The Rock Slaps Cody Rhodes, WrestleMania XL Kickoff Ends In Wild Scene
Cody Rhodes picks Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns picks The Rock.
The WWE WrestleMania XL Kickoff Press Event gave us more questions than answers on Thursday inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After various WWE Superstars appeared on stage, including Triple H, Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch, we got to the big main event appearances.
Out first came WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin’” Rollins, who spoke for a few moments before he was cut off by the familiar sounds of Roman Reigns’ theme song.
The WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion then came out and treated “The Visionary” and “The Revolutionary” like he was second class. He spoke about how Cody Rhodes waited too long to make his decision on who he will challenge at WrestleMania XL after winning the Royal Rumble.
“The Tribal Chief” claimed the decision was now up to him and after a long pause, he announced that he chooses The Rock as his opponent for WrestleMania XL.
The Rock’s theme hit on that note and he came out to add to the fun. He started off talking about Cody Rhodes and moved on to The Bloodline lineage, showing an elaborate family tree graphic that shows every relative of he and Reigns’ dating back to the very start (see photo below).
Following a lot of booing and negative reactions from the fans, The Rock turned to a more heel-like persona and noted, “It doesn’t matter” what fans want, because we’re getting The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.
Rock and Reigns then did a “Mega Powers” style handshake reminiscent of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in their prime, before we heard someone off stage say, “This is bullsh*t!”
Cody Rhodes came out to a huge ovation on that note. “The American Nightmare” spoke about his own lineage and family history in the business, before tearing down Reigns and his family issues.
“How’s Jey?!” he asked in sarcastic fashion before continuing by calling Reigns’ family a “bunch of yes-men goons.” To them, all this match at WrestleMania XL is about is who sits at “The Head of the Table.”
Rhodes added, “It doesn’t matter [who’s sitting at The Head of the Table] because neither of you have been doing any cooking for two years!”
Cody spoke about their family tree and says if their grandfather were here, he would be ashamed of him, presumably referring to Reigns. Cody stares down Reigns after making that statement, but it is The Rock who steps forward in front of Roman slowly, and with a very serious look on his face.
The Rock told Cody that when he talks about Roman’s family and his ancestors, he’s talking about his family and ancestors, too.
“So now we have a problem,” he said, before open-hand slapping Cody in extremely stiff fashion.
This led to an incredibly wild pull-apart that saw Paul “Triple H” Levesque, as well as Raw G.M. Adam Pearce, SmackDown G.M. Nick Aldis and many others rushing to the scene to try and keep order and avoid things getting even more out of hand.
After things wrapped up, Triple H was interviewed backstage when The Rock and Roman Reigns, walking together with Paul Heyman, stopped and stared at him.
The Rock, in very non-polite fashion, told Triple H he better handle the disrespect that Cody made towards his family, or he and Reigns will. He made one final insult and walked off in abrupt fashion. Triple H reacted to this with an extremely stern and non-businesslike look on his face.
Watch the complete WrestleMania XL Kickoff Press Event via the YouTube player embedded below.
CHAMP CHAMP@WWERomanReigns and @WWERollins are face-to-face RIGHT NOW on the #WrestleMania XL Kickoff! pic.twitter.com/uo0XnrXFC6
— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2024
“I CHOOSE… @TheRock.”☝️@WWERomanReigns has made his decision at the #WrestleMania XL Kickoff! pic.twitter.com/14RPWKwTqB
— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2024
“I introduce you to… the Cody crybabies” @TheRock is unhinged tonight at the #WrestleMania XL Kickoff. pic.twitter.com/aeBlZpXVaq
— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2024
.@TheRock explains why him facing @WWERomanReigns is the biggest #WrestleMania match ever by showing off #TheBloodline family tree at the #WrestleMania XL Kickoff. pic.twitter.com/ImMKDUaT5w
— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2024
“At #WrestleMania XL in the MAIN EVENT, I choose YOU @WWERomanReigns!” @CodyRhodes has made his decision!
The #WrestleMania XL Kickoff is LIVE NOW! pic.twitter.com/O5ffc1RVJg
— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2024
OH IT’S GOING DOWN. @TheRock just slapped @CodyRhodes at the #WrestleMania XL Kickoff. pic.twitter.com/nN0MTYIoRk
— WWE (@WWE) February 9, 2024
