Cody Rhodes addresses claims that he would’ve been “fine” stepping aside for The Rock at Wrestlemania 40

As seen during the February 2nd 2024 edition of WWE Smackdown, Cody Rhodes seemingly stepped aside for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to face Roman Reigns at WWE Wrestlemania 40. Despite this, Cody ended up choosing Reigns as his opponent for Wrestlemania at the Kickoff event.

While speaking to The Pivot podcast, Cody commented on the situation with Rock…

“Where we would butt heads is in the idea that you could just come back in the midst of a story that was taking place, and just because you’re The Rock, you can step into the starting lineup and take WrestleMania for yourself. A lot of people said, ‘He’s The Rock. He can do whatever he wants.’

I even saw a podcast with two wrestling heads talking, and they said, ‘I’m sure Cody is fine stepping aside for WrestleMania and doing it later in the year.’ In my mind, I’m thinking, ‘That’s insane.’ That’s the Super Bowl of what we do. To get to Sunday, the last day of WrestleMania, the last match, it’s our literal Super Bowl. The idea that somebody thought I would be cool with it. They don’t know me. That’s nonsense. I worked my whole life for this. Rock should know I wouldn’t be cool with it. Maybe that’s an understanding that him and I have. He found out, I’m not cool with it. That’s a good thing. You know who wasn’t cool with The Rock? Steve Austin. They made magic together. They rubbed together so much it created diamonds. I do have a lot of respect for him.” (quotes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co)