Cody Rhodes still WWE’s top-choice opponent for Roman Reigns’ potential championship fight: Report
Despite The Rock making a surprise WWE return, Cody Rhodes still remains Roman Reigns’ top-choice opposition.
Star wrestler and Hollywood actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson made a surprise return to WWE on last week’s episode of SmackDown. Since then, there have been plenty of speculations over The Rock’s future in WWE. According to reports, The Rock will be vying for the title against Roman Reigns. The Rock himself even hinted at facing The Tribal Chief at next year's WrestleMania. Though, apart from setting The Rock up against Reigns for a future bout, WWE is reportedly not planning to involve the two wrestlers in any kind of a storyline. It is being learnt that Cody Rhodes still remains WWE’s priority when it comes to Reigns’ title defence.
“Backstage were ecstatic with The Rock reactions. However no agreement over anything other than another meeting to discuss story options. Cody is priority atm [at the moment],” read a post shared by Boozer Wrasslin on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Cody Rhodes was up against Roman Reigns at the WrestleMania 39 earlier this year in April. Despite having fans rooting for him at the SoFi Stadium, Rhodes could not clinch the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. It is being learnt that Rhodes will once again get a chance to beat Reigns at next year’s WrestleMania.
But there seem to have been some changes in plans since The Rock made a surprise appearance at the latest episode of the SmackDown. The 51-year-old himself revealed that he is open to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. At the same time, The Rock disclosed that he was originally scheduled to take on Reigns at this year’s WrestleMania. The plan, however, did not materialise.
"So we got really, really close, but we couldn't actually nail what that thing was. So we decided to put our pencils down. We agreed, 'Hey, listen, there's a merger coming up, eventually that will happen. There's WrestleMania in Philadelphia.' [eyebrow raise] I'm saying that's a potential too. I'm open [to it]. I'm open,” The Rock said during an interaction on ‘The Pat McAfee Show.’
"But again let's figure out what that is because the fans deserve something just incredible and unprecedented. Not only that but I also want to deliver to the locker room and the boys and the girls back there who are working their a**es off. What can we do to put them in a position where they're part of something that is a new change, an era, in this world of pro wrestling. Again, Vince is a big-picture thinker, as you know. This is why we've gotten along for years, just trying to think big picture. So we'll see,” The Rock added.