Cody Rhodes recently caused a stir on social media when he suggested that WWE didn’t need Dwayne Johnson to appear at WrestleMania.
It had long been rumoured that Johnson would be facing Roman Reigns at the spectacular, however, that honour will be falling to Rhodes. The Rock reportedly turned down the chance to compete, citing a lack of time to get ring-ready. With this in mind, Rhodes stated that WWE’s current storytelling options were even better than having The Great One return.
Speaking in a new interview with Sports Illustrated, Rhodes has now backtracked on those comments, highlighting the importance of stars who came before himself. The former AEW star said that he didn’t mean to speak out of turn, adding that if Johnson wants to appear at WrestleMania, he’s all in.
“I said the other day, and I said it in a pretty nice way, ‘all respect to the Rock, I like what we have.’ I’m going to walk that one back. WrestleMania is amazing. If Rock decides to come to WrestleMania, please. Simply because, we’re able to have WrestleMania becase of someone like The Rock, and Rock was able to have WrestleMania because of somebody like (Hulk) Hogan, and because of the Dustys [Dusty Rhodes], the Flairs [Ric Flair], the Pipers [Roddy Piper]. Our industry doesn’t just exist, the content is so important in keeping it healthy and keeping it going and respecting these long-time fans.
I hope I didn’t talk out of turn because I absolutely adore The Rock and would love it if he was present in any setting. His family is massively important to what we do and if Rock decides to show up to WrestleMania, Hollywood would love that. I will say, if Rock doesn’t come to WrestleMania, we have an unbelievable card, if not the best ever, at the biggest ever in terms of the financials, the gates, two days in Hollywood. It’s a win-win,”
Will Sami Zayn Be Added To Cody Rhodes’ Match At WrestleMania?
While Cody Rhodes was out injured the storyline between Sami Zayn and The Bloodline grew taller than anyone could have imagined, and by the time Zayn turned on Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble he was all but the biggest babyface in the company. This, coupled with the promo between Zayn and Cody Rhodes on Raw has led some to believe that he could be added to the American Nightmare’s huge WrestleMania match with Reigns.
However, recent reports suggest that the WrestleMania main event will go off as currently advertised.
H/t to Fightful