Cody Rhodes Giving The Rock His WWE WrestleMania Spot Was Meant To Be "Uplifting"
Cody Rhodes didn't do what WWE wanted before WrestleMania 40. He couldn't!
Ex-WWE writer Brian Gewirtz has openly discussed how "uplifting" Cody Rhodes stepping aside for The Rock on the 2 February 2024 edition of SmackDown was supposed to be. Gewirtz works closely with Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions, so he knows the ins and outs of what really happened.
Gewirtz told The Ringer's Masked Man Show that Cody was supposed to be more upbeat when delivering his promo and agreeing to let Rocky challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Title instead. That...didn't happen as planned. Instead, Rhodes cut a melancholy figure as he potentially watched his WrestleMania 40 dreams go up in smoke.
Brian understands that on a human level, and defended Rhodes by saying he was only being "genuine and real". WWE didn't foresee the backlash that'd come from fans afterwards though - Gewirtz thinks "you couldn’t mask what [Cody] was really feeling", which didn't help.
Eventually, Triple H elected to go with Cody vs. Roman at 'Mania after all.
It's incredible that WWE expected Rhodes to go out there and act like he was over the moon with The Rock replacing him on the biggest show of the year.