Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes Set for WWE WrestleMania 40

WWE held a WrestleMania 40 Kickoff press event this evening at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to promote this April’s WrestleMania 40 event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

During the main event portion of the press event, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins came out first and stated that he wanted to know what was Cody Rhodes’ official decision. Rhodes called for Rhodes to come out but Roman Reigns’ music played instead. After some banter between the two, Reigns stated that Rhodes can not make his own choice and called him Mr. Hesitation as an insult. Reigns claimed that this is now Roman’s decision to make and he gets to choose who faces him in the main event at WrestleMania.

Reigns was then interrupted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s music and The Rock then came out and did his usual mic work routine. Rock then asked the crowd if they think his and Reigns’ match at WrestleMania will be the biggest main event in the history of WWE. This led to a mixed response by the crowd with some cheering and others booing. Reigns responded stating that he chooses The Rock for his opponent leading to a dueling “We want Cody” and “No we don’t” chants from the crowd.

After some more words and rambling by The Rock, including Rock calling Cody’s fans who have been booing him as “Cody’s crybabies” and revealing a giant Bloodline family tree, he stated that if you can not respect and see that this is the biggest match in Mania history, then it does not matter what you think. The Rock then stated that WrestleMania 40 will be the Universal Champion vs. The People’s Champion and the biggest main event in the history of pro wrestling, bound by blood. Reigns and The Rock then clenched fists and hugged. Meanwhile Rollins did absolutely nothing but look on from the sides as this whole thing went down.

Reigns and The Rock’s moment was then interrupted by Rhodes who stated “hold on” and this was “bullsh**.” Rhodes stated that Reigns is out here calling the shots and dictating WrestleMania 40 but it is not his right to call the main event match, its Cody’s right. Rhodes then stated that he and The Rock had a wonderful conversation but he had many wonderful conversations. Rhodes then stated that he has made his official decision … at WrestleMania 40 in the main event, he chooses Roman Reigns.

This led to an upset response by Reigns who stated that Rhodes must be stupid since his match with The Rock is a done deal and Rhodes can go to the Number Two table, the loser bracket. Meanwhile, this whole time Rollins is just looking on in the back doing nothing at all.

Reigns then stated that last year was Cody’s chance and he lost and that no one cares for him to end the story. Reigns stated that Cody is embarrassing himself and is irrelevant just like his father. Rhodes responded back stating that “if this was all about family, then what about Jey Uso?” Rhodes then insulted Reigns stated that if their grandfathers were here, they would be ashamed of Roman. This led to Reign and The Rock confronting Rhodes and The Rock stating that he wanted to make something perfectly clear to Cody that if you are talking about Roman’s family, then you are talking about The Rock’s blood, ancestors, and family as well. The Rock the stated to Rhodes that “now we have a problem” and slapped Rhodes. After doing nothing of note for almost the whole time, Rollins finally got involved and stepped in. After some heated banter between Rollins and The Rock, WWE officials removed Rollins from the stage.

In a follow up backstage segment, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque was asked for his thoughts by backstage interviewer Jackie Redmond about what had just happened. Levesque stated that moments like this are difficult. Levesque was then confronted by The Rock who told him to fix this or else they will. The Rock then threatened that he will slap the teeth out of Rhodes’ mouth if he talks shit about his family again and walked away. Reigns and Paul Heyman gave a mean stare at Levesque before walking away as well.

Following the press event, Levesque announced on Twitter that the main event for WrestleMania 40 will be Reigns defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Rhodes.

Decision made. @CodyRhodes gets the chance to finish his story when he challenges @WWERomanReigns in the main event of #WrestleMania XL. pic.twitter.com/A12apAnELf

— Triple H (@TripleH) February 9, 2024

Current card for WrestleMania 40:

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship – Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns (c)
• WWE Women’s Championship – Bayley vs. IYO SKY (c)