The Rock's WrestleMania 40 Shake-Up: What Prompted Creative Change
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The Rock returned to WWE under very interesting circumstances. He wanted a match against Roman Reigns that has been a long time coming, but fans wanted to see Cody Rhodes finish his story. Now, we have a much different picture for the WrestleMania main event than The Rock wanted to.
The Rock Embracing The Dark Side
It was reported that The Rock taking a seat on TKO's Board of Directors came with a WrestleMania match attached. He got $30 million in company stock as a part of that deal.
Fans spoke out in massive fashion when Rock bumped Cody Rhodes out of his WrestleMania spot against Roman Reigns. Trends started online and the story got picked up by major mainstream outlets.
Wrestle Votes reported on Twitter/X that WWE sources have said that The Rock is prepared to "fully embrace" his heel gimmick. It was also noted that WWE is expected to drop official Cody crybabies merchandise.
"Sources suggest that The Rock is expected to fully embrace his heel turn, drawing inspiration from his past ‘Hollywood’ Rock persona. Additionally, I’m told to anticipate the release of Rock branded ‘Cody Crybabies’ merchandise. The story is just beginning…"
A tenured source within WWE confirmed that The Rock's original plan was to have a match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. The current situation we have with the show of shows was not what The Rock originally wanted to do, so this was not all part of an elaborate plan from the jump.
The Rock called his shot for a match against Roman Reigns on January 1st when he showed up during the Day 1 episode of RAW. Then, the match was agreed to shortly after that, with Cody Rhodes winning the 2024 Royal Rumble match, despite Triple H knowing that Rock vs Reigns was agreed to.
Along with mainstream outlets picking up the story about fan outrage, The Rock's daughter, Ava, was also caught in the crossfire. She received death threats and later deactivated her Twitter/X account. The Rock also spoke up about this incident involving his daughter.
After all the negative reaction, "The Rock conceded it should be Roman vs Cody." Fan reaction, and mainstream attention on the matter, caused Rock to make a call to pivot. That being said, he will now apparently play up the heel gimmick on WWE television for the Cody crybabies.
