Justice for Cody Rhodes Explained: WrestleMania 40 Drama

So you have Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the matchup, and he’s squaring off against someone who is the longest record WWE title holder since 1988 in Roman Reigns.

The two men, who call themselves “cousins” despite not being physically related, having a match is actually a great addition, or maybe even conclusion, to Roman Reigns’s Bloodline plot, which is being hailed as one of the better narratives to emerge from the WWE writer’s room in a long time.

What better way to put a matchup between the WWE’s most recognizable professional wrestler who went on to become a mega-movie blockbuster superstar, and the organization’s most dominant champion of the past 36 years (as of this writing), that also touches on the legacy of Samoan greats who helped turn professional wrestling into a global phenomenon?

While the Reigns/Rock headliner may seem like a match made in heaven for pro-wrestling fans, unfortunately there are a lot of WWE enthusiasts who don’t agree with the ESPN article.

However, a lot of WWE die-hards believed that Cody Rhodes should have been put in as the headliner against Roman Reigns. Rhodes has built up a big fan base over the years thanks to his in-ring work ethic; he’s regarded as an athletic and technically proficient wrestler.

He’s also credited with helping to turn the AEW into a popular competitor to the WWE, and then there’s the fact that he descends from pro-wrestling royalty in Dusty Rhodes. Cody’s promos are almost always impassioned — he manages to blend his skills on the mic with his in-ring prowess as well.

Then there’s the question of Rhodes’s own career trajectory in the WWE: he began as Stardust, a derivative of the Goldust character, left the WWE and re-branded himself, then came back into the WWE and worked himself into becoming a fan favorite through his combination of promo-cutting and in-ring performances.

The Rock is no stranger to playing both “heel” and “face” in the WWE; however it appears that he’s being viewed as a villain not due to a manufactured story line conjured up from the organization’s writer’s room, but by fan reaction alone.

Then there came the purported damage control in response to The Rock’s arrival on the scene of WrestleMania 40 — a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) reminding fans of the good deed he carried out for UFC Fighter Themba Gorimbo: The Rock bought him a house.

UFC fans didn’t seem too impressed, with numerous folks calling out The Rock’s social media management for trying to shed a positive light on the wrestler/actor’s character, with folks highlighting how the tweet was edited in what seemed like a play to make The Rock seem more sympathetic.

What do you think? Is the WWE jumping the gun by having The Rock go up against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40? Or do Cody fans need to chill out?