Wrestle Pedia
Cody Rhodes recently revealed how he felt about initially having to forfeit his WWE WrestleMania 40 spot to The Rock, which led to a whole new movement in support of Cody Rhodes.
After winning the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble Match, The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes seemed poised to challenge The Tribal Chief for the second consecutive year. However, Rhodes surprised many by confronting the leader of The Bloodline and informing him that he would not be his opponent at this year’s Show of Shows and instead gave up his spot to The Rock initially.
In an interview with the SI Media podcast, The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes shared his genuine reaction to initially having to step away and let The Rock take his place in the main event of The Showcase of The Immortals. Rhodes stated that his role in the situation was to remain silent amid the chaos. Although he is often vocal and active on social media, he decided to keep quiet during this time.
Rhodes explained that staying silent allowed others to come forward and express their opinions, though he found the situation surprising. Rhodes admitted that he attempted to calm down the situation by sending out a post asking people to stay composed, as he didn’t want anyone to receive unnecessary hate due to the change in plans. Ultimately, he found the support he received flattering but aimed to keep the peace and avoid any negative impact on others involved.
“My role in all of this was to stay silent throughout the chaos. And I don’t always stay silent. I mean here we are, we’re talking now. I’m very active on social. But sometimes you just have to shut your mouth. And this was a great time when I shut my mouth and all these people came out. And I even thought I wonder if I can quell the storm. I wonder if I can tell them, I think I did, I sent a post out like, ‘Hey, calm down.’ You know, because I couldn’t believe, like, oh man, it’s flattering, no doubt, but I don’t want anyone getting unnecessary hate or anything of that nature in that space.
“And yeah, I just decided to keep silent and in the weirdest of ways, having won the Royal Rumble and having been in there last with CM Punk, who had such an opportunity to win the Rumble himself, such an absolute great, I just still thought it’ll be fine. Maybe I was in denial, you know, because a lot of people around me were very angry. But I just thought, ‘Nope, it’s gonna be fine. It’s gonna be fine. It will work out.’”
Thankfully, Cody Rhodes would ultimately challenge Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 Sunday and triumph over The Tribal Chief, thus becoming the new Undisputed WWE Champion. Rhodes is also officially part of Friday Night SmackDown now, so we will have to wait and see how he will be booked in the coming months.
Are you happy to see Cody Rhodes finishing his story after The Rock initially got his opportunity instead? Sound off in the comments section below!