The Rock Calls Out The "Cody Crybabies" Who Don't Want Him To Main Event WrestleMania On The Pat McAfee Show
"I've known Cody for a long time, he's a buddy of mine - "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and my old man Rocky Johnson, they were boys, they tag teamed together down in Florida. We used to go down to the Rhodes house a lot when I was growing up. So, we're tight in that way.
I love Cody, I love his passionate fans. Then there's the other passionate fans of Cody and they're called the uh ....what? Oh Cody crybabies, yeah, that's what they're called.
It was the Cody crybabies. These are grown ass men. 'Oh, Cody has to finish his story!'
At the end of the day, look, you've got the Cody crybabies, and you have the Cody fans, and you have Cody himself, and there's a clear distinction between the three.
'But The Rock says this, those Cody crybabies, the one's for every 10 tweets they are shoving a chicken McNugget in their mouth, for every 20 tweets they are shoving two McNuggets up their ass, The Rock says this, all you got to do is sit back, know your role, shut your mouth, and enjoy the ride that The Rock is going to take your candy asses on. So hashtag that, hashtag shut your bitch asses up, hashtag Cody crybabies."
Welp - that was legitimately the best Rock promo in years! Maybe Hollywood Rock is the way to go here!
If you haven't been following this whole saga, allow me to sum it up for you really quick: Cody Rhodes has been the biggest babyface in the WWE since he returned in 2022, and Roman Reigns has been the biggest heel in the company going back even longer as champ for 1000+ days. It's pretty rare for a modern babyface in WWE to actually be cheered by the audience, as everyone wants to be the "cool fan" rooting on the heels nowadays, so the fact that Cody is as beloved as he is is a real testament to his connection with the fanbase. I mean EVERYONE loves this guy and respects his passion for the business - and specifically, his pursuit of the championship his father never won.
The WWE had Cody win the Royal Rumble for the second year in a row a few weeks ago, and then had him point to Roman Reigns - signaling his championship decision for WrestleMania, and exciting all of the fans who felt he should've beaten Reigns last year - and then they pulled a bait-and-switch on us that Friday involving The Rock. Cody went out on SmackDown and basically said he'd be giving his opportunity to The Rock....for no apparent reason.
Rumors began swirling that this was a last-minute decision based on CM Punk's injury, which then flipped and became rumors about The Rock "forcing" his way into the main event behind-the-scenes as a new member of the TKO Board of Directors - and while we still don't know how this storyline came to be, the fanbase let it be known that they HATED it immediately.
#WeWantCody trended worldwide all weekend, The Rock got ratio'd on all of his social media posts, his return became the most disliked video in the history of WWE's YouTube in 9 hours, RAW opened with a segment between Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes getting drowned out by "ROCKY SUCKS" chants, and the crowd was littered with signs in support of Cody Rhodes.
Something interesting happened on that episode of RAW, though, and they actually leaned into the harsh reaction a little - something that would NEVER happen under that pervert Vince's rule! There were multiple shots of the "#WeWantCody" sections, the backlash to The Rock was pointed out by Michael Cole and Pat McAfee on commentary, and Cole even said he wanted Cody to finish his story against Reigns like the WWE Universe wanted!
Now I don't think this whole thing started as some kinda brilliant work to get people to rally behind Cody - because he really didn't need any more support than he had, and I can't imagine Dwayne Johnson becoming a bad guy was the grand plan here - but I definitely think it has turned into a work now.
Watch that above clip and tell me it doesn't sound like they're teasing a Rock v Reigns v Cody Triple Threat main event! The Rock is straight up calling fans of the most beloved good guy in the WWE "crybabies" for not getting their way, and came off more like a heel there than he has in over a decade. Unless he's actually just pissed that wrestling fans have turned on him and he's lashing out (unlikely) - I think there's something afoot.
Maybe at the WrestleMania press conference in Vegas tonight, Cody reveals that he changed his mind and DOES want Roman Reigns - inspired by all the support he's gotten. Then you could lean into the Hollywood Rock persona yet again and make him a tweener! You could set up a Triple Threat that has a similar dynamic of the WrestleMania 20 and 30 main events then! Or maybe The Rock takes a step back and says he wants Reigns at WrestleMania 41, but he'll be the Special Guest Referee for Cody/Reigns WrestleMania 40. Maybe Rock/Reigns main events Night 1 and Cody/Reigns main events Night 2. Who knows what the actual pivot will be (or if it'll even happen at the press conference) - it's just gotta be a pivot.
You can't let the savages of Philadelphia turn on Rock/Roman in the main event of WrestleMania 40 and make a mockery of what should be a dream match. It'd be Lesnar vs Goldberg at WrestleMania 20 all over again - but on a much bigger stage. I think fans might even throw garbage in the ring if they did that.....which is nuts, because if the match happened at any other show, we'd all love it and be super excited for it. Just not at WrestleMania. Not this year.
Call me a Cody crybaby if you will, but I simply think you gotta give the fans what they want and do Rock/Roman at SummerSlam or Mania next year. Roman hasn't been on TV full time in years and the WWE needs a new quarterback to build around - a new face of the company. Cody Rhodes is that guy, and he's been that guy.
Brandon Walker will be at the presser today, so I'm hoping he gets a question in there at some point. Look out for that big lug in the crowd.