Pitch was made to have Kevin Owens defeat Cody Rhodes for the WWE title in an “impromptu match” at Elimination Chamber
During the WWE Unreal series on Netflix, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s writer Brian Gewirtz discussed what the company had been considering for the storyline where Rock wanted the soul of WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Gewirtz noted the following…
“With the prospect of Babyface John [Cena] and Babyface Cody, it felt a little dry to us. But just looking at it from the outside, ‘let’s throw some controlled chaos into this.’ So myself and Rock, we got together and we pitched something that was twofold. I had the idea of Cody needing to be Rock’s champion. We had that as the hook.
We proposed at Elimination Chamber, Cody turning down the final boss, and that was going to lead to final boss making an impromptu title match right then and there that resulted in Kevin Owens, who had been in a storyline with Cody during that time, leaving with the Championship. Kevin Owens winning the title wasn’t the end goal. The takeaway was whatever it is we do, it needs to be seismic. That’s the big question.”
The decision to go with a Cena heel turn instead was also discussed. Paul “Triple H” Levesque commented on how Cena turning “checked all the boxes.”
The Rock and his writer pitched an idea where Cody Rhodes turns down his favor at Elimination Chamber, so Rock uses his power to set up a title match on the spot against Kevin Owens, and Owens wins the Undisputed Title.
Wow 🤯#WWEUnreal
— EliteRockerz 𝕏 (@EliteClubS0B) July 29, 2025