SUMMARY
- Dwayne Johnson has retured to WWE and confronted Roman Reigns ahead of WrestleMania 40.
- However, it means Cody Rhodes may not face Roman Reigns at this year's WrestleMania.
It looks like Cody Rhodes will have to wait much longer to ‘finish his story.’ On the February 2, 2024 edition of SmackDown, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson returned to confront Roman Reigns and has potentially set up a WrestleMania 40 clash between the two.
Cody Rhodes is fresh off winning the men’s Royal Rumble 2024. Rhodes, who rejoined WWE at WrestleMania 38 in 2022 after a famous spell at AEW, always wanted to win the WWE Championship. Hence, fans were excited to see him go up against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. Despite a great match, Rhodes failed to dislodge Roman in the main event of the marquee show.
“You can actually pinpoint the second his heart rips in half” #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/OtzFptyncy
— 👻🍅🍅🍅 (@juicypoopin) February 3, 2024
While the result of the match did not go down well with fans, Rhodes convinced the fans his story was yet to end. Hence, after the 2024 Royal Rumble win, many thought Cody would finally get his rematch against “The Tribal Chief” this year. However, with Dwayne Johnson’s return, Cody’s road to the Reigns’ rematch has become much harder. But, a recent clip suggests that CM Punk had already predicted the move.
CM Punk gave Cody Rhodes a warning about Dwayne Johnson
Much like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk has also returned to WWE after a lengthy absence from the company. After his unceremonious exit from AEW, Punk re-signed with the Stamford-based promotion and made his return after Survivor Series 2023. During an interaction with Cody Rhodes in a Monday Night RAW episode, “The Best in the World” had a stern warning for “The American Nightmare” about Dwayne Johnson’s return to WWE.
It is important to mention that CM Punk and Dwayne Johnson have had quite a history in WWE. In 2013, Johnson defeated Punk in the Royal Rumble main event and became the WWE Champion. He then main-evented Mania 29 opposite John Cena. So Punk knows what it feels like to sit out while “The Rock” made all the headlines. It appears that Punk predicted the same happening with Rhodes.
CM Punk already told Cody’s story at Raw and we didn’t notice#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/5bEj732FuZ
— Push LA Knight (@pushlaknight) February 3, 2024
Weeks before Johnson’s return at SmackDown, the former UFC fighter told Rhodes, “You have carried this company on your back for a soul-crushing two years, and you’re right around the corner and they hand you the cover of the WWE 2K video game. Congratulations by the way.”
Punk continued, “And right when you’re about to cross the finish line and finish your story, oh wait, what’s that in the distance? It’s a much bigger superstar that hasn’t been around in a very long time, coming to take it all away from you.”
With that being said, there is a chance that Rhodes gets to feature in the main event of WrestleMania 40. In the latest RAW episode, Seth Rollins confronted the 38-year-old and seemingly planted the seed for a match that may feature on the night 1 main event of the Mania 40. As Punk mentioned, Rhodes is on the cover of the soon-to-be-released WWE 2K24 video game. It may just be enough to keep him occupied till the Reigns rematch.
Dwayne Johnson has been appointed to the TKO board of directors
Dwayne Johnson is not only back in the WWE in front of the screens, but he has a big role to play behind the scenes as well. Shortly before Janel Grant’s s*x trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon rocked WWE, the 51-year-old joined TKO. TKO is the $21 billion company that was forged after WWE and UFC merged. The $800 million rich star is currently on the board of directors of the company.
After joining the TKO board, The Rock added, “An historic day of big business with deep and personal “life comes full circle” significance for me. I have the privilege now to sit at the table, that my grandfather and my dad helped to build. Now the fun part – we go to work.”
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There are some reports that state that Johnson vs Reigns was in the works for a later date after WrestleMania 40. But Janel Grant’s allegations toward Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar and CM Punk’s unfortunate triceps injury apparently made Dwayne push for the plans to be moved forward. As for Punk, the 45-year-old is currently in rehab after the injury and seems to be set up for a feud with Drew McIntyre upon his return.