location announcement wasn’t the only major moment from The Rock’s surprise appearance on WWE SmackDown this past Friday. After revealing that next year’s WrestleMania will take place at the Superdome in New Orleans, The Rock turned his attention to Cody Rhodes, inviting him to the ring for a career-altering confrontation.
During his promo, The Rock expressed his desire to elevate Rhodes to the next level, stating that he wanted a piece of his soul and to help him become Undisputed WWE Champion. However, he made it clear that he wasn’t looking for an answer right away. Instead, he gave Rhodes until the Elimination Chamber event on March 1st to make a decision.
According to Fightful Select, WWE’s creative team was only informed of The Rock’s SmackDown appearance days before the show, surprising many within the company. Up until recently, WWE had been working under the assumption that The Rock would not be available for WrestleMania, leading to other storylines being developed.
One of the previously considered WrestleMania plans involved Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena, which had been in discussion since late last year. However, The Rock’s return has seemingly thrown WrestleMania’s creative direction into question.
A top WWE talent even joked to Ibou of Self Made PW that the entire situation felt like WrestleMania was “at the mercy of Dwayne”, reinforcing the last-minute nature of these changes.
Internal WWE documents reportedly showed Rhodes being removed from the SmackDown main event prior to the show, further confirming that plans were adjusted very late in the process.
For The Rock’s segment, Cristian Scovell, who frequently works on Rhodes’ promos, was credited as a writer, while Michael Hayes was listed as the producer. However, it was emphasized that The Rock does not follow strict scripts, making it likely that his explicit language and sharp delivery were not pre-written.
With The Rock now actively involved in WrestleMania 41’s build-up, WWE’s plans for Cody Rhodes—and potentially even Roman Reigns—are in flux. As of now, Rhodes has until Elimination Chamber to respond, but what that response will be remains uncertain, even for those within WWE.
