Per Brian Gerwirtz, ‘The American Nightmare’ was not supposed to appear disheartened when The Rock returned to SmackDown.
At WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes delighted fans by finally defeating Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, however it’s fair to say that the road to the ‘Show of Shows’ was anything but straightforward. Initially, viewers were stunned as Rhodes came out on SmackDown to announce The Rock as Reigns’ next challenger, with Cody himself not seeming entirely comfortable in the segment, and it seems as the Royal Rumble winner didn’t react as intended to the ‘Mania switch.
Appearing on The Ringer’s Masked Man Show, Brian Gewirtz has revealed that the segment in which Rhodes stepped aside for The Rock was meant to be far more uplifting, although Gewirtz understands Cody’s display of emotion.
“The idea was supposed to be, it’s like the Nixon-Kenedy debate a little bit where you read the transcript, you’re like ‘Nixon kicked his ass.’ If you watch the actual footage, ‘Oh, he was a sweaty terrible mess.’ Cody, it was supposed to be, in some form, ‘Yeah, Fuckin A! Go get em Rock! You’re going to get your ass kicked, Roman! Let’s do this!’ and this uplifting promo. Instead, he looked like someone shot his dog in the face in the parking lot. — That, I don’t think, helped matters. It might not have changed or affected anything. Certainly, on paper, and I don’t blame Cody for that, he’s real and one of the realest people I’ve ever met.”
-Brian Gewirtz
Due to fan backlash, Rhodes was able to capture the Undisputed WWE Championship on April 7 and has held the gold for 41 days to this point. Up next, he’ll head to Saudi Arabia to defend his title against United States Champion Logan Paul.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the original plans leading up to WWE WrestleMania 40 as soon as we hear more.
