WrestleMania XL: Evaluating WWE’s options for Cody Rhodes, The Rock and Roman Reigns

The “situation” between Cody Rhodes, The Rock and Roman Reigns heading into WrestleMania XL has the potential to go down as one of the best stories WWE has ever told, or one of the worst decisions the company has ever made.

All seemed okay when Rhodes became the first man in almost 20 years to win back-to-back Royal Rumble matches in January of 2024, and he spent the final moments of the event declaring that he was going after Reigns and the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania.

Then, CM Punk got hurt, and panic mode set in.

World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, who is already injured and not medically cleared to compete, was left without a reasonable challenger. The “break in case of emergency” glass with Brock Lesnar’s bag of money inside wasn’t an option anymore amid his alleged involvement in the horrific stories outlined in the most recent Vince McMahon allegations.

What was the only logical solution in…well…someone’s eyes? Call Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

The new member of the TKO Board of Directors was already around the WWE ecosystem plenty over the last year. He showed up twice in the span of just a few months, and landed himself a new, powerful job for the media giant that owns WWE and the UFC.

Fans had been clamoring for a match between him and Reigns for years throughout the story of the Bloodline and the Tribal Chief. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to cash that massive paycheck.

Unfortunately for WWE, it turned out to be the right match, at the right place, just at the wrong time.

Fans instantly turned on the idea of the match, and the #WeWantCody movement was born. “Rocky Sucks” chants came back like WWE time-traveled back to 1996, and what seemed like the ultimate dream match turned into the equivalent of Batista’s underwhelming return back in 2014, almost exactly 10 years ago.

With no *official* main event announced for WrestleMania XL (yet) and a press event scheduled to take place in Las Vegas on Thursday, Feb. 8, WWE still has time to backtrack, or try to weave all of these recent dilemmas as if they were always a part of the Cody Rhodes “story.” But, what’s the best route for the company to take?

The way I see it, there are eight real options for WWE to consider when it comes to mapping out the road to WrestleMania XL for Cody Rhodes, The Rock and Roman Reigns:

1. Roman Reigns beats The Rock, Cody Rhodes faces Seth Rollins

Yikes…

2. The Rock beats Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes faces Seth Rollins

Big yikes…

3. Roman Reigns beats The Rock, Cody Rhodes saves the day

In this route, Cody Rhodes doesn’t make a decision. Seth Rollins begs him to take the World Heavyweight Championship match amid ongoing chaos with Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn, but Rhodes tells Rollins that that’s not how the story ends.

The build goes on for Roman Reigns and The Rock, fans grow tired of the rivalry, and the chants for Rhodes grow louder. Buzz builds around the fact that Rhodes doesn’t have a match for WrestleMania, and it becomes clear that he’ll insert himself into the main event somehow.

But, Reigns and The Rock get into the ring, the match starts, and the air gets let out of the building. Maybe they just didn’t want to put Rhodes in any situation that didn’t relate to the overall story. Reigns wins and celebrates in the center of the ring with The Bloodline. As The Rock starts to stir, Rhodes, Solo Sikoa, and Jimmy Uso continue the beatdown on The Rock, only for Rhodes (and maybe Jey Uso) to come down and make the save.

With the crowd chanting for Cody, he realizes that he still has his WrestleMania main event that he earned at the Royal Rumble. He decides to “cash in” on that opportunity, and an impromptu match for the title gets underway. WWE still gets their match with The Rock for their big payday, but the fans get the moment they’ve been waiting for, too: Cody Rhodes finishing his story.

4. The Bloodline takes out The Rock, Cody Rhodes steps in

Same route as above, but they don’t even let the bell ring for Roman Reigns and The Rock. Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso take out The Rock Sunday night, and as Reigns waits in the center of the ring for the referee to call the match a forfeit, Rhodes’ music hits. The crowd goes nuts, and Rhodes shocks The Tribal Chief to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

5. Cody Rhodes faces Roman Reigns and The Rock in a Triple Threat Match

An almost-direct replica of Daniel Bryan’s path to the main event of WrestleMania XXX exactly 10 years later, fans get the #WeWantCody movement to a point where it simply can’t be denied. 

While Roman Reigns continues to flaunt his status as The Tribal Chief to the man who mentioned becoming the Head of the Table back in January, The Rock, being the People’s Champ, can’t even ignore Rhodes’ popularity, 

The Rock, both wanting to put Reigns in his place and give the fans what they want, decides that the best foot forward is to convince the higher-ups (himself, in the real world) that the main event of WrestleMania XL should be a Triple Threat Match.

In this route, Rhodes pinning either of the men would have such a massive impact that you have an earth-shattering moment to end ‘Mania. Pinning Reigns ends the story in an almost picture-perfect fashion, while pinning The Rock hands the Hollywood star his first loss in a WWE ring in more than 10 years.

6. Roman Reigns faces Cody Rhodes with The Rock as Special Guest Referee

This is the “sixth” option on this list, but I would say it’s the most realistic path forward to get Cody Rhodes involved in the WrestleMania XL main event.

Similar to the popular fan theory that’s been circulating online, Roman Reigns and The Rock face off at the press event, they exchange verbal jabs, The Rock gets on Reigns’ nerves, and Triple H announces a contract signing to make the main event official. Reigns quickly signs the contract to get it over with, and The Rock signs his spot. The fans start booing, thinking Rhodes’ chances are done. But, The Rock gets back on the mic before Reigns can storm off, and says something along the lines of, “You didn’t look at that contract, did you? There’s one more name to add.” 

Cody Rhodes’ music hits, the fans go wild, and it’s revealed that the main event will actually be Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes with The Rock as your Special Guest Referee. If you prefer in your own version of this story, you can say the contract also states that Reigns can lose the title on a DQ, or via any Bloodline interference. Whatever it is, we get a clean match in the main event of WrestleMania XL, and it sets up a future match between Reigns and The Rock for SummerSlam or next year’s WrestleMania.

7. Cody Rhodes faces Roman Reigns, The Rock faces Solo Sikoa

A sneaky route for WWE to take that is also very unlikely, The Rock can say he told Cody Rhodes he wanted to face the true Tribal Chief at WrestleMania, but takes a dig at Reigns by saying he’ll be facing Solo Sikoa at the event. 

This creates a rift in the Bloodline, and Rhodes takes advantage by seizing his WrestleMania main event against Reigns after all. The Rock beats Sikoa before the main event on Sunday night, and Rhodes has the biggest threat to his win removed from the equation. Jey Uso can make the save when his brother Jimmy tries to interfere, perfectly intertwining all of the elements of the story, and Rhodes gets his moment to end WrestleMania XL.

8. Cody Rhodes faces Roman Reigns, The Rock faces Solo Sikoa, Jey Uso faces Jimmy Uso

Same route as the above, but instead of Jey Uso stifling any interference from his brother, they build to a match for the two on the first night of WrestleMania XL. Jey takes out Jimmy, The Rock takes out Solo, and the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion is left as a Roman without his Reigns, alone to take on his American Nightmare to end the biggest WrestleMania of them all. 

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