The Rock v Roman Reigns Face-Off, Preview of WrestleMania Matchups

After Cody Rhodes put together the last piece of his puzzle by winning the Royal Rumble, he earned the right to have his choice for a title match at WrestleMania 40. On the February 2 episode of WWE Smackdown, it was expected that Rhodes would reveal his decision between Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship and Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. Rhodes’ slogan of “Finish the Story” hinted at the fact that he would seek vengeance on Reigns, after coming up short against him, last year at WrestleMania 39. However, it seemed to be revealed on SmackDown that it would not pan out this way.

When Rhodes entered the ring to announce his opponent, he mentioned seeking Reign’s title. Rhodes brought up his family’s history with the WWE Championship, as his father, Dusty, came up short of claiming it. His intentions were clear, but Rhodes did not initiate a face-to-face challenge with Reigns. Cody says he is coming for the title, but not at WrestleMania. Instead, someone else wanted to speak to Reigns, someone Cody claims knows Reigns, “Very well.”

The crowd erupted when the challenger was The Rock, who stepped into the ring to greet Reigns. After an embrace with Rhodes, Rock did not do any verbal promo on a microphone. Instead, the two superstars stood face to face in the ring, and Friday Night SmackDown came to an end. With CM Punk ruled out for at least four months due to a torn tricep, could this be the WWE’s way of pivoting both belt fights at WrestleMania, with the Rock v Reigns, and Rhodes v Rollins? The stare-down has since collected the most dislikes on a singular WWE video on YouTube. Now, it is up to the hands of the WWE to give an old legend the spotlight once again or follow through with a two-year build-up in Cody Rhodes’ story.