Cody Rhodes reached the pinnacle of sports and entertainment at WrestleMania 40 when he dethroned Roman Reigns to claim the Undisputed WWE championship and end his nearly four-year-long reign as champion.
However, the road to WrestleMania 40 was a turbulent ride for The American Nightmare as he almost lost out on his coveted WrestleMania main event spot with the return of one of the biggest WWE superstars of all time, The Rock.
The Rock’s return received a positive response, leading to the higher-ups pivoting from Cody Rhodes’ story to book the dream showdown between The Rock and Roman Reigns for WrestleMania 40.
In the WrestleMania XL: Behind The Curtain documentary, it was revealed that WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H was the one to inform Cody Rhodes about the heartbreaking news and their decision to go with the match between Reigns and Rock.
“In the afternoon, I told him. It was becoming more of a reality with Roman and Rock to take place at WrestleMania and I think anybody knew a thing except Cody. That was a brutal day.”
Of course, the die-hard wrestling fanbase sided with Cody Rhodes, leading to a huge backlash. This forced WWE to make the main event match between Reigns and Rhodes, a decision that had a significant influence of The Rock himself, to give people what they desired and the rest, as they say, is history.
What are your thoughts on Triple H informing Cody Rhodes about the changed WrestleMania 40 plans? Sound off in the comments!